Features From the Issue
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Features
World of the Griffin Warrior
A single grave and its extraordinary contents are changing the way archaeologists view two great ancient Greek cultures
(University of Cincinnati) -
Features
Minaret in the Mountains
Excavations near a 12th-century tower reveal the summer capital of a forgotten Islamic empire
(Courtesy Minaret of Jam Archaeological Project) -
Features
A River Runs Through It
The twists and turns of a medieval English city’s history emerge from an artifact-rich riverbed
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Features
Piecing Together a God's Journey
By tracking a Mesoamerican sculpture’s lengthy voyage from Mexico to Denmark, researchers discover its true identity
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Features
The Antarctic Hunt
How late 18th- and 19th-century seal hunters survived on the harsh island landscape of South Georgia
Letter from Lake George
Letter from Lake George
Exploring the Great Warpath
Evidence from forts, hospitals, and taverns in upstate New York is illuminating the lives of thousands of British soldiers during the French and Indian War
Artifact
Artifacts
Roman Coin
Digs & Discoveries
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Digs & Discoveries
The Case for Clotilda
(Courtesy SEARCH inc) -
Digs & Discoveries
A God Goes Shopping
(Foro Traiano) -
Digs & Discoveries
Half in the Bag
(Courtesy José Capriles) -
Digs & Discoveries
Herding Genes in Africa
(Courtesy Katherine Grillo) -
Digs & Discoveries
Bronze Age Palace Surfaces
(University of Tübingen, eScience Center, and Kurdistan Archaeology Organization) -
Digs & Discoveries
Upper Paleolithic Cave Life
(Courtesy Lydia Pyne) -
Digs & Discoveries
Scarab From Space
(© CULTNAT, Dist. RMN-GP / Art Resource, NY) -
Digs & Discoveries
A Catalog of Princes
(© Denis Glicksman/Inrap) -
Digs & Discoveries
Sowing the Land
(British Library, London, UK/© British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/Bridgeman Images, iStock) -
Digs & Discoveries
We Are Family
(Courtesy Piotr Włodarczak) -
Digs & Discoveries
Home on the Plains
(Courtesy José Capriles) -
Digs & Discoveries
Saqqara's Working Stiffs
(© J. Dabrowski/PCMA) -
Digs & Discoveries
Inner Beauty
(Courtesy Marco Merola) -
Digs & Discoveries
Volcano Viewers
(İnan Ulusoy) -
Digs & Discoveries
Partially Identified Flying Objects
(Courtesy Masaki Eda)
Off the Grid
Off the Grid September/October 2019
Hopedale, Canada
Around the World
INDONESIA
INDONESIA: When the 2004 tsunami hit the northwestern coast of Sumatra, it caused almost unimaginable destruction. It also unearthed evidence that a previous tsunami had struck some 600 years earlier. A survey along 25 miles of coast near Banda Aceh revealed that at least 10 medieval communities once thrived there as part of the maritime Silk Road. A 1394 tsunami destroyed all but one of them. Thousands of recently recorded 15th-century Muslim gravestones suggest that Islamic traders eventually resettled the abandoned coast.
CHINA
CHINA: Long before it was popularized in the West by the 1960s counterculture, cannabis was an important part of Central Asian rituals. Researchers have detected trace amounts of the drug on several 2,500-year-old wooden braziers from the Jirzankal cemetery in far western China. This is the oldest scientifically verified evidence of cannabis smoking. The samples contained higher levels of psychoactive chemicals than most wild cannabis varieties, suggesting that locals may have cultivated the plant for its mind-altering effects.
RUSSIA
RUSSIA: Some 200 years after Napoleon’s unsuccessful invasion of Russia, residents of Smolensk unknowingly danced on the grave of one of the emperor’s most trusted generals. The body of Charles Étienne Gudin was recently discovered beneath an outdoor dance floor in the city. The skeletal remains were consistent with records showing that Gudin’s left leg was amputated after the 1812 Battle of Valutino. Upon his death, Gudin’s heart was removed, brought back to France, and interred in Paris’ Pere Lachaise cemetery.