New theory: Rats spread fatal illness
Mexicans have long been taught to blame diseases brought by the Spaniards for wiping out most of their Indian ancestors. But recent research suggests things may not be that simple.
Read moreAuthor: Gary C. Daniels
New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon: A Place of Kings and Palaces?
Kings living in palaces may have ruled New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon a thousand years ago, causing Pueblo people to reject the brawny, top-down politics in the centuries that followed, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder archaeologist.
Read moreAncient Rock Art Depicts Exploding Star
A rock carving discovered in Arizona might depict an ancient star explosion
seen by Native Americans a thousand years ago, scientists announced today.
If confirmed, the rock carving, or “petroglyph” would be the only known
record in the Americas of the well-known supernova of the year 1006.
Tattooed mummy with jewelry found in Peru
A female mummy with complex tattoos on her arms has been
found in a ceremonial burial site in Peru, the National Geographic
Society reported Tuesday.
The mummy was accompanied by ceremonial items including jewelry and weapons, and the remains of a teenage girl who had been sacrificed,
archaeologists reported.
Celestial Find at Ancient Andes Site
The discovery in Peru of a 4,200-year-old temple and observatory
pushes back estimates of the rise of an advanced culture in the
Americas.
Map of Mexico, 1550
The University of Uppsala in Sweden has put its 1550 map of Mexico City
by Alonso de Santa Cruz on-line. The map is zoomable and allows people to add annotations to the map. The clarity is very good.
TAMTOC, ORIGIN OF THE MESOAMERICAN CULTURE
The discovery of the Monument 32in Tamtoc, eight meters long, four meters and a half high, a thickness of 32 centimeters and a weight between 10 and 12 tons, can generate radical changes in the concepts of the Mesoamerican culture, which might have had its origin here, in the potosinian Huasteca.
Read moreHeavens offer unique clues to the seasons
Before the advent of calendars, the only way to mark the changing of the seasons was through direct observation. Ancient peoples observed the passage of the sun north from the Winter Solstice, and then south from the Summer Solstice. In Mesoamerica the people observed the sun passing directly overhead twice a year by using special tubes in the temples that pointed at the zenith.
Read moreKennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent’s History
Dr. Hugh Berryman, research professor, was one of only 11 experts
from across the United States to scrutinize the bones of Kennewick
Man, a 9,300-year-old skeleton found 10 years ago along the Columbia
River at Kennewick, Wash.
Temple of the Fox found in Peru
An ancient temple contains the oldest sculptures and astronomically oriented structures found in the New World. The 33-foot stepped pyramid temple, the Temple of the Fox, in a 20-acre excavation site at Buena Vista, Peru. The temple dates to 2220 B.C. – which makes it 1,000 years older than anything of its kind previously found.
Read moreCloud of scholarly dust rises over ancient footprints claim
Are the footprints of surprisingly ancient Americans preserved in
40,000-year-old volcanic ash in southern Mexico? In December, an
article in the journal Science cast a cloud of doubt over that claim.
Mexican monolith could change history
3,000-year-old carvings contain ‘new symbols in Mesoamerica’ MEXICO CITY – A carved monolith unearthed in Mexico may show that the
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