The grave of Queen Karin Månsdotter (1550–1612) of Sweden is currently under scientific investigation at Turku Cathedral.

During the first week of research, researchers made an outstanding discovery: a gold ring worn by Karin herself.

Now, in research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, researchers describe chemical evidence of a medicinal recipe penned more than 2 millennia ago by Galen, the famous Greek physician of ancient Rome. It involves a blend of human feces and fragrance. Such an arresting combination mirrored Galen's instructions for masking the odors of certain foul-smelling medicines.

"It was a remarkable moment of interdisciplinary work," says Rana Çelebi, a medical historian at Istanbul Medipol University who contributed to the research, "to produce a uniquely tangible window into the ancient medical practice."

Medicinal poop isn't just a thing of the past. Some modern physicians have started using it as a kind of gut microbiome reset for those struggling with a debilitating kind of GI infection caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, and are researching it for other uses. Rather than mixing it with aromatics to make it more palatabl

The Mao Gong ding is a ceremonial bronze vessel (ding) produced c. 805 BC in Western Zhou–era China. It was presented to King Xuan of Zhou by his vassal, the gong (duke) Yin of Mao. The Mao Gong ding was discovered in Shaanxi in 1843 and is currently in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Photograph credit: National Palace Museum

CC BY 4.0

In his latest book, the paleoanthropologist Ludovic Slimak recounts how, as a young man, he spent his time observing people as he played the bagpipes in a kilt on the dirty streets of Marseille. Driven by an unconscious impulse, he had decided to master the instrument, and he succeeded, even leading a famous band in France. Then his first child was born, he found himself traveling from gig to gig, and eventually, he gave it up. But he was able to earn his PhD with the money he made from music.

The French scientist has been able to spend the last 30 years observing and studying one of the most decisive moments in the history of evolution: the encounter between our species and the Neanderthals, our closest human relatives. One of his latest discoveries is Thorin, a Neanderthal who lived around 42,000 years ago, very close to the moment of extinction. From then on, Homo sapiens became the only human species on the planet.

In his new book The Last Neanderthal: Understanding How Humans Die, Slimak, 52, reflects on the reasons for the disappearance of these human cousins, and what it reveals about ourselves. “It’s a sad book,” he underscores, because despite the latest evidence that Neanderthals controlled fire, created cave art, and had sex and children with our own species — leaving a trace of their DNA in our genome — this scientist from the French National Center for Scientific Research believes they went extinct in isolation and abandonment. Slimak answers EL PAÍS’ questions via videoconference from his beautiful home, where he lives with his wife and two children, halfway between Toulouse and the Pyrenees.

The oldest human remains ever found in Northern Britain have been identified as a young female three years after being discovered in a Cumbrian cave. Excavated at Heaning Wood Bone Cave in Cumbria's Great Urswick by local archaeologist Martin Stables, the 11,000-year-old bones provide clear evidence of Mesolithic burials in the North.

Phnom Bakheng is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. It was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889–910). Today is Mahashivaratri, a Hindu festival dedicated to the worship of Shiva.

Author: Satdeep Gill

CC BY-SA 4.0

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/14/british-museum-removes-palestine-references-from-ancient-mi/

Before joining the project, Reich wasn’t too excited, he admits: “The Netherlands seemed like the most boring place in the world – every single bit of ground there has been walked on a million times before. But it turned out to be perhaps the most interesting place in Europe.”

The DNA sequenced by his lab revealed a population forged in the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Dutch-Belgian borderlands, originating from a resourceful group of hunter-gatherers surviving in the waterlogged wetlands around these big rivers, feeding on fish, waterfowl, game and various plants.

The Netherlands is like so boring ughh.

After centuries beneath the waves, 22 massive stone blocks from the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria have been recovered from the seafloor, marking a major step in efforts to digitally reconstruct one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

In 1958, an amateur archaeologist named John Cowles excavated the Cougar Mountain Cave in Oregon and retained many of the artifacts found there. Upon his death in the 1980s, these items were transferred to the Favell Museum in Klamath Falls. Finally, modern archaeologists are taking a closer look at these items along with a collection from the Paisley Caves, which includes ancient needles, braided cordage, and the oldest piece of sewn material ever found. Their research is now published in Science Advances.

Archaeologists have discovered a trove of rare artifacts used by children at the site of a new development in London.

While preparing for construction, researchers unearthed several marbles, a pencil and a fragment of a reusable slate tablet with letters scratched into the surface.

“We don’t often find archaeological objects we can directly link to children, but here we were delighted to find evidence for both schoolwork and play,” according to a January 12 update from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), which is leading the dig.

The marbles—some of which are still covered in colorful decorations—are what’s known as “ceramic alleys,” or small, smooth spheres designed to look like they were made from alabaster. They were discovered in a covered, brick-lined drain, which suggests they may have been lost during “a breaktime game,” per MOLA.