January 2013

Destruction in the Gaza Strip

Archaeological sites and artifacts being lost along with lives.

The Middle East is one of the cradles of humanity.  This means that it also happens to be one of the places in the world that is packed near solid with artifacts of the past.  And, unfortunately, as modern circumstance dictates, it is a place of much conflict.  So many cities, artifacts and other pieces of history lie beneath the soil, spanning thousands of years, but human wars once again threaten the safety of these historical treasures.  This time the ta

Archaeology’s new tool: Bone-sniffing dogs

Training dogs to find hundreds-of-years-old bones.

Over the years, canines have been used in a wide variety of scientific endeavors.  Animal and plant conservationists have long been using these furry critters in their own work due to the dog’s superior sense of smell being able to root out rare or desired species.  Now, one ambitious dog trainer from Australia is looking to train them to a new purpose, one that involves digging up old history.  Or old bones, to be exact.