dead-men-talking:

xmorbidcuriosityx:

The curse of King Tut’s man-boobs: Was Tutankhamen killed by disease which gave him breasts?

He was revered as a living god, the most famous of a glittering dynasty who ruled over one of the world’s greatest civilisations.

But a new theory suggests the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen and many of his immediate predecessors suffered from an all too common affliction - the dreaded man-boobs.

Hutan Ashrafian, a British surgeon, believes it could explain the reason for King Tut’s death in his teens - a question that has baffled historians for decades.

Dr Ashrafian, of Imperial College London, points out that Tutankhamen and his immediate predecessors all died young and had distinctly feminine physiques.

Smenkhkare, a pharaoh who is believed to have been Tutankhamen’s uncle or older brother, and Akhenaten, thought to have been the boy’s father, are depicted in paintings and sculptures with wide hips and large breasts.

Dr Ashrafian points out that each pharaoh died at a slightly younger age than his predecessor, suggesting an inherited disorder.

Full story and more photographs here!

Wow, that’s awesome!  There is a long-standing debate over whether the physique of the Amarna-era is religiously or biologically driven.  I’m certainly inclined toward the latter, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave Akhenaten delusions of divine importance.

Amarna, you never cease to amaze! 

xmorbidcuriosityx:

Physical anthropologist Jorge Arturo Talavera González examines 1 of 17 skeletons—including 11 child burials—unearthed recently in Mexico City. The remains, he said, offer evidence of a merchant neighborhood of an Aztec people known as the Tepanec, whose glory days were some 700 years ago.

Found with the remains of a newborn baby in her arms, the woman pictured above must have died after giving birth, said Talavera González, who is affiliated with Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Further analysis is required to pin down causes of death for the 17 burials, but holes in some of the skulls hint at human sacrifice. Around the bodies, experts also found an altar, fragments of rooms, and various ceremonial objects.

Little is known about the Tepanec, for two reasons, said Arizona State University (ASU) anthropologist Michael Smith. First, they ruled oppressively another group called the Mexica, who eventually rose to power and “systematically wrote the Tepanec empire out of the history books.”

Second, most Tepanec cities are located underneath Mexico City, making them difficult to investigate.

Full article here.

(via dead-men-talking)

anoncentral:

“An anthropologist proposed a game to children in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the children that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run, they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats.

When he asked them why they had run like that when one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said, ‘UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?’ (‘UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: ‘I am because we are.)”

via Occupy Sweden

i am pretty sure i’ve reblogged this before but I love that word - Ubuntu.

(via britishbullet)

fuckyeahforensics:

Archeological remains of patients of brain surgery performed by ancient doctors of the Incan Empire in the 15th century.

(via britishbullet)

dead-men-talking:

malformalady:

Skull showing extensive damage from a sarcoma. Sarcoma is the term used to describe the cancer of connective tissues such as muscles, bone, tendons, nerves and fat. Nearly 12,000 Americans are affected by this cancer every year.

Good gods, how did this person survive so long?!

(via averagearchaeologist)

positive-press-daily:

China unearths over 100 new terracotta warriors

The life-size figures were excavated near the Qin Emperor’s mausoleum in China’s northern Xi’an city over the course of three years, and archaeologists also uncovered 12 pottery horses, parts of chariots, weapons and tools.

“The… excavation on the 200-square-metre (2,152-square-feet) site has found a total of 110 terracotta figurines,” Shen Maosheng from the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum — which oversees the tomb — told AFP.

“The most significant discovery this time around is that the relics that were found were well-preserved and colourfully painted,” Shen, deputy head of the museum’s archaeology department, said.

He added that archaeologists had pinpointed the location of another 11 warriors but had yet to unearth them. The discovery is the latest in China’s cultural sector, after experts found that the Great Wall of China — which like the Terracotta Army is a UNESCO World Heritage site — was much longer than previously thought.

Shen said experts had expected the colours on some of the warriors and wares uncovered at the site to have faded over the centuries, and were surprised to see how well preserved they still were. The finds also included a shield that was reportedly used by soldiers in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), with red, green and white geometric patterns.

Qin Shihuang — the Qin emperor who had the army built — presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and is seen as the first emperor of the nation. The ancient terracotta army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well. It represents one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The news comes after a five-year archaeological survey found the Great Wall of China was more than double the previously estimated length. The survey — released to the public last week — found the wall was 21,196 kilometres (13,170 miles) long, compared to an official 2009 figure of 8,851 kilometres.

Beijing authorities on Saturday also reiterated plans to open two new sections of the Great Wall to tourists and expand two other existing areas to help meet booming demand.

(via archaeologistsdontdigdinosaurs)