How did the people of the past interact with the Earth? Join the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research's expert teams to discover the many things that the remains of the past can tell us about how people lived.
Did you know that our ancestors gradually switched from collecting food from the wild to farming by keeping animals and growing crops? Learn how farming spread across Europe in our floor game and make your own Neolithic farmer to race across Europe… but beware, there are Mesolithic bandits waiting to ambush you! Find out what bones say about the way people lived in the past. Did Chris Caveman eat mammoths? Did Rachel Roman eat fish? Join our archaeobotanical group to recover cereals of the past, or perhaps the geoarchaeology group to discover the answer that lies in the soil!Don't forget to dig in the McDonald Great Cave... there is much to uncover and identify!
This event - part of the National Science and Engineering Week and the University of Cambridge Science Festival - takes place at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research (Downing Site), Downing Street, Cambridge.
This workshop - at the Archaeological Sciences department of the University of Bradford -will demonstrate some of the exciting ways in which science can be used to understand what happened in the past. Modern archaeology involves many scientific techniques, familiar through television programmes such as ‘Time Team’. The University of Bradford has an international reputation for teaching and research in these areas and this workshop will give you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in two of the following areas:
Seeing the invisible- using electrical and magnetic measurement to detect buried remains without excavation
From trench to bench- using biological remains to find out what people ate in the past
Molecules through time- making and analysing prehistoric glue
The topics will be introduced using talks about the scientific principles, case-studies of archaeological sites and hands-on laboratory/field activities.
As part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary Capital Science series, meet British Museum scientists and conservators to discover how science unlocks secrets behind some of the Museum’s most iconic objects. Handle raw materials and see the latest behind-the-scenes technology in action.
'See Further with Science' is part of the National Science and Engineering Week and takes place at the Great Court of the British Museum. Suitable for all ages.
Submitted by veigapaula on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 00:21
We are just learning fresh news about research on King Tut's mummy, in advance of tomorrow's publication in the American Medical Journal of the results of the most recent DNA and other tests. Over the years, there have been many different theories, but now we can scientifically prove what killed the Boy King, his parentage, and other health conditions affecting him at the time of his death.
Early Research
KV62 - Tut's tomb - was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Multiple attempts at proving kinship between various royal mummies have been made since then, including tests by Connolly (1976), Flaherty (1984) and Harrison (1969). In the case of Tutankhamun and Smenkhare, these tests have included estimates of both mummies' blood groups in order to compare them.
Both mummies share the same rare blood type (group A2, and both with the serum antigen MN), suggesting close consanguinity.
When I wrote that it was most likely we'd see more conlusive information on King Tut's pedigree on TV first, I obviously was wrong, partly. Spoiler alert: yes, King Tut died at age 19 of (in order) a failing immune system, a leg fracture and malaria, but for the the fine details, and juicy imagery, you'll need to tune in to Discovery Channel's 'King Tut Unwrapped'. The network - which sponsored Egypt's 'mummy lab' - promises us an unprecedented forensic investigation into the life and times of King Tut that reveals the identity of Tut's parents and grandparents, details on his cause of death and new details of his reign.
This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNA research on King Tut's mummy - and some of his possible family members - will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king's death.
The study on the family of Tutankhamun (keep an eye on all things Tut on our dedicated page) was conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project (EMP) headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, and a team composed of Egyptian scientists from the National Research Center, members from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and two German DNA specialists.
The 21st century has seen incredible advances in our knowledge and use of forensic sciences - to investigate crimes and to find out about people from ancient times. How can we apply this information to the people of ancient Egypt? Find out - and test your own skills in a hands-on practical session - at 'Forensic Aspects of Ancient Egypt' presented by Joyce Filer.
The 21st century has seen incredible advances in our knowledge and use of forensic sciences - to investigate crimes and to find out about people from ancient times. How can we apply this information to the people of ancient Egypt?
Forensic Aspects of Ancient Egypt is a study day presented by Joyce Filer at the University of London.
Subjects include:
idenitfying the age at death of a mummy or skeleton
if the body is male or female
what diseases people had
facial reconstruction
other scientific techniques
You also get to test your skills in a hands-on practical session.
We are just learning 
The 21st century has seen incredible advances in our knowledge and use of forensic sciences - to investigate crimes and to find out about people from ancient times. How can we apply this information to the people of ancient Egypt? Find out - and test your own skills in a hands-on practical session - at '
The 21st century has seen incredible advances in our knowledge and use of forensic sciences - to investigate crimes and to find out about people from ancient times. How can we apply this information to the people of ancient Egypt?
