It’s fun watching those traveling antiques shows to see what things older than oneself are worth. What was displayed on a recent British episode could radically change our views of Chinese contact with indigenous Australian cultures. But the discovery raises more questions, as Natasha May reports. So too with Owen Jarus’ story about the Remains of Ancient Temple with Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Discovered in Sudan. Over five times older than the 500-year-old Buddha, these temple blocks’ original location and how they got to Old Dongola are posers. More questions arise as Archaeologists Uncover Sphinx-like Statue and Shrine in Egypt, via CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim. It’s a Roman-appearing statue (some think it’s the Emperor Claudius), discovered in a probably Byzantine era mudbrick water-storage basin near the Temple of Hathor, which was begun in the late Ptolemaic era. Of course, “more studies are needed to verify the structure’s owner and history.” And for an even bigger question, the University of Oregon asks Is This Window When People Got to N. America? Archaeological, genetic, paleoclimate data and simulations support the notion the “kelp highway” hypothesis for boat travel to the New World has to be tweaked. Now the human entry seems between 25,000 and 16,000 YBP, instead of 16,000-14,000. But “It’s a much more interesting story now,” explains “kelp highway” co-developer Jon Erlandson. (WM)
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