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Mummified WWI soldier found buried in Italian glacier

The mummified body of a World War I soldier has been found frozen in a glacier on an Italian ski resort.

Dino De Bernardin made the grim find as he walked in mountains close to his home, which had been the scene of bitter fighting between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops between 1915 and 1917.

At an altitude of 2,800metres, his attention was drawn to a ‘bundle of rags’ that he saw emerging from the melting ice.

When he went to investigate, he was shocked to find the soldier’s skeleton complete with rotting boots.

Police were called to the scene just below a cable car station at Serauta close to Canazei in the Marmolada mountain range of the Dolomites in north-east Italy. Close to the border with Austria, the area is a popular ski resort in the winter.

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Remains of prehistoric child found in Mexico

The 10,000-year-old remains of a child have been found in an underwater cave in Mexico.

 

The remains of a prehistoric child were removed from an underwater cave in Mexico four years after divers stumbled upon the well-preserved corpse that offers clues to ancient human migration.
The skeletal remains of the boy, dubbed the Young Hol Chan, are more than 10,000 years old and are among the oldest human bones found in the Americas.
The corpse was discovered in 2006 by a pair of German cave divers who were exploring unique flooded sandstone sinkholes, known as cenotes, common to the eastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
Scientists spent three years studying the remains where they lay before deciding it was safe to bring the skeleton to the surface for further study, according to the Mexican National Institute for Anthropology and History.

 

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Aztec remains found during subway construction

Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered the remains of 50 Aztec children found during excavations for a new subway line in Mexico City.

The team from Mexico’s National Institute for Anthropology and History also found the foundations of Aztec homes, hundreds of small figurines, and pots and plates dating from 1100 to 1500 AD, on the eve of the Spanish conquest, along the 15-mile (24-km) subway line, due to open in 2012 in southern Mexico City, home to about 20 million people.

“In total there are 60 graves, 10 adults and around 50 children of different ages, some two or three years old,” archeologist Maria de Jesus Sanchez told Reuters.

The graves, found scattered in excavation areas since builders began digging the subway line in September 2008, reflect burial practices of the Aztecs, who often interred their dead relatives underneath their homes.

The Aztec empire, with its capital in modern-day Mexico City, held sway over a large part of Mesoamerica for about a century until the arrival of the Spanish.

Deceased children were often placed in earthen vessels before burial in the belief that the jars would resemble the mother’s womb and keep them warm.

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Remains of Roman-era dismembered child found in mass grave

The remains of a child found in a Roman-era mass grave shows signs of being dismembered.

Chiltern Archaeologists suspect the site in Hambleden could have been a Roman brothel – where unwanted babies were systematically killed.

Dr Jill Eyers, who lives in Lane End, said the group has discovered cut marks on the bones of one of the babies.

She added: “These were knife marks and would represent a dismembering of this infant. We are horrified to say the least and are now about to closely check all other infant skeletons.

“If dismembered this could be signs of a ritual activity at this site. This is turning more sinister by the minute.”

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Pioneer remains found in Ontario

Two skeletons, believed to belong to pioneers, have been found at Crystal Beach in Ontario, Canada.

They’re both close to each other and oriented in an east/west direction, which is kind of the method of a Christian burial,” said senior archeologist Martin Cooper.

“Right now, we’re leaning towards them being European, probably pioneer burial.”

A construction crew installing a natural gas line found several bones Tuesday while excavating near the road.

Niagara Regional Police and the coroner’s office were called in.

A second skeleton was found by an anthropologist, who conducted a forensic examination of the scene along with police forensic officers.

Cooper said one of the skeletons was disturbed during the excavation, but the other is relatively intact.

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