HELSINKI, FINLAND—According to a statement released by the University of Helsinki, auditory archaeologist Riitta Rainio and artist Juha Valkeapää danced for six consecutive hours while wearing elk tooth ornaments sewn in rows on an apron, and then examined the microscopic wear marks left behind on the teeth as they clattered against each other. The researchers then compared these wear marks to elk teeth recovered from four graves at Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, a Late Mesolithic cemetery in northwestern Russia. More than half of the 177 burials at Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov contained elk tooth ornaments. Some of the burials contained more than 300 teeth. The study suggests that the distinctive marks on the prehistoric teeth were made over years or even decades of dancing. Rainio says the rattlers offer a clue to the soundscape experienced by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

ASHKELON, ISRAEL—According to a statement released by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, researchers led by Rachel Bar-Natan, Saar Ganor, and Fredrico Kobrin of the Israel Antiquities Authority have uncovered a Roman basilica complex in the ancient city of Ashkelon, which is located along southern Israel’s Mediterranean coastline. Ashkelon residents during the Roman period would have met for social and legal matters, transacted business, and attended performances and religious ceremonies at the basilica complex. The building, which had a roof and walls made of marble imported from Turkey, featured a central hall and two side halls. The central hall was surrounded with rows of marble columns and capitals standing approximately 43 feet tall. The capitals were adorned with plant motifs and eagles, the symbol of the Roman Empire, the researchers explained. The basilica was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 363 and abandoned

TULSA, OKLAHOMA—State Archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck announced that three additional burials were found at the site of a mass grave at Oklahoma’s Oaklawn Cemetery, according to a KJRH News report. The mass grave is thought to hold the remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, according to old funeral home records. An estimated 300 people were killed and 800 wounded on May 31 and June 1 when a white mob attacked businesses, homes, and churches in the area of Tulsa’s prosperous Black Wall Street. DNA testing of the remains will be conducted, Stackelbeck added.

REIMAGINE. RECREATE. RESTORE.

For too long, we have been exploiting and destroying our planet’s ecosystems. Every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch and over the last century we have destroyed half of our wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of our coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5°C.

Ecosystem loss is depriving the world of carbon sinks, like forests and peatlands, at a time humanity can least afford it. Global greenhouse gas emissions have grown for three consecutive years and the planet is one pace for potentially catastrophic climate change.

The emergence of COVID-19 has also shown just how disastrous the consequences of ecosystem loss can be. By shrinking the area of natural habitat for animals, we have created ideal conditions for pathogens – including coronaviruses – to spread.

With this big and challenging picture, the World Environment Day is focus in the ecosystem restoration and its theme is “Reimagine. Recreate.Restore.”

Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea.

Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity.

Investing in ecosystems is investing in our future

World Environment Day 2021, which counts with Pakistan as the host country this year for its official celebrations, calls for urgent action to revive our damaged ecosystems.

From forests to peatlands to coasts, we all depend on healthy ecosystems for our survival. Ecosystems are defined as the interaction between living organisms – plants, animals, people – with their surroundings. This includes nature, but also human-made systems such as cities or farms.

Ecosystem restoration is a global undertaking at massive scale. It means repairing billions of hectares of land – an area greater than China or the USA – so that people have access to food, clean water and jobs.

It means bringing back plants and animals from the brink of extinction, from the peaks of mountains to the depths of the sea.

But it also includes the many small actions everyone can take, every day: growing trees, greening our cities, rewilding our gardens or cleaning up trash alongside rivers and coasts.

Restoring ecosystems carries substantial benefits for people. For every dollar invested in restoration, at least seven to thirty dollars in returns for society can be expected. Restoration also creates jobs in rural areas where they are most needed.

Some countries have already invested in restoration as part of their strategies to bounce back from COVID-19. Others are turning to restoration to help them adapt to a climate that is already changing.

According to the Pasargad Heritage Foundation Recently Mohammad Hassan Talebian, the deputy director of Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, stated at a news conference that the Iraqi government has invited Iran to assist in the repair and conservation of the Kasra Arch.

The statement by Mohammad Talebian seems imply that Iraq has not paid attention to the destruction and damage to the Kasra Arch. However, as WCHV has been following and reporting on this story over the last decade, the Iraqi Cultural Heritage Organization has in fact repeatedly asked Iran for help in the work on the preservation and repair of Kasra Arch. Many Iranian lovers of cultural heritage and abroad have regularly asked for help from the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization, but the officials of the Cultural Heritage Organization were completely silent in this regard.

In fact, the Pasargad Heritage Foundation has warned the Iranian people, and sent several letters to UNESCO, asking them to pay attention to the dire condition of Kasra Arch. UNESCO has always responded, “We try, but both countries must help.”

Finally, it has been reported that in the same meeting, Mohammad Talebian asked Iraq to renovate the tomb of Muslim Aqeel, one of the Shiite shrines, at the same time as they undertake the repairs to the Kasra Arch.

In the past 42 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has spent a considerable amount of money on government organizations to renovate and expand Shiite shrines and mosques, while ignoring and neglecting the destruction and deterioration of ancient and non-religious monuments. During this period hundreds of historical buildings have been destroyed.

Additional excerpts from the Pasargad Heritage Foundation reports:

http://worldculturalheritagevoices.org/open-letter-on-the-dire-condition-of-taq-kasra/

Turkish archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a structure, estimated to have been built in the 3rd century B.C., during an excavation in Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa, a historic train station on the Asian side.

The structure, discovered at the station’s waiting platforms, covers a large area and is apsidal in form, a feature common in ancient churches.

These remains give significant hints about Khalkedon, the ancient ‘Land of the Blind’ from some 2,500 years ago. While the site’s architecture does not lend any clues to its function, archaeologists believe it was considered sacred.

However, they also estimate that the building is the oldest architectural structure unearthed in these excavations. Speaking to Demirören News Agency, Mehmet Ali Polat, Chief archaeologist of the Haydarpaşa excavation, gave information about the field works and finds.

Remains were found in an area of 350,000 square meters, including the area surrounding the station, said Polat, adding that small finds, pots, coins dating from around 6 B.C. to the modern-day were found, all from various eras.

“This is the northwestern port of the ancient city of Khalkedon, a large structure that could be a warehouse. On the other side of the road, we see a group of buildings that could be a small summer palace,” Polat said.

The Haydarpaşa Train Station was shut down for restorations, in which ancient artifacts were unearthed, and since then, Haydarpaşa has been an excavation site.

The digs, started in 2018 by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry and Istanbul Archeological Museums, have been done with the utmost care for the last three years.

Digs revealing historical structures shed light on the deep roots of Anatolia and Istanbul, a cradle of civilizations.

The identity of the skeletal remains of a member of the 1845 Franklin expedition has been confirmed using DNA and genealogical analyses by a team of researchers from
the University of Waterloo, Lakehead University, and Trent University. This is the first member of the ill-fated expedition to be positively identified through DNA.

DNA extracted from tooth and bone samples recovered in 2013 were confirmed to be
the remains of Warrant Officer John Gregory, engineer aboard HMS Erebus. The
results matched a DNA sample obtained from a direct descendant of Gregory.

The remains of the officer were found on King William Island, Nunavut. “We now know
that John Gregory was one of three expedition personnel who died at this particular site,
located at Erebus Bay on the southwest shore of King William Island,” says Douglas
Stenton, adjunct professor of anthropology at Waterloo and co-author of a new paper
about the discovery.

“Having John Gregory’s remains being the first to be identified via genetic analysis is an
incredible day for our family, as well as all those interested in the ill-fated Franklin
expedition,” said Gregory’s great-great-great grandson Jonathan Gregory of Port
Elizabeth, South Africa. “The whole Gregory family is extremely grateful to the entire
research team for their dedication and hard work, which is so critical in unlocking pieces
of history that have been frozen in time for so long.”

Sir John Franklin’s 1845 northwest passage expedition, with 129 sailors on two ships,
Erebus and Terror, entered the Arctic in 1845. In April 1848, 105 survivors abandoned
their ice-trapped ships in a desperate escape attempt. None would survive. Since the
mid-19th century, skeletal remains of dozens of crew members have been found on
King William Island, but none had been positively identified.

To date, the DNA of 26 other members of the Franklin expedition have been extracted
from remains found in nine archaeological sites situated along the line of the 1848
retreat. “Analysis of these remains has also yielded other important information on these individuals, including their estimated age at death, stature, and health,” says Anne Keenleyside, Trent anthropology professor and co-author of the paper.
“We are extremely grateful to the Gregory family for sharing their family history with us
and for providing DNA samples in support of our research. We’d like to encourage other
descendants of members of the Franklin expedition to contact our team to see if their
DNA can be used to identify the other 26 individuals,” says Stenton.

Genealogical records indicated a direct, five-generation paternal relationship between
the living descendant and John Gregory. “It was fortunate that the samples collected
contained well-preserved genetic material, says Stephen Fratpietro of Lakehead’s
Paleo-DNA lab, who is a co-author.

Prior to this DNA match, the last information about his voyage known to Gregory’s
family was in a letter he wrote to his wife Hannah from Greenland on 9 July 1845 before
the ships entered the Canadian Arctic. This latest discovery helps to complete the story of the Franklin victims, says Robert Park, Waterloo anthropology professor and co-author. “The identification proves that Gregory survived three years locked in the ice on board HMS Erebus. But he perished 75 kilometers south at Erebus Bay.”

The remains of Gregory and two others were first discovered in 1859 and buried in
1879. The grave was rediscovered in 1993, and in 1997 several bones that had been
exposed through disturbance of the grave were placed in a cairn with a commemorative
plaque. The grave was then excavated in 2013 and after being analyzed, all the
remains were returned to the site in 2014 and placed in a new larger memorial cairn.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uow-fmo050521.php

According to a CNN report, continuing glacier melt has revealed additional World War I artifacts in a cave near the peak of Mount Scorluzzo in northern Italy. Twenty Austrian soldiers took shelter in the cave, which is located near the strategic Stelvio Pass, and camouflaged it from aerial view. Stefano Morosini of the University of Bergamo said the recently discovered artifacts include food containers, dishes, straw mattresses, coins, helmets, ammunition, newspapers, and animal skin jackets. “Soldiers had to fight against the extreme environment, fight against the snow or the avalanches, but also fight against the enemy,” Morosini said. The soldiers abandoned the cave in the last days of the war in November 1918. The remains of two men were found near the cave five years ago