New Scientist reports today that inhabitants of the former Roman Empire have much lower levels of a gene variant that protects against the virus that causes AIDS -
CCR5-Delta32 to be exact. Previously, this genetic mutation had been attributed to the spread of the
Black Death.
posted by Lizc
on Sep 4, 2008 -
16 comments
Before the Berlin Wall, there was Hadrian's Wall, one of the most successful attempts ever to keep noisy neighbours at bay. It's still an
impressive sight, even though most of its stone has been recycled over the centuries. Nothing beats
walking it in person, but thanks to the web you can see a
3D VRML model of one of its forts, read about the
digital imaging of thousands of written documents unearthed at
another, and even read a 2000-year-old request to "
send me some cash as soon as possible".
posted by rory
on Sep 19, 2002 -
9 comments
Mmmmm. Hu-ming. A British archaeologist finds evidence that cannibalism still existed amongst the Celts as recently as two thousand years ago, during Roman Times.
One grisly find includes a femur which had been split lengthways in order to scrape the marrow out. Tastemungus mates :)
posted by zeoslap
on Feb 28, 2001 -
6 comments