British researchers will soon begin an examination of the remains of Piltdown man – the world’s greatest scientific hoax – in order to reveal the identities of the perpetrators. The stained fragments of skull and teeth removed from the gravel pit at Piltdown a century ago will undergo infra-red, laser and spectrometer scanning to reveal their precise chemical composition and potentially implicate one or more of the hoax’s many suspects.

The antiquarian and archaeological enthusiast Charles Dawson was almost certainly involved, having found the initial pieces and, while being highly regarded at the time, having been subsequently shown to have perpetrated a large assortment of archaeological frauds with Piltdown man being “the culmination of a life’s work”. However other prime suspects include the famous author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Jesuit philosopher and palaeontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, Sir Arthur Keith and more recently Martin AC Hinton (Woodward’s assistant) whose initials were found upon a trunk containing fossils stained in the same manner as those of Piltdown man.

Genetic analysis has shown that modern humans interbred with not only the Neanderthals but also with the mysterious Denisovans of Asia, both of which vanished around 30,000 years ago. Genome comparisons concluded that humans outside of Africa carry an average of 2.5 percent Neanderthal DNA and that people from south-east Asia and Oceania also carry between 1 and 5 percent Denisovan DNA.

“In a sense, we are a hybrid species”
Chris Stringer – Research Leader, the Natural History Museum in London.

Other research suggests that inbreeding between the species was a rare occurrence due to the low percentage of Neanderthal DNA in the modern genome and that the level of Denisovan DNA present could be accounted for with as little as six couplings.

The Colosseum is to undergo a $31 million (25 million euro) restoration following reports that masonry and stone fell from the amphitheatre during the Christmas period. The Roman icon’s restoration will be sponsored by Italian fashion baron Diego della Valle in exchange for advertising rights. Works are scheduled to begin in March, however tensions remain between the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Restorers Association of Italy who have been sidelined from the project. Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, has cautioned that while privately-funded restoration is to be commended at a time when public budgets are being cut, it is important to address the urban management issues that are continuing to damage the monument.

Japanese businessman Yuzo Yagi has agreed to donate one million euros for the restoration of Rome’s Pyramid of Cestius. The pyramid was built in 12 B.C. following Rome’s conquest of Egypt as the burial place of magistrate Gaius Cestius. The project will also probe the pyramid for its reputed secret chambers as ultrasonic testing has previously revealed anomalous gaps within the structure. Mr Yagi has had business connections with Italy for more than 40 years and wants to fund the restoration to commemorate his links with Rome.

A joint Australian, New Zealand and Turkish project is excavating the battlefield of Gallipoli ahead of the 2015 centenary. Thus far ammunition casings, bullet-holed water bottles and many food tins have been recovered, although interestingly the latter were found only on the Australian side. In their lieu an Ottoman kitchen complete with a brick oven has been excavated on the Turkish side and Tony Sagona of Melbourne University believes the Ottoman army brought in food from the villages and cooked it on-site.

Dr Nicola Stern of La Trobe University, who will lead the project, has stated that “we know surprisingly little about how people actually lived in this landscape over 45,000 years – and that’s really what I’m trying to document by looking at the archaeological traces in the Mungo lunette.” The archival project has the support of the region’s indigenous groups who will work with Dr Stern and provide monitoring.

A video clip demonstrating the technique used can be seen here.

In related news, a recent study found that Neanderthals were overwhelmingly right-handed.