Free Republic

A trio of archaeologists from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, the French National Center for Scientific Research and the Institute of Research for Development, France, has found more than 100 pre-Hispanic religious sites that they believe are linked to ancient Andean cults in Bolivia. In their paper published in the journal Antiquity, Pablo Cruz, Richard Joffre and Jean Vacher, describe the sites they found and highlight one in particular that stood out from the rest.In this new effort, the researchers were studying hilltops in the Carangas region of Highland Bolivia, which was once home to pre-Hispanic people....

A canoe used for fishing and river travel, the waka tikai was discovered at the southern end of the beach. It took a couple of days to plan its excavation so that the seven-metre waka would not be damaged. Finding the whole length of a waka is fairly rare, as usually only sections are found, such as the prow or stern. Auckland Regional Council parks staff and locals carefully moved the waka on to a truck, which took it to a temporary home at the regional council depot. “It’s difficult to date the waka because it may have been created...