24 ARCHAEOLOGY • March/April 2018
WORLD ROUNDUP BY JASON URBANUS
PERU: As the Incas expanded
their empire, they forcibly
removed rebellious tribes to
maintain a region’s stability. The
Chachapoyas of northern Peru,
known as the Warriors of the
Clouds, were thought to have
disappeared
after suffer-
ing this fate
in the 15th
century.
However, a
new genetic
and linguis-
tic study
has revealed that pockets of the
population living there today
retain genetic links to ancient
Chachapoyas. Contrary to histori-
cal accounts, the Chachapoyas
were apparently able to survive
dispersal and assimilation after
the Inca conquest.FRANCE:
Several miles
southwest
of their dio-
cese, the
bishops of
Thérouanne
enjoyed a lavish country retreat.
Built in the 14th or 15th century near
the shores of the Aa River in Saint-
Martin-d’Hardinghem, the property
was recently investigated prior to
the installation of modern flood-pre-
vention infrastructure. The central
house was surrounded by a 40-foot-
wide moat and contained a large
ceremonial room. More than 2,100
square feet of rare and ornate tile
flooring that depicts human, animal,
and geometric motifs has survived.VENEZUELA: Thanks in part to historically low water levels,
researchers have been able to document a large corpus of
rock art located along a section of Venezuela’s Orinoco River
known as the Atures Rapids. Drone photography recorded
most of the engravings for the first time, which include scenes
of humans, animals, and cultural traditions. One massive panel
contains 93 individual characters across 3,200 square feet of
rock. Although still unsure of the engravings’ dates, experts
believe they were created in both the pre-Columbian and
colonial periods.ARIZONA: A new theory is chal-
lenging the long-held idea that
Native American groups living in
the Grand Canyon region 1,000
years ago relied predominantly
on corn for subsistence. Instead,
research suggests that prehistoric communities set controlled
fires to burn off the grasses and weeds along the canyon’s
forested rim. This stimulated the growth of edible plants
such as amaranth and chenopodium, wild relatives of quinoa.
These plants likely dominated local diets at that time, as pol-
len analysis of ceramic storage vessels has indicated.ENGLAND: Perhaps medieval Englanders
should have shunned fur. Genetic testing on the
skull of a woman who died in Suffolk between
885 and 1015 revealed that she suffered from a
strain of leprosy carried by red squirrels. Cases
of leprosy were particularly prevalent in East
Anglia during that period. The region’s close ties with Viking trad-
ers and the demand for prized Scandinavian squirrel fur may have
been responsible for the disease’s introduction, and the bushy-tailed
rodents may inadvertently have passed it on to humans.