¶The tracks, preserved near an ancient lakeshore, appear to record eight Paranthropus boisei individuals occupying the same place at roughly the same time. Researchers describe the discovery as a snapshot of “fossil behavior” because, unlike bones that can accumulate over long periods, footprints can capture a brief moment in the lives of individuals.

¶I found this interesting not just for the implications to our understanding of “beside man” Paranthropus boisei (suggests they were taller and more socially organized than previously thought), but also for the insight reflected in the quote above. I never thought about how footprints differ from a pile of bones when studying paleontology, archaeology, or anthropology. Fascinating. Footprints, it seems, are like a photograph while a pile of bones could be more like an entire movie distilled into a single photograph.

¶Now I’ll be thinking about how I can use the question “is this a set of footprints or a pile of bones?” when studying something. It always helps me to think about what something truly is before trying to assign meaning to it.

¶The original paper mentioned in this article is available here.

¶Now, following a lengthy investigation, the missing artworks have been recovered, Italian officials announced on August 14. Police found them inside an empty television box at a home in Parma, Italy. Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the burglary.

¶(emphasis added)

¶“Lengthy”, of course, is relative. Here, Italian police appear to have investigated the theft for five long months (the heist occurred in late March of this year), eventually recovering the stolen works. Meanwhile, after 36 years, none of the works stolen in the Gardner museum heist have been recovered. Presumably, Boston police are still investigating.

¶I remain hopeful that I’ll see Rembrant’s Storm on the Sea of the Galilee in a museum someday.

¶Archaeologists have identified around 700 objects and fragments, including numerous silver ingots, arm rings, 47 complete coins and coin fragments, pieces of cut silver and a small Thor’s hammer.

¶Now that’s a hell of a pile of bones.