When the hardy evergreen trees of the Araucaria genus were first shipped from Australia and South America to the gardens of nineteenth-century Europe, they were dubbed “monkey puzzle” trees because of the challenge their needle-like leaves were said to pose to monkeys that attempted to climb them. University of Exeter archaeologist Mark Robinson and a team of ecologists recently discovered that the human relationship with these trees is a long and intimate one, dating back some 1,400 years. By studying carbon isotopes from archaeological sites in southern Brazil, Robinson’s team found that Araucaria forests began to expand well beyond their natural habitat at the same time the ancestors of today’s indigenous groups experienced a growth in population. Researchers could isolate no environmental explanation for the expansion, and concluded that ancient forestry practices were most likely responsible for the massive growth of the Araucaria forests.

These trees are still a critical source of timber, fuel, and edible seeds for indigenous people and play a central role in their cosmology. “They are often considered to embody ancestors,” says Robinson. Today, because of modern logging, there has been a 95 percent reduction in the range of Araucaria species, and most are now endangered. Robinson notes that since their ancestors played such a critical role in the growth of monkey puzzle forests in the ancient past, native peoples should be permitted to play a larger role in conservation efforts.

During excavations at Sanauli in the Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh, a team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) unearthed the remains of three chariots, along with a number of coffins and other objects they believe are almost 4,000 years old. “The discovery of chariots in burial pits is extremely important, as they put India on par with ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Greece where chariots were extensively used,” says S.K. Manjul, director of the ASI’s Institute of Archaeology. The three chariots are two-wheeled open vehicles that can be driven by one person. The dig has also unearthed eight burial sites and additional artifacts, including three coffins, swords, daggers, combs, and ornaments. The burial pits indicate that a warrior class thrived in this region, according to Manjul. “These excavations,” he says, “have proved that the chariots, swords, and helmets were used in wars, as they were in Mesopotamia in 2000 B.C.”

The 1.2-foot-long bronze index finger of a massive fourth-century statue currently on display at Rome’s Capitoline Museums, thought to depict the Roman emperor Constantine, has been rediscovered in the Louvre. Aurélia Azéma, now of the French Laboratory for Research on Historical Monuments, made the discovery after studying the finger—which came to Paris from a private collection in 1861 and was originally cataloged by curators as a “Roman toe”—for a doctoral dissertation on ancient bronze techniques. “The finger was an interesting case to illustrate manufacturing techniques, particularly the welding of colossal bronzes,” Azéma says.

Meanwhile, the pieces of the Constantine statue in Rome—which is thought to have stood nearly 40 feet tall—include an enormous head, a sphere, a left forearm, and a hand missing its palm, and were also important for her research. “In looking at the finger and comparing technological features with those of the Constantine statue, the similarities were everywhere,” she explains, “in size, casting, repairing, welding, and gilding.” The link between the finger and the statue was confirmed beyond all doubt when a team of Azéma’s colleagues from the Louvre and the French Center for Research and Restoration of Museums constructed a 3-D model of the finger and brought it to the Capitoline Museums for a fitting. “It was like two pieces of a puzzle,” Azéma says.