A pair of  thigh-high leather boots that belonged to a man who died near the Thames River in southeast London some 500 years ago offers a rare glimpse of medieval work wear. Archaeological surveys conducted ahead of an overhaul of London’s sewer system unearthed the man’s skeleton—boots on, face down—in a deposit of mud on the river’s south bank. “While the boots may not have been prohibitively expensive for a working-class individual, they were well made and built to last,” says Beth Richardson, senior finds specialist for Museum of London Archaeology Headland Infrastructure. The height of the boots, a rarity for the period, indicates that the man made his living on the river, possibly as a fisherman, mud lark, or sailor. Researchers have turned up no evidence of foul play relating to his death, so whether he drowned after misjudging a current, suffered an injury, or fell into the river remains unclear.

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have investigated a site near the town of Beth Shean where a hiker spotted a rare limestone funerary bust dating to the third or fourth century A.D. poking out of the ground after a rainstorm. There, the archaeologists uncovered a second bust as well. Only a few dozen such busts are known. These are the first examples to have been found marking the graves for which they were sculpted.

To the Greeks and Romans, a red pigment known as miltos was a sort of multipurpose supersubstance. Ancient writers, from Theophrastus to Pliny, record that the finegrained, red iron oxide–based material was much sought after for use in decoration, cosmetics, agriculture, medicine, and even boat maintenance. A new study indicates that one of the reasons miltos was so versatile is that not all miltos was created equal.

An international team analyzed the mineralogy, geochemistry, and even microbiology of miltos samples recovered from the Greek islands of Kea and Lemnos, and has been able to identify subtle variations that made each sample suitable for a particular use. “Different sources produced different types of miltos,” says University of Glasgow archaeologist Effie Photos-Jones. “It was not a pure mineral but rather a combination of minerals. There are also variations in the microorganisms that live in the immediate vicinity of those minerals.” For example, some Kea miltos samples contain microorganisms that would have enhanced their use as a fertilizer. Others contain high concentrations of lead, which could help prevent growth of harmful biofilms and barnacles on ships’ hulls. One sample from Lemnos has traces of titanium dioxide, a known antibacterial compound, making it useful for medicinal purposes.