8,000-year-old village sites found in China
Beijing: Chinese archaeologists have discovered ruins of 16 village house sites dating back to 8,400-7,800 years in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, state-run media reported on Wednesday. These house sites were found in the Simagou ruins with distinctive features of Yumin Culture, which was a civilisation between the Paleolithic Age and Neolithic Age and was first discovered in 2014 in the middle part of Inner Mongolia. The 16 house sites are mainly half crypts in a circle shape or rounded rectangle shape, Xinhua news agency reported. These house sites are of different sizes, with the diameters of the round-shape house sites measuring 3.3 meters to 4.5 meters, and for the rounded-rectangle sites, the lengths range from 4.4 to 5.2 meters and widths from 1.1 to 6.6 meters. Archaeologists have also unearthed over 500 items, including stone wares, bone tools and pottery shards from the ruins this year. Some animal bones and clamshells have also been found in the house sites. Hu Xiaonong, leader of the archaeological team, said the animal bones and stone wares found at the sites show that the production modes of the ancient villagers were mainly hunting and gathering. The findings have provided important materials for researching the region’s Yumin Culture, Hu said. (PTI)
Man arrested for seeking young girl for necrophilia, cannibalism
Miami: A Texan has been arrested after advertising online that he wanted to try necrophilia and cannibalism with a young girl. Alexander Barter, 21, was arrested after an undercover cop posing as a father willing to offer his daughter responded to the post on the dark web, police in Florida said Tuesday. “It’s probably the most unusual and the most disgusting case I’ve ever seen,” Wayne Ivey, the sheriff of Brevard County in Florida, told a press conference. The investigation began when a Brevard County police officer noticed a bizarre ad on the internet. (AFP)
Loose alligator captured in New York town
NEW YORK: Police in a New York state town performed an unusual capture when residents called to report a startling discovery: an alligator in a local park. Herb Maynard said he was walking with his family Monday at Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie when they spotted the 2-1/2-foot alligator in a pile of leaves. “Knowing these creatures are cold-blooded animals, I considered it probably would be very sluggish in its movements,” Maynard told the Poughkeepsie Journal. “Rather than to pick it up myself and cause alarm with passersby, I quietly asked my daughter to take some photos and call 911 to have this poor creature taken to a shelter.” Poughkeepsie Police Officer Robert Haberski said he was able to safely capture the alligator by approaching it from behind and taping its mouth shut with the help of another officer. The alligator was given a new temporary home at the Two by Two Zoo in Pleasant Valley. The origins of the alligator remain unknown. (Agencies)