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Japanese Authorities Urge Caution after Wild Bears Attack Several People

A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
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Japanese Authorities Urge Caution after Wild Bears Attack Several People

A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

Japanese authorities have warned residents Saturday to be aware of wild bears in the country's northeast after several people were attacked, including police officers.
The bears, measuring about 50 centimeters in height, were seen in the area, including Akita and Fukushima Prefectures.
Two police officers were attacked Saturday in the city of Kazuno in Akita while recovering the body of a missing man, according to Japanese media reports. The man had gone hunting for bamboo shoots in the mountains a few days earlier where he was found dead in the area with gash wounds. It remains unclear if he died due to a bear attack.
The officers are in serious condition, though not life-threatening, reports said.
In response, some wooded areas have been closed off in Kazuno "for an indefinite time,” The Associated Press quoted officials as saying in a statement.
News footage showed police officers putting up signs warning people to stay out of mountainous areas where the bears were sighted.
Over the weekend, patrol cars were dispatched together with a helicopter search to locate the bears.
Akita Prefectural Police have urged people to keep bells and other noise-producing devices on hand to scare the bears away in case of an encounter, and not to go out at night.
Thousands of Asiatic black bears live in the wild throughout Japan. Attacks have risen as the borders blur between the bears’ habitats and people’s dwellings. The scarcity of acorns, berries and other food, possibly connected to climate change, is also blamed for the surge in bear encounters.

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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA

The excavation of a large Viking-era burial site in Denmark has unearthed 50 unusually well-preserved skeletons that archaeologists expect will help shed light on the lives of the Nordic people best known for their seafaring exploits in the Middle Ages.

The skeletons, discovered near Denmark's third-largest city Odense, were kept intact by high water levels and favorable soil conditions that prevented them from decomposing, according to Michael Borre Lundoe, the excavation leader from Museum Odense, Reuters reported.

"Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods. But here we have the skeletons fully preserved," said Lundoe.

"The skeletons are so amazing. They are so well preserved. There are five fingers, five toes. And that opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries," he said.

Rare artifacts such as knives, glass pearls and brooches dated between year 850 to 970 were also found at the excavation, which began six months ago.

Lundoe said the grave gifts indicate most of the people were part of a small community of farmers, although a woman of higher status was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a piece of glass which was rare in the Viking Age.

Archaeologists took soil samples to search for pollen to determine which season the person was buried in and what textiles they wore.

An x-ray of a soil block from the site revealed an oval brooch, an iconic Viking Age jewelry piece associated with women's garments, covered with wood and human remains.

On the back of another brooch with period-specific ornaments, mineralized woven textile fragments provided evidence of the type of dress worn in the Viking Age, the archaeologists said.

Most of the skeletons have been removed from the graves and packed in cardboard boxes at the museum to dry out before the examination and final cleaning.