Archeologists left Karkemish after the start of World War One in 1914. Work started again after the war. But later came conflict between Turkish nationalists and French colonizers. Machine gun nests were built on the site. The landmines were buried there in the 1950s and later.

Over the years, statues, temples and other artifacts have been discovered and removed. Some of these objects are now in the Anatolian Museum of Civilizations in Ankara.

Today, Nicolo’ Marchetti says only five percent of the site has been investigated. That raises the possibility that many more artifacts may be found there. The professor looks forward to a newly developed Karkemish in the near future. He can imagine a beautiful park on the Euphrates River. He hopes it would attract many visitors, who will help poor local cities and villages.

In modern society, grandmothers are often asked to watch children. But a few million years ago, when primate grandmothers started doing that, they may have had a major effect on how human beings developed. Scientists believe it is a big reason why humans live much longer than other primates. They call it the “grandmother hypothesis.”

Kristen Hawkes is with the University of Utah.

“One of the things that’s really different about us humans, compared to our closest living relatives, the other great apes, is that we have these really long lifespans. We reach adulthood later and then we have much longer adult lives. And an especially important thing about that is that women usually live through the childbearing years and are healthy and productive well beyond.”