Evidence from an archaeological excavation at Boudelo Abbey, once part of the medieval county of Flanders, Belgium, shows that the monks who lived there went to great lengths to cultivate the area's wetlands, building structures on artificially raised soil and providing new lands for occupation.

English spies in the employ of Henry VIII would never believe that their maps could lead to the re-discovery of forgotten and abandoned gardens in Scotland. Their maps, along with aerial photography, historic documents, and even poetry, were used by Marilyn Brown for her book Scotland's Lost Gardens.

Archaeologists for the Museum of London recently discovered 175 mass graves dating to around 1250, 100 years before the Black Plague. What killed over 10,000 people in England may have been an immense volcanic eruption.

Archaeologists excavating a late 5th century CE grave in Cambridgeshire, England have come across something completely uniquie - a women buried with a cow. This is the first known burial from this period of a woman with an animal in England, and the first case of anyone being buried with a cow.

In 2010 vandals damaged the fabled Holy Thorn tree of Glastonbury, England, said to have been a cutting of the thorn first planted by Joseph of Arimathea. Now the replacement tree, planted soon after, has also been vandalized.

An ancient yew tree, dating to the 14th century, has been identified at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The tree is believed to have been part of a large landscaped garden, and was planted just after the Black Death.

Was there a guinea pig sitting in the cage of a 16th century classroom? A new archaeological find proves it's possible. The 3rd ever early European guinea pig skeleton has been found in Belgium. Experts believe it was buried like a pet.

Cool Craniums is a source for all sorts of furs, pelts, hides, feathers, skulls, claws, teeth, bones, and horns. Nikki started this business in 2000 because of her hobby for collecting skulls, and her passion for teaching and sharing with others.  The online store is accessible on Flikr, and stock is always changing and updated.

It was good news and bad news for officials at Stirling Castle in Scotland. A wall retaining late 15th century garden terraces collapsed, but the collapse now affords the opportunity to investigate remnants of gardens made for James IV.

Longing to live the life of a British farmer during the reign of King James I? Now, while you may not be able to live it, you can certainly watch how a group of people take on the task of working a Jacobean farm. The 12-part series, Tales from the Green Valley, is available on YouTube.

Archaeologists continue to make new discoveries that shed light on the construction and use of Stonehenge. The latest discoveries are "evidence of two huge pits positioned on celestial alignment" marking the rising and setting of the sun.

How did Christopher Columbus really change history? Not by the "discovery" of the New world, but by ecological convulsion, the exchange of plants, animals and diseases between the two continents. Such is the premise of Charles C. Mann's new book 1493.

Parts of a 7th century "heavy plough" have been found in Kent, England. This discovery pushes back the first known instance of heavy plowing in England by several hundred years.

Craftsmen in Belgium have created Tapis de Fleurs, the world’s largest carpet of flowers. Flower carpets have been made in Belgium since 1971 in order to promote Belgium's flower industry.

On September 10, 2010, the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center at Monticello will host the 2010 Historic Plants Symposium as part of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello. The program will feature a dinner program “Come to Table,” Historic Plants in the American Kitchen" with  Rosalind Creasy.

This year's Fourth Annual Heritage Harvest Festival takes place Saturday, September 11, 2010 with a series of workshops, demonstrations, and presentations.

While in power, Saddam Hussein drained the vast marshes of southern Iraq, destroying the ancient way of life of the people there and removing the habitat of many wild species. Now, the land and its culture have partially recovered, thanks to the efforts of both local people and Iraqi conservationists.

Do you take that morning cup of coffee for granted? Do you think coffee has always been there? Not so! According to the website of the Roast & Post Coffee Company, coffee was "not discovered until around 600 CE in the Middle East and only came into Europe in the 16th Century."

Amy Barclay de Tolly and Peggy Trowbridge of the Home Cooking Guide website offer information on edible flowers including which of the plants are safe to eat.

A new study of the landscape around Stonehenge seems to suggest that Stonehenge was once surrounded by two low, concentric hedges. The media have dubbed the foliage "Stonehedge."

An article on Boston.com looks at the power of purifying fire in European myth and imagination in two festivals, Up Helly Aa and the Feast of Saint Anthony the Great. (22 large photos)

Be sure and mark your calendars for SAFF 2009:

Archaeologists working on a dig at the Cistercian Bective Abbey in Co Meath, Ireland believe they have evidence of the country's first environmentalists. The abbey monks, dependent on handouts from their neighbors, worked hard to become as self sufficient as possible.

Recent high-resolution geophysical surveys of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum in Norfolk, England, show that the town may have included agricultural areas, a discovery that contradicts earlier theories of the town's dense population. (graphic)

Dogs, cats and horses in the Scottish medieval town, a scholarly paper by Catherine Smith, looks at the presence of domesticated animals in medieval life. The paper studies recent discoveries at archaeological sites.

A new study by James Barrett from Cambridge University's McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, shows that around 1,000 C.E., medieval people were forced to begin fishing in the ocean due to a shortage of fresh water fish.

New research by experts at the University of Cordoba and the School of Arabic Studies seems to indicate that the first tulips in Europe were brought to Islamic Spain by way of Byzantium. The bulbs could then have been brought to Holland, where they became the country's symbol.

What do you do when the calendar says it's spring, but a glance out of the window says it's still winter? You put on a sweater and hope for the sunshine. But what if you are a sheared sheep...?

Leave it to the Welsh! With a little help from Samsung, a group of ingenious shepherds in Wales have created art - and entertainment - from some LEDs and a flock of sheep.

A recent archaeological dig sponsored by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives and the ARTeHIS Laboratory (CNRS/Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Université de Bourgogne) shows that the production of burgundy wine near Dijon, France dates to Roman times.