Enure01

We've read about excavations in Ireland and other places where precautions were taken to ensure the corpse didn't reanimate as a vampire or zombie. It turns out that England may have been afraid of the same thing. An archaeological dig at the abandoned medieval village of Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire had led a group of researchers to pose that theory.   

In the 1960s, when archaeologists worked to excavate the village, they found a strange group of human bones. These bones were buried outside the churchyard, near the end of one row of buildings. There were 137 bones in the excavated pit, belonging to at least 10 people, ranging in age from 2 or 3 to 50.

For many years, no one knew exactly what to make of these bones, but now a team of archaeologists from Historic England and the University of Southampton have published a new theory about them: these bodies were burned and mutilated after death to keep them from becoming reanimated corpses.

What led them to this idea? Read about the research at Atlas Obscura. 

Come to think of it, we've also posted a lot of stories about people being buried alive. No wonder people thought residents of graveyards might come back. It reminds one of an old joke.

(Image credit: Paul Allison)

We've featured a number of large mural artworks on Neatorama before, but this one titled "Floating World" by Ray Bartkus is different. Drawn on the side of a building in Marijampole, Lithiuania, the artwork is meant to be viewed as its reflection on the water.

View more over at Bartkus' website.

Redditor Backforward24 created this neat "Literature of the World" - a map composed of books from/about each nation of the world.

The selection of what book should represent each country is subjective, of course - it's impossible to boil down the literary history of a country to a single book, but nonetheless the work is quite impressive. See if you agree with the book/country pairings:

The Americas

Canada - Anne of Green Gables
U.S.A - To Kill a MockingBird
Mexico - Pedro Paramo
Guatemala - Men of Maize
Belize - Beka Lamb
Honduras - Cipotes
El Salvador - Bitter Grounds
Nicaragua - The Country Under my Skin
Costa Rica - La Isla de los hombres solos
Panama - Plenilunio
Colombia - 100 Years of Solitude
Venezuela - Dona Barbara
Guyana - Palace of the Peacock
Suriname - The Price of Sugar
French Guiana - Papillon
Ecuador - The Villager
Brazil - Dom Casmurro
Peru - Death in the Andes
Bolivia - Bronze Race
Paraguay - I the Supreme
Argentina - Ficciones
Chile - The House of the Spirits
Uruguay - Soccer in the Sun and Shadow
Cuba - Havana Bay
Haiti - Breath, Eyes, Memory
Dominican Republic - Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao
Bahamas - The Measure of a Man
Jamaica - A brief history of Seven Killings
Puerto Rico - When I was Puerto Rican
Lesser Antilles - Wide Sargasso Sea
Greenland - Islands, the Universe, Home

Europe & Russia

Norway - Hunger
Iceland - Jar City
Sweden - Gosta Berling’s Saga
Finland - The Unknown Soldier
Denmark - Feeling for Snow
Latvia - Nāvas Ena
Estonia - Truth and Justice
Lithuania - Black Sheep
Belarus - Voices from Chernobyl
Ukraine - Death and the Penguin
Moldova - A Siberian Education
Romania - Forest of the Hanged
Bulgaria - Under the Yoke
Poland - Pan Tadeusz
Germany - Buddenbrooks
Netherlands - The Discovery of Heaven
Belgium - The Sorrow of Belgium
Luxembourg - In Reality: Selected Poems
United Kingdom - Great Expectations
Ireland - Ulysses
Czech Republic - The Good Soldier
Slovakia - Rivers of Babylon
France - The Count of Monte Cristo
Spain - Don Quixote
Portugal - Baltasar and Blimunda
Austria - The Man Without Qualities
Switzerland - Heidi
Italy - The Divine Comedy
Slovenia - Alamut
Croatia - Cafe Europa
Hungary - Eclipse of the Crescent Moon
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Zlata’s diary
Serbia - Dictionary of the Khazars
Montenegro - Montenegro: A Novel
Albania - The General of the Dead Army
Macedonia - Freud’s Sister
Greece - The Iliad
Russia - War and Peace

Asia and The Middle East

Turkey - My Name is Red
Georgia - Knight in the Panther’s Skin
Armenia - The Fool
Azerbaijan - Blue Angels
Iran - Shahnameh
Iraq - The Corpses Exhibition and Other Stories
Syria - The Dark Side of love
Lebanon - The Hakawati
Israel - Mornings in Jenin
Syria - The Dark Side of Love
Kuwait - A Map of Home
UAE - The Sand Fish
Saudi Arabia - Cities of Salt
Qatar - The Emergence of Qatar
Yemen - The Hostage
Oman - The Turtle of Oman
Kazakhstan - The Book of Words
Turkmenistan - The Tale of Aypi
Uzbekistan - Chasing the Sea
Kyrgyzstan - Jamilia
Tajikistan - Hurramabad
Afghanistan - Kite Runner
Pakistan - The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Nepal - The Palpasa Cafe
India - The God of Small Things
Bhutan - the Circle of Karma
Bangladesh - A Golden Age
Myanmar - Smile as they Bow
Laos - In the Other Side of the Eye
Thailand - The Four Reigns
Vietnam - The Sorrows of War
Cambodia - First they Killed my Family
Taiwan - Green Island
Sri Lanka - Anil’s Ghost
Mongolia - The Blue Sky
North Korea - The Aquariums of Pyongyang
South Korea - The Vegetarian
Japan - Kokoro
China - The Dream of the Red Chamber
Malaysia - The Garden of Evening Mists
Brunei - Some Girls
Indonesia - This Earth of Mankind
Philippines - Noli Me Tangere
East Timor - The Redundancy of Courage

Australiz, New Zealand & The Pacific Islands

Australia - Cloudstreet
Papua New Guinea - Death of a Muruk
Vanuatu - Black Stone
Solomon Islands - Suremada
Fiji - Tales of the Tikongs
New Zealand - The bone People

Africas

Algeria - The Stranger
Libya - In the Country of Men
Egypt - Palace Walk
Morocco - The Sand Child
Mauritania - Silent Terror: A Journey into Contemporary African Slavery
Mali - Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali
Niger - Sarraounia
Chad - The Roots of Heaven
Sudan - Lyrics Alley
Nigeria - Things Fall Apart
Cameroon - The Old Man and the Medal
Central African Republic - Batouala
South Sudan - They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky
Ethiopia - Beneath the Lion's Gaze
Somalia - The Orchard of Lost Souls
Democratic Republic of the Congo - The Antipeople
Uganda - Abyssinian Chronicles
Kenya - Petals of Blood
Tanzania - Desertion
Angola - A Gloriosa Familia
Zambia - Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier
Mozambique - Sleepwalking Land
Zimbabwe - The House of Hunger
Namibia - Born of the Sun
Botswana - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
South Africa - Disgrace

View the large map over at Imgur.

Photo: Farrah Skeiky

Forget mushrooms, this Mario prefers whisky!

Mockingbird Hill, a Washington DC sherry bar transformed itself into a Super Mario Bros. Pop Up Bar, complete with bartenders dressed as your favorite plumbers and decor that would make Princess Peach feel quite at home.

"It's A Me, Amario" drink Photo: Farrah Skeiky via Drink Company

Photo: Farrah Skeiky

The back room has a King Koopa's Castle theme - via Drink Company

Globo has a YouTube video clip of the Super Mario Pop Up Bar (alongside the cherry blossom-themed pop up bar next door):

Harry Potter fans everywhere know that butterbeer is the go-to drink for witches and wizards and while you can buy a real-life version of it at the Wizarding Worlds in Universal Studios parks, most people can't get their fix at a theme park on a regular basis. If you're longing for that sweet buttery greatness and don't want to head to Orlando or Hollywood though, you're in luck -Yuengling's Ice Cream is now introducing a new butterbeer ice cream available at retailers through the country. The flavor consists of buttercream ice cream with a butterscotch swirl.

Read more about the ice cream on the Huffington Post

Think your apartment is bad? Take heart, at least you're not living in the bathroom.

The SFist spotted a rental listing for a small studio apartment in the Presidio Heights area of San Francisco. The landlord is asking for $2,000 a month, which is steep, but hey, that's the going rate for the most expensive rental market in the United States.

Here's the ad, which touts the studio as "quiet" and with "easy parking."

Looks like it's wide enough for a couch and not much else ...

And there's a nice built-in counter with stools, which is good because you can't fit a table or desk in the space. And the microwave is just an arm's reach from the shower - in case you need to heat something up while you take a shower in the morning.

All this for $2,000 a month, folks!

But hey, look at the bright side: the bathroom is really conveniently located!

Now this is a backyard firepit fit for Conan the Barbarian! Forget firelogs - keep yourself warm with fires fueled by burning the skulls of your enemies. But there's no need to vanquish Thulsa Doom and his armies - you can buy these skull "logs" over at Amazon - via The Awesomer and Valhalla's Chosen.

Justine Kobylka is a snake breeder who specializes in making creatures with new and fascinating scale patterns. Her newest creation took eight years to perfect, and it has made her quite famous on the internet as she created a snake adorned with emojis. 

(Video Link)

A lot of people dislike snakes, whether because they think they look gross, because they aren't cuddly or because they don't seem as loving as other pets, but these smiley pythons might change some of those perceptions (though they still won't feel very cuddly).

Via PetsLady

The Hipster movement has been all about craft- hand crafted clothing, craft beer and finely crafted food and cocktails made with raw, locally sourced and organic ingredients.

This craft mentality means most Hipsters don't go for packaged junk food like Twinkies, Slim Jims and Fruit by the Foot, so they're missing out on the best/worst crappy food products available today.

But if artist Dan Meth's rebranding project catches on Hipsters may soon start trading in their craft fruit leather for a tin of Fruit Par La Metre!

Dan's rebranded packages appeal to the Hipster's pretentious sensibilities and their love of new stuff in old timey looking packaging, so they can finally see what the crunchberries craze is all about.

See Artist Repackages Favorite Snack Foods For Hipsters here

Italy’s national rugby team has never beaten England. The Italians have played the English 23 times and they’ve lost 23 times. This weekend, England beat Italy, 36-15, in the Six Nations Championship, just as everyone expected they would. However, the unsurprising outcome of the game belies the controversial tactics…

Read more...

In the world of sports trading cards professional athletes get all the love, but what about all those professional actors who play athletes in movies and TV shows? Don't they deserve their own commemorative trading cards too?

Illustrator Cuyler Smith clearly agrees, because he has created artwork for two different sets of trading cards starring the stars in their sportiest roles.

There's a card for Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, Keanu Reeves as Shane Falco, Michael J. Fox as "Teen Wolf" Scott Howard, and Chevy Chase as Ty Webb in Caddyshack 1 and 2 too.

Na-na-na-na indeed sir! Cuyler's way too cool illustrations for Trading Cards 2, the trading card set of my unathletic dreams, is currently being shown at Gallery 1988 now through March 7th.

They'll sweep you off your feet!

-Via Laughing Squid

One of the greatest awards a restaurant can earn is a Michelin star, but in the case of Bourges' Bouche à Oreille, the award was a real surprise -largely because the restuarant is simply a small neighborhood diner. While the diner is good, it's by no means a gourmet, Michelin-star-level establishment. 

As it turns out the star was awarded by mistake as there was a mix up between the Bouche à Oreille in Bourges and the Bouche à Oreille in nearby Boutervilliers. The error was fixed after two days, but during that short period, the little greasy spoon was swamped with diners looking for the next great Michelin restaurant.

You can read most about the poor little diner and the fancy restaurant nearby over at Telegraph.

Via BoingBoing