This abalone shell was found with ocher and a grinding stone. The iron oxide was used as a pigment to paint bodies and walls, as well as to thicken glue.

Syrians walk in the Hamidiyah market, decorated with portraits of President Bashar Assad and national flags, in the capital Damascus on Oct. 5. The European Union has intensified economic sanctions against Syria, but the crackdown against anti-regime protesters is unlikely to stop, Syrians say.

Muesli Fusion for sale at the Rochester Public Market in Rochester, N.Y. Being a local brand has served owner Ian Szalinski well, but he has bigger plans for his cereal business.

This steel plant in Weirton, W.Va., was idled in 2009. The United Steelworkers union worries that a trade deal signed this week could result in more jobs lost.

U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) speaks as Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) listen during a hearing before the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee, also known as the supercommittee.

Opposition supporters hold a rally Wednesday in Moscow, with the Bolshoi Theater in the background. The demonstrators denounced Russia's parliamentary elections as a sham.

John Klein, 60, and Bernice Flournoy, 60, visited StoryCorps in Oakland, Calif.

In southern Arizona, troops take part in a large-scale search-and-rescue exercise called Operation Angel Thunder.

Bank of America's headquarters towers over the city center in Charlotte, N.C. Charlotte has long been one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, but now nearly one in 10 residents is out of work.