A new study from archaeologists at University of Sydney and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, has provided important new evidence to answer the question “Who exactly were the Anglo-Saxons?”
Tag: Archaeology
New fossil discovery from Israel points to complicated evolutionary process
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Analysis of recently discovered fossils found in Israel suggest that interactions between different human species were more complex than previously believed, according to a team of researchers including Binghamton University anthropology professor Rolf Quam. The research team,…
Did the ancient Maya have parks?
The ancient Maya city of Tikal was a bustling metropolis and home to tens of thousands of people.
Tiny ancient bird from China shares skull features with Tyrannosaurus rex
Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a 120-million-year-old partial fossil skeleton of a tiny extinct bird that fits in the palm of the hand and preserves a unique…
Bronze Age Scandinavia’s trading networks for copper settled
Crossing the North Sea before crossing the Alps!
New discovery shows Tibet as crossroads for giant rhino dispersal
The giant rhino, Paraceratherium , is considered the largest land mammal that ever lived and was mainly found in Asia, especially China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. How this genus dispersed across Asia was long a mystery, however. A new discovery…
At underwater site, research team finds 9,000-year-old stone artifacts
An underwater archaeologist from The University of Texas at Arlington is part of a research team studying 9,000-year-old stone tool artifacts discovered in Lake Huron that originated from an obsidian quarry more than 2,000 miles away in central Oregon.
National Geographic Society grant to fund research into Easter Island
Binghamton University anthropologists Robert DiNapoli and Carl Lipo received a $60,280 grant from the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration to explore how ancient populations managed freshwater scarcity.
Light in darkness: an experimental look at Paleolithic cave lighting
A recreation of three common types of Paleolithic lighting systems (torches, grease lamps, and fireplaces) illuminates how Paleolithic cave dwellers might have traveled, lived, and created in the depths of their caves, according to a study published June 16, 2021…
Ten years of ancient genome analysis has taught scientists ‘what it means to be human’
A ball of 4,000-year-old hair frozen in time tangled around a whalebone comb led to the first ever reconstruction of an ancient human genome just over a decade ago
At underwater site, research team finds 9,000-year-old stone artifacts
Underwater archaeology team finds ancient obsidian flakes 2,000 miles from quarry
Barks in the night lead to the discovery of new species
The raucous calls of tree hyraxes — small, herbivorous mammals — reverberate through the night in the forests of West and Central Africa, but their sound differs depending on the location. Tree hyraxes living between the Volta and Niger rivers…
Sealed, signed and delivered
Hebrew University archaeologists unveil 7,000-year-old seal impressions used for commerce and protection of property
Indigenous mortality following Spanish colonization did not always lead to forest regrowth
A new study, published now in Nature Ecology and Evolution , draws on pollen records from tropical regions formerly claimed by the Spanish Empire in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, to test the significance and extent of forest regrowth…
Researchers link ancient wooden structure to water ritual
A Cornell University team led by Sturt Manning, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Classics and director of the Tree-Ring Laboratory, used dendrochronology and a form of radiocarbon dating called “wiggle-matching” to pinpoint, with 95% probability, the years in which an ancient wooden structure’s two main components were created: a lower tank in 1444 B.C., and an upper tank in 1432 B.C. Each date has a margin of error of four years.
Ceramics provide insights into medieval Islamic cuisine
Organic residue indicates a diverse and varied culinary culture across Sicily
How the amphibians got their vertebrae
Ancient amphibians evolved stiffer intervertebral joints for aquatic lives
Researchers pinpoint substantial historical sea level changes in the Southern Levant
Researchers pinpoint substantial historical sea level changes in the Southern Levant – describing a 2.5m rise to present levels around 2,000 years ago – with archeological implications. ### Article Title: New relative sea-level (RSL) indications from the Eastern Mediterranean: Middle…
Discovery of the oldest plant fossils on the African continent!
A new study describes a particularly diverse fossil flora from 400 million year ago.
UNF archaeology uncovering lost Indigenous NE Florida settlement of Sarabay
UNF archaeology researchers are uncovering the lost Indigenous NE Florida settlement of Sarabay Jacksonville, Fla. – The University of North Florida archaeology team is now fairly confident they have located the lost Indigenous northeast Florida community of Sarabay, a settlement…
Paleontologists for the first time discover the pierced skull of a Pleistocene cave bear
Russian paleontologists discovered the skull of a Pleistocene small cave bear with artificial damage in the Imanay Cave (Bashkiria, Russia).
Indigenous peoples were stewards of the Western Amazon
Study points to a history of indigenous sustainable use of the Western Amazon stretching back 5,000 years
10,000-year-old DNA pens the first tales of the earliest domesticated goats
New research has revealed the genetic makeup of the earliest goat herds. The findings, assimilated from DNA taken from the remains of 32 goats that died some 10,000 years ago in the Zagros mountains, provide clues to how early agricultural…
Study sheds light on pre-Columbian life in understudied area of SW Amazon
Evidence showing intensive land use for farming and fishing more than 3,500 years ago helps researchers better understand the history of a culturally significant area and is counter to the often-held notion of a pristine Amazon before Europeans arrived
Ancient chickens lived significantly longer than modern fowl because they were seen as sacred, not food — study shows
Ancient chickens lived significantly longer than their modern equivalents because they were seen as sacred – not food – archaeologists have found. Experts have developed the first reliable method of finding the age of fowl who lived thousands of years…
Stone Age raves to the beat of elk tooth rattles?
“Ornaments composed of elk teeth suspended from or sown on to clothing emit a loud rattling noise when moving,” says auditory archaeologist and Academy of Finland Research Fellow Riitta Rainio from the University of Helsinki. “Wearing such rattlers while dancing…
Researchers figured out how the ancestors of modern horses migrated
Molecular biologists studied the DNA of ones that migrated from North America to Eurasia and back
Oldest human traces from the southern Tibetan Plateau in a new light
Stone tools have been made by humans and their ancestors for millions of years. For archaeologists these rocky remnants – lithic artefacts and flakes – are of key importance. Because of their high preservation potential they are among the most…
Newly discovered African ‘climate seesaw’ drove human evolution
While it is widely accepted that climate change drove the evolution of our species in Africa, the exact character of that climate change and its impacts are not well understood. Glacial-interglacial cycles strongly impact patterns of climate change in many…
A non-invasive procedure allows obtaining archaeological information without excavating
The research, led by members of the CaSEs research group and published in PLOS ONE, represents the first application of pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence analysis), combined with geostatistical data analysis, to anthropogenic sediments in Africa.
Jebel Sahaba: A succession of violence rather than a prehistoric war
Since its discovery in the 1960s, the Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile Valley, Sudan), 13 millennia old, was considered to be one of the oldest testimonies to prehistoric warfare.
Study sheds light on population history of northern east Asia
A study led by research groups of Prof. FU Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. ZHANG Hucai from Yunnan University covers the largest temporal transect of population dynamics…
Archaeology: Prehistoric violence at Jebel Sahaba may not have been single event
Reanalysis of the prehistoric cemetery Jebel Sahaba (Sudan), one of the earliest sites showing human warfare (13,400 years ago), suggests that hunter-fisher-gatherers engaged in repeated, smaller conflicts. The findings are published in Scientific Reports. Healed trauma on the skeletons found…
Dinosaur-age fossils provide new insights into origin of flowering plants
Flowering plants (angiosperms) dominate most terrestrial ecosystems, providing the bulk of human food. However, their origin has been a mystery since the earliest days of evolutionary thought. Angiosperm flowers are hugely diverse. The key to clarifying the origin of flowers…
Ancient fish bones reveal non-kosher diet of ancient Judeans, say researchers
Ancient Judeans commonly ate non-kosher fish surrounding the time that such food was prohibited in the Bible, suggests a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Tel Aviv . This finding sheds new light on the origin of Old Testament dietary…
Forensic archaeologists begin to recover Spanish Civil War missing bodies
Forensic archaeologists and anthropologists from Cranfield University have started to recover the bodies of victims executed by the Franco regime at the end of the Spanish Civil War during an excavation in the Ciudad Real region of Spain. The team…
Finding the first flower from Northwest China
“Abominable mystery” — the early origin and evolution of angiosperms (flowering plants) was such described by Charles Robert Darwin. So far, we still have not completely solved the problem, and do not know how the earth evolved into such a…
National Academy of Sciences launches new open access journal, PNAS Nexus, in partnership with Oxford University Press
Karen Nelson to serve as inaugural editor-in-chief
Provenance: How an object’s origin can facilitate authentic, inclusive storytelling
Archivists assess, collect and preserve various artifacts and archive them to better understand their origin and cultural heritage.
Half of Guadeloupe’s snakes and lizards went extinct after European colonization
Researchers use fossil data to reveal the primary drivers and extent of colonial era extinctions
Swiss farmers contributed to the domestication of the opium poppy
Fields of opium poppies once bloomed where the Zurich Opera House underground garage now stands. Through a new analysis of archaeological seeds, researchers at the University of Basel have been able to bolster the hypothesis that prehistoric farmers throughout the…
Archaeologists teach computers to sort ancient pottery
Machine learns to categorize pottery comparable to expert archaeologists, matches designs among thousands of broken pieces
The Aqueduct of Constantinople: Managing the longest water channel of the ancient world
Aqueducts are very impressive examples of the art of construction in the Roman Empire. Even today, they still provide us with new insights into aesthetic, practical, and technical aspects of construction and use.
Scrap for cash before coins
How did people living in the Bronze Age manage their finances before money became widespread? Researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Rome have discovered that bronze scrap found in hoards in Europe circulated as a currency.
Prehistoric humans first traversed Australia by ‘superhighways’
An international team of scientists using a Sandia National Laboratories supercomputer in the largest reconstruction ever attempted of prehistoric travel has mapped the probable “superhighways” that led to the first peopling of Australia.
200-year-old poop shows rural elites in New England had parasitic infections
Study finds parasites in fecal samples from the 1830s-1840s in privy on Dartmouth’s campus
Prehistoric humans first traversed Australia by ‘superhighways’
Sandia supercomputer creates most detailed analysis ever of continental human migration
Newly discovered miocene biome sheds light on rainforest evolution
An international research group led by Prof. WANG Bo and Prof. SHI Gongle from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) collected approximately 25,000 fossil-containing amber samples and about 5,000 fossil plants in…
Climate crises in Mesopotamia prompted the first stable forms of State
During the Bronze Age, Mesopotamia was witness to several climate crises. In the long run, these crises prompted the development of stable forms of State and therefore elicited cooperation between political elites and non-elites.
We’ve been at it a long time
Few sites in the world preserve a continuous archaeological record spanning millions of years. Wonderwerk Cave, located in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert, is one of those rare sites.