Archaeologists revealed yesterday that they have discovered the first evidence in the UK of stonework painted with a pattern, suggesting Neolithic people enjoyed decorating.
It comes a week after the researchers, working at the Brodgar peninsula on Orkney, found plain painted stones thought to be around 5,000 years old at the spot.
The site, described as a possible Neolithic temple precinct, is between the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Scientists give Bronze Age Gristhorpe Man a face and voice
ACADEMICS in Yorkshire have given a voice and a face to a man who died more about 4,000 years ago.
Using state-of-the-art computer programme and forensic techniques, scientists have reconstructed the face of the Gristhorpe Man.
The skeleton of the Bronze Age man, thought to be a warrior chief, was discovered in Gristhorpe, near Filey, in 1834, and boiled in horse glue to preserve it.
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Using state-of-the-art computer programme and forensic techniques, scientists have reconstructed the face of the Gristhorpe Man.
The skeleton of the Bronze Age man, thought to be a warrior chief, was discovered in Gristhorpe, near Filey, in 1834, and boiled in horse glue to preserve it.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
St Andrews scholar seeks secrets of Stonehenge's sister
Fife lecturer is part of a European team that has found a Stonehenge "twin," a discovery described as the most exciting of a lifetime at the prehistoric site.
Archaeologists have found a major ceremonial monument less than a kilometre from the stone circle near Salisbury.
The circular ditch, which probably held a ring of timber posts, may have been used for feasting and is within sight of its world-famous neighbour.
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Archaeologists have found a major ceremonial monument less than a kilometre from the stone circle near Salisbury.
The circular ditch, which probably held a ring of timber posts, may have been used for feasting and is within sight of its world-famous neighbour.
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Bulgarian Archaeologists Discover Wealthy Prehistoric Settlement
Bulgarian archaeologists have found what has been described as a “wealthy” 8000-year-old town close to the Danube city of Ruse.
The town, which flourished between 5 800 BC and 5 500 BC had well-organized streets and even two-storey houses with oak floors.
“The ceramics that we found here is of a very high-quality, and with no analogy compared to other settlements from this age. People of this period had taste, and we can say they had an aristocratic style,” explained archaeologist Dr. Svetlana Venelinova from the Regional History Museum in the city of Shumen.
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The town, which flourished between 5 800 BC and 5 500 BC had well-organized streets and even two-storey houses with oak floors.
“The ceramics that we found here is of a very high-quality, and with no analogy compared to other settlements from this age. People of this period had taste, and we can say they had an aristocratic style,” explained archaeologist Dr. Svetlana Venelinova from the Regional History Museum in the city of Shumen.
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Canadian archeologists revel in ‘mind-blowing’ dig in Turkey
TELL TAYINAT, Turkey — Every time archeologist James Osborne steps into the remains of the newly uncovered temple at Tell Tayinat, he can’t help but wonder about the people who walked those steps before him.
Did an ancient king mount them with great ceremony, proceeding into the most sacred chamber where very few could venture?
Did he sit on a dais and watch as priests consecrated clay tablets, perhaps even the one found last year by the University of Toronto archeological team here in southern Turkey?
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Did an ancient king mount them with great ceremony, proceeding into the most sacred chamber where very few could venture?
Did he sit on a dais and watch as priests consecrated clay tablets, perhaps even the one found last year by the University of Toronto archeological team here in southern Turkey?
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An archaeological window on ancient farming
EXCAVATIONS at Politiko-Troullia on the foothills of the Troodos mountains in the Nicosia district have brought to light a series of households around a large communal courtyard with evidence of intensive animal husbandry and crop processing, copper metallurgy and sophisticated ceramic technology during the Middle Bronze Age 2000-1500 BC.
The site was the predecessor of ancient Tamassos, the seat of a centrally important kingdom during the subsequent Iron Age.
According to the Antiquities Department, the archaeological deposits at Politiko-Troullia reach depths of up to four metres below the modern surface, making the site one of the deepest stratified sites in Cyprus.
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The site was the predecessor of ancient Tamassos, the seat of a centrally important kingdom during the subsequent Iron Age.
According to the Antiquities Department, the archaeological deposits at Politiko-Troullia reach depths of up to four metres below the modern surface, making the site one of the deepest stratified sites in Cyprus.
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Archaeology: 7000 year-old village found near Bulgarian town of Shoumen
A settlement dating back about 7000 years has been discovered by a hill near the village of Ivanovo, in Shoumen municipality, in eastern Bulgaria, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on July 26 2010.
The settlement, 900 sq m in area, lies between two rivers on the south face of the hill. In spite of its natural defences, the settlement was fortified with a defensive wall of "unusual shape", BNT said.
"The shape of the fortification was not circular or oval-like, which was typical for the time but an irregular pattern resembling an octagon," archaeologist Svetlana Venelinova said in a television interview for BNT.
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The settlement, 900 sq m in area, lies between two rivers on the south face of the hill. In spite of its natural defences, the settlement was fortified with a defensive wall of "unusual shape", BNT said.
"The shape of the fortification was not circular or oval-like, which was typical for the time but an irregular pattern resembling an octagon," archaeologist Svetlana Venelinova said in a television interview for BNT.
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Sunday, July 25, 2010
Discovered: Stone Age man's morning after the night before
Archaeologists in Wiltshire have discovered remarkable evidence of a spectacular party – enjoyed by Neolithic tribesmen 4,500 years ago.
Excavations at Britain's biggest "henge" site – a prehistoric religious complex 16 times the size of Stonehenge – have yielded the remains of dozens of pigs slaughtered for an ancient ceremonial feast.
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Excavations at Britain's biggest "henge" site – a prehistoric religious complex 16 times the size of Stonehenge – have yielded the remains of dozens of pigs slaughtered for an ancient ceremonial feast.
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Ancient woman suggests diverse migration
Associated Press Writer= MEXICO CITY (AP) — A scientific reconstruction of one of the oldest sets of human remains found in the Americas appears to support theories that the first people who came to the hemisphere migrated from a broader area than once thought, researchers say.
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History on Thursday released photos of the reconstructed image of a woman who probably lived on Mexico's Caribbean coast 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. She peeks out of the picture as a short, spry-looking woman with slightly graying hair.
Anthropologists had long believed humans migrated to the Americas in a relatively short period from a limited area in northeast Asia across a temporary land corridor that opened across the Bering Strait during an ice age.
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Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History on Thursday released photos of the reconstructed image of a woman who probably lived on Mexico's Caribbean coast 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. She peeks out of the picture as a short, spry-looking woman with slightly graying hair.
Anthropologists had long believed humans migrated to the Americas in a relatively short period from a limited area in northeast Asia across a temporary land corridor that opened across the Bering Strait during an ice age.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
World's Oldest Dog Debated
A dog jaw bone fossil found in a Swiss cave may be the oldest evidence of human-canine companionship.
Every dog has its day, but that day took more than 14,000 years to dawn for one canine. A jaw fragment found in a Swiss cave comes from the earliest known dog, according to scientists who analyzed and radiocarbon-dated the fossil.
Dog origins remain poorly understood, however, and some researchers say that dog fossils much older than the Swiss find have already been excavated.
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Every dog has its day, but that day took more than 14,000 years to dawn for one canine. A jaw fragment found in a Swiss cave comes from the earliest known dog, according to scientists who analyzed and radiocarbon-dated the fossil.
Dog origins remain poorly understood, however, and some researchers say that dog fossils much older than the Swiss find have already been excavated.
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Sister monument to Stonehenge may have been found
Scientists scouring the area around Stonehenge said Thursday they have uncovered a circular structure only a few hundred meters (yards) from the world famous monument.
There's some debate about what exactly has been found. The survey team which uncovered the structure said it could be the foundation for a circle of freestanding pieces of timber, a wooden version of Stonehenge.
But Tim Darvill, a professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University in southern England, expressed skepticism, saying he believed it was more likely a barrow, or prehistoric tomb.
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There's some debate about what exactly has been found. The survey team which uncovered the structure said it could be the foundation for a circle of freestanding pieces of timber, a wooden version of Stonehenge.
But Tim Darvill, a professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University in southern England, expressed skepticism, saying he believed it was more likely a barrow, or prehistoric tomb.
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Stonehenge Had Neighboring, Wooden Twin—More to Come?
Britain's Stonehenge once had a long-lost twin just a stone's throw away from the prehistoric monument, archaeologists announced Thursday.
The discovery, made completely without digging, suggests that now solitary Stonehenge may have been surrounded by "satellite Stonehenges," archaeologists say.
"This finding is remarkable," said survey-team leader Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "It will completely change the way we think about the landscape around Stonehenge."
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The discovery, made completely without digging, suggests that now solitary Stonehenge may have been surrounded by "satellite Stonehenges," archaeologists say.
"This finding is remarkable," said survey-team leader Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "It will completely change the way we think about the landscape around Stonehenge."
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Pictures: Stonehenge "Twin" Revealed
Just a stone's throw from Stonehenge, the remains of the British monument's long-lost timber twin—pictured in an artist's conception—have been found, archaeologists announced Thursday. (Full story: "Stonehenge Had Neighboring, Wooden Twin—More to Come?")
The discovery, made completely without digging, suggests that now solitary Stonehenge may have been surrounded by "satellite Stonehenges," archaeologists say.
"This finding is remarkable," said survey-team leader Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "It will completely change the way we think about the landscape around Stonehenge."
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The discovery, made completely without digging, suggests that now solitary Stonehenge may have been surrounded by "satellite Stonehenges," archaeologists say.
"This finding is remarkable," said survey-team leader Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "It will completely change the way we think about the landscape around Stonehenge."
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Stonehenge twin discovered stone's throw away
New wooden henge, a circular ditch that aligns with world-famous monument, deemed site's most exciting find in a lifetime
Without a sod of earth being dug up, a new henge, a circular ditch which probably enclosed a ring of timber posts and may have been used for feasting, has been discovered within sight of Stonehenge.
Professor Vince Gaffney, of Birmingham university, described the discovery of the new monument, only 900 metres away and apparently contemporary to the 5,000-year-old stone circle, as the most exciting find at Stonehenge in a lifetime.
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Without a sod of earth being dug up, a new henge, a circular ditch which probably enclosed a ring of timber posts and may have been used for feasting, has been discovered within sight of Stonehenge.
Professor Vince Gaffney, of Birmingham university, described the discovery of the new monument, only 900 metres away and apparently contemporary to the 5,000-year-old stone circle, as the most exciting find at Stonehenge in a lifetime.
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Stone Age Carving: Ancient Dildo?
Sex toys have come a long way since the Stone Age – but then again, perhaps not as much as we might think.
Last week, an excavation in Sweden turned up an object that bears the unmistakable look of a penis carved out of antler bone. Though scientists can't be sure exactly what this tool was used for, it's hard not to leap to conclusions. [See "Sex Myths and Taboos"]
"Your mind and my mind wanders away to make this interpretation about what it looks like – for you and me, it signals this erected-penis-like shape," said archaeologist Gšran Gruber of the National Heritage Board in Sweden, who worked on the excavation. "But if that's the way the Stone Age people thought about it, I can't say."
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Last week, an excavation in Sweden turned up an object that bears the unmistakable look of a penis carved out of antler bone. Though scientists can't be sure exactly what this tool was used for, it's hard not to leap to conclusions. [See "Sex Myths and Taboos"]
"Your mind and my mind wanders away to make this interpretation about what it looks like – for you and me, it signals this erected-penis-like shape," said archaeologist Gšran Gruber of the National Heritage Board in Sweden, who worked on the excavation. "But if that's the way the Stone Age people thought about it, I can't say."
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Archaeologists unearth Neolithic henge at Stonehenge
Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years.
The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.
Archaeologists conducting a multi-million pound study believe timber posts were in the pits.
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The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.
Archaeologists conducting a multi-million pound study believe timber posts were in the pits.
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Archaeologists find new structure at Stonehenge
Archaeologists have discovered a wooden version of British prehistoric monument Stonehenge at the same site, the project's leader told Reuters on Thursday.
Using radar, the archaeologists found a circular ditch less than one kilometer away from the iconic stone circle, which is thought to date back to the Neolithic period 2,000 to 4,000 years ago.
"This finding is remarkable," said project leader Vince Gaffney, professor of archaeology at the University of Birmingham.
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Using radar, the archaeologists found a circular ditch less than one kilometer away from the iconic stone circle, which is thought to date back to the Neolithic period 2,000 to 4,000 years ago.
"This finding is remarkable," said project leader Vince Gaffney, professor of archaeology at the University of Birmingham.
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Archaeologists find traces of wooden monument near Stonehenge
Archaeologists said yesterday they had found traces of a wooden structure built close to the British monument of Stonehenge, a stunning discovery that sheds new light on an ancient place of worship.
The prehistoric monument is said to be like a wooden "twin" of the collection of giant stones piled up on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, southwest England.
"This is probably the first major ceremonial monument that has been found in the past 50 years or so," said Vince Gaffney, a professor from the University of Birmingham, who is leading the archaeological dig.
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The prehistoric monument is said to be like a wooden "twin" of the collection of giant stones piled up on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, southwest England.
"This is probably the first major ceremonial monument that has been found in the past 50 years or so," said Vince Gaffney, a professor from the University of Birmingham, who is leading the archaeological dig.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Figurine found on Orkney could shed new light on life in 2500BC
It may turn out to be nothing more than a discarded and forgotten children’s toy, but a prehistoric clay figurine could be one of the most important archaeological finds in Scotland for years.
A Neolithic figurine has been discovered on Westray, in the Orkney Islands, almost a year since the celebrated Orkney Venus was discovered on the same islands.
The Orkney Venus figurine is the earliest carving of a human figure found in Scotland.
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A Neolithic figurine has been discovered on Westray, in the Orkney Islands, almost a year since the celebrated Orkney Venus was discovered on the same islands.
The Orkney Venus figurine is the earliest carving of a human figure found in Scotland.
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Marden Henge dig uncovers 4,500-year-old dwelling
A dwelling, thought to be 4,500 years old, has been discovered by archaeologists in Wiltshire.
Excavation work at the prehistoric site of Marden Henge, near Devizes, started three weeks ago and experts say the find has "exceeded expectations".
Marden Henge no longer has any standing stones and is said to be one of Britain's least understood ancient sites.
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Excavation work at the prehistoric site of Marden Henge, near Devizes, started three weeks ago and experts say the find has "exceeded expectations".
Marden Henge no longer has any standing stones and is said to be one of Britain's least understood ancient sites.
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Sunday, July 18, 2010
Second figure found at Noltland dig
A Neolithic partner to the celebrated Orkney Venus has been discovered on the islands, it has emerged.
The Orkney Venus figurine was revealed in August last year and is the earliest carving of a human figure found in Scotland.
Historic Scotland said a second, headless figurine has been discovered by archaeologists at the Links of Noltland dig on Westray.
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The Orkney Venus figurine was revealed in August last year and is the earliest carving of a human figure found in Scotland.
Historic Scotland said a second, headless figurine has been discovered by archaeologists at the Links of Noltland dig on Westray.
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Second Orkney Venus found at Orkney dig
Archaeologists have unearthed a second ancient figurine at a dig on Orkney.
The discovery was made at the same site as the Orkney Venus, the earliest representation of a human figure to be found in Scotland.
The Orkney Venus, a 5,000-year-old female carving which was found last summer, was just 4cm tall and composed of sandstone.
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The discovery was made at the same site as the Orkney Venus, the earliest representation of a human figure to be found in Scotland.
The Orkney Venus, a 5,000-year-old female carving which was found last summer, was just 4cm tall and composed of sandstone.
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Neolithic art find at Cambridgeshire village quarry dig
A piece of Neolithic rock art has been unearthed during a weekend geological course in Cambridgeshire.
The hand-sized artefact discovered in the village of Over is unlike anything previously found in the east of England, Cambridge University said.
It consists of a slab of weathered sandstone with two pairs of concentric circles etched into the surface.
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The hand-sized artefact discovered in the village of Over is unlike anything previously found in the east of England, Cambridge University said.
It consists of a slab of weathered sandstone with two pairs of concentric circles etched into the surface.
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Drought shows up south Oxfordshire bronze age graves
THE hot dry weather is revealing some of Oxfordshire’s Bronze Age history normally hidden from view.
Hot air balloon pilot Michael Wolf, of Reading Road, Wallingford, was training another pilot near North Stoke when they spotted several dark circles in a farmer’s field.
Crops had grown at different speeds because of ancient ditches hidden beneath the soil which once surrounded prehistoric burial mounds.
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Hot air balloon pilot Michael Wolf, of Reading Road, Wallingford, was training another pilot near North Stoke when they spotted several dark circles in a farmer’s field.
Crops had grown at different speeds because of ancient ditches hidden beneath the soil which once surrounded prehistoric burial mounds.
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Cambridgeshire Quarry throws up 4,500-year-old find
A remarkable piece of Neolithic rock art, unlike anything previously found in Eastern England, has been unearthed in the Cambridgeshire village of Over.
The hand-sized artefact, which could date back to 2,500 BC, was found by a participant in a geological weekend course which was being run by the University of Cambridge's Institute for Continuing Education.
It consists of a hand-sized slab of weathered sandstone with two pairs of concentric circles etched into the surface - a motif which, according to archaeologists, is typical of "Grooved Ware" art from the later Neolithic era.
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The hand-sized artefact, which could date back to 2,500 BC, was found by a participant in a geological weekend course which was being run by the University of Cambridge's Institute for Continuing Education.
It consists of a hand-sized slab of weathered sandstone with two pairs of concentric circles etched into the surface - a motif which, according to archaeologists, is typical of "Grooved Ware" art from the later Neolithic era.
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Human lineage split from monkeys later than thought: study
The last ancestor shared by monkeys and humans probably lived between 28 and 24 million years ago, several million later than previously thought, fossils unveiled Wednesday have revealed.
A partial skull of the unknown species, found in western Saudi Arabia, rewrites the timeline of primate evolution and fills in a yawning gap in the fossil record, the researchers said.
Up to now, genome-based analysis put the split between hominoids -- which includes apes and humans -- and cercopithecoids, or so-called Old World monkeys, at 35 to 30 million years ago.
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A partial skull of the unknown species, found in western Saudi Arabia, rewrites the timeline of primate evolution and fills in a yawning gap in the fossil record, the researchers said.
Up to now, genome-based analysis put the split between hominoids -- which includes apes and humans -- and cercopithecoids, or so-called Old World monkeys, at 35 to 30 million years ago.
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New Species Changes Idea on When Humans, Monkeys Split
Our lineage might have diverged from our monkey relatives later than previously thought, a new primate fossil from Saudi Arabia now suggests.
One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.
"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience. Our lineage might have diverged from our monkey relatives later than previously thought, a new primate fossil from Saudi Arabia now suggests.
One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.
"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience.
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One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.
"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience. Our lineage might have diverged from our monkey relatives later than previously thought, a new primate fossil from Saudi Arabia now suggests.
One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.
"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience.
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Woolly mammoth hunters helped change climate
Ancient hunters who stalked the world's last woolly mammoths likely helped warm the Earth's far northern latitudes thousands of years before humans began burning fossil fuels, according to a study of prehistoric climate change.
The demise of the leaf-chomping woolly mammoths contributed to a proliferation of dwarf birch trees in and around the Arctic, darkening a largely barren, reflective landscape and accelerating a rise in temperatures across the polar north, researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science concluded.
The northward march of vegetation affected the climate because of the "albedo effect," in which replacement of white snow and ice with darker land surfaces absorbs more sunlight and creates a self-repeating warming cycle, the study found.
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The demise of the leaf-chomping woolly mammoths contributed to a proliferation of dwarf birch trees in and around the Arctic, darkening a largely barren, reflective landscape and accelerating a rise in temperatures across the polar north, researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science concluded.
The northward march of vegetation affected the climate because of the "albedo effect," in which replacement of white snow and ice with darker land surfaces absorbs more sunlight and creates a self-repeating warming cycle, the study found.
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Rare Stone Age Find
Archaeologists from the University of Helsinki are carrying out excavations of what they say is a unique Stone Age site at Järvenkylä in Virolahti in the far south-eastern part of the country.
The most striking feature of the site is the remains of an exceptionally large dwelling that the scientists describe as a "terraced house", in some ways like those found in many modern suburbs.
The original find was made three years ago while archaeologists were carrying out a field inventory of medieval period remains in the area .
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The most striking feature of the site is the remains of an exceptionally large dwelling that the scientists describe as a "terraced house", in some ways like those found in many modern suburbs.
The original find was made three years ago while archaeologists were carrying out a field inventory of medieval period remains in the area .
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New discovery at Sedgeford dig
It looks more like a scene from CSI.
Yesterday a small tent marked the site were people in white boiler suits meticulously worked over a body trying not to contaminate any DNA.
Yet far from being a crime scene, it is the latest discovery at the long-running archaeological dig in Sedgeford.
Just days into this year's season another piece of the historical jigsaw, a second skeleton - thought to date back to the Bronze Age - has been unearthed.
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Yesterday a small tent marked the site were people in white boiler suits meticulously worked over a body trying not to contaminate any DNA.
Yet far from being a crime scene, it is the latest discovery at the long-running archaeological dig in Sedgeford.
Just days into this year's season another piece of the historical jigsaw, a second skeleton - thought to date back to the Bronze Age - has been unearthed.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Plea to preserve Bronze Age site
AN ANCIENT settlement has been labelled at risk from damage and in need of conservation.
The unexcavated Bronze Age settlement is on the English Heritage 'At Risk' Register but experts at the organisation believe it could be restored within a year.
Yesterday (July 8) the Highways Agency, which owns most of the land, told The Villager it would work with English Heritage to protect the ancient site.
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The unexcavated Bronze Age settlement is on the English Heritage 'At Risk' Register but experts at the organisation believe it could be restored within a year.
Yesterday (July 8) the Highways Agency, which owns most of the land, told The Villager it would work with English Heritage to protect the ancient site.
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Homo sapiens: A species torn between love and war
In a series of four short films released on guardian.co.uk this week, Steven Pinker, Frans de Waal and Richard Wrangham grapple with human nature. Carole Jahme introduces the films and the sponsor whose values they epitomise, the Leakey Foundation
In 1968 – four years before he died – the infamous, maverick palaeoanthropologist Louis Seymour Bassett Leakey set up the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. Its mission then, as now, was to investigate the origins and evolution of humankind, our behaviour and our survival, and to promote the public understanding of human evolution.
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In 1968 – four years before he died – the infamous, maverick palaeoanthropologist Louis Seymour Bassett Leakey set up the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. Its mission then, as now, was to investigate the origins and evolution of humankind, our behaviour and our survival, and to promote the public understanding of human evolution.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Neanderthal man had giant arms and a body brimming with steroids, new research suggests
Neanderthal guys were no girlie-men.
Prehistoric man apparently boasted a rock-hard body, including an overdeveloped right arm that would make Popeye jealous, according to a new scientific report.
The Neanderthals hunted in the "extreme," Russian Prof. Maria Mednikova told Discovery News.
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Prehistoric man apparently boasted a rock-hard body, including an overdeveloped right arm that would make Popeye jealous, according to a new scientific report.
The Neanderthals hunted in the "extreme," Russian Prof. Maria Mednikova told Discovery News.
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The Human Edge: Finding Our Inner Fish
It took him years of searching in the Canadian Arctic, but in 2004, Neil Shubin found the fossilized remains of what he thinks is one of our most important ancestors.
Turns out, it's a fish.
Shubin says his find, which he named Tiktaalik, represents an important evolutionary step, because it has the structures that will ultimately become parts of our human bodies. Shoulders, elbows, legs, a neck, a wrist — they're all there in Tiktaalik.
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Turns out, it's a fish.
Shubin says his find, which he named Tiktaalik, represents an important evolutionary step, because it has the structures that will ultimately become parts of our human bodies. Shoulders, elbows, legs, a neck, a wrist — they're all there in Tiktaalik.
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Neanderthal Males Had Popeye-Like Arms
Arm bone remains show that Neanderthals were unusually pumped up on male hormones, possibly due to an all-meat diet.
Remains of an early Neanderthal with a super strong arm suggest that Neanderthal fellows were heavily pumped up on male hormones, possessing a hormonal status unlike anything that exists in humans today, according to a recent paper.
Neanderthal males probably evolved their ultra macho ways due to lifestyle, genes, climate and diet factors, suggests the study, published in the journal Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia.
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Remains of an early Neanderthal with a super strong arm suggest that Neanderthal fellows were heavily pumped up on male hormones, possessing a hormonal status unlike anything that exists in humans today, according to a recent paper.
Neanderthal males probably evolved their ultra macho ways due to lifestyle, genes, climate and diet factors, suggests the study, published in the journal Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sophisticated Amputation Methods Used During Stone Age
Stone Age doctors prove to be more medically advanced than we first imagined, as new evidence of surgery undertaken almost 7,000 years ago comes to light. Confirming advanced medical knowledge in 4900 B.C., the findings challenge the existing history of surgery and its development.
In a Neolithic site excavated in 2005 at Buthiers-Boulancourt, 40 miles south of Paris, scientists found the skeleton of an old man buried almost 7,000 years ago. Tests showed an intentional and successful amputation in which a sharpened flint was used to cut the man’s humerus bone above the trochlea indent.
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In a Neolithic site excavated in 2005 at Buthiers-Boulancourt, 40 miles south of Paris, scientists found the skeleton of an old man buried almost 7,000 years ago. Tests showed an intentional and successful amputation in which a sharpened flint was used to cut the man’s humerus bone above the trochlea indent.
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Prehistoric Find Bolsters Armenian Pride
Proof of human ingenuity five millennia ago fits Armenians’ sense of themselves as ancient nation.
The discovery of a shoe dating back over 5,000 years has boosted Armenians’ pride in their ancient heritage, as well as pleasure at being in the headlines for a positive reason. More practically, the find could encourage greater foreign interest in Armenia and its archaeological heritage.
The moccasin, made from a single piece of cowhide, was found in a cave in the tiny village of Areni in the Vayots Dzor region in 2008. It shot to fame only recently, when recent carbon dating shows that it could be 5,600 years old. That makes it the world’s oldest item of all-leather footwear, although sandals found in Missouri date back still further.
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The discovery of a shoe dating back over 5,000 years has boosted Armenians’ pride in their ancient heritage, as well as pleasure at being in the headlines for a positive reason. More practically, the find could encourage greater foreign interest in Armenia and its archaeological heritage.
The moccasin, made from a single piece of cowhide, was found in a cave in the tiny village of Areni in the Vayots Dzor region in 2008. It shot to fame only recently, when recent carbon dating shows that it could be 5,600 years old. That makes it the world’s oldest item of all-leather footwear, although sandals found in Missouri date back still further.
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Orkney Venus dig reaches exciting phase, says expert
Orkney Venus dig reaches exciting phase, says expert
An ARCHAEOLOGICAL dig where the Orkney Venus was found last year has entered an "exciting phase" as excavations resumed.
Archaeologists hope the Links of Noltland dig will reveal more about people who lived on the Orkney island of Westray thousands of years ago.
The sand dunes protecting the area have been reduced by winds over the past few decades.
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An ARCHAEOLOGICAL dig where the Orkney Venus was found last year has entered an "exciting phase" as excavations resumed.
Archaeologists hope the Links of Noltland dig will reveal more about people who lived on the Orkney island of Westray thousands of years ago.
The sand dunes protecting the area have been reduced by winds over the past few decades.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Work starts on prehistoric Marden Henge in Wiltshire
Work on one of Britain's least understood ancient sites is to start.
Marden Henge has been almost destroyed by ploughing and no longer has any standing stones, but encloses an area of 15 hectares (37 acres).
A mound at the centre of the Wiltshire site still exists, which English Heritage archaeologists plan to spend six weeks delving into.
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Marden Henge has been almost destroyed by ploughing and no longer has any standing stones, but encloses an area of 15 hectares (37 acres).
A mound at the centre of the Wiltshire site still exists, which English Heritage archaeologists plan to spend six weeks delving into.
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New excavation begins at Marden Henge
An excavation that hopes to reveal the secrets of the largest prehistoric henge enclosure in the country has begun at Marden, near Devizes.
Marden Henge, thought to date back to between 2400BC and 2000BC, is the largest but least understood ancient monument in Britain.
It measures 10.5 hectares, considerably bigger than Avebury, and was last investigated in 1969 when Professor Geoffrey Wainwright dated the henge from fragments of deer antler found in the area.
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Marden Henge, thought to date back to between 2400BC and 2000BC, is the largest but least understood ancient monument in Britain.
It measures 10.5 hectares, considerably bigger than Avebury, and was last investigated in 1969 when Professor Geoffrey Wainwright dated the henge from fragments of deer antler found in the area.
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Digging resumes at Neolithic site
An archaeological dig where the Orkney Venus was found last year has entered an "exciting phase" as excavations resumed.
Archaeologists hope the Links of Noltland dig will reveal further finds to help discover more about people who lived on the Orkney island of Westray thousands of years ago.
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Archaeologists hope the Links of Noltland dig will reveal further finds to help discover more about people who lived on the Orkney island of Westray thousands of years ago.
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Russians restore face to 30,000+ year-old Kostenki cave man
According to a Jan. 1, 2010 BBC news article, by BBC News science reporter, Paul Rincon, "DNA analyzed from early European," scientists have studied and extracted DNA from the remains of a 30,000 year old European cave man who hunted wild mammoths in the region of Kostenki, Russia about five to ten thousand years before the last ice age began, at a time when Russia was warmer than it is today. Also, in another study, scientists found that about 4 percent (from 2% to 5%) of Europeans, East Asians, Papua-New Guineans, but not any Africans, have inherited Neanderthal genes, at least traces of them. The prehistoric man is known as the Markina Gora skeleton.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010
Anglers catch ancient canoe in the Boyne
HISTORIANS are probing links between an ancient dugout canoe discovered on the banks of the Boyne and the landmark Newgrange site.
The canoe, which has an unusual design and is believed to be unique in Ireland, was yesterday removed from the river by experts from the National Museum.
It was discovered two weeks ago by two local fishermen, Ivan Murphy and Kevin Tuite, who immediately contacted the authorities.
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The canoe, which has an unusual design and is believed to be unique in Ireland, was yesterday removed from the river by experts from the National Museum.
It was discovered two weeks ago by two local fishermen, Ivan Murphy and Kevin Tuite, who immediately contacted the authorities.
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4,000-year-old necklace found in dumpster
A 4,000 year old necklace is in The National Museum of Ireland after it was found in a dumpster.
Worn by early kings the necklace, called a lunala, and discs were worn by the early kings of Ireland. It is thought to day from between 2,300 and 1,800 BC.
In March 1945 it was found in Coggalbeg, County Roscommon by farmer Hubert Lannon. He found it in a bog while he was cutting turf and kept it in his home.
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Worn by early kings the necklace, called a lunala, and discs were worn by the early kings of Ireland. It is thought to day from between 2,300 and 1,800 BC.
In March 1945 it was found in Coggalbeg, County Roscommon by farmer Hubert Lannon. He found it in a bog while he was cutting turf and kept it in his home.
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Council worker stumbles across 3,000-year-old carving
PREHISTORIC art 3,000 years old was discovered by chance in woodland by a council worker while carrying out routine maintenance work.
John Gilpin, a woodlands officer in the Parks and Countryside department, stumbled upon the find in Ecclesall Woods.
He discovered a boulder with a series of markings, lines and cuts - which, after being examined by experts, has been declared a significant archaeological find.
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John Gilpin, a woodlands officer in the Parks and Countryside department, stumbled upon the find in Ecclesall Woods.
He discovered a boulder with a series of markings, lines and cuts - which, after being examined by experts, has been declared a significant archaeological find.
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Serbian site may have hosted first copper makers
An archaeological site in southeastern Europe has shown its metal. This ancient settlement contains the oldest securely dated evidence of copper making, from 7,000 years ago, and suggests that copper smelting may been invented in separate parts of Asia and Europe at that time rather than spreading from a single source.
The find extends the known record of copper smelting by about 500 years, an archaeological team headed by Miljana Radivojević and Thilo Rehren of University College London reports in an upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science. The pair were joined by Serbian researchers, led by Dušan Šljivar of the National Museum Belgrade, and German scientists directed by Ernst Pernicka of the University of Tübingen.
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The find extends the known record of copper smelting by about 500 years, an archaeological team headed by Miljana Radivojević and Thilo Rehren of University College London reports in an upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science. The pair were joined by Serbian researchers, led by Dušan Šljivar of the National Museum Belgrade, and German scientists directed by Ernst Pernicka of the University of Tübingen.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
Archaeologists make 'spectacular' discovery at Delancey
A Neolithic burial site in the parish of St Sampson has yielded pottery fragments and flints that date back 4,500 years.
They were discovered in a gallery grave, which lies within Delancey Park.
Evidence has also been found of related structures that were previously unknown to archaeologists.
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They were discovered in a gallery grave, which lies within Delancey Park.
Evidence has also been found of related structures that were previously unknown to archaeologists.
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Monday, June 21, 2010
New Agers, neo-pagans see Stonehenge solstice
SALISBURY, England – Thousands of New Agers and neo-pagans danced and whooped in delight Monday as a bright early morning sun rose above the ancient stone circle Stonehenge, marking the summer solstice.
About 20,000 people crowded the prehistoric site on Salisbury Plain, southern England, to see the sunrise at 4:52 A.M. (1152EST), following an annual all-night party.
The event typically draws thousands of alternative-minded revelers to the monument, as they wait for dawn at the Heel Stone, a pockmarked pillar just outside the circle proper, which aligns with the rising sun.
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About 20,000 people crowded the prehistoric site on Salisbury Plain, southern England, to see the sunrise at 4:52 A.M. (1152EST), following an annual all-night party.
The event typically draws thousands of alternative-minded revelers to the monument, as they wait for dawn at the Heel Stone, a pockmarked pillar just outside the circle proper, which aligns with the rising sun.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
Government Cuts Budget for Stonehenge
What are your views on the British government’s plans to cut the budget for a new visitor’s centre at Stonehenge?
Express your views on the discussions page on the Archaeology in Europe Facebook site.
Express your views on the discussions page on the Archaeology in Europe Facebook site.
Bones from a Cheddar Gorge cave show that cannibalism helped Britain's earliest settlers survive the ice age
New carbon dating techniques reveal that 14,700 years ago humans living in Gough's Cave in the Mendips acquired a taste for the flesh of their relatives, and not just for ritual reasons
Scientists have identified the first humans to recolonise Britain after the last ice age. The country was taken over in a couple of years by individuals who practised cannibalism, they say - a discovery that revolutionises our understanding of the peopling of Britain and the manner in which men and women reached these shores.
Research has shown that tribes of hunter-gatherers moved into Britain from Spain and France with extraordinary rapidity when global warming brought an end to the ice age 14,700 years ago and settled in a cavern – known as Gough's Cave – in the Cheddar Gorge in what is now Somerset.
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Scientists have identified the first humans to recolonise Britain after the last ice age. The country was taken over in a couple of years by individuals who practised cannibalism, they say - a discovery that revolutionises our understanding of the peopling of Britain and the manner in which men and women reached these shores.
Research has shown that tribes of hunter-gatherers moved into Britain from Spain and France with extraordinary rapidity when global warming brought an end to the ice age 14,700 years ago and settled in a cavern – known as Gough's Cave – in the Cheddar Gorge in what is now Somerset.
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Excavation at Iron Age hill fort near Melton Mowbray
One of Leicestershire's most important archaeological monuments is being excavated for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Trenches are being dug up in the Iron Age hill fort at Burrough on the Hill near Melton Mowbray in the hope of finding clues about life from 600BC.
The site is being opened to the public on Sunday.
Site directors said hill forts were enigmatic monuments which had rarely been scientifically excavated.
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Trenches are being dug up in the Iron Age hill fort at Burrough on the Hill near Melton Mowbray in the hope of finding clues about life from 600BC.
The site is being opened to the public on Sunday.
Site directors said hill forts were enigmatic monuments which had rarely been scientifically excavated.
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Ancient Humans May Have Dined on Hyenas
It's already been shown that hyenas ate humans, but did early humans likewise dine on hyenas? They might have, say Spanish researchers who found evidence of human "processing" of hyena bones in an ancient hyena den.
"Although the interaction between hyenas and hominids is a constant throughout human evolution, consumption of these animals by our ancestors has never before been documented," said researcher Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo of the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. His paper announcing the discovery appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Taphonomy.
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"Although the interaction between hyenas and hominids is a constant throughout human evolution, consumption of these animals by our ancestors has never before been documented," said researcher Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo of the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. His paper announcing the discovery appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Taphonomy.
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Saturday, June 19, 2010
Coalition's cuts are final betrayal of Stonehenge
Cancelling what was already an inadequate plan for the site's rehabilitation just adds insult to injury to this wonder of the world
In a world of specialisms you can fool all of the people some of the time because every case has its own detailed context. We know we don't know all the pros and cons. But the sad story of Stonehenge is one I have followed for the last few years, so this week's ugly betrayal of our greatest national monument is something I know is wrong. The coalition's first cultural cuts include the cancellation of plans for a £25m visitor centre at Stonehenge: a callous and unjustified assault on a wonder of the world.
These cuts are presented as the hacking away of Labour excess, the pragmatic cure for the last lot's fiscal foolery. However, there was nothing excessive, careless or even generous about this plan for Stonehenge. It was in fact a parsimonious, limited, and barely adequate solution to what has long been recognised as the disgracefully shabby presentation of this world-famous site.
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In a world of specialisms you can fool all of the people some of the time because every case has its own detailed context. We know we don't know all the pros and cons. But the sad story of Stonehenge is one I have followed for the last few years, so this week's ugly betrayal of our greatest national monument is something I know is wrong. The coalition's first cultural cuts include the cancellation of plans for a £25m visitor centre at Stonehenge: a callous and unjustified assault on a wonder of the world.
These cuts are presented as the hacking away of Labour excess, the pragmatic cure for the last lot's fiscal foolery. However, there was nothing excessive, careless or even generous about this plan for Stonehenge. It was in fact a parsimonious, limited, and barely adequate solution to what has long been recognised as the disgracefully shabby presentation of this world-famous site.
Read the rest of this article...
Mystery near Marden of henge
A site at Marden, near Devizes, rivalled Stonehenge and Avebury in its day, says English Heritage.
The group is about to undertake a six-week dig at the site close to the village, starting on June 28.
Unlike Stonehenge and Avebury, Marden Henge no longer has any surviving standing stones, but its sheer size is astounding.
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The group is about to undertake a six-week dig at the site close to the village, starting on June 28.
Unlike Stonehenge and Avebury, Marden Henge no longer has any surviving standing stones, but its sheer size is astounding.
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Archaeologists Discover Early Neolithic Grave in North-Western Bulgaria
A grave of a man filled with burial gifts, dating from the early Neolithic period, was recently discovered by archaeologists Georgi Ganetsovski from the Vratsa History Museum, during the renewed excavations of the prehistoric settlement in the Valoga area near the north-western Bulgarian village of Ohoden.
The prehistoric man’s skeleton is amazingly well preserved, although it has been underground for almost 8,000 years, Ganetsovski explained, cited by national media. The archaeologist said that the man’s body was laid on its back and his legs were bent to the left, in a pit that was especially dug out for it. Next to the man’s head was found a fully preserved ceramic, spherical vessel, and next to his right shoulder – a flint knife. The traces of the burial ceremony, according to Ganetsovski, can be easily seen.
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The prehistoric man’s skeleton is amazingly well preserved, although it has been underground for almost 8,000 years, Ganetsovski explained, cited by national media. The archaeologist said that the man’s body was laid on its back and his legs were bent to the left, in a pit that was especially dug out for it. Next to the man’s head was found a fully preserved ceramic, spherical vessel, and next to his right shoulder – a flint knife. The traces of the burial ceremony, according to Ganetsovski, can be easily seen.
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£25m Stonehenge visitor centre axed
Government funding for a £25 million project to build a new visitor centre at Stonehenge has been axed as part of a review of public spending projects.
The withdrawal of public funding for the plans – which include a new visitor centre and closing an adjacent main road – is the latest setback to efforts to improve the World Heritage Site. But the Treasury said that if non-government funding was identified, the scheme to revitalise the prehistoric site could still go-ahead.
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The withdrawal of public funding for the plans – which include a new visitor centre and closing an adjacent main road – is the latest setback to efforts to improve the World Heritage Site. But the Treasury said that if non-government funding was identified, the scheme to revitalise the prehistoric site could still go-ahead.
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Neolithic finds unearthed by Ormesby St Michael dig
Some of the earliest pottery ever found in Britain has been unearthed on farmland on the Norfolk Broads.
The Neolithic flints and pottery shards dating back more than 5,000 years were found by the Oxford East Archaeology unit next to Ormesby Broad.
They include a loom weight for weaving cloth and a rare whetstone, used for sharpening tools, something normally only found in burial grounds.
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The Neolithic flints and pottery shards dating back more than 5,000 years were found by the Oxford East Archaeology unit next to Ormesby Broad.
They include a loom weight for weaving cloth and a rare whetstone, used for sharpening tools, something normally only found in burial grounds.
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Thursday, June 17, 2010
Archaeology: Central Europe’s Oldest Cave Drawings Found in Romania
A group of Romanian speleologists recently discovered in a cave in north-western Romania a series of drawings from the Palaeolithic Period, thought to be the oldest of their kind in Central Europe.
The cave drawings were found in the Coliboaia cave in the Bihorului Mountains, on the territory of the Apuseni National Park, the Mediafax news agency reported recently.
According to the speleology experts, the newly discovered drawings portray a variety of animals, including a bison, a horse, a bear’s head, two rhinoceroses and members of the cat family. An image of a female torso was also found, which is throught to have a symbolic role.
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The cave drawings were found in the Coliboaia cave in the Bihorului Mountains, on the territory of the Apuseni National Park, the Mediafax news agency reported recently.
According to the speleology experts, the newly discovered drawings portray a variety of animals, including a bison, a horse, a bear’s head, two rhinoceroses and members of the cat family. An image of a female torso was also found, which is throught to have a symbolic role.
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The Evolutionary Road
The Middle Awash area of Ethiopia is the most persistently occupied place on Earth. Members of our lineage have lived, died, and been buried there for almost six million years. Now their bones are eroding out of the ground. Step by step they record how a primitive, small-brained primate evolved to conquer a planet. Where better to learn how we became human?
In the Afar desert of Ethiopia, there are a lot of ways to die. There is disease, of course. One can also perish from wild animal attack, snakebite, falling off a cliff, or in a shoot-out between one of the Afar clans and the Issa people across the Awash River to the east.
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In the Afar desert of Ethiopia, there are a lot of ways to die. There is disease, of course. One can also perish from wild animal attack, snakebite, falling off a cliff, or in a shoot-out between one of the Afar clans and the Issa people across the Awash River to the east.
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Ancient cave paintings found in Romania
Romanian experts have discovered the most ancient cave paintings found to date in Central Europe, aged up to 35,000 years old, Romanian and French scientists said Sunday.
The pictures show animals including a buffalo, a horse and even a rhinoceros.
"It is for the first time in Central Europe that... art this old has been found and confirmed", said a joint statement from the Romanian Federation of Speleology -- the scientific study of caves -- and Jean Clottes, an expert working with UNESCO.
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The pictures show animals including a buffalo, a horse and even a rhinoceros.
"It is for the first time in Central Europe that... art this old has been found and confirmed", said a joint statement from the Romanian Federation of Speleology -- the scientific study of caves -- and Jean Clottes, an expert working with UNESCO.
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The Thunderstone Mystery: What's a Stone Age Axe Doing in an Iron Age Tomb?
"If one finds something once, it's accidental. If it is found twice, it's puzzling. If found thrice, there is a pattern," the archaeologists Olle Hemdorff and Eva Thäte say.
In 2005 the archaeologists investigated a grave at Avaldsnes in Karmøy in southwestern Norway, supposed to be from the late Iron Age, i.e. from 600 to 1000 AD. Avaldsnes is rich in archeological finds. They dot an area that has been a seat of power all the way back to around 300. Archaeologist Olle Hemdorff at the University of Stavanger's Museum of Archaeology was responsible for a series of excavations at Avaldsnes in 1993-94 and 2005-06.
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In 2005 the archaeologists investigated a grave at Avaldsnes in Karmøy in southwestern Norway, supposed to be from the late Iron Age, i.e. from 600 to 1000 AD. Avaldsnes is rich in archeological finds. They dot an area that has been a seat of power all the way back to around 300. Archaeologist Olle Hemdorff at the University of Stavanger's Museum of Archaeology was responsible for a series of excavations at Avaldsnes in 1993-94 and 2005-06.
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Saturday, June 12, 2010
Crocodile and Hippopotamus Served as 'Brain Food' for Early Human Ancestors
Your mother was right: Fish really is "brain food." And it seems that even pre-humans living as far back as 2 million years ago somehow knew it.
A team of researchers that included Johns Hopkins University geologist Naomi Levin has found that early hominids living in what is now northern Kenya ate a wider variety of foods than previously thought, including fish and aquatic animals such as turtles and crocodiles. Rich in protein and nutrients, these foods may have played a key role in the development of a larger, more human-like brain in our early forebears, which some anthropologists believe happened around 2 million years ago, according to the researchers' study.
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A team of researchers that included Johns Hopkins University geologist Naomi Levin has found that early hominids living in what is now northern Kenya ate a wider variety of foods than previously thought, including fish and aquatic animals such as turtles and crocodiles. Rich in protein and nutrients, these foods may have played a key role in the development of a larger, more human-like brain in our early forebears, which some anthropologists believe happened around 2 million years ago, according to the researchers' study.
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Creswell Crags exhibition explores 200 years of archaeological excavation
Exhibition: Great Excavations at Creswell Crags, June 12 until winter 2010
Creswell Crags, the limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, has for years offered up its secrets to archaeologists in search of evidence of the Ice Age inhabitants of its mysterious caves.
Perhaps most famous among these is Church Hole, which in 2003 yielded the only known Ice Age art in Britain. Further archaeological finds across the site date back between 10,000 and 50,000 years and include flint and bone tools and carvings, proving that Ice Age hunters visited the site to hunt reindeer and horse.
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Creswell Crags, the limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, has for years offered up its secrets to archaeologists in search of evidence of the Ice Age inhabitants of its mysterious caves.
Perhaps most famous among these is Church Hole, which in 2003 yielded the only known Ice Age art in Britain. Further archaeological finds across the site date back between 10,000 and 50,000 years and include flint and bone tools and carvings, proving that Ice Age hunters visited the site to hunt reindeer and horse.
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'Oldest leather shoe' discovered
The oldest example of a leather shoe has been discovered by archaeologists in a cave in Armenia.
At 5,500 years old, the well preserved cow-hide shoe pre-dates Stonehenge by 400 years and the Pyramids of Giza by 1,000 years.
It was made of a single piece of leather and was shaped to fit the wearer's foot, the researchers say.
They have published details of the discovery from south-east Armenia in the journal Plos One.
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At 5,500 years old, the well preserved cow-hide shoe pre-dates Stonehenge by 400 years and the Pyramids of Giza by 1,000 years.
It was made of a single piece of leather and was shaped to fit the wearer's foot, the researchers say.
They have published details of the discovery from south-east Armenia in the journal Plos One.
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Der älteste Lederschuh kommt aus Armenien
Archäologen haben in einer armenischen Höhle einen äußerst gut erhaltenen Lederschuh ausgegraben. Naturwissenschaftlichen Datierungen zufolge ist der Schuh 5.500 Jahre alt und stammt aus dem Chalkolithikum, also der Periode zwischen Jungsteinzeit und Bronzezeit.
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Researchers: Cavemen feasted on lions
Waiting in line at the drive-through may be a drag, but it sure beats what our ancestors had to do for fast food. Try take-out lion. A Spanish team reports Neanderthals likely hunted and ate a big cat at a cave site.
In the current Journal of Archaeological Science, a team led by Ruth Blasco of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain, describes lion bones found at the Gran Dolina site in Sierra de Atapuerca. The cave contains hundreds of animal bones, largely red deer and horses, but also a few carnivores in rock layers dating to 250,000 to 350,000 years ago.
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In the current Journal of Archaeological Science, a team led by Ruth Blasco of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain, describes lion bones found at the Gran Dolina site in Sierra de Atapuerca. The cave contains hundreds of animal bones, largely red deer and horses, but also a few carnivores in rock layers dating to 250,000 to 350,000 years ago.
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Who killed the iceman?
It sounds like the opening to a television forensics drama. On a sunny September day in 1991, a German couple hiking through the Alps make a gruesome discovery.
Initially, the corpse partially jutting out of the melting ice is thought to be from a recent mountaineering accident. But on closer inspection, a far more stunning revelation emerges. The body is that of a murder victim; a murder that transpired five millennia ago.
Dated to around 5,300 years old, the remarkably well-preserved Neolithic Iceman came to be known as Ötzi, after the Ötztal region of the Austrian-Italian border where he was found.
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Initially, the corpse partially jutting out of the melting ice is thought to be from a recent mountaineering accident. But on closer inspection, a far more stunning revelation emerges. The body is that of a murder victim; a murder that transpired five millennia ago.
Dated to around 5,300 years old, the remarkably well-preserved Neolithic Iceman came to be known as Ötzi, after the Ötztal region of the Austrian-Italian border where he was found.
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Spain to reopen Caves of Altamira despite warnings
A cave complex boasting prized prehistoric paintings will reopen after eight years of closure, despite scientists' warnings that heat and moisture from human visitors damage the site known as the Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art.
The Culture Ministry and the site's board of directors said Tuesday that visits to the Caves of Altamira in the northern Cantabria region will resume next year, although on a still-unspecified, restricted basis.
The main chamber at Altamira features 21 bison painted in red and black, which appear to be to charging against a low, limestone ceiling. The site was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1985. The paintings are estimated to be 14,000 to 20,000 years old.
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The Culture Ministry and the site's board of directors said Tuesday that visits to the Caves of Altamira in the northern Cantabria region will resume next year, although on a still-unspecified, restricted basis.
The main chamber at Altamira features 21 bison painted in red and black, which appear to be to charging against a low, limestone ceiling. The site was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1985. The paintings are estimated to be 14,000 to 20,000 years old.
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Neanderthal man was living in Britain 40,000 years earlier than thought
Neanderthal man was living in Britain at the start of the last ice age - 40,000 years earlier than previously thought, archaeologists have said.
Francis Wenban-Smith from the University of Southampton discovered two ancient flint hand tools used to cut meat at the M25/A2 road junction at Dartford, Kent, during an excavation funded by the Highways Agency.
Tests on sediment burying the flints showed they date from around 100,000 years ago - proving Neanderthals were living in Britain at this time.
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Francis Wenban-Smith from the University of Southampton discovered two ancient flint hand tools used to cut meat at the M25/A2 road junction at Dartford, Kent, during an excavation funded by the Highways Agency.
Tests on sediment burying the flints showed they date from around 100,000 years ago - proving Neanderthals were living in Britain at this time.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Get Ready for More Proto-Humans
Today at Discovery News you can read about the earliest recognized species of Homo, the first known member of our genus. This latest addition to the human family, Homo gautengensis, was from South Africa and measured just 3 feet tall. It spent a lot of time in trees and had big teeth suitable for chewing plant material. H. gautengensis emerged over 2 million years ago, but died out at around 600,000 years ago.
The past few years have seen an explosion in the discovery of early human ancestors. Over just the past couple of months alone, we were presented with X-Woman and Australopithecus sediba. One reason for the explosion is improved analysis methods, often based on prior finds, DNA work, and a better understanding of where such remains might exist.
Read the rest of this article...
The past few years have seen an explosion in the discovery of early human ancestors. Over just the past couple of months alone, we were presented with X-Woman and Australopithecus sediba. One reason for the explosion is improved analysis methods, often based on prior finds, DNA work, and a better understanding of where such remains might exist.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, May 21, 2010
Derbyshire Iron Age bones were of pregnant woman
Tests carried out on a skeleton discovered at an archaeological dig in Derbyshire have found it was that of a pregnant woman.
Experts said they were surprised by the female find because the site, near Monsal Dale in the Peak District, had been believed to be a military scene.
Now, extra lottery funding means there can be a second dig at the Fin Cop hill fort site to find out more.
Read the rest of this article...
Experts said they were surprised by the female find because the site, near Monsal Dale in the Peak District, had been believed to be a military scene.
Now, extra lottery funding means there can be a second dig at the Fin Cop hill fort site to find out more.
Read the rest of this article...
Cyprus: crews stumble on 2-millennia-old coffins
NICOSIA, Cyprus – Work crews in Cyprus have accidentally unearthed four rare clay coffins estimated to be some 2,000 years old, the country's Antiquities Department director said Wednesday.
Maria Hadjicosti said the coffins adorned with floral patterns date from the east Mediterranean island's Hellenistic to early Roman periods, between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D.
She said the coffins were dug up this week from what is believed to be an ancient cemetery in the eastern coastal resort of Protaras.
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Maria Hadjicosti said the coffins adorned with floral patterns date from the east Mediterranean island's Hellenistic to early Roman periods, between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D.
She said the coffins were dug up this week from what is believed to be an ancient cemetery in the eastern coastal resort of Protaras.
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Thursday, May 13, 2010
Welcome to the family, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis
WE HUMANS like to see ourselves as special, at the very pinnacle of all life. That makes us keen to keep a safe distance between ourselves and related species that threaten our sense of uniqueness. Unfortunately, the evidence can sometimes make that difficult.
Decades ago, when the primatologist Jane Goodall told anthropologist Louis Leakey that chimps used sticks to scoop up termites, he wrote: "Now we must redefine tool, redefine man or accept chimpanzees as human." The news this month that humans and Neanderthals interbred (see "Revealed: the cavemen that live on in all of us") presents us with a similar conundrum - only this one lies far closer to home. Must we now consider Neanderthals as one of our own, another twig on the branch called Homo sapiens?
Read the rest of this article...
Decades ago, when the primatologist Jane Goodall told anthropologist Louis Leakey that chimps used sticks to scoop up termites, he wrote: "Now we must redefine tool, redefine man or accept chimpanzees as human." The news this month that humans and Neanderthals interbred (see "Revealed: the cavemen that live on in all of us") presents us with a similar conundrum - only this one lies far closer to home. Must we now consider Neanderthals as one of our own, another twig on the branch called Homo sapiens?
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthals not the only apes humans bred with
A LONG-awaited rough draft of the Neanderthal genome has revealed that our own DNA contains clear evidence that early humans interbred with Neanderthals.
Such interminglings have been suspected in the past, but there's more: Neanderthals were probably not the only other Homo species early Homo sapiens mixed with.
These findings call into question the familiar story that modern humans left Africa around 100,000 years ago and swept aside all other Homo species as they made their way around the globe. "It was a very simple story," says João Zilhão at the University of Bristol, UK. "Its simplicity suggested it would not be true." A more likely scenario is that as H. sapiens migrated, they met and interbred with other Homo species that have all since died out.
Read the rest of this article...
Such interminglings have been suspected in the past, but there's more: Neanderthals were probably not the only other Homo species early Homo sapiens mixed with.
These findings call into question the familiar story that modern humans left Africa around 100,000 years ago and swept aside all other Homo species as they made their way around the globe. "It was a very simple story," says João Zilhão at the University of Bristol, UK. "Its simplicity suggested it would not be true." A more likely scenario is that as H. sapiens migrated, they met and interbred with other Homo species that have all since died out.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient DNA set to rewrite human history
Discovery that some humans are part-Neanderthal reveals the promise of comparing genomes old and new.
The worlds of ancient and modern DNA exploration have collided in spectacular fashion in the past few months. Last week saw the publication of a long-awaited draft genome of the Neanderthal, an archaic hominin from about 40,000 years ago1. Just three months earlier, researchers in Denmark reported the genome of a 4,000-year-old Saqqaq Palaeo-Eskimo2 that was plucked from the Greenland permafrost and sequenced in China using the latest technology.
Read the rest of this article...
The worlds of ancient and modern DNA exploration have collided in spectacular fashion in the past few months. Last week saw the publication of a long-awaited draft genome of the Neanderthal, an archaic hominin from about 40,000 years ago1. Just three months earlier, researchers in Denmark reported the genome of a 4,000-year-old Saqqaq Palaeo-Eskimo2 that was plucked from the Greenland permafrost and sequenced in China using the latest technology.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
This Is Your Brain On Neanderthal
Last week, geneticists dumped on us the somewhat disturbing fact that most of us have some Neanderthals in our family tree. Not a lot of them, mind you, but a few nonetheless.
Now, courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, you can get some idea of what your inner Neanderthal might look like.
The museum is releasing the MEanderthal iPhone app. It's a mobile version of a facial morphing station in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins.
Read the rest of this article...
Now, courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, you can get some idea of what your inner Neanderthal might look like.
The museum is releasing the MEanderthal iPhone app. It's a mobile version of a facial morphing station in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
So we're part Neanderthal. What now?
So now we know: Many, if not most, people alive today have some Neanderthal ancestry.
This finding, which comes from analysis of the Neanderthal genome, has taken many experts by surprise.
It tells us there was some mating between modern humans - our own lineage - and the Neanderthals before the latter went extinct some 24,000 years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
This finding, which comes from analysis of the Neanderthal genome, has taken many experts by surprise.
It tells us there was some mating between modern humans - our own lineage - and the Neanderthals before the latter went extinct some 24,000 years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
To mate, or not to mate: The Neanderthal question
There are moments in science when spectacular new evidence stops us in our tracks and makes us think and rethink.
But it is best to wait and let the dust settle to allow a good process of digestion that will not give us unwanted ulcers in the future.
That process has to sift out the news-grabbing headlines from the reality of the discovery, since the natures of science and journalism are different and need not follow similar agendas.
Read the rest of this article...
But it is best to wait and let the dust settle to allow a good process of digestion that will not give us unwanted ulcers in the future.
That process has to sift out the news-grabbing headlines from the reality of the discovery, since the natures of science and journalism are different and need not follow similar agendas.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Some Neanderthal DNA Passed To Humans Say Genome Researchers
By analyzing DNA they extracted from three Neanderthal bones over 40,000 years old discovered in a cave in Croatia, scientists from Europe and the US have revealed in intricate detail how humans are related to this long-extinct relative of ours.
You can read about the work behind the finding that between 1 and 4 per cent of the DNA of non-African humans came from Neanderthals in the 7 May issue of Science.
Neanderthals are the closest evolutionary relatives of modern day humans. They lived in large parts of Europe and western Asia before they became extinct about 30,000 years ago, although the reason for that is unclear.
Read the rest of this article...
You can read about the work behind the finding that between 1 and 4 per cent of the DNA of non-African humans came from Neanderthals in the 7 May issue of Science.
Neanderthals are the closest evolutionary relatives of modern day humans. They lived in large parts of Europe and western Asia before they became extinct about 30,000 years ago, although the reason for that is unclear.
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Crete fortifications debunk myth of peaceful Minoan society
A team of archaeologists have discovered a fortification system at the Minoan town of Gournia, a discovery which rebukes the popular myth that the Minoans were a peaceful society with no need for defensive structures.
The team's efforts were led by Professor Vance Watrous and Matt Buell of the University at Buffalo. Located on the north coast, Gournia was in use during the neo-palatial period (ca. 1700-1450 BC), when Minoan civilization was at its height. The town sits atop a low ridge with four promontories on its coastline. Two of these promontories end in high vertical cliffs that give the town a defensive advantage, and it is here that the fortification system was discovered.
Read the rest of this article...
The team's efforts were led by Professor Vance Watrous and Matt Buell of the University at Buffalo. Located on the north coast, Gournia was in use during the neo-palatial period (ca. 1700-1450 BC), when Minoan civilization was at its height. The town sits atop a low ridge with four promontories on its coastline. Two of these promontories end in high vertical cliffs that give the town a defensive advantage, and it is here that the fortification system was discovered.
Read the rest of this article...
Neandertal genome yields evidence of interbreeding with humans
Some people don’t just have a caveman mentality; they may actually carry a little relic of the Stone Age in their DNA.
A new study of the Neandertal genome shows that humans and Neandertals interbred. The discovery comes as a big surprise to researchers who have been searching for genetic evidence of human-Neandertal interbreeding for years and finding none.
Read the rest of this article...
A new study of the Neandertal genome shows that humans and Neandertals interbred. The discovery comes as a big surprise to researchers who have been searching for genetic evidence of human-Neandertal interbreeding for years and finding none.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthal genes 'survive in us'
Many people alive today possess some Neanderthal ancestry, according to a landmark scientific study.
The finding has surprised many experts, as previous genetic evidence suggested the Neanderthals made little or no contribution to our inheritance.
The result comes from analysis of the Neanderthal genome - the "instruction manual" describing how these ancient humans were put together.
Between 1% and 4% of the Eurasian human genome seems to come from Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
The finding has surprised many experts, as previous genetic evidence suggested the Neanderthals made little or no contribution to our inheritance.
The result comes from analysis of the Neanderthal genome - the "instruction manual" describing how these ancient humans were put together.
Between 1% and 4% of the Eurasian human genome seems to come from Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
Il y a du Neandertal en nous
Il y a du Neandertal en nous. Du moins si nous sommes "non africains". Dans ce cas, 1 % à 4 % de notre matériel génétique a pour origine Homo neanderthalensis. Nous nous croyions simples cousins, issus d'un ancêtre commun. Nous nous découvrons aussi métissés avec cet humain disparu. C'est la conclusion la plus spectaculaire tirée de l'étude de l'ADN prélevé sur trois os de néandertaliens vieux d'environ 40 000 ans, issus d'une grotte croate.
Pour la première fois, le génome nucléaire d'un homme fossile est séquencé, à hauteur de 60%. Son analyse est publiée, au terme de quatre années d'efforts, dans la revue Science, vendredi 7 mai, sous la direction de Svante Pääbo, de l'Institut Max-Planck d'anthropologie évolutionniste de Leipzig. C'est à lui que l'on doit la première analyse génétique d'un néandertalien, en 1997.
Read the rest of this article...
Pour la première fois, le génome nucléaire d'un homme fossile est séquencé, à hauteur de 60%. Son analyse est publiée, au terme de quatre années d'efforts, dans la revue Science, vendredi 7 mai, sous la direction de Svante Pääbo, de l'Institut Max-Planck d'anthropologie évolutionniste de Leipzig. C'est à lui que l'on doit la première analyse génétique d'un néandertalien, en 1997.
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Der Neandertaler in uns
Die Analyse des Neandertaler-Genoms ergibt: Menschen und Neandertaler haben sich doch vermischt
Erstmals liegt eine Version der Genomsequenz einer ausgestorbenen Menschenart vor. Forscher des Max-Planck-Institutes für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig präsentieren gemeinsam mit einem internationalen Forschungsteam einen ersten Entwurf der Gensequenz des vor rund 30.000 Jahren ausgestorbenen Neandertalers. Erste Analysen von vier Milliarden Basenpaaren weisen darauf hin, dass Neandertaler im Genom einiger moderner Menschen Spuren hinterlassen haben.
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Erstmals liegt eine Version der Genomsequenz einer ausgestorbenen Menschenart vor. Forscher des Max-Planck-Institutes für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig präsentieren gemeinsam mit einem internationalen Forschungsteam einen ersten Entwurf der Gensequenz des vor rund 30.000 Jahren ausgestorbenen Neandertalers. Erste Analysen von vier Milliarden Basenpaaren weisen darauf hin, dass Neandertaler im Genom einiger moderner Menschen Spuren hinterlassen haben.
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Friday, May 7, 2010
No scientists had to die for this paradigm shift!
In Science Ann Gibbons has a very long reported piece, Close Encounters of the Prehistoric Kind. It’s well worth reading, but behind a pay wall. If you don’t have access though, I want to spotlight one particular section:
The discovery of interbreeding in the nuclear genome surprised the team members. Neandertals did coexist with modern humans in Europe from 30,000 to 45,000 years ago, and perhaps in the Middle East as early as 80,000 years ago (see map, p. 681). But there was no sign of admixture in the complete Neandertal mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome or in earlier studies of other gene lineages…And many researchers had decided that there was no interbreeding that led to viable offspring. “We started with a very strong bias against mixture,” says co-author David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Indeed, when Pääbo first learned that the Neandertal DNA tended to be more similar to European DNA than to African DNA, he thought, “Ah, it’s probably just a statistical fluke.” When the link persisted, he thought it was a bias in the data. So the researchers used different methods in different labs to confirm the result. “I feel confident now because three different ways of analyzing the data all come to this conclusion of admixture,” says Pääbo.
Read the rest of this article...
The discovery of interbreeding in the nuclear genome surprised the team members. Neandertals did coexist with modern humans in Europe from 30,000 to 45,000 years ago, and perhaps in the Middle East as early as 80,000 years ago (see map, p. 681). But there was no sign of admixture in the complete Neandertal mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome or in earlier studies of other gene lineages…And many researchers had decided that there was no interbreeding that led to viable offspring. “We started with a very strong bias against mixture,” says co-author David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Indeed, when Pääbo first learned that the Neandertal DNA tended to be more similar to European DNA than to African DNA, he thought, “Ah, it’s probably just a statistical fluke.” When the link persisted, he thought it was a bias in the data. So the researchers used different methods in different labs to confirm the result. “I feel confident now because three different ways of analyzing the data all come to this conclusion of admixture,” says Pääbo.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthals live on in DNA of humans
The first comparison of the complete genomes of humans and Neanderthals reveals that up to 4% of our DNA is Neanderthal
There is a little Neanderthal in nearly all of us, according to scientists who compared the genetic makeup of humans with that of our closest ancient relatives.
Most people living outside Africa can trace up to 4% of their DNA to a Neanderthal origin, a consequence of interbreeding between the two groups after the great migration from the contintent.
Read the rest of this article...
There is a little Neanderthal in nearly all of us, according to scientists who compared the genetic makeup of humans with that of our closest ancient relatives.
Most people living outside Africa can trace up to 4% of their DNA to a Neanderthal origin, a consequence of interbreeding between the two groups after the great migration from the contintent.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthal gene found in human DNA of people living out of Africa
They have been extinct for 30,000 years, but a small part of the Neanderthals lives on in the DNA of every person with ancestors outside Africa.
The genetic code of Neanderthal Man has revealed that Homo sapiens mated with our closest evolutionary relatives soon after migrating out of Africa, leaving traces that can still be detected in human DNA.
A comparison of the genomes of the two human species has shown that between 1 and 4 per cent of the DNA of modern non-Africans has a Neanderthal origin, while no Neanderthal genes can be detected in Africans today. This indicates that the first modern humans to leave the continent must have interbred with Neanderthals they encountered, probably in the Middle East. Their descendants went on to populate the other continents.
Read the rest of this article...
The genetic code of Neanderthal Man has revealed that Homo sapiens mated with our closest evolutionary relatives soon after migrating out of Africa, leaving traces that can still be detected in human DNA.
A comparison of the genomes of the two human species has shown that between 1 and 4 per cent of the DNA of modern non-Africans has a Neanderthal origin, while no Neanderthal genes can be detected in Africans today. This indicates that the first modern humans to leave the continent must have interbred with Neanderthals they encountered, probably in the Middle East. Their descendants went on to populate the other continents.
Read the rest of this article...
Humans interbred with Neanderthals: genome analysis
Modern humans most likely interbred with Neanderthals, according to landmark genome analysis that shed light on how we evolved differently from our prehistoric cousins.
"We can now say that, in all probability, there was gene flow from Neanderthals to modern humans," said Richard Green of the University of California, Santa Cruz, one of the leaders of the research.
The research found that as much as four percent of the modern human genome seems to be from Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
"We can now say that, in all probability, there was gene flow from Neanderthals to modern humans," said Richard Green of the University of California, Santa Cruz, one of the leaders of the research.
The research found that as much as four percent of the modern human genome seems to be from Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
Evidence Suggests Early Humans Mated with Neanderthals
Researchers in Leipzig have successfully sequenced the genetic code of a Neanderthal, and found some overlap with modern-day Europeans. The finding provides insight into the evolution of humans -- and could be a blow to racists.
An international team led by scientists based at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig have successfully sequenced the Neanderthal genome, the first time the genetic code of an extinct human relative has been decoded.
By comparing the Neanderthal genome to modern human genes, the researchers say, it's possible to isolate the parts of our genetic code that makes humans human -- and tell once and for all whether humans and Neanderthals may once have mated. "Having a first version of the Neanderthal genome fulfils a long-standing dream," Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Director Svante Pääbo said in an announcement. "For the first time now we can identify genetic features that set us apart from all other organisms, including our closest evolutionary relatives."
Read the rest of this article...
An international team led by scientists based at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig have successfully sequenced the Neanderthal genome, the first time the genetic code of an extinct human relative has been decoded.
By comparing the Neanderthal genome to modern human genes, the researchers say, it's possible to isolate the parts of our genetic code that makes humans human -- and tell once and for all whether humans and Neanderthals may once have mated. "Having a first version of the Neanderthal genome fulfils a long-standing dream," Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Director Svante Pääbo said in an announcement. "For the first time now we can identify genetic features that set us apart from all other organisms, including our closest evolutionary relatives."
Read the rest of this article...
Complete Neanderthal genome sequenced
Researchers have produced the first whole genome sequence of the 3 billion letters in the Neanderthal genome, and the initial analysis suggests that up to 2 percent of the DNA in the genome of present-day humans outside of Africa originated in Neanderthals or in Neanderthals' ancestors.
The international research team, which includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, reports its findings in the May 7, 2010, issue of Science.
The current fossil record suggests that Neanderthals, or Homo neanderthalensis, diverged from the primate line that led to present-day humans, or Homo sapiens, some 400,000 years ago in Africa. Neanderthals migrated north into Eurasia, where they became a geographically isolated group that evolved independently from the line that became modern humans in Africa. They lived in Europe and western Asia, as far east as southern Siberia and as far south as the Middle East.
Read the rest of this article...
The international research team, which includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, reports its findings in the May 7, 2010, issue of Science.
The current fossil record suggests that Neanderthals, or Homo neanderthalensis, diverged from the primate line that led to present-day humans, or Homo sapiens, some 400,000 years ago in Africa. Neanderthals migrated north into Eurasia, where they became a geographically isolated group that evolved independently from the line that became modern humans in Africa. They lived in Europe and western Asia, as far east as southern Siberia and as far south as the Middle East.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, May 3, 2010
Dig for archaeological victory at new road site
KENT NEWS: Britain’s largest archaeological dig is now under way in Thanet and will last until work begins on a new road in June.
The big dig has already unearthed a multitude of artefacts and is expected to reveal even more secrets about Kent’s past.
And to ensure every step is covered, it is being captured on film for a BBC Two documentary.
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The big dig has already unearthed a multitude of artefacts and is expected to reveal even more secrets about Kent’s past.
And to ensure every step is covered, it is being captured on film for a BBC Two documentary.
Read the rest of this article...
Resurrected: woolly mammoth blood protein
Floating in a test tube in a lab in Winnipeg, Canada, is a tiny speck of woolly mammoth – a blood protein which may explain how the animals coped with the cold of an ice age.
It is one of the first proteins from a long-dead organism to be resurrected in a living cell. Other extinct animals, including Neanderthals, are sure to follow suit. Such techniques will make it possible to explore exactly how extinct animals lived, rather than making educated guesses based on reconstructed gene sequences.
Woolly mammoths died out about 3500 years ago. They shared an African ancestor with elephants around 7 million years ago, before moving north between 1 and 2 million years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
It is one of the first proteins from a long-dead organism to be resurrected in a living cell. Other extinct animals, including Neanderthals, are sure to follow suit. Such techniques will make it possible to explore exactly how extinct animals lived, rather than making educated guesses based on reconstructed gene sequences.
Woolly mammoths died out about 3500 years ago. They shared an African ancestor with elephants around 7 million years ago, before moving north between 1 and 2 million years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
Respect Your Elders, Human!
Neanderthals were using jewelry like ancient Yankees caps before Homo sapiens arrived, and hominids had kitchens and workshops nearly a million years ago.
We Homo sapiens consider ourselves pretty special, with our symbolic art, abstract thinking, and highly organized societies. But evidence is mounting that these hallmarks of modern human behavior may have existed in earlier hominids.
In Spanish caves once occupied by Neanderthals, archaeologist João Zilhão of the University of Bristol unearthed punctured scallop shells crusted with mineral pigments: Neanderthal jewelry. Painted with reds and yellows, the shells may have been worn as pendants, perhaps conveying social information about the wearer to other members of the group. “It’s like putting on your Yankees cap when you go to the stadium so people know who you are,” Zilhão says.
Read the rest of this article...
We Homo sapiens consider ourselves pretty special, with our symbolic art, abstract thinking, and highly organized societies. But evidence is mounting that these hallmarks of modern human behavior may have existed in earlier hominids.
In Spanish caves once occupied by Neanderthals, archaeologist João Zilhão of the University of Bristol unearthed punctured scallop shells crusted with mineral pigments: Neanderthal jewelry. Painted with reds and yellows, the shells may have been worn as pendants, perhaps conveying social information about the wearer to other members of the group. “It’s like putting on your Yankees cap when you go to the stadium so people know who you are,” Zilhão says.
Read the rest of this article...
“Multiregionalism vs. Out of Africa”
John Hawks has a post up, Multiregional evolution lives!, in response to Rex Dalton’s reporting on Neandertal-human admixture. He notes:
These ongoing studies are concluding that present-day genetic variation is inconsistent with a simple model where a random-mating ancestral population gives rise to today’s global population by means of a staged out-of-Africa dispersal. They next look at a model with some substantial (possibly complete) isolation between ancient human populations followed by a subsequent out-of-Africa dispersal. They show that this model fits the data significantly better.
So far, so good.
Read the rest of this article...
These ongoing studies are concluding that present-day genetic variation is inconsistent with a simple model where a random-mating ancestral population gives rise to today’s global population by means of a staged out-of-Africa dispersal. They next look at a model with some substantial (possibly complete) isolation between ancient human populations followed by a subsequent out-of-Africa dispersal. They show that this model fits the data significantly better.
So far, so good.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Humans Interbred with Neanderthals, Study Suggests
Humans today could be part Neanderthal, according to a new study that found our ancestors interbred with an extinct hominid species some millennia ago.
Neanderthals walked the Earth between about 130,000 and 30,000 years ago. While they co-existed with modern humans for a while, eventually they went extinct and we didn't. There has been intense scientific debate over how similar the two species were, and whether they might have mated with each other.
"The issue has been highly contentious for some time," said University of New Mexico genetic anthropologist Keith Hunley.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthals walked the Earth between about 130,000 and 30,000 years ago. While they co-existed with modern humans for a while, eventually they went extinct and we didn't. There has been intense scientific debate over how similar the two species were, and whether they might have mated with each other.
"The issue has been highly contentious for some time," said University of New Mexico genetic anthropologist Keith Hunley.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Lice hang ancient date on first clothes
For once lice are nice, at least for scientists investigating the origins of garments.
Using DNA to trace the evolutionary split between head and body lice, researchers conclude that body lice first came on the scene approximately 190,000 years ago. And that shift, the scientists propose, followed soon after people first began wearing clothing.
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Using DNA to trace the evolutionary split between head and body lice, researchers conclude that body lice first came on the scene approximately 190,000 years ago. And that shift, the scientists propose, followed soon after people first began wearing clothing.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Ancient Hereford ditch was 'royal city boundary'
A Bronze Age earth ditch has been found in Hereford which archaeologists say may have been used to mark the city's old tax boundary.
It is 5m (16ft) deep in places and was found using aerial, laser scanning equipment to map the land's contours.
The ditch has been filled in with earth over the years and now resembles only a slight depression at ground level.
Read the rest of this article...
It is 5m (16ft) deep in places and was found using aerial, laser scanning equipment to map the land's contours.
The ditch has been filled in with earth over the years and now resembles only a slight depression at ground level.
Read the rest of this article...
Nanostructure of 5,000-year-old mummy skin reveals insight into mummification process
Using cutting-edge microscopy techniques, researchers have gained insight into how human mummies can be extremely well-preserved for thousands of years. A team of scientists from Germany and Italy has investigated skin samples from Europe's oldest natural mummy, the 5,300-year-old "Iceman" who was buried in a glacier shortly after death in the Otzal Alps between Italy and Austria. The researchers found that the underlying structure of the mummy's skin is largely unaltered compared with the skin of a modern living human, likely maintaining its protective function due to dehydration.
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Stonehenge Down Under: Australians copy Neolithic rock structure to draw tourists
A full-sized replica of Stonehenge will be built on a beach in western Australia after a small town gave the green light for construction in a bid to draw tourists.
The shire council in Esperance, 460 miles south-west of Perth, has approved plans for the A$1.2m (£722,749) project, which it hopes will generate much-needed tourist revenue for the small coastal community – its only attraction at the moment is small piece of the US Skylab which fell onto a nearby farm in 1979.
"Stonehenge Down Under" is being spearheaded by the local Rotary club, which wants to build the structure from local pink granite on a council-owned site overlooking Twilight Beach, just outside the town.
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The shire council in Esperance, 460 miles south-west of Perth, has approved plans for the A$1.2m (£722,749) project, which it hopes will generate much-needed tourist revenue for the small coastal community – its only attraction at the moment is small piece of the US Skylab which fell onto a nearby farm in 1979.
"Stonehenge Down Under" is being spearheaded by the local Rotary club, which wants to build the structure from local pink granite on a council-owned site overlooking Twilight Beach, just outside the town.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient stones found in Devon
Archaeologists revealed today what they believe is a "spectacular" monument hundreds of years older than Stonehenge on one of the most remote peaks on Dartmoor in Devon.
The nine stones that make up the monument, which are up to 2.6 metres high but just 20cm wide, are lying flat but it is thought they originally stood in a long, thin line.
They were discovered at Cut Hill six years ago but experts have only just carbon-dated the stones to about 3,500BC. They appear to be aligned to mark the rising of the midsummer sun, which suggests they could have symbolic and astronomical purposes.
Read the rest of this article...
The nine stones that make up the monument, which are up to 2.6 metres high but just 20cm wide, are lying flat but it is thought they originally stood in a long, thin line.
They were discovered at Cut Hill six years ago but experts have only just carbon-dated the stones to about 3,500BC. They appear to be aligned to mark the rising of the midsummer sun, which suggests they could have symbolic and astronomical purposes.
Read the rest of this article...
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