A large gap in pre-history could signal that Britain underwent an economic downturn over 2,500 years ago.
In history lessons, the three ages of pre-history - Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age - seem to flow together without a gap.
But there is a 300-year period in British history between around 800 BC and 500 BC where experts still struggle to explain what happened, where bronze is in decline and iron was not widely used.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, April 8, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
1,700-year-old African skeleton could be an ancestor
It is hoped a 1,700-year-old African skeleton unearthed in Warwickshire could provide data about the DNA history of later populations and the ethnic origin of modern Britons.
The male skeleton, thought to be of a Roman soldier, was found earlier this year in a Roman cemetery in Stratford.
Discovered by Archaeology Warwickshire, the skeleton is thought to belong to the county's earliest known African.
Further tests aim to determine the man's place of birth.
Read the rest of this article...
The male skeleton, thought to be of a Roman soldier, was found earlier this year in a Roman cemetery in Stratford.
Discovered by Archaeology Warwickshire, the skeleton is thought to belong to the county's earliest known African.
Further tests aim to determine the man's place of birth.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, April 4, 2011
New funding unveiled for Stonehenge
Plans to transform the surroundings of Stonehenge came another "crucial" step closer today, English Heritage said as new funding was unveiled.
The £27 million project to build a new centre for visitors and close a road adjacent to the World Heritage Site was hit last year when the new Government announced it was cutting £10 million earmarked for the project.
But it received a boost in October when the Heritage Lottery Fund announced it was more than doubling its contribution to the project to £10 million.
Read the rest of this article...
The £27 million project to build a new centre for visitors and close a road adjacent to the World Heritage Site was hit last year when the new Government announced it was cutting £10 million earmarked for the project.
But it received a boost in October when the Heritage Lottery Fund announced it was more than doubling its contribution to the project to £10 million.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, April 1, 2011
Longer Pregnancy + Breast-Feeding = Bigger Brains, Longer Life Rea
Advice around breast-feeding can drive new mothers mad, but a new study suggests that the long pregnancies and lactation periods of our prehistoric mamas are responsible for the relatively big brains that differentiate humans from other animals.
By comparing 128 species of mammals, researchers at the University of Durham in England sought to answer this question: do large brains make species live longer by making them smarter in cheating death, or is the longer lifespan of big-brained animals simply the result of the fact that big brains require more care and time to grow?
"We already know that large-brained species develop slowly, mature later and have longer lifespans but what has not always been clear is why brains and life histories are related," said Robert Barton, lead author of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a press release.
Read the rest of this article...
By comparing 128 species of mammals, researchers at the University of Durham in England sought to answer this question: do large brains make species live longer by making them smarter in cheating death, or is the longer lifespan of big-brained animals simply the result of the fact that big brains require more care and time to grow?
"We already know that large-brained species develop slowly, mature later and have longer lifespans but what has not always been clear is why brains and life histories are related," said Robert Barton, lead author of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a press release.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
£58,000 bronze age windfall for Wiltshire museum
The Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has been awarded £58,200 to work on plans to create new Bronze Age galleries.
The money has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund and now the museum will progress to the second stage of the HLF application process.
The project will cost more than £200,000 and the museum, in Long Street, will have to contribute between £20,000 and £30,000.
Read the rest of this article...
The money has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund and now the museum will progress to the second stage of the HLF application process.
The project will cost more than £200,000 and the museum, in Long Street, will have to contribute between £20,000 and £30,000.
Read the rest of this article...
2,500-year-old intact human brain found
British archeologists have found that the human brain, which was found intact in a muddy Iron Age pit in the UK, dates back to 2,500 years ago.
Found in 2008, the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain has astonished scientists who could not believe that such a fragile organ had survived for so many years, LiveScience reported.
"It was just amazing to think that a brain of someone who had died so many thousands of years ago could persist just in wet ground," said Sonia O'Connor, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bradford.
Read the rest of this article...
Found in 2008, the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain has astonished scientists who could not believe that such a fragile organ had survived for so many years, LiveScience reported.
"It was just amazing to think that a brain of someone who had died so many thousands of years ago could persist just in wet ground," said Sonia O'Connor, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bradford.
Read the rest of this article...
Scientists Trace Violent Death of Iron Age Man
An Iron Age man whose skull and brain was unearthed during excavations at the University of York was the victim of a gruesome ritual killing, according to new research.
Scientists say that fractures and marks on the bones suggest the man, who was aged between 26 and 45, died most probably from hanging, after which he was carefully decapitated and his head was then buried on its own.
Archaeologists discovered the remains in 2008 in one of a series of Iron Age pits on the site of the University's £750 million campus expansion at Heslington East. Brain material was still in the skull which dates back around 2500 years, making it one the oldest surviving brains in Europe.
Read the rest of this article...
Scientists say that fractures and marks on the bones suggest the man, who was aged between 26 and 45, died most probably from hanging, after which he was carefully decapitated and his head was then buried on its own.
Archaeologists discovered the remains in 2008 in one of a series of Iron Age pits on the site of the University's £750 million campus expansion at Heslington East. Brain material was still in the skull which dates back around 2500 years, making it one the oldest surviving brains in Europe.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, March 28, 2011
Cornish stone circle damaged by cattle
Longhorn cattle introduced as part of a Higher Level Stewardship conservation grazing scheme onto Carnyorth Common near St Just (Cornwall, England) have destabilised a stone of the ancient Tregeseal Circle. Two years ago some 4 or 5 stones were loosened for the same reason. Clumps of cattle hair on many stones show that they are using them as rubbing posts. It is only a matter of time before this herd create more havoc.
These concerns were relayed to Natural England several years ago by the Save Penwith Moors group. According to the group, the presence of these animals will not only damage this important archaeological site but, as has been witnessed by local regular walkers of this moor, has also caused a dramatic drop in the number of walkers and horse riders over the past two years.
Read the rest of this article...
These concerns were relayed to Natural England several years ago by the Save Penwith Moors group. According to the group, the presence of these animals will not only damage this important archaeological site but, as has been witnessed by local regular walkers of this moor, has also caused a dramatic drop in the number of walkers and horse riders over the past two years.
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
2,500-Year-Old Human Preserved Brain Discovered
A 2,500-year-old human skull uncovered in England was less of a surprise than what was in it: the brain. The discovery of the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain prompted questions about how such a fragile organ could have survived so long and how frequently this strange type of preservation occurs.
Except for the brain, all of the skull's soft tissue was gone when the skull was pulled from a muddy Iron Age pit where the University of York was planning to expand its Heslington East campus. [Britain's Oldest Brain Found]
"It was just amazing to think that a brain of someone who had died so many thousands of years ago could persist just in wet ground," said Sonia O'Connor, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bradford. O’Connor led a team of researchers who assessed the state of the brain after it was found in 2008 and looked into likely modes of preservation. [Image of preserved brain]
Read the rest of this article...
Except for the brain, all of the skull's soft tissue was gone when the skull was pulled from a muddy Iron Age pit where the University of York was planning to expand its Heslington East campus. [Britain's Oldest Brain Found]
"It was just amazing to think that a brain of someone who had died so many thousands of years ago could persist just in wet ground," said Sonia O'Connor, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bradford. O’Connor led a team of researchers who assessed the state of the brain after it was found in 2008 and looked into likely modes of preservation. [Image of preserved brain]
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, March 21, 2011
Neolithic stone axe on Tralee bypass route
THE discovery of a stone axe on the proposed route of the Tralee bypass proves that people lived in the area about 5,000 years ago.
The find was made by a 60-strong Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd group carrying out excavations along the route on behalf of Kerry County Council and the National Roads Design Office.
Senior archaeologist with Headland Archaeology, Patricia Long, said the axe was "fairly common" and dated from the Neolithic era between 3,500 and 2,500 BC.
Read the rest of this article...
The find was made by a 60-strong Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd group carrying out excavations along the route on behalf of Kerry County Council and the National Roads Design Office.
Senior archaeologist with Headland Archaeology, Patricia Long, said the axe was "fairly common" and dated from the Neolithic era between 3,500 and 2,500 BC.
Read the rest of this article...
‘Talking fires’ link iron age hillforts
A TEST to show how people in the Iron Age communicated using Welsh peaks was yesterday hailed a success.
Scores of volunteers flashed torches to each other from 10 hillforts in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire. The furthest link spanned 15 miles, between hills at Burton Point on the Wirral and Cheshire’s Maiden Castle.
The experiment was designed to see how easily Iron Age communities could interact from their hilltop homes thousands of years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
Scores of volunteers flashed torches to each other from 10 hillforts in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire. The furthest link spanned 15 miles, between hills at Burton Point on the Wirral and Cheshire’s Maiden Castle.
The experiment was designed to see how easily Iron Age communities could interact from their hilltop homes thousands of years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
Money raised for Iron Age gold treasure find
A £1m Iron Age gold hoard found near Stirling by an amateur treasure hunter has been secured for the nation after a fundraising campaign.
The four neck ornaments - or torcs - were unearthed in a field by David Booth in September 2009.
Mr Booth will now receive a payment of £462,000 after National Museums Scotland secured the necessary funds.
Read the rest of this article...
The four neck ornaments - or torcs - were unearthed in a field by David Booth in September 2009.
Mr Booth will now receive a payment of £462,000 after National Museums Scotland secured the necessary funds.
Read the rest of this article...
The pre-Neolithic in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus
Archaeologists working at the pre-Neolithic site of Rhoudias, situated in the south foothills of the Troodos Mountains next to the Xenos river in Cyprus have recently revealed that this site was repeatedly visited by groups of hunter-gatherers.
The field season was conducted in late November 2010 by a group of postgraduate students from the University of Thessaloniki along with other Cypriot archaeologists and researchers. The director, Professor Nikolaos Efstratiou said the site was part of a route from the coast to the mountains and vice-versa where hunter-gatherers would stay for short periods of time on the journey.
Read the rest of this article...
The field season was conducted in late November 2010 by a group of postgraduate students from the University of Thessaloniki along with other Cypriot archaeologists and researchers. The director, Professor Nikolaos Efstratiou said the site was part of a route from the coast to the mountains and vice-versa where hunter-gatherers would stay for short periods of time on the journey.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Science friction: Study questions how long ago ancient ancestors learned to use fire
WASHINGTON — A new study is raising questions about when ancient human ancestors in Europe learned to control fire, one of the most important steps on the long path to civilization.
A review of 141 archaeological sites across Europe shows habitual use of fire beginning between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago, according to a paper in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Most archeologists agree that the use of fire is tied to colonization outside Africa, especially in Europe where temperatures fall below freezing, wrote Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands and Paola Villa of the University of Colorado.
Read the rest of this article...
A review of 141 archaeological sites across Europe shows habitual use of fire beginning between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago, according to a paper in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Most archeologists agree that the use of fire is tied to colonization outside Africa, especially in Europe where temperatures fall below freezing, wrote Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands and Paola Villa of the University of Colorado.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthals were nifty at controlling fire, says CU-Boulder-led study
But Neanderthal predecessors pushed into cold regions of Europe at least 800,000 years ago without the use of fire
A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.
The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Villa co-authored a paper on the new study with Professor Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
"Until now, many scientists have thought Neanderthals had some fires but did not have continuous use of fire," said Villa. "We were not expecting to find a record of so many Neanderthal sites exhibiting such good evidence of the sustained use of fire over time."
Read the rest of this article...
A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.
The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Villa co-authored a paper on the new study with Professor Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
"Until now, many scientists have thought Neanderthals had some fires but did not have continuous use of fire," said Villa. "We were not expecting to find a record of so many Neanderthal sites exhibiting such good evidence of the sustained use of fire over time."
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthals were nifty at controlling fire, says CU-Boulder-led study
A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.
The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Villa co-authored a paper on the new study with Professor Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Read the rest of this article...
The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Villa co-authored a paper on the new study with Professor Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Read the rest of this article...
Iron Age road found in Shropshire by archaeologists
Archaeologists think they may have found evidence that Iron Age Britons were capable of building roads - before the Romans arrived.
Environmental consultants SLR examined a road, thought to be built in the 1st century BC, at Bayston Hill quarry, Shropshire.
Director Tim Malim said the age of the find suggested its construction was not a result of Roman influence.
Read the rest of this article...
Environmental consultants SLR examined a road, thought to be built in the 1st century BC, at Bayston Hill quarry, Shropshire.
Director Tim Malim said the age of the find suggested its construction was not a result of Roman influence.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Marden Henge excavations opens window on Neolithic ritual
English Heritage archaeologists have uncovered a ceremonial building, thought to be 4,500 years old during a recent 6-week archaeological excavation at one of Britain’s most important but least understood prehistoric monuments, Marden Henge in Wiltshire, south west England.
The structure has been discovered on the site of a previously unknown smaller henge within the banks of the much larger Marden Henge and is one of the best preserved Neolithic buildings in Britain outside the Orkneys.
Read the rest of this article...
The structure has been discovered on the site of a previously unknown smaller henge within the banks of the much larger Marden Henge and is one of the best preserved Neolithic buildings in Britain outside the Orkneys.
Read the rest of this article...
New archaeological finds in El Salvador
Three renowned French archaeologists have been travelling through the country to document the existence of cave art. Their findings at Morazan and La Union shed new light on the ancient inhabitants of El Salvador.
French archaeologists Philippe Costa, Eric Gelliot and Simon Merci from the Sorbonne University in Paris have been travelling through eastern El Salvador to document cave art found in this part of the country and try to better understand who and when created this.
Read the rest of this article...
French archaeologists Philippe Costa, Eric Gelliot and Simon Merci from the Sorbonne University in Paris have been travelling through eastern El Salvador to document cave art found in this part of the country and try to better understand who and when created this.
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Stonehenge Being Scanned With Lasers
Modern laser scanning is being implemented to study Stonehenge and to search for hidden clues about how and why the ancient wonder was built.
Researchers said they are surveying all visible sides of the standing and fallen stones. Some ancient carvings have been found in previous studies, including a famous Neolithic “dagger.” The work is expected to be completed by the end of March.
“The surfaces of the stones of Stonehenge hold fascinating clues to the past,” English Heritage archaeologist Dave Batchelor, told BBC News.
Read the rest of this article...
Researchers said they are surveying all visible sides of the standing and fallen stones. Some ancient carvings have been found in previous studies, including a famous Neolithic “dagger.” The work is expected to be completed by the end of March.
“The surfaces of the stones of Stonehenge hold fascinating clues to the past,” English Heritage archaeologist Dave Batchelor, told BBC News.
Read the rest of this article...
Excavations at Banks Chambered Tomb, South Ronaldsay, Orkney
A team of archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) recently undertook a rescue excavation on a newly discovered Neolithic chambered tomb at Banks, on the island of South Ronaldsay, Orkney. The tomb is located on the southern tip of the island overlooking the Pentland Firth, approximately 1.8 kilometres from the Tomb of the Eagles at Isbister. Whilst this new monument sits well within the rich archaeological heritage of the islands, the very fact that new examples are still being discovered underlines the remarkable prominence of this type of Neolithic burial monument.
Read the rest of this article...
Read the rest of this article...
Complete neolithic pot found in Didcot
Archaeologists working on a housing development in Oxfordshire claim to have found one of the oldest complete pots in the country.
The neolithic find was discovered on a housing development in Didcot and is thought to be about 5,500 years old.
Archaeologist Rob Masefield said they could determine its age by the nature of the pot.
Read the rest of this article...
The neolithic find was discovered on a housing development in Didcot and is thought to be about 5,500 years old.
Archaeologist Rob Masefield said they could determine its age by the nature of the pot.
Read the rest of this article...
Shedding our penis spines helped us become human, DNA study hints
Genetic comparison with chimps suggests that losing chunks of DNA – including one associated with penis spines and facial whiskers – played a crucial role in making us human
Scientists have identified a clutch of subtle genetic changes that have shaped our minds and bodies into the unique form that sets humans apart from chimpanzees and the rest of the animal kingdom.
The work by researchers in the US represents a landmark in a search that has occupied philosophers and scientists for millennia and one that goes to the heart of understanding what it means to be human.
Read the rest of this article...
Scientists have identified a clutch of subtle genetic changes that have shaped our minds and bodies into the unique form that sets humans apart from chimpanzees and the rest of the animal kingdom.
The work by researchers in the US represents a landmark in a search that has occupied philosophers and scientists for millennia and one that goes to the heart of understanding what it means to be human.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient gold treasure found in field
GOLD coins which could date back more than 2,000 years have been found in a field in Harborough district.
The ten coins originate from the continent, in an area which is now in Belgium, and are believed to pre-date a hoard of more than 5,000 Roman and Iron Age coins found in Hallaton in 2000.
They were unearthed by 55-year-old Steve Bestwick, secretary of the Leicester Search Society metal detecting club.
Read the rest of this article...
The ten coins originate from the continent, in an area which is now in Belgium, and are believed to pre-date a hoard of more than 5,000 Roman and Iron Age coins found in Hallaton in 2000.
They were unearthed by 55-year-old Steve Bestwick, secretary of the Leicester Search Society metal detecting club.
Read the rest of this article...
Neolithic handbag, 3800-2500 BC
It looks at first like a piece of a rough, greenish mat from a 1970s student flat. In fact it is a 5,000-year-old handbag.
Found in a bog in Twyford, Co Westmeath, it was made by coiling long slivers of wood into spirals that were then bound together with lighter grass-like material. Next the two sides were woven together along a seam, and handles of plaited straw were added. This would have made for a circular purse-like bag, about 40cm in diameter, with a narrow opening at the top. It was probably dyed to give it a splash of colour. It gives us a glimpse into the everyday life of early Irish farmers. Though we cannot know for sure, there is every chance that it was made and used by a woman.
Similar bags have been found around the world: the technique goes back to the Middle East around 4800 BC and is still used by indigenous cultures. In fact, the best way to get a sense of the Twyford bag is to look at a very similar but intact specimen (right) that is also in the National Museum of Ireland. It comes from 19th-century Aboriginal Australia.
Read the rest of this article...
Found in a bog in Twyford, Co Westmeath, it was made by coiling long slivers of wood into spirals that were then bound together with lighter grass-like material. Next the two sides were woven together along a seam, and handles of plaited straw were added. This would have made for a circular purse-like bag, about 40cm in diameter, with a narrow opening at the top. It was probably dyed to give it a splash of colour. It gives us a glimpse into the everyday life of early Irish farmers. Though we cannot know for sure, there is every chance that it was made and used by a woman.
Similar bags have been found around the world: the technique goes back to the Middle East around 4800 BC and is still used by indigenous cultures. In fact, the best way to get a sense of the Twyford bag is to look at a very similar but intact specimen (right) that is also in the National Museum of Ireland. It comes from 19th-century Aboriginal Australia.
Read the rest of this article...
Stonehenge in High Definition
Printable version E-mail this to a friend
English Heritage - 11 Mar 2011 12:56
Stoehenge in High Definition
English Heritage is using a combination of modern 3D laser scanning and digital imaging technology to survey every inch of every stone that makes up Stonehenge to produce the most accurate digital model ever for the world famous prehistoric monument.
The survey includes all the visible faces of the standing and fallen stones of Stonehenge, including Station, Heel and Slaughter stones, as well as the top of the horizontal lintels which have never before been surveyed at this level of detail.
Despite the vast amount of archaeological activity and academic study into Stonehenge and its landscape over the centuries, relatively little is known about the lichen-covered surfaces of the sarsens and bluestones that make up the stone circle. The availability of high resolution laser scanners that can produce highly accurate surface models means that it is now possible to record details and irregularities on the stone surfaces down to a resolution of 0.5mm. It is also hoped that secrets hidden underneath the thick cover of lichens may be revealed in the analysis using sophisticated software.
Read the rest of this article...
English Heritage - 11 Mar 2011 12:56
Stoehenge in High Definition
English Heritage is using a combination of modern 3D laser scanning and digital imaging technology to survey every inch of every stone that makes up Stonehenge to produce the most accurate digital model ever for the world famous prehistoric monument.
The survey includes all the visible faces of the standing and fallen stones of Stonehenge, including Station, Heel and Slaughter stones, as well as the top of the horizontal lintels which have never before been surveyed at this level of detail.
Despite the vast amount of archaeological activity and academic study into Stonehenge and its landscape over the centuries, relatively little is known about the lichen-covered surfaces of the sarsens and bluestones that make up the stone circle. The availability of high resolution laser scanners that can produce highly accurate surface models means that it is now possible to record details and irregularities on the stone surfaces down to a resolution of 0.5mm. It is also hoped that secrets hidden underneath the thick cover of lichens may be revealed in the analysis using sophisticated software.
Read the rest of this article...
How the Human Penis Lost its Spines
Somewhere between 7 million years ago – when we split from chimpanzees on our evolutionary journey – and 800,000 years ago – when we split from Neanderthals – humans lost the spines that chimps and many other animals have on their penises. In some cases these consist of small keratin hard nodules and in others actual sharp spines. The mystery of how this happened has just been unraveled in some research by Stanford and Penn State University scientists.
Chimpanzees are not very different to us genetically, but according to researchers, it is actually the missing parts of regulatory or non-coding DNA that make us human. In other words, it's about what we don't have in common rather than what we do. Another find was not only the lack of penile spines but the discovery that some regions of our brains are larger due to the same lack of DNA coding areas.
Read the rest of this article...
Chimpanzees are not very different to us genetically, but according to researchers, it is actually the missing parts of regulatory or non-coding DNA that make us human. In other words, it's about what we don't have in common rather than what we do. Another find was not only the lack of penile spines but the discovery that some regions of our brains are larger due to the same lack of DNA coding areas.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, March 4, 2011
Our ancestors lived on shaky ground
Scientists find link between tectonically active landscapes and ancient sites
Our earliest ancestors preferred to settle in locations that have something in common with cities such as San Francisco, Naples and Istanbul – they are often on active tectonic faults in areas that have an earthquake risk or volcanoes, or both.
An international team of scientists has established a link between the shape of the landscape and the habitats preferred by our earliest ancestors. The research, by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, the University of York and the Institut de Physique du Globe Paris (IPGP), is published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.
Read the rest of this article...
Our earliest ancestors preferred to settle in locations that have something in common with cities such as San Francisco, Naples and Istanbul – they are often on active tectonic faults in areas that have an earthquake risk or volcanoes, or both.
An international team of scientists has established a link between the shape of the landscape and the habitats preferred by our earliest ancestors. The research, by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, the University of York and the Institut de Physique du Globe Paris (IPGP), is published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.
Read the rest of this article...
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Alaska researchers discover rare remains of an Ice Age child
Researchers say they've uncovered the oldest cremated human remains ever discovered in northern North America. The 2- to 4-year-old, found in central Alaska, is only the second Ice Age child discovered on the continent, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
Archaeologists found the remains in a fire pit in an abandoned living area. The child probably died about 11,500 years ago, based on research by the university's Ben Potter and his team.
Read the rest of this article...
Archaeologists found the remains in a fire pit in an abandoned living area. The child probably died about 11,500 years ago, based on research by the university's Ben Potter and his team.
Read the rest of this article...
Treasure hunter finds Bronze Age founders hoard
A treasure hunter has found 18 Bronze Age items in a field near Newark in Nottinghamshire.
Maurice Richardson stumbled across the collection, which includes four socket axes, a spear head, a chisel and a fragmented sword, by mistake.
"I was on my way back to the car after being out all afternoon and wandered off the track," he said. "If I hadn't I wouldn't have found it."
Read the rest of this article...
Maurice Richardson stumbled across the collection, which includes four socket axes, a spear head, a chisel and a fragmented sword, by mistake.
"I was on my way back to the car after being out all afternoon and wandered off the track," he said. "If I hadn't I wouldn't have found it."
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Prehistoric Dog Lived, Died Among Humans
Burial remains of a dog that lived over 7,000 years ago in Siberia suggest the male Husky-like animal probably lived and died similar to how humans did at that time and place, eating the same food, sustaining work injuries, and getting a human-like burial.
"Based on how northern indigenous people understand animals in historic times, I think the people burying this particular dog saw it as a thinking, social being, perhaps on par with humans in many ways," said Robert Losey, lead author of a study about the dog burial, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
Read the rest of this article...
"Based on how northern indigenous people understand animals in historic times, I think the people burying this particular dog saw it as a thinking, social being, perhaps on par with humans in many ways," said Robert Losey, lead author of a study about the dog burial, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
Read the rest of this article...
How Stone Age man kept his pores clean... in the SAUNA
The remains of a 4,500-year-old sauna have been discovered by archaeologists excavating a Stone Age temple.
They unearthed the foundations of the building at Marden Henge, near Devizes in Wiltshire.
Located close to the River Avon, the neolithic ‘sauna’ was in a key position overlooking a ceremonial area at the site.
Read the rest of this article...
They unearthed the foundations of the building at Marden Henge, near Devizes in Wiltshire.
Located close to the River Avon, the neolithic ‘sauna’ was in a key position overlooking a ceremonial area at the site.
Read the rest of this article...
Britain may pull out of funding heritage sites
Britain is threatening to withdraw its support for the United Nations agency responsible for designating world heritage sites such as Stonehenge after a government review found it unable to justify the millions it receives from British taxpayers.
The UN Educational and Cultural Organisation, Unesco, was established in 1945 to promote peace and culture and academic corporation, but accusations of anti-Western bias and financial mismanagement led to Margaret Thatcher pulling Britain out of the agency in 1985. Tony Blair rejoined it in 1997.
But now an investigation into how effectively £3billion of British aid is spent is understood to have shown Unesco the 'yellow card'. The review found it was wasting money and failing to show concrete outcomes in return for the £12m it receives each year from the UK.
Read the rest of this article...
The UN Educational and Cultural Organisation, Unesco, was established in 1945 to promote peace and culture and academic corporation, but accusations of anti-Western bias and financial mismanagement led to Margaret Thatcher pulling Britain out of the agency in 1985. Tony Blair rejoined it in 1997.
But now an investigation into how effectively £3billion of British aid is spent is understood to have shown Unesco the 'yellow card'. The review found it was wasting money and failing to show concrete outcomes in return for the £12m it receives each year from the UK.
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Garden dig leads to a grave discovery
Pat Tiernan is a keen fan of television's 'Time Team' and amateur archaeology. But he never thought a dig in his back garden would unearth items up to 4,000 years old.
After starting work on an extension to his home in Collinstown, Co Westmeath, he was astonished to discover a skeleton and other items.
Pretty soon a team from the National Museum was excavating and evaluating his find which included human remains and a Bronze Age bowl.
Read the rest of this article...
After starting work on an extension to his home in Collinstown, Co Westmeath, he was astonished to discover a skeleton and other items.
Pretty soon a team from the National Museum was excavating and evaluating his find which included human remains and a Bronze Age bowl.
Read the rest of this article...
New Discovery ‘will rewrite Stonehenge’s history’
Researchers from Leicester and Wales have shed new light on the origins of bluestones at Stonehenge- long believed to have come from ‘sacred hills’ in Wales.
Geologists from the National Museum Wales, University of Leicester and Aberystwyth University, have uncovered new evidence of its origins - which brings into question how the rocks were brought to the Salisbury Plain.
One type of bluestone at Stonehenge, the so-called ‘spotted dolerite’, was convincingly traced to the Mynydd Preseli area in north Pembrokeshire in the early 1920s. However, the sources of the other bluestones - chiefly rhyolites (a type of rock) and the rare sandstones remained, until recently, unknown.
Read the rest of this article...
Geologists from the National Museum Wales, University of Leicester and Aberystwyth University, have uncovered new evidence of its origins - which brings into question how the rocks were brought to the Salisbury Plain.
One type of bluestone at Stonehenge, the so-called ‘spotted dolerite’, was convincingly traced to the Mynydd Preseli area in north Pembrokeshire in the early 1920s. However, the sources of the other bluestones - chiefly rhyolites (a type of rock) and the rare sandstones remained, until recently, unknown.
Read the rest of this article...
The Iceman Mummy: Finally Face to Face
Brown-eyed, bearded, furrow faced, and tired: this is how Ötzi the Iceman might have looked, according to the latest reconstruction based on 20 years of research and investigations.
Realized by two Dutch experts, Alfons and Adrie Kennis, the model was produced with the latest in forensic mapping technology that uses three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull as well as infrared and tomographic images.
The new reconstruction shows a prematurely old man, with deep-set eyes, sunken cheeks, a furrowed face and ungroomed beard and hair.
Read the rest of this article...
Realized by two Dutch experts, Alfons and Adrie Kennis, the model was produced with the latest in forensic mapping technology that uses three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull as well as infrared and tomographic images.
The new reconstruction shows a prematurely old man, with deep-set eyes, sunken cheeks, a furrowed face and ungroomed beard and hair.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient Britons: Iron Age riches in Cornwall
The South West has more ancient monuments than anywhere else in the country providing a rich history of how people used to live.
As part of our continuing series on Ancient Britons, BBC Spotlight's David George, helped by archaeologists, and enthusiasts, has been looking at bronze age sites in Cornwall.
Many of these ancient monuments have survived because the high places have not been developed.
Read the rest of this article...
As part of our continuing series on Ancient Britons, BBC Spotlight's David George, helped by archaeologists, and enthusiasts, has been looking at bronze age sites in Cornwall.
Many of these ancient monuments have survived because the high places have not been developed.
Read the rest of this article...
Oldest subarctic North American human remains found
Fairbanks, Alaska—A newly excavated archaeological site in Alaska contained the cremated remains of one of the earliest inhabitants of North America. The site may provide rare insights into the burial practices of Ice Age people and shed new light on their daily lives.
University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist Ben Potter and four colleagues published their discovery in the Feb. 25 edition of the journal Science.
The skeletal remains appear to be that of an approximately three-year-old child, found in an ancient fire pit within an equally ancient dwelling at the Upward Sun River site, near the Tanana River in central Alaska. Radiocarbon dating of wood at the site indicates the cremation took place roughly 11,500 years ago, when the Bering Land Bridge may still have connected Alaska and Asia. Initial observations of the teeth by UAF bioarchaeologist Joel Irish provide confirmation that the child is biologically affiliated with Native Americans and Northeast Asians.
Read the rest of this article...
University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist Ben Potter and four colleagues published their discovery in the Feb. 25 edition of the journal Science.
The skeletal remains appear to be that of an approximately three-year-old child, found in an ancient fire pit within an equally ancient dwelling at the Upward Sun River site, near the Tanana River in central Alaska. Radiocarbon dating of wood at the site indicates the cremation took place roughly 11,500 years ago, when the Bering Land Bridge may still have connected Alaska and Asia. Initial observations of the teeth by UAF bioarchaeologist Joel Irish provide confirmation that the child is biologically affiliated with Native Americans and Northeast Asians.
Read the rest of this article...
11,500-Year-Old Remains of Cremated 3-Year-Old Discovered
An archaeological dig in Alaska has uncovered the oldest human remains ever found in Arctic or Subarctic North America – the cremated skeleton of a 3-year-old.
The chlid's burned bone fragments were found in a fire pit in the remains of an ancient house near the Tanana River in central Alaska. Researchers date the cremation to 11,500 years ago. After the child's body was burned, researchers report in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Science, the house and hearth were buried and abandoned.
"The fact that the child was cremated within the center of the house … this was an important member of society," said study author Ben Potter, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Read the rest of this article...
The chlid's burned bone fragments were found in a fire pit in the remains of an ancient house near the Tanana River in central Alaska. Researchers date the cremation to 11,500 years ago. After the child's body was burned, researchers report in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Science, the house and hearth were buried and abandoned.
"The fact that the child was cremated within the center of the house … this was an important member of society," said study author Ben Potter, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Read the rest of this article...
Pictures: Otzi the Iceman's New, Older Face Unveiled
Prematurely aged, with leathery, wrinkled skin, deep-set eyes, and a shaggy beard, this new reconstruction of "Ötzi" the Iceman is a far cry from past reconstructions that showed him as a strapping middle-aged man.
Notably, the new model, developed by Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis, has brown eyes based on recent research that showed the 5,000-year-old Iceman did not have blue eyes, as previously thought.
The latest Iceman reconstruction is based on new 3-D scans of Ötzi's body and will be the focus of an exhibition called "Ötzi 20," which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the naturally mummified body's discovery in the Italian Alps. "Ötzi 20" will run from March 1 to January 15, 2012, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, Italy.
Read the rest of this article...
Notably, the new model, developed by Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis, has brown eyes based on recent research that showed the 5,000-year-old Iceman did not have blue eyes, as previously thought.
The latest Iceman reconstruction is based on new 3-D scans of Ötzi's body and will be the focus of an exhibition called "Ötzi 20," which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the naturally mummified body's discovery in the Italian Alps. "Ötzi 20" will run from March 1 to January 15, 2012, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, Italy.
Read the rest of this article...
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Origins of Farming in Europe Result of Human Migration and Cultural Change, Study Suggests
It has long been debated as to whether the transition from a largely hunter-gatherer to an agricultural subsistence strategy in Europe was the result of the migration of farmers from the Near East and Anatolia, or whether this transition was primarily cultural in nature. A new study, co-authored by researchers at University College Cork and the University of Kent suggests that the prehistoric adoption of farming practices in outlying regions of Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic, European Russia and the Ukraine, was the result of cultural diffusion.
The new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, uses measurements of skulls of hunter-gathering (Mesolithic) and early farming (Neolithic) prehistoric populations from Europe, Near East and Anatolia to find answers.
Read the rest of this article...
The new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, uses measurements of skulls of hunter-gathering (Mesolithic) and early farming (Neolithic) prehistoric populations from Europe, Near East and Anatolia to find answers.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
New discovery throws further light on the origins of famous bluestones of Stonehenge
The ongoing debate surrounding the source of the famous bluestones formimg the distinctive inner circle and horseshoe of Stonehenge has taken another turn after new findings emerged from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
One type of bluestone, the so-called spotted dolerite, was convincingly traced to the Mynydd Preseli area of North Pembrokeshire in the 1920s, but the origins of many of the others have remained a mystery. Now geologists at the museum in Cardiff believe they have identified the source of one of the rhyolite types.
Read the rest of this article...
One type of bluestone, the so-called spotted dolerite, was convincingly traced to the Mynydd Preseli area of North Pembrokeshire in the 1920s, but the origins of many of the others have remained a mystery. Now geologists at the museum in Cardiff believe they have identified the source of one of the rhyolite types.
Read the rest of this article...
Researchers Map Out Ice Sheets Shrinking During Ice Age
A set of maps created by the University of Sheffield have illustrated, for the first time, how our last British ice sheet shrunk during the Ice Age.
Led by Professor Chris Clark from the University´s Department of Geography, a team of experts developed the maps to understand what effect the current shrinking of ice sheets in parts of the Antarctic and Greenland will have on the speed of sea level rise.
Read the rest of this article...
Led by Professor Chris Clark from the University´s Department of Geography, a team of experts developed the maps to understand what effect the current shrinking of ice sheets in parts of the Antarctic and Greenland will have on the speed of sea level rise.
Read the rest of this article...
Decorated sandstone boulder found after dig
ARCHEOLOGISTS have discovered that an artefact found during last year’s dig at Eddisbury Hill is a decorated sandstone boulder dated between the late Neolithic and late Bronze Age.
The old red sandstone boulder, which has multiple engravings on one of its surfaces, was found in the entrance area of Eddisbury Hillfort.
The series of motifs are usually associated with Neolithic or Bronze Age burial ritual found in or close to cairns and barrows.
Read the rest of this article...
The old red sandstone boulder, which has multiple engravings on one of its surfaces, was found in the entrance area of Eddisbury Hillfort.
The series of motifs are usually associated with Neolithic or Bronze Age burial ritual found in or close to cairns and barrows.
Read the rest of this article...
Too hot, too cold, just right: Testing the limits of where humans can live
On an isolated segment of islands in the Pacific Ring of Fire, residents endure volcanoes, tsunamis, dense fog, steep cliffs and long and chilly winters.
At least it might be for inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, an 810-mile archipelago that stretches from Japan to Russia. The islands, formed by a collision of tectonic plates, are nearly abandoned today, but anthropologists have learned that thousands of people have lived there on and off as far back as at least 6000 B.C., persevering despite natural disasters.
Read the rest of this article...
At least it might be for inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, an 810-mile archipelago that stretches from Japan to Russia. The islands, formed by a collision of tectonic plates, are nearly abandoned today, but anthropologists have learned that thousands of people have lived there on and off as far back as at least 6000 B.C., persevering despite natural disasters.
Read the rest of this article...
Giving Lucy a foot to walk on
New fossil evidence from Hadar, Ethiopia suggests that Australopithecus afarensis, the humanoid species thought to have existed between about 2.9 and 3.7 million years ago, had the first modern feet. The fossilized bone researchers found is the fourth metatarsal, a bone that connects a human’s heel with the fourth toe. According to Carol Ward, an anthropologist at the University of Missouri, the fossil supports the claim that the foot of Australopithecus, the group the famous Lucy came from, was human-like and therefore that Lucy and her kind had given up living in trees.
Commenting on the study, Prof. Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at London’s Natural History Museum, said although this bone provides evidence that Australopithecus had a similar foot anatomy to humans, the bone’s function is highly debatable. Stringer claimed that even if the bone’s purpose were similar to that of Homo sapiens, Australopithecines were only at the very beginning of the evolution of the modern foot.
Read the rest of this article...
Commenting on the study, Prof. Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at London’s Natural History Museum, said although this bone provides evidence that Australopithecus had a similar foot anatomy to humans, the bone’s function is highly debatable. Stringer claimed that even if the bone’s purpose were similar to that of Homo sapiens, Australopithecines were only at the very beginning of the evolution of the modern foot.
Read the rest of this article...
Why early man could have done with a dose of aspirin
Back pain is often blamed on lazy lifestyles – watching television and eating too much.
But debilitating backache dates back millions of years, according to a Cambridge University researcher who is looking at fossil records of human bones.
His research also paints a picture of early man being more caring than some envisage – with those suffering from disability being looked after.
Read the rest of this article...
But debilitating backache dates back millions of years, according to a Cambridge University researcher who is looking at fossil records of human bones.
His research also paints a picture of early man being more caring than some envisage – with those suffering from disability being looked after.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Unlocking Noord-Holland's Late Neolithic Treasure Chest
About the Project
The project Unlocking Noord-Holland's Late Neolithic Treasure Chest was initiated by Hans Peeters (then Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency, now University of Groningen) and received a € 500,000.- grant by the Dutch Research Foundation NWO. On the basis of this grant and subsidiary grants from the universities of Leiden and Groningen and the unpaid involvement of various specialists from the Cultural Heritage Agency a multidisciplinary project on the Single Grave Culture of Noord-Holland saw its official start in September 2009. The project combines the research expertise from researchers from the Cultural Heritage Agency, two universities and various firms. All participants are introduced in this first newsletter.
This project aims to unlock and integrate cultural/ecological information and research data in order to provide a sound basis for cultural modeling and development of heritage management strategies. We will thereby obtain a better understanding of site variability in relation to landscape use, subsistence strategies and the material world of the inhabitants.
Visit the website...
The project Unlocking Noord-Holland's Late Neolithic Treasure Chest was initiated by Hans Peeters (then Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency, now University of Groningen) and received a € 500,000.- grant by the Dutch Research Foundation NWO. On the basis of this grant and subsidiary grants from the universities of Leiden and Groningen and the unpaid involvement of various specialists from the Cultural Heritage Agency a multidisciplinary project on the Single Grave Culture of Noord-Holland saw its official start in September 2009. The project combines the research expertise from researchers from the Cultural Heritage Agency, two universities and various firms. All participants are introduced in this first newsletter.
This project aims to unlock and integrate cultural/ecological information and research data in order to provide a sound basis for cultural modeling and development of heritage management strategies. We will thereby obtain a better understanding of site variability in relation to landscape use, subsistence strategies and the material world of the inhabitants.
Visit the website...
Structures of Roman fort defences never before seen in Britain have been unearthed during an excavation in Wales. Archaeologists have uncovered sect
Italy has ruled the fashion world for longer than we thought. That, at least, is the claim of archaeologists who say they have evidence that Neanderthals were using feathers as ornaments 44,000 years ago. The tenuous claim adds fuel to the debate over whether our distant cousins were simple brutes or as cultured as Homo sapiens.
Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara in Italy found 660 bird bones mixed in with Neanderthal bones in Fumane cave in northern Italy. Many of the wing bones were cut and scraped where the flight feathers were once attached, suggesting the feathers had been systematically removed.
Just like the shells which Neanderthals may have worn as jewellery, Peresani thinks the feathers were used as ornaments. He dismisses other explanations on the grounds that many of the species are poor food sources and fletched arrows had not been invented at the time. João Zilhão at the University of Barcelona in Spain says it is more evidence that Neanderthals were as cultured as H. sapiens. On the other hand, Thomas Higham at the University of Oxford says Peresani has pushed his data too far.
Read the rest of this article...
Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara in Italy found 660 bird bones mixed in with Neanderthal bones in Fumane cave in northern Italy. Many of the wing bones were cut and scraped where the flight feathers were once attached, suggesting the feathers had been systematically removed.
Just like the shells which Neanderthals may have worn as jewellery, Peresani thinks the feathers were used as ornaments. He dismisses other explanations on the grounds that many of the species are poor food sources and fletched arrows had not been invented at the time. João Zilhão at the University of Barcelona in Spain says it is more evidence that Neanderthals were as cultured as H. sapiens. On the other hand, Thomas Higham at the University of Oxford says Peresani has pushed his data too far.
Read the rest of this article...
Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Revised Research Framework (SARRF)
Wessex Archaeology is pleased to announce that we are co-ordinating the revision and updating of the Avebury and Stonehenge resource assessments, and will also be writing a single revised research framework uniting both parts of the World Heritage Site into a harmonised volume with a five year currency.
The resource assessment aims to be complete by June 2011, and regular updates regarding the progress of the project will be posted on the SARRF website. The revised research agenda will be open to public consultation in September 2011, with both the resource assessments and research agendas publicly accessible online via the project website. Following public consultation and comment, there will also be a public seminar at the end of the year, to discuss the research agenda and develop the strategies to make the agenda achievable, as well as encourage wide stakeholder participation and community ownership of the product.
Read the rest of this article...
The resource assessment aims to be complete by June 2011, and regular updates regarding the progress of the project will be posted on the SARRF website. The revised research agenda will be open to public consultation in September 2011, with both the resource assessments and research agendas publicly accessible online via the project website. Following public consultation and comment, there will also be a public seminar at the end of the year, to discuss the research agenda and develop the strategies to make the agenda achievable, as well as encourage wide stakeholder participation and community ownership of the product.
Read the rest of this article...
Feather ornaments used by Neanderthals?
New evidence has been put forward in the debate over whether our distant Neanderthal cousins were simple brutes or as cultured as Homo sapiens, researchers say.
An Italian archaeologist says he's found evidence Neanderthals were using feathers as ornaments 44,000 years ago, NewScientist.com reported Monday.
Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara says he has discovered 660 bird bones mixed in with Neanderthal bones in a cave in northern Italy, and the bird wing bones had been cut and scraped where the large flight feathers would have been attached, suggesting the feathers had been purposefully removed.
Read the rest of this article...
An Italian archaeologist says he's found evidence Neanderthals were using feathers as ornaments 44,000 years ago, NewScientist.com reported Monday.
Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara says he has discovered 660 bird bones mixed in with Neanderthal bones in a cave in northern Italy, and the bird wing bones had been cut and scraped where the large flight feathers would have been attached, suggesting the feathers had been purposefully removed.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Brain food: the history of skull drinking
The Cheddar cave dwellers who used skulls as drinking cups were in good company – many have gone much further
It is now more than 15 years since I paid a visit to the sleepy town of Sedlec, just outside Prague. But I can still vividly recall the strangeness of leaving the sunlit graveyard to descend into a church where huge bell shapes had been formed from human skulls and bones, along with a skeletal coat of arms and a chandelier fashioned from every bone in the human body. The skeletons had been disinterred because the site was so popular as a burial place, having been supposedly sprinkled with earth from Golgotha in about 1278. The Kostnice ossuary is a striking example of how the sacred can legitimise seemingly macabre or taboo uses of the body.
Read the rest of this article...
It is now more than 15 years since I paid a visit to the sleepy town of Sedlec, just outside Prague. But I can still vividly recall the strangeness of leaving the sunlit graveyard to descend into a church where huge bell shapes had been formed from human skulls and bones, along with a skeletal coat of arms and a chandelier fashioned from every bone in the human body. The skeletons had been disinterred because the site was so popular as a burial place, having been supposedly sprinkled with earth from Golgotha in about 1278. The Kostnice ossuary is a striking example of how the sacred can legitimise seemingly macabre or taboo uses of the body.
Read the rest of this article...
Biological anthropologists question claims for human ancestry
"Too simple" and "not so fast" suggest biological anthropologists from the George Washington University and New York University about the origins of human ancestry. In the upcoming issue of the journal Nature, the anthropologists question the claims that several prominent fossil discoveries made in the last decade are our human ancestors. Instead, the authors offer a more nuanced explanation of the fossils' place in the Tree of Life. They conclude that instead of being our ancestors the fossils more likely belong to extinct distant cousins.
"Don't get me wrong, these are all important finds," said co-author Bernard Wood, University Professor of Human Origins and professor of Human Evolution Anatomy at GW and director of its Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. "But to simply assume that anything found in that time range has to be a human ancestor is naïve."
Read the rest of this article...
"Don't get me wrong, these are all important finds," said co-author Bernard Wood, University Professor of Human Origins and professor of Human Evolution Anatomy at GW and director of its Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. "But to simply assume that anything found in that time range has to be a human ancestor is naïve."
Read the rest of this article...
Iceman Oetzi gets a new face for 20th anniversary
BOLZANO, Italy — Iceman Oetzi, whose mummified body was famously found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991, will get a new face for the 20th anniversary of his discovery.
As part of a new exhibit at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (www.iceman.it), two Dutch experts -- Alfons and Adrie Kennis -- have made a new model of the living Oetzi, this time with brown eyes.
Indeed, recent research has shown the Iceman, now approaching the tender age of 5,300 years, did not have blue eyes as previously believed.
Read the rest of this article...
As part of a new exhibit at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (www.iceman.it), two Dutch experts -- Alfons and Adrie Kennis -- have made a new model of the living Oetzi, this time with brown eyes.
Indeed, recent research has shown the Iceman, now approaching the tender age of 5,300 years, did not have blue eyes as previously believed.
Read the rest of this article...
Subtle Shifts, Not Major Sweeps, Drove Human Evolution
The most popular model used by geneticists for the last 35 years to detect the footprints of human evolution may overlook more common subtle changes, a new international study finds.
Classic selective sweeps, when a beneficial genetic mutation quickly spreads through the human population, are thought to have been the primary driver of human evolution. But a new computational analysis, published in the February 18, 2011 issue of Science, reveals that such events may have been rare, with little influence on the history of our species.
Read the rest of this article...
Classic selective sweeps, when a beneficial genetic mutation quickly spreads through the human population, are thought to have been the primary driver of human evolution. But a new computational analysis, published in the February 18, 2011 issue of Science, reveals that such events may have been rare, with little influence on the history of our species.
Read the rest of this article...
Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D
Werner Herzog gained exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their natural setting. He puts 3-D technology to a profound use, taking us back in time over 30,000 years.
Werner Herzog has previously created unforgettable films, from the ship dragged over the mountain in Fitzcarraldo to the Antarctic landscape in Encounters at the End of the World. Now he brings us the earliest known visions of mankind: the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave art of southern France, created more than thirty thousand years ago. By comparison, the famous cave art of Lascaux is roughly half as old.
Read the rest of this article...
Werner Herzog has previously created unforgettable films, from the ship dragged over the mountain in Fitzcarraldo to the Antarctic landscape in Encounters at the End of the World. Now he brings us the earliest known visions of mankind: the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave art of southern France, created more than thirty thousand years ago. By comparison, the famous cave art of Lascaux is roughly half as old.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, February 18, 2011
Ice Age cups crafted from crania
An English cave serves up the oldest known vessels made from human skulls
Ice Age folk who lived in what’s now southwestern England gruesomely went from heads off to bottoms up. Bones excavated at a cave there include the oldest known examples of drinking cups or containers made out of human skulls, says a team led by paleontologist Silvia Bello of the Natural History Museum in London.
Measurements of a naturally occurring form of carbon in the skulls places them at about 14,700 years old, Bello and her colleagues report in a paper published online February 16 in PLoS ONE. Prehistoric cave denizens cleaned the skulls before using stone tools to shape the upper parts of the brain cases into containers, the researchers say.
Read the rest of this article...
Ice Age folk who lived in what’s now southwestern England gruesomely went from heads off to bottoms up. Bones excavated at a cave there include the oldest known examples of drinking cups or containers made out of human skulls, says a team led by paleontologist Silvia Bello of the Natural History Museum in London.
Measurements of a naturally occurring form of carbon in the skulls places them at about 14,700 years old, Bello and her colleagues report in a paper published online February 16 in PLoS ONE. Prehistoric cave denizens cleaned the skulls before using stone tools to shape the upper parts of the brain cases into containers, the researchers say.
Read the rest of this article...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Blood-thirsty Brits first to drink from ancient skulls
Had you attended a dinner party fifteen thousand years ago, you might have been served blood in a cup like this - constructed from a human skull.
At 14,700 years old, it is one of the earliest known examples of human skull-cups in the world. Along with other human bones, the macabre cups were discovered by palaeoanthropologists at Gough's Cave in Somerset, UK.
Analysis of marks on the three skull-cups has revealed some of the steps in the manufacture process.
Read the rest of this article...
At 14,700 years old, it is one of the earliest known examples of human skull-cups in the world. Along with other human bones, the macabre cups were discovered by palaeoanthropologists at Gough's Cave in Somerset, UK.
Analysis of marks on the three skull-cups has revealed some of the steps in the manufacture process.
Read the rest of this article...
Bronze Age settlement found at NE Hungary construction site
Remains of a Bronze Age settlement and a former Sarmatian burial ground have been found at a construction site in the city of Nyiregyhaza in northeast Hungary, daily Magyar Nemzet said on Wednesday.
Several thousand metal objects, Roman bronze, silver and golden coins, and jewellery were excavated by archaeologists in the Oros district of the city, said the head of the excavation. One old pot contained as many as 34 bracelets, project leader archaeologist Eszter Istvanovits told the newspaper.
Some sixty dwellings have been excavated in the 56-hectare area and among the curiosities found has been a bone flute, she said.
Read the rest of this article...
Several thousand metal objects, Roman bronze, silver and golden coins, and jewellery were excavated by archaeologists in the Oros district of the city, said the head of the excavation. One old pot contained as many as 34 bracelets, project leader archaeologist Eszter Istvanovits told the newspaper.
Some sixty dwellings have been excavated in the 56-hectare area and among the curiosities found has been a bone flute, she said.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient Britons 'drank from skulls'
Ancient Britons were not averse to using human skulls as drinking cups, skeletal remains unearthed in southwest England suggest.
The braincases from three individuals were fashioned in such a meticulous way that their use as bowls to hold liquid seems the only reasonable explanation.
The 14,700-year-old objects were discovered in Gough's Cave, Somerset.
Read the rest of this article...
The braincases from three individuals were fashioned in such a meticulous way that their use as bowls to hold liquid seems the only reasonable explanation.
The 14,700-year-old objects were discovered in Gough's Cave, Somerset.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, February 14, 2011
The heat was on at Marden Henge
A building whose foundations were unearthed during an excavation at Marden Henge near Devizes last summer could have been a Neolithic sauna.
Archaeologist Jim Leary told his audience at Devizes town hall on Saturday that the chalk foundations contained a sunken hearth that would have given out intense heat.
“It brings to mind the sweat lodges found in North America,” he said. “It could have been used as part of a purification ceremony.”
Read the rest of this article...
Archaeologist Jim Leary told his audience at Devizes town hall on Saturday that the chalk foundations contained a sunken hearth that would have given out intense heat.
“It brings to mind the sweat lodges found in North America,” he said. “It could have been used as part of a purification ceremony.”
Read the rest of this article...
The moment Britain became an island
Ancient Britain was a peninsula until a tsunami flooded its land-links to Europe some 8,000 years ago. Did that wave helped shape the national character?
The coastline and landscape of what would become modern Britain began to emerge at the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago.
What had been a cold, dry tundra on the north-western edge of Europe grew warmer and wetter as the ice caps melted. The Irish Sea, North Sea and the Channel were all dry land, albeit it land slowing being submerged as sea levels rose.
Read the rest of this article...
The coastline and landscape of what would become modern Britain began to emerge at the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago.
What had been a cold, dry tundra on the north-western edge of Europe grew warmer and wetter as the ice caps melted. The Irish Sea, North Sea and the Channel were all dry land, albeit it land slowing being submerged as sea levels rose.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mesolithic beads found at Welsh dolmen site
A recent excavation led by archaeologist George Nash in November 2010 at the Trefael Stone in south-west Wales - originally a portal dolmen transformed in later times in a standing stone - has revealed a small assemblage of exotic artefacts including three drilled shale beads, identical to those found at a nearby Early Mesolithic coastal habitation site.
Until recently, little was known about the stones use and origin. A geophysical survey undertaken in September 2010 revealed the remains of a kidney-shaped cairn and it was within this clear feature that the three perforated shale beads were found. These items, each measuring about 4.5 centimetres in diameter, were found within a disturbed cairn or post-cairn deposit.
Based on the discovery of 690 perforated beads found at the coastal seasonal camp of Nab Head in southern Pembrokeshire, it is possible that the three Trefael beads are contemporary. Microware analysis on one of the beads was inconclusive but the perforation appeared to have the same micro-wear abrasions as beads from the Nab Head site.
The beads from the Nab Head site were oval-shaped and water worn. Each disc was uniform in shape and thickness and had been drilled using an awl-type flint tool, referred to as a Meches-de-foret. It is probable that the Nab Head beads and those from Trefael were made for adornment, either sewn into clothing or forming bracelets/necklaces. In association with the perforated beads a number 'blanks' were found suggesting that The Nab Head site was a production centre for bead making.
Read the rest of this article...
Until recently, little was known about the stones use and origin. A geophysical survey undertaken in September 2010 revealed the remains of a kidney-shaped cairn and it was within this clear feature that the three perforated shale beads were found. These items, each measuring about 4.5 centimetres in diameter, were found within a disturbed cairn or post-cairn deposit.
Based on the discovery of 690 perforated beads found at the coastal seasonal camp of Nab Head in southern Pembrokeshire, it is possible that the three Trefael beads are contemporary. Microware analysis on one of the beads was inconclusive but the perforation appeared to have the same micro-wear abrasions as beads from the Nab Head site.
The beads from the Nab Head site were oval-shaped and water worn. Each disc was uniform in shape and thickness and had been drilled using an awl-type flint tool, referred to as a Meches-de-foret. It is probable that the Nab Head beads and those from Trefael were made for adornment, either sewn into clothing or forming bracelets/necklaces. In association with the perforated beads a number 'blanks' were found suggesting that The Nab Head site was a production centre for bead making.
Read the rest of this article...
Lucy's feet were made for walking
Toe bone puts a humanlike arch in ancient hominid's step
A tiny 3.2-million-year-old fossil found in East Africa gives Lucy’s kind an unprecedented toehold on humanlike walking.
Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient hominid species best known for a partial female skeleton called Lucy, had stiff foot arches like those of people today, say anthropologist Carol Ward of the University of Missouri in Columbia and her colleagues. A bone from the fourth toe — the first such A. afarensis fossil unearthed — provides crucial evidence that bends in this species’ feet supported and cushioned a two-legged stride, the scientists report in the Feb. 11 Science.
Read the rest of this article...
A tiny 3.2-million-year-old fossil found in East Africa gives Lucy’s kind an unprecedented toehold on humanlike walking.
Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient hominid species best known for a partial female skeleton called Lucy, had stiff foot arches like those of people today, say anthropologist Carol Ward of the University of Missouri in Columbia and her colleagues. A bone from the fourth toe — the first such A. afarensis fossil unearthed — provides crucial evidence that bends in this species’ feet supported and cushioned a two-legged stride, the scientists report in the Feb. 11 Science.
Read the rest of this article...
Lucy Had a Spring in Her Step
The petite 3.2-million-year-old skeleton called Lucy is one of the most famous and most complete of human ancestors. But she was found without her foot bones, so researchers have debated whether she walked as we do or retained some apelike adaptations for climbing in trees that altered her gait. Now, a 3.2-million-year-old foot bone from a member of Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, reveals that this hominin was no flat foot: It had already evolved arches and a stiff midfoot similar to living humans. That means if Lucy were alive today, she could fit in high heels or march for miles without breaking her feet. "This discovery puts the spring back into afarensis's step," says co-author Donald Johanson of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe.
Read the rest of this article...
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, February 7, 2011
Early humans won at running; Neandertals won at walking
New research has compared the performance of the heels of modern-day distance runners to the heels of Neandertals and ancient Homo sapiens. The results show the Neandertals' heels were taller than those of modern humans and Homo sapiens, and more adapted to walking than running over long distances, while those of Homo sapiens were more adapted to endurance running.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dr David Raichlen of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues, found that unlike modern humans, the Neandertal heel was taller would have provided less spring during running, and speculated that the heel probably stabilized the ankle and helped in jumping and walking uphill. In modern humans the heel is lower and stretches the Achilles tendon and increases its ability to act like a spring and reduce the consumption of energy.
Read the rest of this article...
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dr David Raichlen of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues, found that unlike modern humans, the Neandertal heel was taller would have provided less spring during running, and speculated that the heel probably stabilized the ankle and helped in jumping and walking uphill. In modern humans the heel is lower and stretches the Achilles tendon and increases its ability to act like a spring and reduce the consumption of energy.
Read the rest of this article...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
New Excavation Of Important Neolithic Site On The Channel island of Guernsey
A team of archaeologists have applied for permission to excavate a gallery grave at Delancey Park n the Channel island of Guernsey later this year.
The park is situated in the north east of the Island. It is thought that the park was named after Oliver Delancey (1749-1822) who was the Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1733 and Barrack Master General in Guernsey from 1794 until 1804.
The aim of the planned excavation is to help unlock the mysteries of Guernsey's Neolithic Age, which occurred over five thousand years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
The park is situated in the north east of the Island. It is thought that the park was named after Oliver Delancey (1749-1822) who was the Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1733 and Barrack Master General in Guernsey from 1794 until 1804.
The aim of the planned excavation is to help unlock the mysteries of Guernsey's Neolithic Age, which occurred over five thousand years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
Pictures: Ancient Bog Girl's Face Reconstructed .
"Moora" stares across millennia, thanks to a digital reconstruction based on the Iron Age girl's fragmented skull—one of several interpretations released January 20.
Along with the nearly complete corpse of the teenager, peat bog workers found her 2,600-year-old skull bones—mangled by peat-harvesting machinery—in Germany's Lower Saxony state (map) in 2000.
At first, "the police thought it was a criminal case"—perhaps the remains of Elke Kerll, a young woman who disappeared in 1969—said Andreas Bauerochse, a paleoecologist with the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage.
Read the rest of this article...
Along with the nearly complete corpse of the teenager, peat bog workers found her 2,600-year-old skull bones—mangled by peat-harvesting machinery—in Germany's Lower Saxony state (map) in 2000.
At first, "the police thought it was a criminal case"—perhaps the remains of Elke Kerll, a young woman who disappeared in 1969—said Andreas Bauerochse, a paleoecologist with the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Stone Age artefacts 'could be under Delancey Park'
A Guernsey park could be home to artefacts dating back to the Stone Age, according to a Bristol University archaeologist.
Dr George Nash has asked the States for permission to excavate an area of Delancey Park in St Sampson.
Dr Nash has already carried out some test digs in the area and believes a Neolithic gallery grave, with some intact artefacts, is located there.
Read the rest of this article...
Dr George Nash has asked the States for permission to excavate an area of Delancey Park in St Sampson.
Dr Nash has already carried out some test digs in the area and believes a Neolithic gallery grave, with some intact artefacts, is located there.
Read the rest of this article...
Norway’s secret petroglyphs
It looked to be a routine excavation of what was thought to be a burial mound. But beneath the mound, archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Museum of Natural History and Archaeology found something more: unusual Bronze Age petroglyphs.
“We believe these are very special in a Norwegian context,” says museum researcher and project manager Anne Haug.
The excavation in Stjørdal, just north of Trondheim, was necessitated by the expansion of a gravel pit. Initially the project archaeologists anticipated that the dig would be uncomplicated, and museum researchers allowed just three weeks for completion of the works.
Petroglyphs under a cremation site
Then came the surprises. Firstly, the mound builders had used an existing hill as a starting point – which of course saved them time and effort. The hill made the burial mound appear even larger and more monumental than it might have otherwise been.
Read the rest of this article...
The excavation in Stjørdal, just north of Trondheim, was necessitated by the expansion of a gravel pit. Initially the project archaeologists anticipated that the dig would be uncomplicated, and museum researchers allowed just three weeks for completion of the works.
Petroglyphs under a cremation site
Then came the surprises. Firstly, the mound builders had used an existing hill as a starting point – which of course saved them time and effort. The hill made the burial mound appear even larger and more monumental than it might have otherwise been.
Read the rest of this article...
A new henge discovered at Stonehenge
An archaeology team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Austria discovered a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometre away from the iconic Stonehenge.
History is set to be rewritten after an archaeology team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Austria discovered a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometer away from the iconic Stonehenge.
The incredible find has been hailed by Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University’s IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, as one of the most significant yet for those researching the UK’s most important prehistoric structure.
Read the rest of this article...
History is set to be rewritten after an archaeology team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Austria discovered a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometer away from the iconic Stonehenge.
The incredible find has been hailed by Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University’s IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, as one of the most significant yet for those researching the UK’s most important prehistoric structure.
Read the rest of this article...
New ‘henge-like’ monument unearthed at Stonehenge
Archaeologists have discovered a major ceremonial monument less than one km away from the iconic Stonehenge.
The team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Austria, unearthed the prehistoric 'henge-like' late Neolithic monument, reports Physorg.com.
Professor Vince Gaffney, from Birmingham University, hailed the incredible discovery as one of the most significant yet for those researching the UK's most important prehistoric structure.
Read the rest of this article...
The team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Austria, unearthed the prehistoric 'henge-like' late Neolithic monument, reports Physorg.com.
Professor Vince Gaffney, from Birmingham University, hailed the incredible discovery as one of the most significant yet for those researching the UK's most important prehistoric structure.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Secrets in stone
It looked to be a routine excavation of what was thought to be a burial mound. But beneath the mound, archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Museum of Natural History and Archaeology found something more: unusual Bronze Age petroglyphs.
“We believe these are very special in a Norwegian context,” says museum researcher and project manager Anne Haug.
The excavation in Stjørdal, just north of Trondheim, was necessitated by the expansion of a gravel pit. Given that project archaeologists didn’t anticipate that the dig would be very complicated, the museum researchers dedicated just three weeks to the effort.
Petroglyphs under a cremation site
Then came the surprises. First, it turned out that mound builders had used an existing hill as a starting point - which of course saved them time and effort. The hill itself made the burial mound even larger and more monumental than it might have otherwise been.
Read the rest of this article...
The excavation in Stjørdal, just north of Trondheim, was necessitated by the expansion of a gravel pit. Given that project archaeologists didn’t anticipate that the dig would be very complicated, the museum researchers dedicated just three weeks to the effort.
Petroglyphs under a cremation site
Then came the surprises. First, it turned out that mound builders had used an existing hill as a starting point - which of course saved them time and effort. The hill itself made the burial mound even larger and more monumental than it might have otherwise been.
Read the rest of this article...
Norwegian petroglyphs found beneath burial mounds
It looked to be a routine excavation of what was thought to be a burial mound. But beneath the mound, archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Museum of Natural History and Archaeology found something more: unusual Bronze Age petroglyphs.
"We believe these are very special in a Norwegian context," says museum researcher and project manager Anne Haug.
Read the rest of this article...
Read the rest of this article...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Was the fox prehistoric man's best friend?
Early humans may have preferred the fox to the dog as an animal companion, new archaeological findings suggest. Researchers analysing remains at a prehistoric burial ground in Jordan have uncovered a grave in which a fox was buried with a human, before part of it was then transferred to an adjacent grave.
The University of Cambridge-led team believes that the unprecedented case points to some sort of emotional attachment between human and fox. Their paper, published January 26, suggests that the fox may have been kept as a pet and was being buried to accompany its master, or mistress, to the afterlife.
Read the rest of this article...
The University of Cambridge-led team believes that the unprecedented case points to some sort of emotional attachment between human and fox. Their paper, published January 26, suggests that the fox may have been kept as a pet and was being buried to accompany its master, or mistress, to the afterlife.
Read the rest of this article...
Modern humans reached Arabia earlier than thought, new artifacts suggest
Artifacts unearthed in the United Arab Emirates date back 100,000 years and imply that modern humans first left Africa much earlier than researchers had expected, a new study reports. In light of their excavation, an international team of researchers led by Hans-Peter Uerpmann from Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Germany suggests that humans could have arrived on the Arabian Peninsula as early as 125,000 years ago — directly from Africa rather than via the Nile Valley or the Near East, as researchers have suggested in the past.
The timing and dispersal of modern humans out of Africa has been the source of long-standing debate, though most evidence has pointed to an exodus along the Mediterranean Sea or along the Arabian coast approximately 60,000 years ago.
This new research, placing early humans on the Arabian Peninsula much earlier, will appear in the 28 January issue of Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
Read the rest of this article...
The timing and dispersal of modern humans out of Africa has been the source of long-standing debate, though most evidence has pointed to an exodus along the Mediterranean Sea or along the Arabian coast approximately 60,000 years ago.
This new research, placing early humans on the Arabian Peninsula much earlier, will appear in the 28 January issue of Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
Read the rest of this article...
Hints of earlier human exit from Africa
Stone Age people apparently took a surprisingly fast track out of Africa via an unexpected route — Arabia. Modern humans reached Arabia’s eastern edge, not far from the shores of southwestern Asia, as early as 125,000 years ago, according to a report in the Jan. 28 Science. That’s a good 65,000 years earlier than the generally accepted date for the first substantial human migrations beyond Africa.
Stone tools unearthed at an Arabian Peninsula rock shelter called Jebel Faya resemble sharpened points and cutting implements from East African sites of about the same age, says a scientific team led by physical geographer Simon Armitage of the University of London and archaeologist Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tübingen in Germany. Jebel Faya is located in what’s now the United Arab Emirates.
Read the rest of this article...
Stone tools unearthed at an Arabian Peninsula rock shelter called Jebel Faya resemble sharpened points and cutting implements from East African sites of about the same age, says a scientific team led by physical geographer Simon Armitage of the University of London and archaeologist Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tübingen in Germany. Jebel Faya is located in what’s now the United Arab Emirates.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient Tools May Mark Earlier Path Out of Africa
The bodies are still missing, but a prehistoric toolkit discovered in the United Arab Emirates has led some archaeologists to propose a more complex scenario for humanity’s emigration out of Africa.
Uncovered at a Jebel Faya rock shelter, just west of the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the tools are 125,000 years old. Previous estimates placed the dispersal of modern humans from North Africa around 70,000 years ago. If correct, this new study indicates that humans in eastern Africa left earlier, and traveled to Arabia.
The tools include small hand axes, scrapers and notched tools called denticulates. They’re described Jan. 27 in Science. According to researchers led by University of London paleogeographer Simon Armitage, the tools resemble those made in the same era by humans in eastern Africa, rather than tools found at later sites along the Mediterranean’s eastern border.
Read the rest of this article...
Uncovered at a Jebel Faya rock shelter, just west of the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the tools are 125,000 years old. Previous estimates placed the dispersal of modern humans from North Africa around 70,000 years ago. If correct, this new study indicates that humans in eastern Africa left earlier, and traveled to Arabia.
The tools include small hand axes, scrapers and notched tools called denticulates. They’re described Jan. 27 in Science. According to researchers led by University of London paleogeographer Simon Armitage, the tools resemble those made in the same era by humans in eastern Africa, rather than tools found at later sites along the Mediterranean’s eastern border.
Read the rest of this article...
Tools Suggest Earlier Human Exit From Africa
A cache of stone tools found on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula has reopened the critical question of when and how modern humans escaped from their ancestral homeland in eastern Africa.
The present view, based on both archaeological and genetic evidence, holds that modern humans, although they first emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago, were hemmed in by deserts and other human species like Neanderthals and did not escape to the rest of the world until some 50,000 years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
The present view, based on both archaeological and genetic evidence, holds that modern humans, although they first emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago, were hemmed in by deserts and other human species like Neanderthals and did not escape to the rest of the world until some 50,000 years ago.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, January 17, 2011
Neanderthal faces were not adapted to cold
New research into Neanderthal skulls suggests that facial features believed for over a century to be adaptations to extreme cold are unlikely to have evolved in response to glacial periods after all.
Neanderthal faces had prominent cheekbones and wide noses previously thought to have developed in extremely cold periods because large sinuses were needed to warm air as it was inhaled. One problem with this theory is that modern people such as the Inuits, and other mammals living in Arctic regions have not developed large sinuses, and their sinuses are often smaller, and another problem is that it has never been proven that Neanderthal sinuses were larger.
Read the rest of this article...
Neanderthal faces had prominent cheekbones and wide noses previously thought to have developed in extremely cold periods because large sinuses were needed to warm air as it was inhaled. One problem with this theory is that modern people such as the Inuits, and other mammals living in Arctic regions have not developed large sinuses, and their sinuses are often smaller, and another problem is that it has never been proven that Neanderthal sinuses were larger.
Read the rest of this article...
Reviving the taste of an Iron Age beer
Early Celtic rulers of a community in what’s now southwestern Germany liked to party, staging elaborate feasts in a ceremonial center. The business side of their revelries was located in a nearby brewery capable of turning out large quantities of a beer with a dark, smoky, slightly sour taste, new evidence suggests.
Six specially constructed ditches previously excavated at Eberdingen-Hochdorf a 2,550-year-old Celtic settlement, were used to make high-quality barley malt, a key beer ingredient, says archaeobotanist Hans-Peter Stika of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. Thousands of charred barley grains unearthed in the ditches about a decade ago came from a large malt-making enterprise, Stika reports in a paper published online January 4 in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
Read the rest of this article...
Six specially constructed ditches previously excavated at Eberdingen-Hochdorf a 2,550-year-old Celtic settlement, were used to make high-quality barley malt, a key beer ingredient, says archaeobotanist Hans-Peter Stika of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. Thousands of charred barley grains unearthed in the ditches about a decade ago came from a large malt-making enterprise, Stika reports in a paper published online January 4 in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
Read the rest of this article...
Friday, January 14, 2011
Your Favourite Archaeological Sites in Europe
Which sites in Europe have you most enjoyed visiting? A new Archaeology in Europe website allows you to post descriptions and photos of archaeological sites that you have visited, and to give ratings and comments for sites that are already in the database.
The site is very much in its infancy at the moment, and I would welcome contributions and feedback. It is envisaged that the site will grow into a useful source of up to date information for those planning to visit sites in Europe.
You can find the site at: archaeologyineurope.phile.com.
The site runs on Phile – a brilliant application developed by Mike Schiff and Sho Kuwamoto. Phile can be best described as a combination of an online database and a social network site, and it allows people with similar interests to share much more detailed information than the usual social network sites.
I am sure that Phile has tremendous potential for archaeological societies, fieldwork studies and other work groups. Take a look at phile.com.
The site is very much in its infancy at the moment, and I would welcome contributions and feedback. It is envisaged that the site will grow into a useful source of up to date information for those planning to visit sites in Europe.
You can find the site at: archaeologyineurope.phile.com.
The site runs on Phile – a brilliant application developed by Mike Schiff and Sho Kuwamoto. Phile can be best described as a combination of an online database and a social network site, and it allows people with similar interests to share much more detailed information than the usual social network sites.
I am sure that Phile has tremendous potential for archaeological societies, fieldwork studies and other work groups. Take a look at phile.com.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Neanderthals and early modern humans had same lifespan
A new study by a Washington University in St. Louis suggests life expectancy was probably the same for early modern and late archaic humans and did not factor in the extinction of Neanderthals.
Our species, Homo sapiens, is the only surviving lineage of the genus Homo. Still, there once were many others, all of whom could also be called human. One puzzle was the lack of elderly individuals. It was therefore suggested that early hominins might have had a shorter life expectancy than early modern humans, with our lineage ultimately outnumbering Neanderthals, contributing to their demise.
Erik Trinkaus, PhD, Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences examined the fossil record to assess adult mortality for both groups, which co-existed in different regions for roughly 150,000 years. Trinkaus found that the proportions of 20 to 40 year old adults versus adults older than 40, were about the same for early modern humans and Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
Our species, Homo sapiens, is the only surviving lineage of the genus Homo. Still, there once were many others, all of whom could also be called human. One puzzle was the lack of elderly individuals. It was therefore suggested that early hominins might have had a shorter life expectancy than early modern humans, with our lineage ultimately outnumbering Neanderthals, contributing to their demise.
Erik Trinkaus, PhD, Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences examined the fossil record to assess adult mortality for both groups, which co-existed in different regions for roughly 150,000 years. Trinkaus found that the proportions of 20 to 40 year old adults versus adults older than 40, were about the same for early modern humans and Neanderthals.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Dying Young Didn't Wipe Out Neanderthals
Early humans had the same life expectancy as their ancient cousins before Neanderthals died off about 30,000 years ago.
Dying young was not likely the reason Neanderthals went extinct, said a study out Monday that suggests early modern humans had about the same life expectancy as their hairier, ancient cousins.
Scientists have puzzled over why the Neanderthals disappeared just as modern humans were making huge gains and moving into new parts of Africa and Europe, and some have speculated that a difference in longevity may have been to blame.
Read the rest of this article...
Dying young was not likely the reason Neanderthals went extinct, said a study out Monday that suggests early modern humans had about the same life expectancy as their hairier, ancient cousins.
Scientists have puzzled over why the Neanderthals disappeared just as modern humans were making huge gains and moving into new parts of Africa and Europe, and some have speculated that a difference in longevity may have been to blame.
Read the rest of this article...
Effective Use Of Power In The Bronze Age Societies Of Central Europe
During the first part of the Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, a large proportion of the population lived in what are known as tell-building societies. A thesis in archaeology from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) shows that the leaders of these societies had the ability to combine several sources of power in an effective way in order to dominate the rest of the population, which contributed towards creating a notably stable social system.
Tell-building societies are named after a distinct form of settlements with a high density of population and construction, which over the course of time accumulated such thick cultural layers that they took on the shape of low mounds.
On the basis of a discussion and analysis of previously published material from the Carpathian Basin and new findings from the tell settlement Százhalombatta-Földvár in Hungary, the author of the thesis, Claes Uhnér, describes the ways in which leaders could exercise power. Tell-building societies had relatively advanced economies. The subsistence economy, which was based on agricultural production and animal husbandry, produced a good return, and the societies were involved in regional and long-distance exchange of bronzes and other valuable craft products.
Read the rest of this article...
Tell-building societies are named after a distinct form of settlements with a high density of population and construction, which over the course of time accumulated such thick cultural layers that they took on the shape of low mounds.
On the basis of a discussion and analysis of previously published material from the Carpathian Basin and new findings from the tell settlement Százhalombatta-Földvár in Hungary, the author of the thesis, Claes Uhnér, describes the ways in which leaders could exercise power. Tell-building societies had relatively advanced economies. The subsistence economy, which was based on agricultural production and animal husbandry, produced a good return, and the societies were involved in regional and long-distance exchange of bronzes and other valuable craft products.
Read the rest of this article...
Longevity unlikely to have aided early modern humans
Life expectancy was probably the same for early modern and late archaic
humans and did not factor in the extinction of Neanderthals, suggests a new study by a Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist.
Erik Trinkaus, PhD, Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences, examined the fossil record to assess adult mortality for both groups, which co-existed in different regions for roughly 150,000 years. Trinkaus found that the proportions of 20 to 40-year-old adults versus adults older than 40, were about the same for early modern humans and Neandertals.
This similar age distribution, says Trinkaus, reflects similar patterns of adult mortality and treatment of the elderly in the context of highly mobile hunting-and-gathering human populations.
Read the rest of this article...
humans and did not factor in the extinction of Neanderthals, suggests a new study by a Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist.
Erik Trinkaus, PhD, Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences, examined the fossil record to assess adult mortality for both groups, which co-existed in different regions for roughly 150,000 years. Trinkaus found that the proportions of 20 to 40-year-old adults versus adults older than 40, were about the same for early modern humans and Neandertals.
This similar age distribution, says Trinkaus, reflects similar patterns of adult mortality and treatment of the elderly in the context of highly mobile hunting-and-gathering human populations.
Read the rest of this article...
Chemical analysis confirms discovery of oldest wine-making equipment ever found
UCLA scientists use new scientific method to verify vintage 4100 B.C. wine
Analysis by a UCLA-led team of scientists has confirmed the discovery of the oldest complete wine production facility ever found, including grape seeds, withered grape vines, remains of pressed grapes, a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat apparently used for fermentation, wine-soaked potsherds, and even a cup and drinking bowl.
The facility, which dates back to roughly 4100 B.C. — 1,000 years before the earliest comparable find — was unearthed by a team of archaeologists from Armenia, the United States and Ireland in the same mysterious Armenian cave complex where an ancient leather shoe was found, a discovery that was announced last summer.
Read the rest of this article...
Analysis by a UCLA-led team of scientists has confirmed the discovery of the oldest complete wine production facility ever found, including grape seeds, withered grape vines, remains of pressed grapes, a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat apparently used for fermentation, wine-soaked potsherds, and even a cup and drinking bowl.
The facility, which dates back to roughly 4100 B.C. — 1,000 years before the earliest comparable find — was unearthed by a team of archaeologists from Armenia, the United States and Ireland in the same mysterious Armenian cave complex where an ancient leather shoe was found, a discovery that was announced last summer.
Read the rest of this article...
Oldest-known wine press found in southern Armenia
Researchers find dried grape vines, after previously unearthing an ancient sandal from the same site. In the 1970s, Soviet officials initially were interested in the cave as a hardened storage location.
A team of American, Armenian and Irish archeologists have unearthed evidence of a wine press found in Armenia that is over 6,000-years-old, making it the oldest-known wine making facility.
"This was a relatively small installation related to the ritual inside the cave," said Gregory Areshian, a professor of archeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who helped lead the study.
Read the rest of this article...
A team of American, Armenian and Irish archeologists have unearthed evidence of a wine press found in Armenia that is over 6,000-years-old, making it the oldest-known wine making facility.
"This was a relatively small installation related to the ritual inside the cave," said Gregory Areshian, a professor of archeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who helped lead the study.
Read the rest of this article...
Ancient Denisovans and the human family tree
Last month scientists revealed remarkable evidence of a new group of ancient humans called Denisovans that interbred with our species and left behind a genetic trace in people living in south east Asia today.
Molar tooth from Denisova Cave that scientists obtained a genome from
An international team, including scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, carried out a genetic study of a finger bone and a large molar tooth uncovered in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains, Siberia. They sequenced the genome and found that this ancient human shared 4-6% of its genetic material with some present-day Melanesians.
In March, the team obtained a complete mitrochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence for the same finger bone, dated to about 40,000 years ago, showing that it was from neither a modern human nor Neanderthal
Read the rest of this article...
Molar tooth from Denisova Cave that scientists obtained a genome from
An international team, including scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, carried out a genetic study of a finger bone and a large molar tooth uncovered in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains, Siberia. They sequenced the genome and found that this ancient human shared 4-6% of its genetic material with some present-day Melanesians.
In March, the team obtained a complete mitrochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence for the same finger bone, dated to about 40,000 years ago, showing that it was from neither a modern human nor Neanderthal
Read the rest of this article...
Irish archaeologists help unearth the world’s oldest winery
Winery discovered close by to location of world’s oldest shoe find
The world’s oldest winery has been discovered by an Armenian, Irish, U.S. group. The caves, discovered in 2007, were found just the year before the 5,550 year old shoe was found.
The team found the cave near the Armenian border with Iran, close to a village that still produces wine. Radiocarbon analysis dated the find to between 4100BC and 4000BC. That is the Late Chalcolithic Period, known as the Copper Age.
Their findings included a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat surrounded by grape seeds, withered grape vines, the remains of pressed grapes as well as potsherd along with a cup and drinking bowl.
Read the rest of this article...
The world’s oldest winery has been discovered by an Armenian, Irish, U.S. group. The caves, discovered in 2007, were found just the year before the 5,550 year old shoe was found.
The team found the cave near the Armenian border with Iran, close to a village that still produces wine. Radiocarbon analysis dated the find to between 4100BC and 4000BC. That is the Late Chalcolithic Period, known as the Copper Age.
Their findings included a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat surrounded by grape seeds, withered grape vines, the remains of pressed grapes as well as potsherd along with a cup and drinking bowl.
Read the rest of this article...
World’s Oldest Winery Discovered by Archaeologists
Life on the planet was recently reported in the media to be 3 billion years old but the wine production is only around 6100 years old according to an archaeological find reporting discovery of the remains of world’s oldest known winery along with the grapes suggesting it produced red wine, near Iranian Border. The announcement was made by the National Geographic Society and published online by the Journal of Archaeological Science yesterday.
The world’s oldest winery was discovered near a cemetery in one of the cave complexes in Armenia, named as Areni-1 where a wine press, fermentation jar (about 60 liter capacity) and a drinking cup made of animal horn dating to approximately 6100 years ago, were found by international team of archeologists from the US, Armenia and Ireland, led by UCLA archaeologist Hans Barnard. The site is outside a small village known for its winemaking capabilities even today.
Read the rest of this article...
The world’s oldest winery was discovered near a cemetery in one of the cave complexes in Armenia, named as Areni-1 where a wine press, fermentation jar (about 60 liter capacity) and a drinking cup made of animal horn dating to approximately 6100 years ago, were found by international team of archeologists from the US, Armenia and Ireland, led by UCLA archaeologist Hans Barnard. The site is outside a small village known for its winemaking capabilities even today.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
At 6,000 years old, wine press is oldest yet found
Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia.
The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
"This is the world's oldest known installation to make wine," Gregory Areshian of the University of California Los Angeles, who helped lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
Read the rest of this article...
The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
"This is the world's oldest known installation to make wine," Gregory Areshian of the University of California Los Angeles, who helped lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
Read the rest of this article...
Archaeologists uncork oldest wine press discovery
Wine's time with humankind goes back more than 6,000 years, reports an archaeology team from Armenia.
Visiting the excavations of the Areni-1 cave complex in Armenia, archaeologist Levon Petrosyan contemplates the 6,100-year-old wine-making equipment discovered by an international project co-directed by Boris Gasparyan, Gregory Areshian and Ron Pinhasi.
Discovered in the Areni-1 cave near the Iranian border, a team led by UCLA archaeologist Hans Barnard, details of the ancient wine press find appear in an upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science. The study reports discovery of a wine vat, wine-stained pots and grape remains, as well as a drinking bowl, located near a cemetery inside the cave.
"We believe the wine was made there for ritual activity," says UCLA's Gregory Areshian, co-director of the excavation site. "But the people living outside the cave in the region likely made wine all the time," he says, based on the evidence of the expertise needed to craft the wine vats and pots.
Read the rest of this article...
Visiting the excavations of the Areni-1 cave complex in Armenia, archaeologist Levon Petrosyan contemplates the 6,100-year-old wine-making equipment discovered by an international project co-directed by Boris Gasparyan, Gregory Areshian and Ron Pinhasi.
Discovered in the Areni-1 cave near the Iranian border, a team led by UCLA archaeologist Hans Barnard, details of the ancient wine press find appear in an upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science. The study reports discovery of a wine vat, wine-stained pots and grape remains, as well as a drinking bowl, located near a cemetery inside the cave.
"We believe the wine was made there for ritual activity," says UCLA's Gregory Areshian, co-director of the excavation site. "But the people living outside the cave in the region likely made wine all the time," he says, based on the evidence of the expertise needed to craft the wine vats and pots.
Read the rest of this article...
Amazing find of Stone Age village made by historians
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have made the stunning discovery of a 5,500-year-old Stone Age village, home to Derbyshire's first farmers and potters.
Ben Johnson and his team made the ancient find during a painstaking dig in Peak District fields, near Wirksworth.
He said he was astonished when he discovered the first evidence – a shattered shard of pottery dating back to at least 3,500BC.
Ben said: "I pulled the piece of Stone Age pottery out of the ground and felt a sense of excitement and wonder.
Read the rest of this article...
Ben Johnson and his team made the ancient find during a painstaking dig in Peak District fields, near Wirksworth.
He said he was astonished when he discovered the first evidence – a shattered shard of pottery dating back to at least 3,500BC.
Ben said: "I pulled the piece of Stone Age pottery out of the ground and felt a sense of excitement and wonder.
Read the rest of this article...
'Oldest known wine-making facility' found in Armenia
The world's earliest known wine-making facility has been discovered in Armenia, archaeologists say.
A wine press and fermentation jars from about 6,000 years ago were found in a cave in the south Caucasus country.
Co-director of the excavation Gregory Areshian, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said it was the earliest example of complete wine production.
Read the rest of this article...
A wine press and fermentation jars from about 6,000 years ago were found in a cave in the south Caucasus country.
Co-director of the excavation Gregory Areshian, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said it was the earliest example of complete wine production.
Read the rest of this article...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Ancient farmers swiftly spread westward
Croatia does not have a reputation as a hotbed of ancient agriculture. But new excavations, described January 7 in San Antonio at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, unveil a Mediterranean Sea–hugging strip of southern Croatia as a hub for early farmers who spread their sedentary lifestyle from the Middle East into Europe.
Farming villages sprouted swiftly in this coastal region, called Dalmatia, nearly 8,000 years ago, apparently with the arrival of Middle Easterners already adept at growing crops and herding animals, says archaeologist Andrew Moore of Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Read the rest of this article...
Farming villages sprouted swiftly in this coastal region, called Dalmatia, nearly 8,000 years ago, apparently with the arrival of Middle Easterners already adept at growing crops and herding animals, says archaeologist Andrew Moore of Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Read the rest of this article...
Study Of Lice DNA Shows Humans First Wore Clothes 170,000 Years Ago
A new University of Florida study following the evolution of lice shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago, a technology which enabled them to successfully migrate out of Africa.
Principal investigator David Reed, associate curator of mammals at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, studies lice in modern humans to better understand human evolution and migration patterns. His latest five-year study used DNA sequencing to calculate when clothing lice first began to diverge genetically from human head lice.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study is available online and appears in this month's print edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Read the rest of this article...
Principal investigator David Reed, associate curator of mammals at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, studies lice in modern humans to better understand human evolution and migration patterns. His latest five-year study used DNA sequencing to calculate when clothing lice first began to diverge genetically from human head lice.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study is available online and appears in this month's print edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Read the rest of this article...
7,000-year-old timbers found beneath MI6 Thames headquarters
Archaeologists hail oldest wooden structure ever found on river, despite security services' armed response to researchers
When MI6 set up home on the banks of the Thames one secret escaped its watchful eyes. The oldest wooden structure ever found on the river, timbers almost 7,000 years old, have been discovered buried in the silt below the windows of the security services' ziggurat headquarters at Vauxhall, south London.
The archaeologists who uncovered the six hefty timber piles had to explain to the security services what they were up to when armed police turned up after they were spotted pottering about on a foggy day in the mud, armed only with tripods, cameras and measuring equipment – not, as one spectator had apparently reported, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.
Read the rest of this article...
When MI6 set up home on the banks of the Thames one secret escaped its watchful eyes. The oldest wooden structure ever found on the river, timbers almost 7,000 years old, have been discovered buried in the silt below the windows of the security services' ziggurat headquarters at Vauxhall, south London.
The archaeologists who uncovered the six hefty timber piles had to explain to the security services what they were up to when armed police turned up after they were spotted pottering about on a foggy day in the mud, armed only with tripods, cameras and measuring equipment – not, as one spectator had apparently reported, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.
Read the rest of this article...
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Archaeologists Locate Remains Of Homo Sapiens In Israel 400,000 Years Ago
It has long been believed that modern man emerged from the continent of Africa 200,000 years ago. Now Tel Aviv University archaeologists have uncovered evidence that Homo sapiens roamed the land now called Israel as early as 400,000 years ago - the earliest evidence for the existence of modern man anywhere in the world.
The findings were discovered in the Qesem Cave, a pre-historic site located near Rosh Ha'ayin that was first excavated in 2000. Prof. Avi Gopher and Dr. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology, who run the excavations, and Prof. Israel Hershkowitz of the university's Department of Anatomy and Anthropology and Sackler School of Medicine, together with an international team of scientists, performed a morphological analysis on eight human teeth found in the Qesem Cave.
This analysis, which included CT scans and X-rays, indicates that the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man. The teeth found in the Qesem Cave are very similar to other evidence of modern man from Israel, dated to around 100,000 years ago, discovered in the Skhul Cave in the Carmel and Qafzeh Cave in the Lower Galilee near Nazareth. The results of the researchers' findings are being published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Read the rest of this article...
The findings were discovered in the Qesem Cave, a pre-historic site located near Rosh Ha'ayin that was first excavated in 2000. Prof. Avi Gopher and Dr. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology, who run the excavations, and Prof. Israel Hershkowitz of the university's Department of Anatomy and Anthropology and Sackler School of Medicine, together with an international team of scientists, performed a morphological analysis on eight human teeth found in the Qesem Cave.
This analysis, which included CT scans and X-rays, indicates that the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man. The teeth found in the Qesem Cave are very similar to other evidence of modern man from Israel, dated to around 100,000 years ago, discovered in the Skhul Cave in the Carmel and Qafzeh Cave in the Lower Galilee near Nazareth. The results of the researchers' findings are being published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Read the rest of this article...
Cretan tools point to 130,000-year-old sea travel
ATHENS, Greece – Archaeologists on the island of Crete have discovered what may be evidence of one of the world's first sea voyages by human ancestors, the Greek Culture Ministry said Monday. A ministry statement said experts from Greece and the U.S. have found rough axes and other tools thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years old close to shelters on the island's south coast.
Crete has been separated from the mainland for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have traveled there by sea (a distance of at least 40 miles). That would upset the current view that human ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone.
"The results of the survey not only provide evidence of sea voyages in the Mediterranean tens of thousands of years earlier than we were aware of so far, but also change our understanding of early hominids' cognitive abilities," the ministry statement said.
Read the rest of this article...
Crete has been separated from the mainland for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have traveled there by sea (a distance of at least 40 miles). That would upset the current view that human ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone.
"The results of the survey not only provide evidence of sea voyages in the Mediterranean tens of thousands of years earlier than we were aware of so far, but also change our understanding of early hominids' cognitive abilities," the ministry statement said.
Read the rest of this article...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)