Gender-nonconforming ancient Romans found refuge in community dedicated to goddess Cybele
A Vatican declaration, the “Infinite Dignity,” has brought renewed attention to how religions define and interpret gender and gender roles.
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Category: Archeology
Archaeologists unearth top half of statue of Ramesses II
A team co-led by a CU Boulder classics researcher has unearthed the upper portion of a huge, ancient pharaonic statue whose lower half was discovered in 1930; Ramesses II was immortalized in Percy Bysshe Shelly’s “Ozymandias.”
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The story of the first Alor people adapting to climate change 43,000 years ago
As humans, our greatest evolutionary advantage has always been our ability to adapt and innovate. When people first reached the expanded coastline of Southeast Asia around 65,000 years ago, and faced the sea crossings necessary to continue east into the islands of the Wallacean archipelago (the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa to Australia), these abilities were put to use like never before.
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Social change may explain decline in genetic diversity of the Y chromosome at the end of the Neolithic period
The emergence in the Neolithic of patrilineal social systems, in which children are affiliated with their father’s lineage, may explain a spectacular decline in the genetic diversity of the Y chromosome observed worldwide between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.
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Scientists use ancient DNA, historical context to unravel kinship, social practices of Avar society
A multidisciplinary research team led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has combined ancient DNA data with a clear archaeological, anthropological and historical context to reconstruct the social dynamics of Avar-period steppe descent populations that settled in Europe’s Carpathian Basin in the 6th century.
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Stonehenge may have aligned with the moon as well as the sun
When it comes to its connection to the sky, Stonehenge is best known for its solar alignments. Every midsummer’s night tens of thousands of people gather at Stonehenge to celebrate and witness the rising sun in alignment with the Heel stone standing outside of the circle. Six months later a smaller crowd congregates around the Heel stone to witness the midwinter sun setting within the stone circle.
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Five things our research uncovered when we recreated 16th century beer (and barrels)
It’s true that our 16th-century ancestors drank much more than Irish people do today. But why they did so and what their beer was like are questions shrouded in myth. The authors were part of a team who set out to find some answers.
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‘Forgotten city:’ the identification of Dura-Europos’ neglected sister site in Syria
The Dura-Europos site in modern-day Syria is famous for its exceptional state of preservation. Like Pompeii, this ancient city has yielded many great discoveries, and serves as a window into the world of the ancient Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman periods. Yet despite the prominence of Dura-Europos in Near Eastern scholarship, there is another city, only some miles down the Euphrates river, that presents a long-neglected opportunity for study.
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Dramatic burning of royal remains reveals Maya regime change
New archaeological investigations in Guatemala reveal that ancient Maya peoples did not just passively watch their dynastic systems collapse at the end of the Classic period. They actively reworked their political systems to create new governments.
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First evidence of ancient human occupation found in giant lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia
If you look from above, you can see thousands of stone structures dotting the landscape of the Arabian peninsula. On the ground, you can find a bounty of stone tools and ancient fireplaces scattered along the edges of ancient lakes, as well as rock art depicting hunting and herding scenes in the surrounding mountains.
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A puzzling mix of artifacts raises questions about Homo sapiens’ travels to China
A reexamined Chinese site points to a cultural mix of Homo sapiens with Neandertals or Denisovans.
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Tracing the lineage of North America’s native Blackfoot Confederacy
A team of researchers with varied backgrounds and affiliated with multiple organizations (including the Blackfoot Confederacy) in the U.S. and Canada has conducted a genetic study focused on tracing the lineage of North America’s native Blackfoot Confederacy.
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First insights into the genetic bottleneck characterizing early sheep husbandry in the Neolithic period
Modern Eurasian sheep predominantly belong to only two so-called genetic matrilineages inherited through the ewes, so previous research has assumed that genetic diversity must already have decreased rapidly in the early stages of domestication of wild sheep. A study of a series of complete mitogenomes from the early domestication site Asıklı Höyük in central Anatolia, which was inhabited between 10,300 and 9,300 years ago, disproves this assumption.
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Lynx found at bottom of Roman era pit, along with four dogs, mystifies archaeologists
A team of archaeologists at the Institute of Archaeology, HUN-REN Research Center for the Humanities, in Hungary, working with a colleague from Stockholm University, has revisited a mystery: a Roman era lynx skeleton buried in a pit with four dog skeletons, all layered above it.
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Aboriginal people made pottery, sailed to distant islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived
Pottery was largely unknown in Australia before the recent past, despite well-known pottery traditions in nearby Papua New Guinea and the islands of the western Pacific. The absence of ancient Indigenous pottery in Australia has long puzzled researchers.
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What did Roman wine taste like? Much better than previously thought, according to new research
From a modern, scientific perspective, the wine Romans drank is often seen as an inconsistent, poorly made and thoroughly unpleasant beverage. It is alleged that Roman winemakers had to mask their products’ flaws by adding spices, herbs and other ingredients to the freshly pressed grape juice, which is known as “must.”
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Pacific cities found to be much older than previously thought
New evidence of one of the first cities in the Pacific shows they were established much earlier than previously thought, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU).
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Team finds evidence of commonly conducted ritualized human sacrifice across Europe in the Stone Age
A team of archaeologists affiliated with several institutions in France and one in Germany has found that ritualized human sacrifice was common across Europe during the Neolithic.
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Fossilized dinosaur eggshells can preserve amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, over millions of years
As a scientist, lab work can sometimes get monotonous. But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., I heard a gleeful exclamation from across the room. Kirsty Penkman, head of the North East Amino Acid Racemization lab at the University of York, had just read the data printed off the chromatograms and was practically jumping up and down.
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3D mouth of an ancient jawless fish suggests they were filter-feeders, not scavengers or hunters
Early jawless fish were likely to have used bony projections surrounding their mouths to modify their mouth shape while they collected food.
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Discovery of pottery rewrites Aboriginal history
The discovery of the oldest pottery ever found in Australia on Jiigurru/Lizard Island off the Queensland coast is challenging the idea that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery manufacture before European settlement.
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Fox bones found in ancient Argentinian burial site might have been from a human pet
A team of archaeologists, anthropologists and evolutionary specialists from Argentina, the U.K. and Germany has found possible evidence of a tamed fox living with a human hunter/gatherer companion, approximately 1,500 years ago in what is now Argentina. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes where the fox remains were found, their condition, and other factors that led them to believe that the fox may have been an ancient pet.
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Mysterious bones may have belonged to gigantic ichthyosaurs
Several similar large, fossilized bone fragments have been discovered in various regions across Western and Central Europe since the 19th century. The animal group to which they belonged is still the subject of much debate to this day. A study carried out at the University of Bonn could now settle this dispute once and for all: The microstructure of the fossils indicates that they come from the lower jaw of a gigantic ichthyosaur. These animals could reach 25 to 30 meters in length, a similar size to the modern blue whale.
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Irish castles and ancient Greek rites show culture’s role in regional regeneration
Tapping into the long and rich histories of places around Europe is a central part of an EU push for rural and urban revival.
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Prehistoric henge reveals centuries-old sacred site in Lincolnshire
Archaeologists from Newcastle University have unearthed evidence for an evolving sacred landscape spanning centuries in Crowland, Lincolnshire. The study is published in the Journal of Field Archaeology.
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Scientists use AI to evaluate dental anthropology
Mario Modesto Mata, a researcher in the Dental Anthropology Group at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), is the lead author of a paper published in The Anatomical Record, on the use of artificial neural networks to reconstruct the number of perikymata, which are the growth lines in the enamel, but which are absent in worn teeth.
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Early herding communities used a wide variety of livestock management strategies, study finds
The study of the feeding pattern of sheep in the Cueva de El Toro, Malaga, some 7,200 years ago demonstrates that livestock management practices of the Western Mediterranean during the Old Neolithic were far more varied than believed until now.
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Early humans used wood splitting 300,000 years ago to hunt animals, study shows
Early humans used sophisticated crafting techniques such as “wood splitting” to hunt and to clean animal hides, a new study has revealed.
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New research reveals that chickens were widely raised across southern Central Asia from 400 BCE
Chickens are one of the most economically important animals in the world today. However, the story of their origins and dispersal across the ancient world is still poorly understood. In fact, new archaeological techniques have recently led to the recognition that many finds of bones previously thought to represent early chickens in fact belonged to wild birds.
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Archaeologists illuminate ancient culinary practices using chemical biomarkers
Ceramic pots endure the corrosive effects of thousands of years, and organic remains preserved inside the pores can shed light on the culture, values, diets, and daily life of societies. This research is achieved with the help of biomarkers.
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Stingray sand ‘sculpture’ in South Africa may be oldest example of humans creating an image of another creature
South Africa’s Cape south coast offers many hints about how our human ancestors lived some 35,000 to 400,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. These clues are captured in the dunes they once traversed, today cemented and preserved in a rock type known as aeolianite.
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Q&A: Archaeologist’s fieldwork finds movement of crops, animals played a key role in domestication
Archaeologist Xinyi Liu at Washington University in St. Louis teamed up with Martin Jones of the University of Cambridge to write a new paper for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that explains how recent research is connecting the science of biological domestication to early food globalization.
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Study reveals evidence of violence at a time of crisis in ancient Peru
The transition from the fifth to the fourth century BCE (Before the Common Era) seems to have been a critical period for the Central Andes, a region now part of Peru. Researchers have found evidence of turbulence during the passage from the Middle Formative period (1200–400 BCE) to the Late Formative period (400–1 BCE). Political disintegration and intergroup violence were apparently part of the context, possibly associated with a shift from theocracy to secular government.
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How Spanish conquistadors, and a tiny cactus-dwelling insect, gave the world the color red
When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such as Christian Louboutin have cemented our association of the color red with power and wealth.
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A eucharist of sourdough or wafer? What a thousand-year-old religious quarrel tells us about fermentation
A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy communion.
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Ancient DNA reveals the appearance of a 6th century Chinese emperor
What did an ancient Chinese emperor from 1,500 years ago look like? A team of researchers reconstructed the face of Chinese Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou using DNA extracted from his remains.
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Why did modern humans replace the Neanderthals? The key might lie in our social structures
Why did humans take over the world while our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, became extinct? It’s possible we were just smarter, but there’s surprisingly little evidence that’s true.
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Elephant hunting by early humans may explain proximity between extensive Paleolithic stone quarries and water sources
Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have uncovered the mystery surrounding extensive Paleolithic stone quarrying and tool-making sites: Why did Homo erectus repeatedly revisit the very same locations for hundreds of thousands of years? The answer lies in the migration routes of elephants, which they hunted and dismembered using flint tools crafted at these quarrying sites.
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We have revealed a unique time capsule of Australia’s first coastal people from 50,000 years ago
Barrow Island, located 60 kilometers off the Pilbara in Western Australia, was once a hill overlooking an expansive coast. This was the northwestern shelf of the Australian continent, now permanently submerged by the ocean.
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Dig site findings suggests ancient artists may have been inspired by preserved dinosaur footprints
A team of archaeologists and paleontologists affiliated with several institutions in Brazil has found evidence that ancient artists living in what is now Brazil may have created petroglyphs that were inspired by preserved dinosaur footprints in a shared area. In their project, reported in the journal Scientific Reports, the group studied petroglyphs made between 3,000 and 9,000 years ago.
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Persian plateau unveiled as crucial hub for early human migration out of Africa
A new study combining genetic, paleoecological, and archaeological evidence has unveiled the Persian Plateau as a pivotal geographic location serving as a hub for Homo sapiens during the early stages of their migration out of Africa.
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Tudor era horse cemetery in Westminster revealed as likely resting place for elite imported animals
Archaeological analysis of a near unique animal cemetery discovered in London nearly 30 years ago has revealed the international scale of horse trading by the elites of late medieval and Tudor England.
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Researcher uses machine learning to help digitize ancient texts from Indus civilization
The civilization of Indus River Valley is considered one of the three earliest civilizations in world history, along with Mesopotamia and Egypt. Bigger geographically than those two as it unfolded starting in 3300 BCE across what is now Pakistan and India, the Indus civilization boasted uniform weights and measures, skilled artisans, a multifaceted system of trade and commerce, and upwards of 500 symbols and signs for communicating.
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Scientists uncover evidence that microplastics are contaminating archaeological remains
Researchers have for the first time discovered evidence of microplastic contamination in archaeological soil samples.
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Shakespeare’s sister: Digital archives reveal hidden insights into world-famous playwright’s unknown sibling
By analyzing digital copies of an incredibly rare and obscure 17th-century Italian religious text, a University of Bristol academic has revealed that a long-lost document previously thought to have been written by William Shakespeare’s father belongs, in fact, to his relatively unknown sister Joan.
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Plant material on obsidian blades on Rapa Nui suggests settlers there visited South America and returned
A team of archaeologists affiliated with several institutions in Chile reports evidence that early settlers on the island of Rapa Nui sailed to South America, interacted with people living there and then returned. In their study, published in PLOS ONE, the group analyzed plant material found on obsidian blades made by the early settlers.
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Human brains found at archaeological sites are surprisingly well-preserved
Analyzing a new archive of 4,400 human brains cited in the archaeological record reveals the organ’s unique chemistry might prevent decay.
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Manuports in the context of archaeology
If you look around your bedroom, or in the door pocket of your car, you may have a cool shell you’ve found and kept. Maybe it’s a nice pinky-orange, or has a perfect little hole so that one day you could make a necklace.
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Malaria, smallpox, polio: Here’s how we know life in ancient Egypt was ravaged by disease
The mention of ancient Egypt usually conjures images of colossal pyramids and precious, golden tombs.
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New framework embraces uncertainty to make sense of history
There are many things we don’t know about how history unfolds. The process might be impersonal, even inevitable, as some social scientists have suggested; human societies might be doomed to decline. Or, individual actions and environmental conditions might influence our communities’ trajectories. Social scientists have struggled to find a consensus on such fundamental issues.
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