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Gelabert et al. retrieved human and mammalian nuclear and mitochondrial environmental shotgun genomes from a 25,000-year-old sediment sample from Satsurblia Cave in Georgia. Image credit: Anna Belfer-Cohen.

25,000-Year-Old Human and Animal DNA Found in Georgian Cave

Jul 14, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists has retrieved and analyzed nuclear and mitochondrial environmental DNA of humans, wolfs (Canis lupus), and bisons (Bison...

51,000-Year-Old Engraved Bone is Neanderthal Artwork, Reseachers Say

Jul 7, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have uncovered a 51,000-year-old engraved giant deer phalanx in a cave in the Harz Mountains, Germany. The find, which came from an apparent...

The 80.3-million-year-old fossil shark teeth from the Iron Age cultural layers of the City of David in Jerusalem, Israel, from the Rock Cut Pool dating to the 8-9th century BCE: (a) lamniform shark, Odontaspididae; (b, e-i) sharks, no taxonomic identification; (c) lamniform shark, Odontaspididae; (d) Squalicorax. Image credit: Tütken et al., doi: 10.3389/fevo.2020.570032.

Teeth of Cretaceous-Period Sharks Found at Iron Age Site in Israel

Jul 5, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has found multiple fossil shark teeth within Iron Age cultural layers dating to 8-9th century BCE in the City of...

The ancient sandstone relief found at Vindolanda, England. Image credit: Vindolanda Trust.

Beautifully Carved Sandstone Relief Uncovered at Vindolanda

Jul 5, 2021 by News Staff

A sandstone relief which depicts a horseman has been uncovered during at the site of Vindolanda, an ancient Roman military fort and settlement on Hadrian’s...

A reconstruction of Homo longi in his habitat. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

146,000-Year-Old Archaic Human Cranium Represents New Species: Homo longi

Jun 28, 2021 by News Staff

Homo longi is phylogenetically closer to Homo sapiens than to Neanderthals or other archaic humans, according to new research described in The Innovation. A...

The 2,100-year-old Roman military camp of Lomba do Mouro in Melgaço, Portugal. Image credit: University of Exeter.

Ancient Roman Military Camp Uncovered in Portugal

Jun 28, 2021 by News Staff

The 2,100-year-old camp of Lomba do Mouro in Melgaço, Portugal, was used by around 10,000 Roman soldiers sent to conquer Northwest Iberia. The 2,100-year-old...

The fossilized remains of the Nesher Ramla hominin. Image credit: Tel Aviv University.

Nesher Ramla Hominin: Previously Unknown Type of Homo Discovered

Jun 25, 2021 by News Staff

The Nesher Ramla hominins lived between 420,000 and 120,000 years ago in the Middle East and had a distinctive combination of Neanderthal (especially the...

Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. Image credit: Alex Demin / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ancient DNA Analysis Sheds New Light on Occupational History of Denisova Cave

Jun 24, 2021 by News Staff

In a new study published this week in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers analyzed DNA from more than 700 sediment samples that were...

The ancient Maya city of Tikal in northern Guatemala. Image credit: Gerd Eichmann / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ancient Maya Maintained Native Tropical Forest Plants around Their Water Reservoirs

Jun 23, 2021 by News Staff

The banks of the artificial water reservoirs in Tikal, a major city of the ancient Maya world in what is now northern Guatemala, were primarily fringed...

Photograph of the experiment with stone lamps: (A) the experiment before being lit; (B) the experiment after functioning for 1 min; (C) the experiment after functioning for 43 min. Image credit: Medina-Alcaide et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250497.

Researchers Test Ancient Lighting Systems to See How Paleolithic Humans Illuminated Their Caves

Jun 17, 2021 by News Staff

Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in groups of Paleolithic humans. Furthermore, the...

9,000-Year-Old Obsidian Tools Found at Bottom of Lake Huron

Jun 16, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The two ancient obsidian flakes recovered from a now submerged archaeological site beneath Lake Huron represent the oldest and farthest east confirmed...

Photographs of the find location and the 6,000-year-old throwing dart recovered in 2018 in Yukon, Canada: (a) composite photograph of the dart; (b) dart in its discovery location, showing the distal end; (c) dart in its discovery location showing the proximal end; (d) map with location of the ice patch site JcUu-1, near Alligator Lake, southern Yukon, in the overlapping traditional territories of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation; (e) view of the ice patch JcUu-1 from the west with approximate find location marked. Image credit: Yukon Government.

Archaeologists Find Beaver Castoreum on 6,000-Year-Old Throwing Dart

Jun 16, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists have identified castoreum — a substance harvested from the castor sacs of beavers — as a component of the design and construction...

The 1,000-year-old chicken egg found at the archaeological site of Yavne in Israel. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Yoli Schwartz & Gilad Stern, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Find 1,000-Year-Old Intact Chicken Egg

Jun 14, 2021 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has found an unbroken chicken egg in an Islamic-period cesspit at the archaeological...

Aerial view of the Roman basilica in the Tel Ashkelon National Park, Israel. Image credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Magnificent Roman Basilica

Jun 8, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman basilica complex in the Tel Ashkelon National Park, Israel. Aerial view of the Roman...

Coxcatlan Cave, a rock shelter located within the southern portion of the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico. Image credit: Andrew Somerville.

Humans Arrived in North America More Than 30,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jun 2, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists have obtained radiocarbon dates for the faunal bones excavated from Coxcatlan Cave, a dry rock shelter located within the southern portion...

The 4,000- to 5,000-year-old deer carving in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland. Image credit: Historic Environment Scotland.

Archaeologist Discovers Ancient Deer Carvings in Scotland

Jun 2, 2021 by News Staff

Scottish archaeologist Hamish Fenton has discovered prehistoric animal carvings — thought to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old — inside...

An ancient Toalean tool. Image credit: Perston et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251138.

Indonesian Hunter-Gatherers Were Making Tiny Point Tools Thousands of Years Ago

May 26, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists from Griffith University, the University of New England and the Balai Arkeologi Sulawesi Selatan have examined a collection of stone and...

The 1,900-year-old bronze oil lamp found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Koby Harati & Eliyahu Yanai, City of David / Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Find Rare Bronze Oil Lamp

May 10, 2021 by News Staff

The bronze lamp, shaped like a grotesque face that is cut in half, was intentionally deposited in the foundations of a building about 1,900 years ago as...

Shaar et al. unveil the oldest evidence of human activity in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Image credit: Michael Chazan.

South African Cave Sheltered Human Ancestors 1.8 Million Years Ago

Apr 27, 2021 by News Staff

A team of paleoanthropologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, CNRS and the University of Toronto has examined artifacts and sediments found in...