Archaeology News

Sep 14, 2018 by News Staff

A cross-hatched pattern drawn with an ochre crayon on a small piece of siliceous rock (silcrete) is 73,000 years old. It pre-dates the earliest previously known abstract drawings by at least 30,000 years and demonstrates the ability of early Homo sapiens to produce graphic designs on various media using different techniques. The find is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature. Image of the Blombos Cave silcrete flake displaying...

Sep 11, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, turtles served as more than tasty treats for Native American tribes throughout North America;...

Sep 7, 2018 by News Staff

An analysis of fatty residue in pottery from two Neolithic archaeological sites in Croatia has revealed evidence of fermented dairy products (soft cheeses...

Sep 4, 2018 by News Staff

New research published in the journal PeerJ demonstrates that a technique used to produce ‘Late Acheulean’ handaxes is likely to have needed a modern...

Aug 30, 2018 by News Staff

The transition from Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe occurred during a period of recurring cold climate cycles. In a new study, a team of researchers...

Aug 21, 2018 by News Staff

By analyzing the chemical makeup of toki, tools that were used by Easter Island’s inhabitants to create the giant moai statues, Field Museum researcher...

Aug 16, 2018 by News Staff

The world’s oldest solid cheese has been found inside the tomb of Ptahmes in Saqqara, part of the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis. Jar...

Aug 13, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeological excavations at the Acheulean site of Saffaqah near Dawadmi in central Saudi Arabia have found that Homo erectus, an extinct hominid species...

Aug 8, 2018 by News Staff

There are multiple theories as to what caused the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization, such as invasion, war, environmental degradation, etc. In...

Jul 27, 2018 by News Staff

In one of the largest studies of its kind, an international team of researchers conducted organic residue analysis of almost 800 ceramic vessels from 46...

Jul 26, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists in Australia has uncovered new evidence that suggests dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) arrived on the continent around 3,500 years...

Jul 23, 2018 by News Staff

New research published in the journal Scientific Reports provides clear evidence that Neanderthals made fire by striking a piece of pyrite, the yellow...

Jul 17, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Universities of Copenhagen and Cambridge, and University College London have unearthed the charred remains of a flatbread baked...

Jul 17, 2018 by News Staff

At the Gault archaeological site in central Texas, archaeologists have unearthed a projectile point technology never previously seen in North America,...

Jul 16, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists in Greece have discovered what they think is the oldest written record of Homer’s poem Odyssey. The clay tablet contains 13 verses from...

Jul 13, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists at the University of Basel, Switzerland, has discovered that a 1,800-year-old papyrus from the Basel Papyrus Collection is an ancient...

Jul 12, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists working in the southern Chinese Loess Plateau have unearthed stone tools crafted at least 2.1 million years ago by early humans. The discovery,...

Jul 6, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a study published June 25 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, an international team of researchers reports lesions observed on two fallow...

Jul 5, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists working in northern Israel recently found well-preserved wine amphorae (jars), a cooking pot and other pottery vessels dating back some...

Jun 27, 2018 by News Staff

Four sketches and a written description of a white cockatoo survive in a mid 13th-century manuscript from Sicily, now held in the Vatican Library, according...