Archaeology News

Human Footprints at White Sands Are Up To 22,400 Years Old: Study

The ancient human footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, the United States. Image credit: Bennett et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abg7586.
Jun 23, 2025 by News Staff

Discovery of human footprints at White Sands, New Mexico, dated to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, was a notable step in understanding the initial peopling of the Americas, but that work was met with criticism focused on the reliability of the materials used in the radiocarbon dating: seeds of the common aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa and conifer pollen grains. A new study led by University of Arizona researcher Vance Holliday marks the third...

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Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

Ancient DNA Study Traces Incredible Journey of Dogs across Americas

Jun 18, 2025 by News Staff

Pre-contact Central and South American dogs (Canis familiaris) — all dogs preceding contact with European settlers — descended from a single...

The wild boar (Sus scrofa). Image credit: Elşad İbrahimov / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Pigs Were Domesticated from Wild Boars in South China over 8,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jun 10, 2025 by News Staff

China has long been considered one of the locations for original domestication of wild boars (Sus scrofa) but tracking the initial process has always been...

Dead Sea Scroll 4Q7, a fragment of the Book of Genesis found in Wadi Qumran Cave 4. Image credit: KetefHinnomFan.

Some Dead Sea Scrolls Older than Previously Thought, AI Analysis Suggests

Jun 4, 2025 by News Staff

Determining by means of paleography the chronology of ancient handwritten manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls is essential for reconstructing the...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Study: Meat Preservation and Predator Protection, Rather than Cooking, Were Drivers of Early Fire Use

Jun 4, 2025 by News Staff

The use of fire marks a critical milestone in human evolution, with its initial purposes debated among scholars. While cooking is often cited as the primary...

Taxonomic identification of the 173 worked (a) and unworked (b) bone objects: (1) blank, Tito Bustillo, sperm whale; (2) projectile point with massive base, Isturitz, blue whale; (3) projectile point, Brassempouy, fin whale; (4) possible foreshaft, Las Caldas, sperm whale; (5) projectile point with massive base, Ermittia, gray whale; (6) unidentified object, Saint-Michel, sperm whale; (7-10) unworked fragments of fin whale bone, Santa Catalina. Image credit: McGrath et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8.

20,000-Year-Old Whale Bone Tools Found in Spain

May 27, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have examined a large sample of worked bone objects from 26 Paleolithic cave and rockshelter sites in the Cantabrian region of Spain and...

Aerial drone photograph showing the preserved stone section of the Gobi Wall traversing the hillside. Image credit: Golan et al., doi: 10.3390/land14051087.

Archaeologists Uncover New Evidence about Construction and Purpose of Gobi Wall

May 27, 2025 by News Staff

The Gobi Wall is a 321-km-long structure made of earth, stone, and wood, located in the Gobi highland desert of Mongolia. It is the least understood section...

A fragment of the 2,600-year-old stone relief from the archaeological site of Nineveh. Image credit: Aaron Schmitt.

2,600-Year-Old Stone Relief Unearthed in Ancient Nineveh

May 13, 2025 by News Staff

The ancient stone relief depicts Ashurbanipal, the ruler of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 699 to 631 BCE, two deities and other figures, according to a...

Obsidian artifacts from Tenochtitlan. Image credit: Mirsa Islas / PTM-INAH.

Aztecs Preferred Green Obsidian from Sierra de Pachuca, New Study Reveals

May 13, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists have explored the use of obsidian — a volcanic glass used for tools and ceremonial objects and one of the most important raw materials...

Rings from the Thetford hoard on display at the British Museum. Image credit: Geni / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thetford Treasure: Archaeologists Revisit 1,500-Year-Old Hoard of Gold Jewelry and Silver Spoons

Apr 23, 2025 by News Staff

Jewelry in a treasure hoard found in Thetford Forest, East Anglia, indicates that Thetford was pagan until the 5th century CE — significantly later...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Ice Age People Built Sophisticated Fireplaces, Used Mainly Wood to Fuel Their Fires

Apr 22, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists have discovered and analyzed three hearths at the Upper Paleolithic site (45,000 to 10,000 years ago) of Korman’ 9 on the right bank of...

An artist’s concept of a Penghu Denisovan walking under the bright Sun during the Pleistocene of Taiwan. Image credit: Cheng-Han Sun.

Pleistocene-Age Denisovan Fossil Found in Taiwan

Apr 10, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A 190,000- to 10,000-year-old fossilized mandible found in the Penghu Channel, Taiwan, in the 2000s belonged to a male Denisovan, according to an analysis...

Hunter-gatherers were crossing at least 100 km of open water to reach Malta 8,500 years ago. Image credit: Daniel Clarke / MPI GEA.

Study: Seafaring Hunter-Gatherers Were Accessing Remote Islands Long Before Arrival of First Farmers

Apr 9, 2025 by News Staff

The discovery of stone tools, hearths, and cooked food waste at the cave site of Latnija on the Mediterranean island of Malta shows that hunter-gatherers...

A 15-cm-tall depas amphikypellon excavated by Heinrich Schliemann at Troy. Image credit: Valentin Marquardt / University of Tübingen.

Wine Drinking in Ancient Troy Was Not Restricted to Royal Elite, Archaeologists Say

Apr 2, 2025 by News Staff

Since its discovery during Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at the legendary fortress city of Troy, the depas amphikypellon — a cylindrical goblet...

Products of the Quina system at the Longtan site, China. Image credit: Ruan et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2418029122.

Stone Tool Discovery Indicates Diverse Human Dynamics in Middle Paleolithic East Asia

Apr 1, 2025 by News Staff

While the Middle Paleolithic period is viewed as a dynamic time in European and African history, it is commonly considered a static period in East Asia....

Archaeological excavation work at the Sima del Elefante, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. Image credit: Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA.

1.1-Million-Year-Old Facial Bones of Archaic Homo Found in Spain

Mar 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Who the first inhabitants of Western Europe were, what their physical characteristics were, and when and where they lived are some of the pending questions...

The 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus that has been knapped into a tool. Image credit: CSIC.

1.5-Million-Year-Old Bone Tool ‘Factory’ Discovered in Tanzania

Mar 5, 2025 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have documented a bone tool assemblage from a single horizon dated to 1.5 million years ago at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. These bone...

The site of Bété I in Côte d’Ivoire and other African sites dated to around 130,000-190,000 years ago. Image credit: Arous et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08613-y.

Homo sapiens Were Living in African Wet Tropical Forests as Early as 150,000 Years Ago

Feb 26, 2025 by News Staff

New research led by Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology scientists challenges conventional ideas about the habitability of ancient tropical forests...

Dr. Elias Witte Thomasen uncovering the massive weapon offering at the site of Løsning Søndermark, Hedensted, Denmark. Image credit: Vejle Museums.

Fragments of Roman Helmet, Various Weapons Found in Denmark

Feb 10, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists with the Vejle Museums have unearthed a 1,600-year-old weapon offering, including more than 100 spearheads, lances, swords, a chainmail...

The engraved cortical Levallois core from Manot Cave. Image credit: E. Ostrovsky / M. Smelansky / E. Paixão / L. Schunk.

Paleolithic Artifacts from Levantine Caves were Deliberately Engraved with Geometric Patterns: Study

Feb 5, 2025 by News Staff

In new research, archaeologists analyzed five engraved artifacts from the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: two engraved Levallois cores from Manot and Qafzeh...

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