Archaeology News | Sci.News

An artist’s impression of a binary stellar system. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

Did Ancient Egyptian Scribes Discover Algol’s Variability 3,000 Years before European Astronomers?

Nov 16, 2018 by News Staff

An ancient Egyptian Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days assigns luck with the period of 2.85 days. Previous astronomical, astrophysical and statistical...

An aerial view of the archaeological excavation site near Chiliomodi, Greece. Image credit: Greek Culture Ministry.

Archaeologists Uncover Remnants of Ancient City of Tenea

Nov 15, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists in Greece have unearthed what they believe are the remnants of the long-lost ancient city of Tenea. An aerial view of the archaeological...

A rock painting of a wild bovid from Borneo. Image credit: Pindi Setiawan.

Researchers Find 40,000-Year-Old Figurative Paintings in Bornean Cave

Nov 12, 2018 by News Staff

Cave paintings in Lubang Jeriji Saléh, a limestone cave in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, have been dated to at least 40,000 years ago. A rock painting...

The remains of the 4,500-year-old ramp were found at the site of Hatnub, Egypt. Image credit: Yannis Gourdon / French Institute for Oriental Archaeology / University of Liverpool.

Archaeologists Uncover 4,500-Year-Old Ramp System at Alabaster Quarry in Egypt

Nov 7, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists from the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, Egypt, and the University of Liverpool, UK, has discovered...

Lamprey in Sala Maremagnum of Aquarium Finisterrae in Corunna, Galicia, Spain. Image credit: Drow Male / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Stomach-Turning Medieval Delicacy: Archaeologists Unearth Teeth of Lamprey Fish in London

Nov 6, 2018 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) has uncovered keratin ‘teeth’ of lamprey at a site near Mansion House station...

Zarrillo et al report the earliest evidence of cacao use in the Americas and the first archaeological example of its pre-Columbian use in South America. Image credit: Stana.

Birthplace of Cacao Identified in Amazon Region

Nov 5, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has found that the upper Amazon region gave birth to the domesticated Theobroma cacao, the plant from which chocolate...

The newly-discovered mosaic floor of a Roman-era villa. Image credit: Niki Davidov, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Impressive Roman-Era Mosaic

Oct 30, 2018 by News Staff

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have uncovered a 1,700-year-old floor mosaic at the city of Lod (ancient Lydda). The newly-discovered mosaic...

A 15,000-year-old stemmed point at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas. Image credit: Waters et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat4505.

Archaeologists Find 15,500-Year-Old Spear Points in Texas

Oct 26, 2018 by News Staff

Through excavation of the Debra L. Friedkin site northwest of Austin, Texas, a team of archaeologists has identified a particular style of projectile point...

The world’s oldest intact shipwreck discovered in the Black Sea. Image credit: Black Sea MAP / EEF Expeditions.

Underwater Archaeologists Find ‘World’s Oldest Intact Shipwreck’

Oct 24, 2018 by News Staff

Marine archaeologists from the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) have discovered the 2,400-year-old intact shipwreck of an ancient...

This is an artist's impression of Çatalhöyük. Image credit: Dan Lewandowski.

8,000-Year-Old Ceramic Vessels from Çatalhöyük Reveal Hidden Cuisine of Early Farmers

Oct 18, 2018 by News Staff

An analysis of ancient food proteins preserved in ceramic vessels found at the key early farming site of Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia, in what is...

Stone tools from the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Image credit: Louisiana State University.

Ancient Maya Produced Salt and Salted Fish: Study

Oct 9, 2018 by News Staff

Like the ancient Roman, Asian, and other civilizations, the ancient Maya produced salt and salted fish — storable commodities for marketplace trade,...

Lape et al describe the earliest-known use of nutmeg as a food ingredient. Image credit: Quique.

Archaeologists Find Traces of 3,500-Year-Old Nutmeg-Spiced Food

Oct 5, 2018 by News Staff

Residue on ceramic potsherds found at an archaeological site on the island of Pulau Ay (Ai), Indonesia, shows the nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) was used...

Archaeologist Dr. Marcello Canuto sits beside the ancient Maya altar he and his colleagues discovered in the jungles of northern Guatemala. Image credit: National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City / La Corona Regional Archaeological Project.

Archaeologists Uncover 1,500-Year-Old Maya Altar in Guatemala

Sep 18, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of archaeologists has found a carved limestone altar at the Maya site of La Corona, located in jungle forest of the Petén in Guatemala. Archaeologist...

The puma (Puma concolor). Image credit: Jbarreirol / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ancient Maya Captured and Traded Big Cats: Study

Sep 17, 2018 by News Staff

The ancient Maya routinely captured and traded wild jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) for symbolic and ritual purposes, according to an...

(A) the location of Raqefet Cave and three additional Natufian sites in Mt. Carmel, Israel; (B) field photos of the studied boulder mortars (BM 1, 2) and the location of BM3 on the cave floor; scale bar and arrow - 20 cm; (C) a functional reconstruction of the mortars: a boulder mortar used to store plants in a basket with a stone slab on top, and a bedrock mortar used for pounding and cooking plants and brewing beer. Image credit: Dror Maayan / Anat Regev-Gisis.

13,000-Year-Old Brewery Found in Israel

Sep 17, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Haifa has found the oldest archaeological evidence of cereal-based...

Image of the Blombos Cave silcrete flake displaying the drawn lines that form a cross-hatched pattern. Image credit: C. Foster.

Earliest Known Drawing by Human Discovered in South Africa

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...

Four Eastern box turtle rattles tied to leather legging with leather string with stone flakes inside of the shells. Image credit: Andrew Gillreath-Brown / McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Tennessee.

North American Indigenous Peoples Used Turtle Shells as Symbolic Musical Instruments

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;...

Pottery Analysis Reveals Earliest Mediterranean Cheese Production 7,200 Years Ago

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...

The ‘Early Acheulean’ and ‘Late Acheulean’ handaxes produced by knappers. Image credit: A.J.M. Key & C.J. Dunmore, doi: 10.7717/peerj.5399.

500,000-Year-Old Artifacts Reveal Modern Human-Like Gripping Capabilities

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...