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Excavated corner of room with the remains of the Sasanian loom between the wall (top) and a bench of six mudbricks. The round loom weights made from clay are particularly visible, as are slabs of mud once forming some kind of shelving. Image credit: Lanah Haddad.

Archaeologists Unearth Sasanian-Period Loom in Iraq

Nov 8, 2017 by News Staff

A team of Near Eastern archaeology students led by Goethe University Professor Dirk Wicke has uncovered the burnt remains of a Sasanian loom, about 1,500...

The Pylos Combat Agate. Image credit: University of Cincinnati.

Archaeologists Find Unique Minoan Sealstone in Greece

Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff

An international group of archaeologists led by the University of Cincinnati has found a Minoan sealstone in the treasure-laden tomb of a Bronze Age Greek...

Pyramids at Giza in Egypt. Image credit: Catharina.

Muon Detectors Reveal Hidden Chamber in Great Pyramid of Giza

Nov 3, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of archaeologists, physicists and engineers has found a 100-foot (30 m) long space deep inside the Great Pyramid, or Khufu’s Pyramid,...

Cave art on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Image credit: University of Leicester.

Advanced Dating and Characterization Methods Shed New Light on Caribbean Cave Art

Oct 31, 2017 by News Staff

A paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science presents the first results of the dating of indigenous pre-Columbian cave art in the Caribbean,...

Using a combination of the Biblical text and an ancient Egyptian text, Professor Humphreys and Dr. Graeme Waddington were able to refine the dates of the Egyptian pharaohs. Image credit: Pete Linforth.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 1207 BC Helps Date Egyptian Pharaohs

Oct 30, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published on October 1 in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics, independent scholar and astrophysicist Graeme Waddington and University of...

Barley (Hordeum vulgare). Image credit: Cliff.

Cereal Domestication May Have Started 10,000 Years Earlier than Scientists Thought

Oct 24, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, ancient peoples began to systemically affect the evolution...

3,250-year-old cuneiform tablets were found inside a clay vessel at the archaeological site of Bassetki in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Image credit: Peter Pfälzner, University of Tübingen.

Archaeologists Find Cache of Assyrian Cuneiform Tablets in Iraq

Oct 23, 2017 by News Staff

Excavations led by a University of Tübingen archaeologist at the site of a recently-discovered Bronze Age settlement in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have...

This piece of papyrus from the mid-third century BC describes a period of famine in Egypt that occurred when the Nile River failed to flood for several years in a row. It was collected from the Egyptian city of Edfu. Image credit: Department of Papyrology, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw.

Massive Volcanic Eruptions Linked to Revolts in Ptolemaic Egypt

Oct 18, 2017 by News Staff

A Yale University-led study suggests that abrupt shifts in climate caused by massive volcanic eruptions helped to trigger poorly understood revolts —...

A bulla of ‘Achiav ben Menachem.’ Image credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Astonishing Collection of Ancient Seals

Oct 16, 2017 by News Staff

Archaeologists digging in the City of David, the Old City of Jerusalem, have found dozens of ancient clay seals, also known as bullae. A bulla of ‘Achiav...

Luwian hieroglyphic inscription by Kupanta-Kurunta, the Great King of Mira, composed at about 1180 BC. Image credit: Luwian Studies.

3,180-Year-Old Luwian Hieroglyphic Inscription Tells of Mysterious ‘Sea People’

Oct 12, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Switzerland and the Netherlands has rediscovered and deciphered a 95-foot (29 m) long Luwian inscription found in the late 19th...

An ornamented artifact from the Gołebiewo site, Poland. Image credit: J. Kuriga.

8,800-Year-Old Ornamented Artifact Uncovered in Poland

Oct 11, 2017 by News Staff

An ornamented bâton percé, or pierced rod, unearthed at the archaeological site of Gołębiewo in Poland, may provide evidence of interregional contact...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). Image credit: Pethan, Botanical Gardens, Utrecht University / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Earliest Evidence of Domesticated Sorghum Discovered

Sep 28, 2017 by News Staff

Sorghum was domesticated from its wild ancestor more than 5,000 years ago, according to archaeological evidence uncovered by University College London...

A view over the smaller pyramids on the eastern side of Plaza de la Luna from Piramide de la Luna towards Piramide del Sol at Teotihuacan. Image credit: Daniel Case / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Teotihuacan is Unique among Ancient Mesoamerican Cities, Archaeologist Says

Sep 20, 2017 by News Staff

Arizona State University archaeologist Michael E. Smith has conducted a comparative analysis of Teotihuacan with earlier and later Mesoamerican urban centers...

Ancient Indian Manuscript Contains Oldest Example of Mathematical Symbol ‘Zero’

Sep 18, 2017 by News Staff

The Bakhshali manuscript, an ancient Indian mathematical manuscript written on more than 70 leaves of birch bark, is notable for having a dot representing...

General view of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi; the implication is that the oracular chamber below the temple complex lies on a line of minor fault movement. Image credit: Iain S. Stewart, doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.009.

Earthquakes May Have Had Great Cultural Significance in Ancient Greek World

Sep 13, 2017 by News Staff

The Ancient Greeks may have built their sacred sites deliberately on land previously affected by earthquake activity, according to University of Plymouth...

Sa and Seu Chiquinho sites featuring circular, square, and U-shaped earthworks. Image credit: Sanna Saunaluoma.

Researchers Uncover Purpose of Mysterious Amazonian Geoglyphs

Aug 31, 2017 by News Staff

Geometrical earthworks found in the Amazon rainforest — dubbed the Geoglyphs of Acre — were once important ritual communication spaces, says...

The French Frigates from Voyage de La Pérouse, by Louis Antoine Milet-Mureau. Image credit: State Library of New South Wales.

Australian Anthropologist Finds Clue to Fate of Famous French Explorer Jean Francois La Perouse

Aug 30, 2017 by News Staff

Australian National University anthropologist Garrick Hitchcock has stumbled across a clue to resolving one of the most enduring mysteries of Pacific history...

Plimpton 322, a 3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet held in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York.

Mathematicians Crack Mystery of Babylonian Clay Tablet ‘Plimpton 322’

Aug 25, 2017 by News Staff

Plimpton 322, the most famous of Old Babylonian tablets (1900-1600 BC), is the world’s oldest trigonometric table, possibly used by Babylonian scholars...

Chemical traces of wine were found on these storage jars from the Bellitti gallery, Monte Kronio, Sicily. Image credit: Davide Tanasi, University of South Florida.

Chemical Analysis of Pottery Reveals First Winemaking in Italy Nearly 4,500 Years Ago

Aug 24, 2017 by News Staff

Copper Age people living in Sicily, Italy, were making wine nearly 4,500 years ago, according to a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Davide Tanasi of the...