Archaeology News

Study: Pre-Roman Copper Industry in Timna Valley Had No Polluting Impact on Environment

Aerial view of Site 201 north of the center of Timna Valley on the western outskirts of the Wadi Arabah, Israel. Image credit: Yagel et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.
Dec 23, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists from Tel Aviv University have conducted geochemical surveys at two smelting camps — dating back to the 10th century BCE, the era of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon — in Timna Valley in the Southern Arabah, southern Israel. They’ve found that the environmental pollution resulting from copper production was minimal and spatially restricted, posing no danger to the region’s inhabitants either in the past or today. Aerial...

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Archaeological context of Kosenivka, Ukraine. Image credit: Fuchs et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289769.

New Research Provides Insights into Life in Neolithic Trypillia Settlement

Dec 11, 2024 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, archaeologists examined the exceptional human remains from the Middle Trypillia site of Kosenivka (ca....

The site locations and artifacts of the Shangshan culture: (A) locations of the Shangshan, Qiaotou, and Xiaohuangshan sites (dots) and the distribution area of the Shangshan culture (red circle); (B) selected pottery sherds analyzed: 1 - cup sherd; 2 - jar sherd; 3 - jar sherd; 4 - rim sherd from sand-tempered cooking pot; 5 - large basin sherd; 6 - base of the ring foot bowl; (C) corresponding complete vessels: 1 - globular jar; 2 - ring foot bowl; 3 - cup; 4 - flat-based jar; 5 - large basin. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2412274121.

Traces of 10,000-Year-Old Rice Beer Found in China

Dec 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Shangshan culture in ancient China’s Lower Yangzi region is central to understanding the origins of rice domestication and early alcohol fermentation....

A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps. Image credit: Maayan Harel.

New Species of Archaic Human Proposed: Homo juluensis

Dec 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Homo juluensis — a newly-erected human species that includes enigmatic Denisovans and several hominin fossils from Tibet, Taiwan and Laos —...

An artist’s reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick-1 infant with his mother consuming mammoth meat near a hearth. Another individual crafts tools, including dart projectile points and atlatls. A mammoth butchery area is visible nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.

Clovis People’s Diet Mainly Included Mammoths and Other Large Mammals, New Study Says

Dec 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have found that the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was the largest contributor to the diet of the Clovis people — the...

The Neanderthal hearth structure could have been made following these steps. Image credit: Ochando et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109025.

65,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Hearth Structure Discovered in Gibraltar

Dec 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists say they have discovered a new type of Neanderthal hearth at Vanguard Cave, Gibraltar. This hearth structure coincides with predictions...

Marine fossils from Prado Vargas Cave, Spain. Image credit: Ruiz et al., doi: 10.3390/quat7040049.

Neanderthals Were First Collectors of Fossils, New Research Suggests

Dec 2, 2024 by Natali Anderson

The Neanderthal groups that inhabited a cave in what is now Spain approximately 46,000 years ago gathered and collected fossils, according to a paper published...

Reconstruction of a Trypillia house. Image credit: Susanne Beyer, Kiel University.

Expanded Opportunities Attracted People to Trypillia Culture’s Mega-Settlements

Dec 2, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Over its history, archaeology has seen a varied set of uses made of philosophy and philosophical concepts. A persistent critique has been that too often...

Prehistoric Central European women’s manual labor was tougher than rowing in today’s boat crews.

Study: Central Europe’s First Farmers Lived in Equality 8,000 Years Ago

Nov 29, 2024 by News Staff

The Linear Pottery Culture (Linearbandkeramik, LBK) communities, which were the first to spread farming across large parts of Europe, showed no signs of...

A 3D computerized model of the surface of the area near Lake Turkana in Kenya shows fossil footprints of Paranthropus boisei (vertical footprints) with separate footprints of Homo erectus forming a perpendicular path. Image credit: Kevin Hatala / Chatham University.

At Least Two Hominin Species Coexisted in Kenya 1.5 Million Years Ago

Nov 28, 2024 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have discovered 1.5-million-year-old footprints of two completely different species of hominins — Homo erectus and Paranthropus...

La Prele bone needle and needle preform reconstructions and Micro-CT scans of comparative faunal specimens. Image credit: Pelton et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313610.

Early North Americans Made Needles from Bones of Canids, Felids and Hares, Archaeologists Say

Nov 27, 2024 by News Staff

Bone needles found at the 12,900-year-old site of La Prele in Wyoming, the United States, were produced from the bones of foxes; hares; and felids such...

The south tower of the pylon at Athribis and the hill behind it, where a sanctuary is believed to be located. Image credit; Marcus Müller, Athribis Project.

Archaeologists May Have Discovered 2,100-Year-Old Temple in Egypt

Nov 26, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists say they have unearthed an entrance to a large stone temple in the ancient Egyptian town of Athribis, near to the modern city of Sohag. The...

Kuitems et al. provide evidence that the Norse were active on the North American continent in the year 1021 CE. Image credit: Oscar C.R.

Viking Expansion into North Atlantic Was More Complex than Previously Thought

Nov 25, 2024 by News Staff

The Vikings played a preeminent role in the peopling of the North Atlantic, and one might expect populations that were founded by them to be genetically...

The 4,400-year-old clay object discovered at the ancient city of Umm el-Marra, Syria; the engraved symbols may be part of the earliest known alphabet. Image credit: Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University.

Archaeologists Discover Earliest-Known Alphabetic Writing

Nov 21, 2024 by News Staff

Dated to around 2400 BCE, the writing precedes other known alphabetic scripts by roughly 500 years, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Professor...

3D analysis of the perforated pebbles and the perforations. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.

12,000-Year-Old Spindle Whorls Unearthed in Israel

Nov 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have examined an exceptional assemblage of over a hundred perforated pebbles from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Ein-Gev...

Incurved wall bowls from the sea-floor survey at Jay-yi Nah in Belize. Image credit: H. McKillop.

Earliest-Known Maya Salt Works Discovered in Belize

Nov 12, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Jay-yi Nah is an underwater archaeological site dating to the Early Classic Maya period (250-600 CE) that focused on salt production for local use or perhaps...

Plaquette 341 from the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany. Image credit: Robitaille et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311302.

15,800-Year-Old Engraved Plaquettes Shed Light on Paleolithic Fishing Techniques

Nov 11, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Scientists from the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie and Durham University have examined a collection of 406 engraved schist plaquettes found at the Magdalenian...

Detail of the major site of Valeriana in Campeche, Mexico. Image credit: Auld-Thomas et al., doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.148.

Laser Mapping Reveals Previously Unknown Maya City with Stone Pyramids in Mexico

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

Using a laser-based detection system, archaeologists have discovered over 6,500 pre-Hispanic structures — including a previously unknown Maya city...

Selected hand specimens of samples from sources included in the study: Ngwenya high grade (A-C), Ngwenya low grade (D-F), Kubuta (G), Bulembu (H-J), Lupholo Dam (K, L), Mnyongane (M, N), Maloma (O). Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: MacDonald et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53050-6.

Lion Cavern in Eswatini is World’s Oldest Ochre Mine, Archaeologists Say

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest known evidence for intensive ochre mining worldwide, at least 48,000 years ago, in Lion Cavern at Ngwenya...

Cylinder seal and sealing impression: the king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd. Uruk period, ca. 3200 BCE. Image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Study: Cylinder Seals and Sealing Practices Stimulated Invention of Writing in Ancient South-West Asia

Nov 5, 2024 by News Staff

Administrative innovations in south-west Asia during the 4th millennium BCE, including the cylinder seals that were rolled on the earliest clay tablets,...

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