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The Monolith of the Stone of the Sun, also known as the Aztec calendar stone, in the National Museum of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico. Image credit: El Comandante / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ancient Mexicans Had Very Accurate Agricultural Calendar, Study Says

Dec 14, 2022 by News Staff

The accurate agricultural calendar allowed the ancient inhabitants of the Basin of Mexico to plan their agricultural cycle to feed one of the largest population...

Iberian owl-like plaques and local owl species: (a) engraved slate plaque found in Cerro de la Cabeza, Valencina de la Concepción, Sevilla, Spain; (b) wild little owl (Athene noctua) pictured in an agricultural area in Valencina de la Concepción in 2021; (c) slate plaque from Mértola, Alentejo, Portugal; the orifices on the upper part may have been used to insert actual feathers; (d) long-eared owl (Asio otus) with erected ear tufts, pictured in Valencina de la Concepción in 2021. Image credit: Juan J. Negro.

Iberian Owl-Shaped Plaques Were Toys Made by Copper Age Children: Study

Dec 5, 2022 by News Staff

In the Copper Age, around 5,000 years ago, owl-shaped, engraved plaques were produced massively in the southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers...

The Viking-age hoard consists of 46 silver objects; apart from two simple, complete finger rings, it includes Arab coins, a braided necklace, several bracelets and chains, all broken into small pieces. Image credit: Birgit Maixner.

Metal Detector Enthusiast Finds Viking-Age Hoard of Silver Objects

Nov 28, 2022 by News Staff

A metal detectorist in Norway has unearthed a 1,100-year-old trove of small silver objects: pieces of Arab coins, jewelry and wire. The Viking-age hoard...

A gold coin of the Roman emperor Sponsian. Image credit: Pearson et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274285.

Ancient Gold Coins Reveal Long-Lost Roman Emperor: Sponsian

Nov 24, 2022 by News Staff

In 1713, a collection of eight gold coins of five different design types, one of which featured the unknown Roman emperor Sponsian, was found in Transylvania,...

The Hand of Irulegi. Image credit: SC Aranzadi.

2,000-Year-Old Inscribed Bronze Hand Rewrites History of Basque Language

Nov 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in Spain have found a hand-shaped bronze object engraved with words in a Vasconic language, a precursor to the modern Basque language. The...

Ancient inhabitants of the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site in Israel likely used some kind of earth oven that maintained a temperature below 500 degrees Celsius to cook their fish. Image credit: Ella Maru / Tel Aviv University.

Scientists Find Earliest Evidence of Hominins Cooking with Fire

Nov 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have found the 780,000-year-old remains of a cooked carp-like fish at the wetland Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel. Ancient...

The corner of the newly-discovered temple (left) under excavation and the larger Tempio Grande (right) in Vulci, Italy. Image credit: Mariachiara Franceschini.

2,500-Year-Old Etruscan Temple Discovered in Italy

Nov 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a monumental temple in Vulci, an ancient Etruscan city in Italy. The corner of the newly-discovered temple...

The 3,700-year-old ivory comb from Tel Lachish, Israel. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists Find 3,700-Year-Old Ivory Comb Inscribed with Canaanite’s Wish to Eradicate Lice

Nov 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The small inscribed ivory comb was found at Tel Lachish, a key Canaanite city-state in the 2nd millennium BCE, the second most important city in the Judean...

Several business premises were uncovered in the Byzantine quarter in Ephesus, Turkey. Image credit: OeAW-OeAI / Niki Gail.

Early Byzantine Quarter Unearthed in Ancient City of Ephesus

Nov 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences have uncovered the 1,400-year-old ruins of the business and gastronomy district in Ephesus, an ancient...

Part of a decorative ceramic pot of the Linearbandkeramik culture used for food storage from the Ensisheim site in Alsace, France. Image credit: Emmanuelle Casanova.

Neolithic European Farmers Used Milk as Early as 7,400 Years Ago

Oct 17, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have detected traces of dairy fats on the walls of pottery vessels from the settlements of the Linearbandkeramik culture in Central Europe. Part...

Neanderthals (University of Utah via kued.org)

Study: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Co-Existed in France and Spain for at least 1,400 Years

Oct 13, 2022 by News Staff

A new modeling study by Leiden University and University of Cambridge scientists predicts the appearance of Homo sapiens and the Protoaurignacian culture...

Stele with the scene of the falcon god and an inscription in Greek reading: ‘It is improper to boil a head in here. Image credit: Berenike Project / Sikait Project.

Falcon Shrine Unearthed at Ptolemaic-Roman Port of Berenike

Oct 6, 2022 by News Staff

During excavations at the ancient Hellenistic-Roman port of Berenike on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, an international team of archaeologists has documented...

A gold solidus coin found by IAA archaeologists in Israel. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Huge Trove of Byzantine Gold Coins Unearthed in Israel

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

A hoard of 44 gold coins dating to the 7th century CE has been unearthed by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). A gold solidus...

Painted cylinder vase depicting a foaming drink in a vase and tamales in a plate. Image credit: Justin Kerr, mayavase.com, Kerr number: 6418 (88).

Cacao Was Not Food Exclusive to Ancient Maya Elite, New Study Says

Sep 30, 2022 by News Staff

Cacao, known as the money that grew on trees and as a food from the gods, was brought to the world stage by ancient Mesoamericans. The historical background...

A cinnabar-painted vessel from the Maya site of Kaminaljuyu in southern Guatemala. Image credit: Kidder et al. / Cook et al., doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.986119.

Settlements of Ancient Maya were Contaminated with Mercury, Scientists Say

Sep 23, 2022 by News Staff

The ancient Maya in Mesoamerica used mercury — predominantly cinnabar, but rarely elemental mercury — for decorative and ceremonial purposes,...

The 500,000-year-old tusk of the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Find 500,000-Year-Old Tusk of Straight-Tusked Elephant

Sep 18, 2022 by News Staff

The straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) is an extinct species of elephant that lived throughout Europe and Asia between 1.5 million and 100,000...

Surgically amputated site of the left tibia and fibula of the Liang Tebo individual: (a) left and right legs with pelvic girdle, demonstrating the complete absence of the distal third of the left lower leg; (b) left tibia and fibula showing the amputation surface, atrophy and necrosis; the bone surface is more porous because lysis occurred to remove the dead bone (necrosis); (c) radiograph of the left tibia and fibula; (d) left tibia medial aspect; (e) left tibia medial aspect; (f) left fibula anterior aspect. Scale bars - 5 cm in (a), 5 mm in (b and c) and 2 mm in (d-f). Image credit: Maloney et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05160-8.

Stone Age Humans Conducted Surgical Amputation 31,000 Years Ago

Sep 12, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating Liang Tebo Cave on the Indonesian island of Borneo have discovered the skeletal remains of a young individual who had the distal...

An ‘Unstan’ type bowl recovered from the lake bed at Loch Arnish. Image credit: Chris Murray.

Archaeologists Detect Cereal-Specific Biomarkers in Neolithic Pottery from Scottish ‘Crannogs’

Sep 7, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have focused on the analysis of preserved lipids from 5,600-5,300-year-old vessels recovered from a group of artificial/semi-artificial...

Top: map of South Africa with the location of Ga-Mohana Hill (GHN); inset map shows the approximate extent of the Kalahari Basin in southern Africa and the location of the region of interest in relation to it. Bottom: representative photographs of each of the tufa morphologies identified on the Ga-Mohana hillside. Image credit: von der Meden et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270104.

Ancient Humans Lived in Kalahari Desert More Than 20,000 Years Ago

Aug 18, 2022 by News Staff

Detailed, well-dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records are critical for understanding the impact of environmental change on human evolution. In...