Archaeology News

Stonehenge was Designed as Solar Calendar, Archaeologist Says

Stonehenge. Image credit: Sally Wilson.
Mar 7, 2022 by News Staff

Scholars have long seen in the monumental composition of Stonehenge evidence for prehistoric time-reckoning — a Neolithic calendar. Exactly how such a calendar functioned, however, is unclear. In a new paper, Bournemouth University Professor Timothy Darvill argues that the numerology of Stonehenge’s sarsen elements materializes a perpetual calendar based on a tropical solar year of 365.25 days. Stonehenge. Image credit: Sally Wilson. The ensemble...

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View of Grotte Mandrin, France. Image credit: Ludovic Slimak.

54,000-Year-Old Molar is Earliest Known Evidence of Anatomically Modern Humans in Western Europe

Feb 11, 2022 by News Staff

In a new paper published this week in the journal Science Advances, paleoanthropologists report hominin fossils from Grotte Mandrin in France that reveal...

The temple of Athribis, Egypt. Image credit: Marcus Müller / Athribis-Project Tübingen.

Inscribed Pottery Fragments Document Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Feb 3, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Tübingen and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities...

The Paleolithic settlement at Abu Hureyra in what is now Syria may have been destroyed 12,800 years ago because of a comet. Image credit: Jennifer Rice, Comet Research Group.

Near-Earth Comet Exploded over North America about 1,500 Years Ago

Feb 2, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have found meteorites, microspherules, iridium and platinum anomalies, and burned charcoal-rich habitation surfaces at 11 archaeological...

Dr. Chris Balzotti climbs an ancient staircase discovered in a sinkhole near Coba, Mexico. Image credit: Richard Terry.

Ancient Maya Tended Sacred Groves of Cacao Trees in Humid Microclimates of Karst Sinkholes

Feb 1, 2022 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists from the United States and Mexico has found several biomarkers of cacao in soil from karst sinkholes that dot the...

Panicum miliaceum (left) and Echinochloa crus-galli. Image credit: Otto Wilhelm / Biolib.de.

Archaeologists Unearth Earliest Evidence of Multi-Cropping

Jan 13, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest micro-botanical evidence of the summer grain broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in Mesopotamia, identified...

A medieval knight on a warhorse.

Study: Medieval Warhorses Were No More Than Pony-Sized by Modern Standards

Jan 11, 2022 by News Staff

Popular culture presents a deep-rooted perception of medieval warhorses as massive and powerful mounts, but medieval textual and iconographic evidence...

The wooden artifact with text in both Norse and Latin found at the Medieval Park in Oslo, Norway. Image credit: Tone Bergland, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.

Two Medieval Artifacts with Runic Inscriptions Found in Norway

Jan 10, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating the Medieval Park in Oslo, Norway, have unearthed two objects — pieces of bone and wood — inscribed with runes. The...

The 800-year-old Arabic-inspired chess piece is richly decorated with circles. Image credit: Lars Haugesten, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.

Norwegian Archaeologists Find 800-Year-Old Arabic-Inspired Chess Piece

Jan 6, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have found a richly decorated ‘knight’ chess piece at a medieval site in Tønsberg, the oldest city in Norway. The 800-year-old Arabic-inspired...

The five Viking longhouses found near the Gjellestad ship in Norway. Image credit: Lars Gustavsen, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research / Arild L. Teigen, Viken fylkeskommune.

Archaeologists Find Five Viking Longhouses in Norway

Jan 4, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected five longhouses in Østfold county, Norway. One of the ancient buildings is approximately 60...

The 800-year-old figurine found in the medieval town of Oslo, Norway. Image credit: Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.

Archaeologists Find 800-Year-Old Figurine of Falconer in Norway

Jan 3, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating the medieval town of Oslo in Norway have unearthed a finely carved figurine of a king or a queen with a falcon perched on his/her...

Curtin et al. provide unequivocal evidence for human arrival and livestock disturbance in the Faroe Islands centuries before Viking settlement in the 9th century CE. Image credit: T.H. Jensen.

Faroe Islands Were Settled Before Vikings Arrived, New Research Shows

Dec 30, 2021 by News Staff

The Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago between Norway and Iceland, were settled by Viking explorers in the mid-9th century CE. However, several...

Surface of a section of undisturbed block of sediment from Denisova Cave. Image credit: Mike Morley / Flinders University.

Scientists Find Ancient Hominin and Animal DNA in Cave Sediments

Dec 28, 2021 by News Staff

A research team led by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Flinders University scientists has successfully extracted ancient DNA from...

An underwater archaeologist holds a gold ring with a green gemstone. Image credit: Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Spectacular Artifacts Found in Two Ancient Shipwrecks

Dec 23, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have discovered hundreds of silver and bronze coins, silver and...

El Sidron Neanderthals taste wild mushrooms, pine nuts and forest moss. Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication.

Study: Neanderthals Transformed Landscapes 125,000 Years Ago

Dec 21, 2021 by News Staff

According to an analysis of paleoenvironmental and archaeological data from the 125,000-year-old Neanderthal site of Neumark-Nord in Germany, our closest...

Dr. Dina Avshalom-Gorni and Dr. Yehuda Guvrin in the 2,000-year-old synagogue unearthed in Magdala, Israel, in 2021. Image credit: University of Haifa / Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth 2,000-Year-Old Synagogue

Dec 16, 2021 by News Staff

An ancient synagogue, dating back about 2,000 years (Second Temple period), has been unearthed by a team of archaeologists digging at the site of Magdala,...

The 2,400-year-old tea residue from a bowl found in the ancient capital of the Zhu Kingdom in Zoucheng, Shandong province, China. Image credit: Jiang et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95393-w.

2,400-Year-Old Tea Residue Found in China

Dec 13, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have found the ancient charred remains of tea in a bowl from a Warring State period tomb in the ancient capital city site of the Zhu Kingdom,...

The megalithic stele monument at the archeological site of Sakaro Sodo in Gedeo zone, Ethiopia. Image credit: Andrew Duff.

Ethiopian Megalithic Stelae Much Older than Previously Thought

Dec 13, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has conducted an archaeological survey and test excavation at Sakaro Sodo, one of the ancient megalithic stele sites...

Left: Assyrian infantry archer in scale armor depicted in a relief from the south west palace of Sennacherib (reigned 704-681 BCE) in Nineveh. Right: Assyrian cavalry archer in scale armor depicted in a relief from the palace of Assurbanipal (reigned 669-631 BCE) in Nineveh. Image credit: Trustees of the British Museum.

Archaeologists Find 2,700-Year-Old Assyrian-Style Leather Armor in China

Dec 9, 2021 by News Staff

The ancient leather armor, datable to 786-543 BCE, was originally made of about 5,444 smaller scales and 140 larger scales, which, together with leather...

The 2,000-year-old silver shekel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Rare 2,000-Year-Old Coin Found in Israel

Dec 7, 2021 by News Staff

Liel Krutokop, an 11-year-old girl from Petah Tikva, has found a silver shekel from the Second Temple period on the ‘Pilgrimage Road’ in the City of...

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