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The 1,900-year-old bronze oil lamp found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Koby Harati & Eliyahu Yanai, City of David / Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Find Rare Bronze Oil Lamp

May 10, 2021 by News Staff

The bronze lamp, shaped like a grotesque face that is cut in half, was intentionally deposited in the foundations of a building about 1,900 years ago as...

Shaar et al. unveil the oldest evidence of human activity in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Image credit: Michael Chazan.

South African Cave Sheltered Human Ancestors 1.8 Million Years Ago

Apr 27, 2021 by News Staff

A team of paleoanthropologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, CNRS and the University of Toronto has examined artifacts and sediments found in...

The 1,600-year-old mosaic uncovered at Tel Yavne, Israel. Image credit: Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Impressive Byzantine-Period Floor Mosaic Found in Israel

Apr 27, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered a 1,600-year-old mosaic at the archaeological site of Tel Yavne in the Central...

The 3,450-year-old alphabetic inscription on a sherd from Tel Lachish, Israel. Image credit: J. Dye, Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Archaeologists Find 3,450-Year-Old Alphabetic Inscription in Israel

Apr 20, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of archaeologists from the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology has discovered...

Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

Neanderthal Nuclear DNA Found in Paleolithic Cave Sediments

Apr 16, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has developed new methods for the enrichment and analysis of nuclear DNA from sediments, and applied them to cave deposits...

Modern-day straw beehive in a tree in Nigeria. Image credit: Dunne et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22425-4.

West Africans Hunted for Honey 3,500 Years Ago

Apr 15, 2021 by News Staff

Historical and ethnographic literature from across Africa suggests bee products, honey and larvae, had considerable importance both as a food source and...

4,000-Year-Old Carved Stone Slab is Europe’s Oldest Known Map

Apr 14, 2021 by News Staff

An intricately carved stone slab from the early Bronze Age found in France has been identified as the oldest cartographical representation of a known territory...

Australian Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield, c. 1920. Image credit: National Museum of Australia.

Aboriginal Australians Used Boomerangs as Retouchers

Apr 14, 2021 by News Staff

New research by Griffith University and University of Cape Town scientists provides the first traceological evidence of multipurpose nature of Australian...

The 3,300-year-old ruins of Aten in Egypt. Image credit: Zahi Hawass Center for Egyptology.

Archaeologists Discover ‘Lost Golden City’ in Egypt

Apr 13, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has uncovered a 3,300-year-old city in the southern province of Luxor in Egypt. The 3,300-year-old ruins of Aten...

Non-utilitarian collected objects at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and in southern Africa. Abbreviations: A11 - Apollo 11, CoH - Cave of Hearths, HRS - Hollow Rock Shelter, KRM - Klasies River Main site, PP - Pinnacle Point sites, VR3 - Varsche Rivier 3, WC - Wonderwerk Cave. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: Wilkins et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03419-0.

Innovative Humans Thrived in Water-Rich Kalahari 105,000 Years Ago

Apr 1, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has found evidence of complex symbolic and technological behaviors at Ga-Mohana Hill in the Northern Cape, South...

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Archaeologists Find New Evidence that Neanderthals Used Toothpicks

Mar 29, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Neanderthals, our evolutionary cousins, used toothpicks nearly 46,000 years ago, a new study of their teeth has revealed. A reconstruction of a Neanderthal...

Tikal, one of the most powerful Classic Maya cities. Image credit: Bruno Girin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Autocratic Maya Polities Experienced Higher Wealth Inequalities than Other Mesoamerican States

Mar 26, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists have examined the remains of houses in Uxbenká and Ix Kuku’il, two medium size, peripheral Classic Maya (250-900 CE) polities located...

Archaic hominins. Image credit: Ninara / CC BY 2.0.

Study: Oldowan and Acheulean Flaked Stone Technologies Older than Previously Thought

Mar 25, 2021 by News Staff

The Oldowan and the Acheulean — currently the two oldest, well-documented stone tool technologies known to archaeologists — are roughly 30,000...

Archaeologists May Have Found ‘Original Stonehenge’

Mar 24, 2021 by News Staff

A research team led by University College London archaeologists has discovered a 5,000-year-old dismantled stone circle in west Wales, close to Stonehenge’s...

Ancient Maya Used Salt Cakes as Money, New Research Suggests

Mar 23, 2021 by News Staff

The ancient Maya made salt by boiling brine in pots over fires in salt kitchens, according to a paper by Louisiana State University’s Professor Heather...

The 4,000-year-old Murrawong bone point. Image credit: Flinders University.

Archaeologists Unearth Rare Bone Artifact in Australia

Mar 18, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-discovered bone artifact was likely used for piercing soft materials or possibly as a projectile point. The 4,000-year-old Murrawong bone point....

The 2,500-years-old figurine depicts a bare-breasted woman wearing a scarf. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Rare 2,500-Years-Old Amulet Found in Israel

Mar 17, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-discovered figurine was meant to protect children or increase fertility, according to archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The...

The new Dead Sea scroll fragments from the Cave of Horror, the Judean Desert, Israel. Image credit: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority.

New Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Found in Israel

Mar 16, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered dozens of parchment fragments of a Biblical scroll, which is written in Greek and...

Computer model of the Antikythera Mechanism’s display: in the center, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac -- then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with ‘little sphere’ markers and smaller markers for oppositions. Scale marks and index letters for the synodic cycles of the planets are inscribed on the planet rings. Surrounding these, the Zodiac and the Egyptian Calendar. The true Sun ring has a ‘little golden sphere’ with ‘pointer.’ When the Moon and Sun pointers coincide, the Moon sphere shows black for New Moon; when the pointers are on opposite sides, the Moon sphere shows white for Full Moon. The Head of the Dragon Hand shows the ascending lunar node; the Tail the descending node. Small triangles on the true Sun ring, near the pointer, show wider and narrower eclipse limits. Eclipses are possible if the Dragon Hand is within these limits. When the Moon pointer is before the Head of the Dragon, the Moon is South of the node; after, it is North of the node -- conversely for the descending node. A Date pointer is attached to a narrow date ring, showing the date in the Egyptian Calendar. Image credit: Freeth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w.

Scientists Step Closer to Understanding Full Capabilities of Antikythera Mechanism

Mar 15, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from University College London and the Cyprus Institute’s Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center has...