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Toonen et al. challenge the long-held view that the fall of Central Asia’s river civilizations was determined by warfare and the destruction of irrigation infrastructure during the Mongol invasion. Image credit: National Library, Berlin.

Climate Change, Not Mongol Invasion, Destroyed Central Asia’s River Civilizations

Dec 17, 2020 by News Staff

The Aral Sea basin in Central Asia and its major rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were the center of advanced river civilizations, and a principal...

Three roughly 2,000-year-old corn cobs from the El Gigante rock shelter site in Honduras. Image credit: Thomas Harper.

Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on Corn Domestication

Dec 15, 2020 by News Staff

The domestication of corn (Zea mays ssp. mays), a global food staple with great economic and cultural importance, began in southwestern Mexico 9,000 years...

Detail of a circular mound village called Dona Maria with ‘twin’ village. Image credit: Iriarte et al., doi: 10.5334/jcaa.45.

Archaeologists Find Ancient Villages Laid Out Like Clock Face in Amazonia

Dec 11, 2020 by News Staff

Using a helicopter-based lidar mapping tool, an international team of scientists led by University of Exeter archaeologists has discovered a network of...

An artist’s reconstruction of the gateway and drain at the ancient city of Harappa. Image credit: Chris Sloan.

Indus Civilization People Ate Mainly Meat and Dairy Products

Dec 9, 2020 by News Staff

An analysis of ceramic lipid residues from rural and urban sites of the Indus Civilization in northwest India provides chemical evidence for milk, meat...

Giant sloth drawing. Image credit: Morcote-Ríos et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.04.026.

12,000-Year-Old Rock Drawings of Ice Age Megafauna Discovered in Colombian Amazon

Dec 3, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists on the ERC project LASTJOURNEY have discovered spectacular rock pictographs in three separate rock shelters in the Guaviare Department of...

The Venus of Willendorf, an 11.1-cm- (4.4-inch) tall Venus figurine estimated to have been made 30,000 BCE, in Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. Image credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Upper Paleolithic Figurines Showing Women with Obesity May Be Linked to Climate Change

Dec 2, 2020 by News Staff

Obesity is rare in hunter-gatherer cultures. Nevertheless, dozens of handheld ‘Venus’ figurines — the oldest art sculptures of humans known and...

The 3,000-year-old gold bead found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Temple Mount Sifting Project.

3,000-Year-Old Gold Bead Unearthed in Israel

Dec 1, 2020 by News Staff

A team of professional and amateur archaeologists from the Temple Mount Sifting Project has found a tiny gold bead from the First Temple period in Jerusalem,...

The 800-year-old turkey feather blanket from southeastern Utah. Image credit: Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum.

Ancestral Puebloans Used 11,550 Turkey Feathers to Make This 800-Year-Old Blanket

Nov 26, 2020 by News Staff

By the very early CE in the U.S. Upland Southwest, turkey feather blankets or robes began to replace those made with strips of rabbit fur. Feather blankets...

Dr. Tzin with a figurine and an engraved stone at the site of the 3,000-year-old Geshurite fort near Hispin, Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists Discover Remnants of 3,000-Year-Old Fort in Israel

Nov 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has uncovered the remnants of an ancient fortified complex believed to have been founded...

Egyptian constellations on the ceiling of the temple of Esna, inscriptions as yet unknown. Image credit: Ahmed Amin.

Temple Restoration Reveals Previously Unknown Names of Ancient Egyptian Constellations

Nov 24, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The restoration of an ancient Egyptian temple in Esna, located about 60 km south of the ancient capital of Luxor in Egypt, has uncovered the original colors...

The 1,000-year-old juglet with found gold coins. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Gold Coins from Fatimid Period Unearthed in Israel

Nov 19, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have found a small jar containing four 1,000-year-old gold coins in Jerusalem, Israel. The 1,000-year-old...

The 2,000-year-old gem seal found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David.

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Seal Depicting Apollo

Nov 17, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists digging in the Tzurim Valley National Park in Jerusalem, Israel, have found a small gem seal, dating from the first century CE, with a portrait...

The ruins of the Barbegal mill complex. Image credit: Robert Fabre.

Researchers Unravel Enigma of Barbegal Watermills, World’s First Industrial Complex

Nov 16, 2020 by News Staff

The Barbegal watermill complex, a unique cluster of 16 Roman waterwheels in southern France, was the first known attempt in Europe to set up an industrial-scale...

Early hunter-gatherer females were big-game hunters. Image credit: Matthew Verdolivo / UC Davis / IET Academic Technology Services.

Early Hunter-Gatherer Females Hunted Big-Game Animals

Nov 9, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeological excavations at the site of Wilamaya Patjxa in the high Peruvian Andes have revealed a 9,000-year-old female burial associated with a big-game...

Neanderthal family. Image credit: Field Museum.

New Research Sheds Light on Early Life of Neanderthals

Nov 3, 2020 by News Staff

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the modern human nursing strategy, with onset of weaning at 5...

Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

Study: At Least Five Dog Lineages Existed 11,000 Years Ago

Nov 3, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal Science, an international team of scientists sequenced the genomes of 27 ancient dogs, some of which lived up to...

An engraving of a bison in the A panel of Aitzbitarte III cave in Spain. Image credit: Garate et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240481.

Paleolithic Animal Engravings Found in Three Spanish Caves

Oct 29, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have discovered figures of animals, mainly bison, engraved in a Gravettian style in three caves in northern Spain. Engravings in the A panel...

The 2,700-year-old two-shekalim weight found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Find 2,700-Year-Old Limestone Weight

Oct 28, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have found a two-shekalim limestone weight dating from the First Temple period in Jerusalem,...

Clovis spear points from the Gault site in Texas. Image credit: Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University.

Clovis Stone Tools Were Made Only During 300-Year Period: Study

Oct 23, 2020 by News Staff

Clovis is a prehistoric culture named for stone tools found near Clovis, New Mexico in the early 1930s. New radiocarbon testing of bones and artifacts...