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Monkeys fresco on the north wall of Room 6 of Building Complex Beta at Akrotiri, Thera. Image credit: Thera Akrotiri Excavations.

Researchers May Have Solved Mystery of Akrotiri’s Monkey Frescoes

Jan 22, 2020 by The Conversation

The blue monkeys painted on the walls of Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini are among many animals found in the frescoes of this 3,600-year-old...

Neanderthals Dived into Mediterranean Sea for Clam Shells

Jan 16, 2020 by News Staff

Shell fishing was a common activity of Neanderthals, according to new research led by University of Colorado, Boulder archaeologists. Homo neanderthalensis...

Border Cave perched on a cliff in the Lebombo Mountains. Image credit: Ashley Kruger.

Stone Age Humans Roasted Root Vegetables 170,000 Years Ago

Jan 9, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have unearthed 170,000-year-old whole, charred rhizomes of flowering plants from the genus Hypoxis in a cave in southern Africa. These botanical...

The Fiskardo shipwreck. Image credit: Ferentinos et al, doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2019.105032.

Roman Shipwreck Loaded with Amphorae Found in Ionian Sea

Jan 3, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

A Roman merchant ship and its amphorae cargo have been found lying at the bottom of Ionian Sea, the eastern Mediterranean, around 2,000 years after it...

A gold ring depicts bulls and barley, the first known representation of domesticated animals and agriculture in ancient Greece. Image credit: UC Classics.

Gold Jewelry and Artifacts Found in Two Bronze Age Tombs in Greece

Dec 26, 2019 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati has found two Bronze Age tombs in Pylos, an ancient city on the southwest coast of Greece, while...

This is an artist's reconstruction of Homo erectus. Image credit: Yale University.

Last Population of Homo erectus Survived in Central Java until 108,000 Years Ago

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has pinpointed the first comprehensive age for the last known occurrence of the early hominin species Homo erectus. This...

An artist’s reconstruction of Lola, a woman who chewed the Syltholm birch pitch. Image credit: Tom Björklund.

Researchers Extract and Sequence Human DNA from 5,700-Year-Old ‘Chewing Gum’

Dec 18, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of scientists has successfully sequenced ancient DNA extracted from a 5,700-year-old piece of chewed birch pitch from southern Denmark....

Easter Island is located some 3,512 km from Chile’s west coast and its nearest inhabited neighbor, Pitcairn Island, located some 2,075 km to the west. For reasons still unknown early Rapa Nui people began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. Image credit: Marlene Hanssen.

Easter Islanders Likely Believed Megalithic Statues Helped Maintain Soil Fertility

Dec 16, 2019 by News Staff

Ancient inhabitants of Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) likely believed their megalithic statues called moai stimulated agricultural food production,...

A group of therianthropic figures confronting an anoa at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4. Image credit: Aubert et al.

43,900-Year-Old Cave Painting Portrays Part-Human, Part-Animal Beings

Dec 13, 2019 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating the limestone cave of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have discovered a painting that is approximately...

A geoglyph of a human. Image credit: Yamagata University.

Archaeologists Discover 143 New Nazca Geoglyphs

Nov 25, 2019 by News Staff

A team of Japanese archaeologists has identified 143 new geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert, southern Peru. A geoglyph of a human. Image credit: Yamagata University. The...

The rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire occurred during a two-centuries-long interval of anomalously wet climate in the context of the past 4,000 years, while megadroughts during the early-mid 7th century BCE, as severe as recent droughts in the region but lasting for decades, triggered a decline in Assyria’s agrarian productivity and thus contributed to its eventual political and economic collapse. Image credit: Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Megadroughts Likely Triggered Fall of Neo-Assyrian Empire

Nov 14, 2019 by News Staff

Climate-related megadroughts built the foundation for the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912 to 609 BCE), the largest and most powerful empire of...

The 39,000-year-old eagle phalange with cut marks from Foradada Cave, Spain: (A) dorsal, medial, plantar, and lateral views of the phalange (from left to right, respectively); (B) detail of the cut marks in the dorsal view and dotted-line squares with the area amplified in photos (C) and (D); (E) detailed photo of all the cut marks after cleaning and restoration. Image credit: Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo, IDEA.

Iberian Neanderthals Used Eagle Talons for Symbolic Purposes

Nov 4, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A cut-marked eagle phalange recovered from Foradada Cave in Spain suggests that Iberian Neanderthals used the birds’ talons as bead-like objects. The...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Neanderthals Knew How to Start Fire, New Research Shows

Oct 28, 2019 by News Staff

Middle Paleolithic hominins such as Neanderthals not only controlled fire, but also mastered the ability to generate it, according to new research led...

The Akkadians (left) and the Gutians (right). Illustration by H.L. Bacon.

Cold Winters and Strong Winds Contributed to Akkadian Empire Collapse, Study Suggests

Oct 25, 2019 by News Staff

The Akkadian Empire, the first united empire in Mesopotamia, was established around 2300 BCE and abruptly collapsed two centuries later. According to a...

The Stepped Street: signs of rock-cutting and smoothing of bedrock. Image credit: A. Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Ancient ‘Stepped Street’ in Jerusalem Commissioned by Pontius Pilate, Archaeologists Say

Oct 22, 2019 by News Staff

For over a century, excavations in Jerusalem have been uncovering segments of the city’s Roman-period network of streets, particularly the so-called...

Photograph of the collection of bronze objects from the battlefield site in the Tollense Valley, Germany. Image credit: V. Minkus.

Archaeologists Find Personal Equipment of Bronze Age Warrior

Oct 17, 2019 by News Staff

Archaeologists have unearthed a collection of 31 metal objects, including a bronze tool with a birch handle, a knife, a chisel, bronze cylinders, and ingot...

Cores from Phase D (48,000-34,000 years ago) and Phase C (13,000-12,000 years ago) of Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka: bipolar core (4, 5, 6), bipolar orthogonal core (1, 2, 7, 8), unidirectional abrupt core (3). Image credit: Wedage et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222606.

45,000-Year-Old Tiny Stone Tools Found in Sri Lanka

Oct 4, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has found a collection of microliths — small, retouched, often-backed stone tools — at the cave site...

Archaeologists uncovering Roman ditches in Exeter, England. Image credit: Exeter City Council.

British Archaeologists Unearth Remains of Roman Military Site

Sep 30, 2019 by News Staff

A group of archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology and Kier Construction has uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Roman military site —...

Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. Image credit: Alex Demin / CC BY-SA 4.0.

New Research Sheds Light on Everyday Life in Denisova Cave

Sep 27, 2019 by News Staff

At least three hominins (Denisovans, Neanderthals, and early Homo sapiens) and large cave-dwelling carnivores (hyena, wolves, and even bears) used Denisova...