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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...

Reconstruction of the Trypillian giant-settlement Maidanetske, Ukraine. Image credit: Kenny Arne Lang Antonsen / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mega-Structures of Ukraine’s Trypillia Culture Served as Community Centers

Sep 26, 2019 by News Staff

Mega-structures of the Trypillia culture, which was part of the larger Cucuteni-Trypillia culture, were public buildings that served a variety of economic...

Bronze Age baby bottles. Image credit: Enver-Hirsch, Wien Museum.

Archaeologists Find Prehistoric ‘Baby Bottles’ in Europe

Sep 25, 2019 by News Staff

Archaeologists have found traces of ruminant milk on pottery recovered from Neolithic sites in Europe. Bronze Age baby bottles. Image credit: Enver-Hirsch,...

The fragment of the mosaic in Hippos-Sussita, Israel. Image credit: University of Haifa.

1,400-Year-Old Colorful Christian Mosaic Found in Israel

Sep 20, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered an impressively detailed mosaic in an ancient city called Hippos-Sussita. Dating back approximately 1,400...

Main features of the organization of production and detailed chaîne opératoires for the copper industry in Edom during the Late Bronze and early Iron Ages. Image credit: Ben-Yosef et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221967.

Biblical Edomite Kingdom was ‘Copper Powerhouse,’ Study Reveals

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

Edom, an ancient kingdom of the southern Levant mentioned in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as well as in Assyrian and Egyptian sources, experienced...

The Cooper’s Ferry site located in Idaho’s lower Salmon River canyon. White arrow points to the site. Image credit: Davis et al, doi: 10.1126/science.aax9830.

16,000-Year-Old Stone Artifacts Unearthed in Idaho

Aug 30, 2019 by News Staff

Archaeologists have uncovered almost two hundred stone artifacts, including projectile points and flake tools, and bone fragments from large mammals at...

Historian Dan Snow inspecting the 8,000-year-old wooden platform off the coast of the Isle of Wight, UK. Image credit: Maritime Archaeological Trust.

8,000-Year-Old Wooden Platform Found Off Isle of Wight

Aug 21, 2019 by News Staff

Underwater archaeologists working off the coast of the Isle of Wight have discovered an 8,000-year-old structure next to what is believed to be the world’s...

Karen Fleming and the 3D wax reconstruction of Hilda. Image credit: University of Dundee.

Researcher Reconstructs Female Druid’s Face after 2,000 Years

Aug 20, 2019 by News Staff

A researcher from the University of Dundee has recreated the head of one of Scotland’s oldest druids. Karen Fleming and the 3D wax reconstruction of...