Archaeology News | Sci.News

The 1,900-year-old Papyrus Cotton. Image credit: Shai Halevi.

1,900-Year-Old Papyrus Reveals Criminal Case from Roman Empire

Jan 28, 2025 by News Staff

Written in Greek, this papyrus is a memorandum for a judicial hearing before a Roman official in the province of Judea or Arabia in the reign of the Roman...

This is an artist's reconstruction of female Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. Image credit: Elisabeth Daynes, via tabula.ge.

Hominins Were Present in Eurasia by At Least 1.95 Million Years Ago

Jan 24, 2025 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have found 1.95-million-year-old cut-marked bones that appear to have been made by early hominins using stone tools at the site of...

IAA archaeologists cleaning the ancient mosaic of a Byzantine-period monastery at Kiryat Gat, Israel. Image credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Byzantine-Era Monastery with Colorful Mosaic Floor Unearthed in Israel

Jan 20, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have discovered the ruins of a Byzantine-period monastery with a colorful mosaic floor and a...

An archaic hominin. Image credit: Ninara / CC BY 2.0.

Homo erectus Thrived in Steppe-Desert Landscapes One Million Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Jan 16, 2025 by News Staff

Homo erectus, an early member of the genus Homo, successfully navigated harsher and more arid terrains for longer in Eastern Africa than previously thought,...

Handaxes made on side-struck flakes (a-c) and Kombewa flakes (d-f) from Melka Wakena, Ethiopia. Image credit: Tegenu Gossa & Erella Hovers, doi: 10.1007/s12520-024-02072-8.

New Research Explores Decision-Making Processes of Early Hominin Tool-Makers

Jan 15, 2025 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have characterized the properties of raw stone materials that were selected and used by Early Pleistocene tool-makers at an Acheulian...

View of the three-dimensional map on the floor of Ségognole 3 rock shelter. Image credit: Médard Thiry.

Archaeologists Discover What May Be World’s Oldest Three-Dimensional Map

Jan 14, 2025 by News Staff

The Paleolithic rock shelter of Ségognole 3 in the Paris Basin contains a miniature representation of the surrounding landscape, says a team of archaeologists...

Map of the geographical locations of the ancient individuals in the study and timeline showing the dates of the individuals in archaeological groups. Image credit: Saag et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adr0695.

Ancient DNA Analysis Reveals Diverse Range of Ancestries in Ukraine Through Time

Jan 14, 2025 by Natali Anderson

To study migration and mobility history in the Ukraine region, with a particular focus on migrating groups during the Iron Age and the Medieval period,...

The 1,000-year-old silver coin hoard. Image credit: Oxford Cotswold Archaeology.

1,000-Year-Old Hoard of Silver Coins Unearthed in UK

Jan 14, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA) have discovered a hoard of 321 mint-condition silver coins (319 full pennies plus two cut halfpence)...

Aerial photo of the Dmanisis Gora site, showing the location at the convergence of two gorges; the 2023 excavations of the inner fortress are visible in foreground. Image credit: Nathaniel Erb-Satullo.

UAV-Based Mapping Unlocks Secrets of Ancient Mega-Fortress in Southern Georgia

Jan 8, 2025 by News Staff

High-resolution UAV-based aerial survey of Dmanisis Gora, a Bronze-Age mega-fortress in Georgia, the South Caucasus, has revealed the extent of the large...

Bronze and silver coins from the 4th century CE found in Lod, central Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Atmospheric Lead Pollution Caused Widespread Cognitive Decline in Roman-Era Europe, Study Finds

Jan 7, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have examined three ice core records to identify lead pollution levels in the Arctic between 500 BCE through 600 CE. Lead isotopes allowed...

Examples of some of the plants recovered from Gesher Benot Ya’akov percussive tools, including the whole plant, the edible part, and the characteristic starch grains. From left to right: oak, yellow water lily, and common oat. Scale bars - 20 µm. Image credit: Hadar Ahituv & Yoel Melamed.

Starch-Rich Plant Foods Played Central Role in Hominin Diet 780,000 Years Ago

Jan 7, 2025 by News Staff

Archaeologists say they have extracted a wide variety of starch grains from stone tools found at an early Middle Pleistocene site in Israel. These include...

Aerial view of Site 201 north of the center of Timna Valley on the western outskirts of the Wadi Arabah, Israel. Image credit: Yagel et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.

Study: Pre-Roman Copper Industry in Timna Valley Had No Polluting Impact on Environment

Dec 23, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists from Tel Aviv University have conducted geochemical surveys at two smelting camps — dating back to the 10th century BCE, the era of the...

Archaeological context of Kosenivka, Ukraine. Image credit: Fuchs et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289769.

New Research Provides Insights into Life in Neolithic Trypillia Settlement

Dec 11, 2024 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, archaeologists examined the exceptional human remains from the Middle Trypillia site of Kosenivka (ca....

The site locations and artifacts of the Shangshan culture: (A) locations of the Shangshan, Qiaotou, and Xiaohuangshan sites (dots) and the distribution area of the Shangshan culture (red circle); (B) selected pottery sherds analyzed: 1 - cup sherd; 2 - jar sherd; 3 - jar sherd; 4 - rim sherd from sand-tempered cooking pot; 5 - large basin sherd; 6 - base of the ring foot bowl; (C) corresponding complete vessels: 1 - globular jar; 2 - ring foot bowl; 3 - cup; 4 - flat-based jar; 5 - large basin. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2412274121.

Traces of 10,000-Year-Old Rice Beer Found in China

Dec 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Shangshan culture in ancient China’s Lower Yangzi region is central to understanding the origins of rice domestication and early alcohol fermentation....

New Species of Archaic Human Proposed: Homo juluensis

Dec 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Homo juluensis — a newly-erected human species that includes enigmatic Denisovans and several hominin fossils from Tibet, Taiwan and Laos —...

An artist’s reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick-1 infant with his mother consuming mammoth meat near a hearth. Another individual crafts tools, including dart projectile points and atlatls. A mammoth butchery area is visible nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.

Clovis People’s Diet Mainly Included Mammoths and Other Large Mammals, New Study Says

Dec 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have found that the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was the largest contributor to the diet of the Clovis people — the...

The Neanderthal hearth structure could have been made following these steps. Image credit: Ochando et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109025.

65,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Hearth Structure Discovered in Gibraltar

Dec 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists say they have discovered a new type of Neanderthal hearth at Vanguard Cave, Gibraltar. This hearth structure coincides with predictions...

Marine fossils from Prado Vargas Cave, Spain. Image credit: Ruiz et al., doi: 10.3390/quat7040049.

Neanderthals Were First Collectors of Fossils, New Research Suggests

Dec 2, 2024 by Natali Anderson

The Neanderthal groups that inhabited a cave in what is now Spain approximately 46,000 years ago gathered and collected fossils, according to a paper published...

Reconstruction of a Trypillia house. Image credit: Susanne Beyer, Kiel University.

Expanded Opportunities Attracted People to Trypillia Culture’s Mega-Settlements

Dec 2, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Over its history, archaeology has seen a varied set of uses made of philosophy and philosophical concepts. A persistent critique has been that too often...