Archaeology News

Did Hunter-Gatherers Intentionally Domesticate Wild Plants?

Ploughing with a yoke of horned cattle in Ancient Egypt.
May 18, 2017 by News Staff

New research from the University of Sheffield, UK, has shed light on how hunter-gatherers adopted agriculture and how crops were domesticated to depend on people. Ploughing with a yoke of horned cattle in Ancient Egypt. Domesticated crops have been transformed almost beyond recognition in comparison with their wild relatives — a change that happened during the early stages of farming in the Stone Age. For grain crops like cereals, the hallmark...

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First Humans Arrived in North America 116,000 Years Earlier than Thought: Evidence from Cerutti Mastodon Site

Apr 27, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers digging at the Cerutti Mastodon site, an archaeological site from the early late Pleistocene epoch near San Diego, California, found animal...

An underground chamber near the city of Beit Shemesh, Israel. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Ancient Settlement Unearthed in Israel

Apr 3, 2017 by News Staff

Israeli archaeologists excavating near the city of Beit Shemesh have unearthed an extensive complex of ritual baths and underground refuges used by Bar...

The raven bone fragment from the Zaskalnaya VI rock shelter. Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: A. Majkic et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173435.

38,000-Year-Old Decorated Bone from Crimea May Provide Insight into Neanderthal Cognition

Mar 31, 2017 by News Staff

Neanderthals’ cognitive abilities are a hotly debated topic, but a bird bone fragment found at a Middle Paleolithic site in Crimea, Ukraine, features...

Neolithic rock art in Tassili n’Ajjer National Park, Sahara, Algeria. Image credit: Patrick Gruban, Munich, Germany / CC BY-SA 2.0.

African Neolithic Populations Helped Create Sahara Desert, Research Suggests

Mar 15, 2017 by News Staff

The desertification of the Sahara — the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world — has long been a target for researchers...

The 4,000-year-old ‘multi-dolmen,’ the Shamir Dolmen Field, Israel. Image credit: Gonen Sharon, Tel Hai College.

4,000-Year-Old ‘Multi-Dolmen’ Found in Israel

Mar 13, 2017 by News Staff

A rare megalithic structure, dating back 4,000 years, has been discovered at the Shamir Dolmen Field on the western foothills of the Golan Heights. The...

The 850-year-old carved wooden boat from Ørland, Norway. Image credit: Åge Hojem, NTNU University Museum.

Archaeologists Find Viking Age Toy Boat in Norway

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) University Museum have uncovered a toy dating back as far as 1153 CE...

Pro.f Braswell holds a replica of the Maya jade pendant. Image credit: Erik Jepsen, University of California, San Diego Publications.

Remarkable Maya Pendant Unearthed in Belize

Feb 28, 2017 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists led by Geoffrey Braswell, Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, has found a remarkable artifact...

A block from Abri Cellier with identifiable representation: a mammoth. Image credit: Randall White et al, doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.02.001.

Archaeologists Uncover 38,000-Year-Old Pointillist Engravings

Feb 27, 2017 by News Staff

Pointillism — a painting technique in which dots are used to create the illusion of a larger image — was developed in the 1880s by Georges...

Qumran Cave 12: New Dead Sea Scrolls Cave Discovered

Feb 9, 2017 by News Staff

Archaeologists working near Qumran in Israel have found a cave that previously contained Dead Sea scrolls. They now suggest ‘the cave should be numbered...

Roman theater at Hippos-Sussita; the results of the trial excavation: semicircular passage between the lower and upper seating arrangements (praencinctio) and entrance to a vaulted corridor (vomitorium). Image credit: Michael Eisenberg, University of Haifa.

Archaeologists Uncover Roman Theater, Bathhouse at Hippos-Sussita

Jan 31, 2017 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from the the University of Haifa has discovered a large theater and a public bathhouse at the archaeological site of the ancient...

Limestone block engraved with an aurochs. Image credit: P. Jugie, Musée National de Préhistoire Collections.

38,000-Year-Old Aurignacian Artwork Found in France

Jan 30, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers have uncovered a 38,000-year-old engraved image at Abri Blanchard, an Upper Paleolithic site of the Aurignacian culture — a finding that...

Slaves’ Hill in the center of the Timna Valley (looking east); the black slag mounds on the hilltop are visible, as well as the only access path to the site; the arrow indicates the gatehouse complex. Image credit: Erez Ben-Yosef et al.

King Solomon-Era Fortification Unearthed in Israel’s Timna Valley

Jan 26, 2017 by News Staff

A team of Tel Aviv University archaeologists has uncovered a gatehouse and associated livestock pens — dating to the reign of Kings Solomon and David...

Some apparent geometrical constructs evident in the layout of the Sun Temple site, including squares, 45-degree right triangles, a 60:30:90-degree right triangle (or an equilateral triangle), a Golden rectangle, and Pythagorean 3:4:5 triangles. Image credit: Sherry Towers.

Ancient Pueblo People Used Unexpectedly Advanced Geometry to Build Monuments

Jan 24, 2017 by News Staff

Arizona State University Professor Sherry Towers has examined the Sun Temple archaeological site at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, and found evidence...

Artist’s impression of the Viking Age manor at Korshamn, Sweden. Image credit: Jacques Vincent.

Ground-Penetrating Radar Helps Archaeologists Find Viking Age Manor

Jan 20, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A large manor has been found at the archaeological site of Korshamn near the Viking Age proto-town of Birka in Sweden. Artist’s impression of the Viking...

‘Clam-shell’ view of Side A (top) and B showing black dendrites against the background of the brown mudstone. The flake, only shown re-attached on Side A, is the result of a post-excavation fracture of the specimen. Arrows point to large inclusion visible on Sides A and B. Image credit: Davorka Radovčić et al, doi: 10.1016/j.crpv.2016.04.013.

Neanderthals Capable of Incorporating Symbolic Objects into Their Culture, Discovery Suggests

Jan 18, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

An unusual limestone rock found at an archaeological site in Croatia indicates that Neanderthals were capable of incorporating symbolic objects into their...

Top: cut marks on a horse mandible from Bluefish Cave II; the specimen is dated to 19,650 years before present; the bone surface is a bit weathered and altered by root etching but the cut marks are well preserved; they are located on the medial side, under the third and second molars, and are associated with the removal of the tongue using a stone tool. Bottom: cut marks on a caribou coxal bone from Bluefish Cave II; the specimen is dated to 18,570 years before present and shows straight and parallel marks resulting from filleting activity. Image credit: L. Bourgeon et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169486.

Humans Arrived in North America around 24,000 Years Ago

Jan 16, 2017 by News Staff

Humans first arrived in North America 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to an analysis of ancient animal bones found in northern...

The Anglo-Saxon claw beaker. Image credit: Oxford Archaeology.

Archaeologists Unearth 1,500-Year-Old Settlement, Precious Jewelry in England

Jan 13, 2017 by News Staff

Archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology working at Cherry Hinton in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, have uncovered a wealth of Roman and Anglo-Saxon...

These fossilized human footprints near Chusang, Tibet, were made between 13,000-7,400 years ago, according to a new analysis. Image credit: Mark Aldenderfer / M.C. Meyer et al.

Study Sheds New Light on Peopling of Tibet

Jan 6, 2017 by News Staff

A new analysis of Chusang, an archeological site on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau, suggests that permanent residents may have set up camp thousands...

Pueblo Bonito, the largest great house in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Image credit: National Register of Historic Places / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Ancient Inhabitants of Chaco Canyon Likely Relied on Imported Corn

Dec 30, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the ancient inhabitants of Chaco Canyon likely had to import corn...

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