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Selected hand specimens of samples from sources included in the study: Ngwenya high grade (A-C), Ngwenya low grade (D-F), Kubuta (G), Bulembu (H-J), Lupholo Dam (K, L), Mnyongane (M, N), Maloma (O). Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: MacDonald et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53050-6.

Lion Cavern in Eswatini is World’s Oldest Ochre Mine, Archaeologists Say

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest known evidence for intensive ochre mining worldwide, at least 48,000 years ago, in Lion Cavern at Ngwenya...

Cylinder seal and sealing impression: the king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd. Uruk period, ca. 3200 BCE. Image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Study: Cylinder Seals and Sealing Practices Stimulated Invention of Writing in Ancient South-West Asia

Nov 5, 2024 by News Staff

Administrative innovations in south-west Asia during the 4th millennium BCE, including the cylinder seals that were rolled on the earliest clay tablets,...

The Soii Havzak rockshelter is one of the very few multilayered stratified Paleolithic sites in Central Asia. Image credit: Yossi Zaidner & Sharof Kurbanov, doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.149.

Paleolithic Rockshelter Discovered in Tajikistan: Soii Havzak

Nov 5, 2024 by News Staff

The Soii Havzak rockshelter in the Zeravshan Valley in Tajikistan contains several phases of Paleolithic occupation rich in stone tools, faunal and charcoal...

3D virtual reconstruction of the Bronze Age town of al-Natah. Image credit: Charloux et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309963 / AFALULA-RCU-CNRS.

Bronze Age Town of Al-Natah Represents ‘Slow Urbanism,’ Archaeologists Say

Oct 30, 2024 by News Staff

Northwestern Arabia — the region between Mecca and Aqaba — during the Bronze Age was dotted with interconnected monumental walled oases centered...

A drone captured this image of Tugunbulak in 2018. Image credit: M. Frachetti.

Two Ancient Silk Road Cities Discovered in Uzbekistan

Oct 30, 2024 by News Staff

Named Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, these two medieval cities are among the largest ever documented in the mountainous parts of the Silk Road, the vast network...

The 4,000-year-old copper dagger found in Tina Jama Cave, Italy. Image credit: Davide Bonaduce.

Archaeologists Find 4,000-Year-Old Copper Dagger in Italy

Oct 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have unearthed a rare dagger dating back to the Copper Age at Tina Jama Cave in the regional decentralization entity of Trieste in the Italian...

The holy barque with the shrine of Khnoum, the main deity of Esna, carried by several priests. Image credit: Ahmed Amin / Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Archaeologists Uncover New Paintings in Ancient Egyptian Temple of Esna

Oct 25, 2024 by News Staff

Esna is a city located approximately 60 km south of the ancient capital of Luxor in Egypt. The holy barque with the shrine of Khnoum, the main deity of...

A preliminary reconstruction of the early Christian church of Artaxata. Image credit: Armenian-German Artaxata Project.

1,600-Year-Old Christian Church Discovered in Armenia

Oct 24, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in Armenia have discovered the remains of an early Christian church at the site of the ancient city of Artaxata. A preliminary reconstruction...

An artist’s impression of a Palaeoloxodon sp. Image credit: Chen Yu.

Scientists Find Evidence for Hominin Exploitation of Extinct Straight-Tusked Elephants in India

Oct 24, 2024 by News Staff

In 2000, archaeologists discovered the 300,000 to 400,000-year-old remains of three ancient elephants along with 87 stone tools at the Pampore in the Kashmir...

The archaeological site at Ubrique, Andalusia, Spain. Image credit: University of Granada.

Ancient Roman Forum Unearthed in Spain

Oct 21, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the University of Granada say they have uncovered the remnants of the ancient Roman forum in Ubrique, Andalusia, Spain. The archaeological...

Excavations in Tam Pà Ling, northeastern Laos. Image credit: Hernandez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108982.

New Excavations Provide Insights into Early Human Activity in Jungles of Laos

Oct 11, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating Tam Pà Ling (Cave of Monkeys) in northeastern Laos have recovered fossil evidence for some of the earliest Homo sapiens presence...

Coastal and underwater cave sites in southern Sicily contain important new clues about the path and fate of early human migrants to the island. Image credit: Ilaria Patania.

Coastal and Underwater Sites Contain Clues about Early Migrants to Sicily, Archaeologists Say

Oct 9, 2024 by News Staff

The island of Sicily is considered to be among the first occupied by humans in the European Upper Paleolithic. Studies to understand early occupation of...

This image from the geophysical survey highlights the archaeological potential of the site in Wrexham, North East Wales. Image credit: University of Chester.

Roman-Era Settlement and Medieval Longhouse Unearthed in Wales

Sep 30, 2024 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from the University of Chester, Heneb: the Trust for Welsh Archaeology and the Portable Antiquities Scheme has uncovered the ruins...

These 3,500-year-old kefir cheese samples are among the few dairy remains preserved more than 3,000 years and were produced by the Bronze Age Xiaohe population -- a population that possesses mixed lifestyles and techniques (e.g., farming, dairy production, hunting, etc.). Also, although early Xiaohe individuals show little genetic interaction with other populations, mitochondrial DNA data suggest maternal connections with East and West Eurasians. By recovering DNA information from ancient fermented dairy remains, Liu et al. investigated the lifestyle linked to the usage of fermented dairy by the Xiaohe population and explore the co-evolution between the fermented bacteria and their hosts. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.008.

World’s Oldest Cheese Sheds Light on Origins of Kefir

Sep 25, 2024 by News Staff

Despite the long history of consumption of fermented dairy, little is known about how the fermented microbes were utilized and evolved over human history....

The remains of the 1,400-year-old Byzantine church at Khirbet Tinshemet, Israel. Image credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

1,400-Year-Old Byzantine Church Discovered in Israel

Sep 23, 2024 by News Staff

This ancient Byzantine church was dedicated to the Christian martyr Bacchus the Holy, according to archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority...

Interpretation of the tusked animal of the Horned Serpent panel and its dicynodont-like traits. Image credit: J. Benoit, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309908.

Strange Tusked Animal in South African Rock Art is Permian Dicynodont, Scientist Claims

Sep 19, 2024 by News Staff

The Horned Serpent panel at La Belle France in the Free State province of South Africa was painted by the San people at least two hundred years ago. It...

Neanderthals consumed plants, too. Image credit: University of Utah via kued.org.

Clovis People Used Campsite in Great Lakes Region Annually, Archaeologists Say

Sep 17, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists have unearthed hundreds of Clovis stone tools at the 13,000-year-old campsite of Belson in southwest Michigan; Clovis people traveled to...

El Sidron Neanderthals taste wild mushrooms, pine nuts and forest moss. Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication.

Neanderthal Populations Were Genetically and Socially Isolated for Tens of Thousands of Years: Study

Sep 11, 2024 by News Staff

In 2015, archaeologists discovered the fossilized remains of a Neanderthal individual at Grotte Mandrin, a rockshelter located in Mediterranean France...

The 2,070-year-old Roman wall in the Dossone della Melia forest in south-central Calabria, Italy. Image credit: University of Kentucky.

2,070-Year-Old Roman Wall Built to Contain Gladiator Spartacus and His Army Discovered in Italy

Sep 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have identified a 2.7-km- (1.7-mile) long Roman defensive wall and ditch — initially constructed by the Roman general Marcus Licinius...