Archaeology News

Researchers Find Traces of Psychoactive and Other Ceremonial Plants beneath Ancient Maya Ballcourt

Map of the Helena complex showing the location of the excavation in relationship to the structures of the ballcourt (structures H-4 through H-7). Image credit: Lentz et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301497.
Apr 29, 2024 by News Staff

A research team led by University of Cincinnati archaeologists has discovered found evidence of a collection of four ceremonial plant species beneath the end field of a Late Preclassic ballcourt in the Helena complex of the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants included Ipomoea corymbosa (xtabentun in Mayan), Capsicum sp. (chili pepper or ic in Mayan), Hampea trilobata (jool), and Oxandra lanceolata (chilcahuite). Two of the plants,...

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Photographs of Umm Jirsan Cave and its interior sections. Image credit: Stewart et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.

Humans Occupied Lava Tube Cave in Saudi Arabia for 7,000 Years, Archaeologists Find

Apr 17, 2024 by News Staff

New archaeological excavations have revealed repeated phases of human occupation of Umm Jirsan lava tube in the Harrat Khaybar, north-western Saudi Arabia,...

The 8,600-year-old bread found at Çatalhöyük in Türkiye. Image credit: Necmettin Erbakan University.

8,600-Year-Old Bread Found in Türkiye

Apr 15, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Archaeologists from Necmettin Erbakan University say they have discovered the world’s oldest known bread, dating back to 6600 BCE, at Çatalhöyük,...

A group of Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

Study: Just Like Homo sapiens, Neanderthals Organized Their Living Space in Structured Way

Apr 11, 2024 by News Staff

Because it is often assumed that fundamental behavioral differences distinguish Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, the ability to structure space within the...

Ceramic fragments found on Jiigurru, northeast Australia. Image credit: Steve Morton.

Early Aboriginal Pottery Unearthed in Australia

Apr 10, 2024 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists from James Cook University and elsewhere reports the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations...

The upper (a) and lower (b) surfaces of the purported sand sculpture from South Africa. Image credit: Helm et al.

120,000-Year-Old Stingray Sand ‘Sculpture’ Found in South Africa

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

Nelson Mandela University researcher Charles Helm and his colleagues have found an intriguing rock about 30 km (18.6 miles) east of the South African Blombos...

A selection of coins analyzed by Kershaw et al.: Early Period coins - (a) series A early penny, (b) series E early penny, (c) Frankish denarius, Rheims; Late Period coins - (d) penny of Offa (757-796 CE), (e) denarius of Charlemagne (768-814 CE), Mainz (after 792/3 CE), (f) denarius of Charlemagne, Quentovic (after c. 812 CE). Image credit: Fitzwilliam Museum.

Researchers Solve Mystery of Early Medieval Silver Coins

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

Between 660 and 750 CE, Anglo-Saxon England witnessed a profound revival in trade involving a dramatic surge in the use of silver coins. Scientists have...

The wooden spears from the Schöningen site, Germany. Image credit: Minkusimages / Matthias Vogel, NLD.

Study: Woodworking Played Important Role in Human Evolution

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Wooden tools rarely survive in the Paleolithic record limiting our understanding of Pleistocene hunter-gather lifeways. With 187 wooden artifacts, the...

The 2,800-year-old amulet-seal from the site of Tel Rekhesh, Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Ancient Assyrian Scarab-Shaped Seal Found in Israel

Apr 3, 2024 by News Staff

The rare amulet-seal is at least 2,800 years old (First Temple period), according to a team of experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University...

A compilation of evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia: SEM images of a Bash Tepa egg shell, emphasizing morphologically distinct breathing pores at magnifications x30 (a), x150 (b), x750 (e, f); (c) a ceramic egg with clay balls from Bukhara dating between the tenth and twelfth centuries CE; (d) the Sophytes coin from Bactria in 300 BCE; (g) a fragment of an ossuary from Bash Tepa dating to the last centuries BCE, with an apparent chicken on the top; (h) a selection of eggshells from the Bukhara site, showing color (essentially all white) and burning, which was evident on many of the shells. Image credit: Peters et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46093-2.

Study: Chickens Were Widely Raised across Southern Central Asia as Early as 400 BCE

Apr 2, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The origins and dispersal of the chicken (Gallus gallus) across the ancient world is one of the most enigmatic questions regarding Eurasian domesticated...

The facial reconstruction (left) and the portrait (right) of the Chinese Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou dynasty. Image credit: Du et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.059.

Scientists Sequence Genome, Reconstruct Face of Chinese Emperor Wu

Mar 28, 2024 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Fudan University and elsewhere has successfully generated a genome of the Chinese Emperor Wu (Wudi) of the Xianbei-led Northern...

The ancient silver thimble found in Carew Community, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales

Ancient Silver Thimble with Romantic Inscription Found in Wales

Mar 26, 2024 by News Staff

A Post Medieval silver thimble was found by Robert Edwards while metal detecting in Pembrokeshire, a county in the south-west of Wales. The ancient silver...

The 7,300-year-old canoe Marmotta 1 on display in the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome. It is a huge dugout canoe made from an oak trunk about 10.43 m long, 1.15 m wide at the stern and 0.85 m wide at the bow. It is 65 to 44cm high, depending on the part of the canoe. Image credit: Gibaja et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299765.

7,000-Year-Old Canoes Reveal Early Development of Nautical Technology

Mar 20, 2024 by News Staff

More than 7,000 years ago, Neolithic people navigated the Mediterranean Sea using technologically sophisticated boats, according to new research. The 7,300-year-old...

Recent findings document the domestication of cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, its region of origin, by at least 5,300 years ago. Lanaud et al. demonstrate the large landscape of domestication of cacao, out of its area of origin, along the Pacific coast of South America, occurring concurrently during this same early time period and in subsequent time periods. Image credit: Fernando Graniel.

Cacao May Have Spread from Amazonia to Other South and Central American Regions 5,000 Years Ago

Mar 20, 2024 by News Staff

Humans have a long history of transporting and trading plants, contributing to the evolution of domesticated plants. The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao),...

First peopling of Europe. Image credit: Garba et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07151-3.

1.4-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Found in Ukraine Document Earliest Hominin Occupation of Europe

Mar 7, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Archaeologists have dated an assemblage of ancient stone tools excavated from the archaeological site of Korolevo on the Tysa River in western Ukraine...

Photographs, drawings, and details of stone tools from Le Moustier, France. Image credit: D. Greinert / Schmidt et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0822.

Neanderthals Created Stone Tools Held Together by Ochre-Based Adhesives, Scientists Say

Feb 21, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists have found traces of ancient ochre-based multicomponent adhesives on 40,000-year-old stone tools from Le Moustier, France. Photographs,...

The 4,750-year-old circular plaza is at center with the modern city of Cajamarca in the background. Image credit: Toohey et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0572.

4,750-Year-Old Monumental Stone Plaza Discovered in Peru

Feb 19, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of anthropologists from the University of Wyoming, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of New Hampshire has discovered...

An artist’s reconstruction of the Blinkerwall in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. Image credit: Michał Grabowski.

Stone Age Hunting Megastructure Discovered in Baltic Sea

Feb 14, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

A team of archaeologists from Germany has discovered a submerged Stone Age megastructure in the Western Baltic Sea at a water depth of about 21 m. The...

La Prele bone bead showing polished ends (upper) and side view with incisions (lower). Image credit: Surovell et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53390-9.

12,940-Year-Old Bone Bead Found in Wyoming

Feb 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tube-shaped bead made of hare bone at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming, the United States. This is the oldest...

Stratigraphy with location of Homo sapiens bones, map of LRJ sites and stone tools from the site of Ranis, Germany. Image credit: Mylopotamitaki et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06923-7.

Homo sapiens Reached Northern Europe by 45,000 Years Ago, Scientists Say

Jan 31, 2024 by News Staff

Homo sapiens associated with the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician culture were present in central and northwestern Europe long before the extinction...

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