New research shows that modern dogs’ genomes are most similar to wolves from the Middle East (as opposed to wolves from East Asia). This article discusses the evolution of the dog.
In China’s Xinjiang region, desert sands have concealed a mysterious burial ground for the last 4 millennia. In Small River Cemetery # 5, hundreds of European mummies in capsized boats were found buried in the sand, with huge wooden poles set up like a forest above the graves.
Some eight centuries ago in what is now Arizona and New Mexico, women of different cultures were brought together by the desire for peace amongst their peoples. Their artwork, known today as Salado pottery, tells a story of religious unity in the face of tribal differences.
Researchers at Queen’s University have refined a calibration curve used to date carbon-based materials. The curve, called INTCAL09, extends radiocarbon calibration and improves date determinations in the part of the curve that approaches 50,000 years.
The discovery of over thirty quartz ax heads and stone tools near Plakias, on the island of Crete, Greece, has some interesting implications. The antiquity of the items suggests that Homo heidelbergensis may have traversed the Mediterranean islands much sooner than previously believed – but more thorough dating of the specimens is still needed.
DNA testing and CT scans have been performed on 16 mummies, and have shown that King Tutankhamun had some physical ailments due to genes from his sibling parents. The tests have also confirmed some of the family lineage.
There has long been speculation that King Tut was murdered. However, new evidence suggests that malaria and a leg injury are more probable causes of his death.
As man evolved, his brain size increased. However, not all primates have developed bigger brains through history; the gorilla, for instance, has grown more in body mass. Researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Durham are studying brain and body development in primates to help unravel the enigma of the Homo floresiensis, or the “hobbit” fossil, which has a small brain in comparison to modern-day humans.
DOHaD, or the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis, states that the health of a person during early development can predict their longevity. Some prehistoric teeth found in Peru support this hypothesis. Skulls of people who died young were more likely to have striated tooth enamel, an indicator of troubled formation.
There has been a long-standing debate on what caused the extinction of some Australian megafauna in the late Pleistocene – was it humans or climate? Direct dating of some fossilized teeth in Cuddie Springs supports the human intervention theory.
Around 600 feline sculptures were discovered in an underground Egyptian temple, located beneath the city of Alexandria. The temple was built to honor Bastet, the cat goddess, in the third century B.C.
What appears to be the skeleton of Princess Eadgyth has been unearthed in Magdeburg, Germany. Eadgyth, later Queen Editha after marrying King Otto the 1st, was an esteemed leader in the 10th century. If the remains are positively identified, they would be the eldest of English royalty discovered to date.
In the Murcia province of Spain, some ancient shells were found that were probably used as pigment dishes by the Neanderthals. The pigments may have been applied to the face or body for ritual or aesthetic purposes.
A team of researchers at the University of Bristol has used micro-tomography to examine the deciduous and permanent teeth of the Lagar Velho skeleton – the skeleton of an early modern human child found in Portugal in the late 1990s. The teeth were compared to those of Neanderthals, Pleistocene humans, and modern-day humans. The findings are summarized in this article.
Forest clearing in the Amazon has uncovered 200+ geometric patterns that are thought to be the work of ancient Amazon communities, perhaps dating to the third or fourth century CE. The wide, shallow depressions in the earth exist in a sprawling area of over 250 km (155 miles), in both low-lying plains and the more inhospitable higher elevations.
Revisit the top ten archaeological stories of 2009, as featured in Archaeology magazine. Topics include artifacts in Ucupe, Peru; ancient irrigation canals near Tucson, Arizona; a treasure trove of silver and gold war items in Staffordshire, England; the Popol Veh panels of El Mirador, Guatemala; the Egyptian menagerie at Hierakonpolis; Phanagorian coins, and more.
The Ardipithecus ramidus skeleton unearthed in Ethiopia is hailed by the journal Science as one of the most important discoveries of 2009. What makes it so significant?
Shipwrecks and their scattered cargo allow researchers to obtain information about the agriculture, diet, technologies, economies, art, and geopolitics of ancient cultures.
A Middle Stone Age food cache has been preserved in the Ngalue cave of Mozambique. Some kitchen tools found there are the earliest evidence of humans including grain in their diet.
It is theorized that Cleopatra’s palace was dislodged by earthquakes some 1700 years ago when it fell into the sea. Archaeologists are now retrieving pieces of the complex, and hope to create an underwater museum with the ruins.
Over 5,000 flints have been discovered in Asfordby, Leicestershire, England. The site appears to have been used by Mesolithic people as a workstation for creating and mending tools and weapons made of flint.
If a British archaeologist discovers an artifact in another country who can claim legitimate ownership of that artifact? How about an artifact that was discovered long ago and is now on display in a British museum? Or, who owns the Rosetta Stone, “discovered” by the French in Egypt in 1799, and which has been on display at The British Museum since 1802?
The University of Oxford was preparing for a new observatory when they discovered remnants of a prehistoric community. It is believed the site was used by Saxons in the 6th century.
The HMS E18, a British submarine, went down with all hands in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Estonia during World War I. A Swedish survey company recently found the sub.
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