The recent find in Germany rewrites the book on Neanderthal sophistication. Archaeologists have found a “fat factory” site where Neanderthals processed bones to extract grease which dated back to about 125,000 years ago. This discovery indicates that the need to extract calories for survival from animal fats was a full 100,000 years more advanced than ...
Last month, workmen building things in Argentina unearthed a skull that looked weird. This made stories about aliens and ancient mysteries spread like wildfire. The bones of a toddler who died at least 700 years ago looked a lot like the long-headed aliens who are sometimes depicted in science fiction. But archaeologists immediately put a ...
In 1860, a farmer in the quiet Slovak village of Ivanka pri Nitre found something much more unusual than roots or rocks, a beautiful crown with gold panels buried in the ground. Historians, archaeologists, and art experts would spend the next hundred years arguing about whether this accidental discovery was the lost treasure of Byzantine ...
Archaeologists have been arguing for years about the social structure of Çatalhöyük, a big Neolithic settlement in Turkey that was around from 7100 to 6000 BCE. Was it a society where women were in charge, or was it something else? Finally, a new study published in Science has answered this question. The study shows that ...
Historians have thought for hundreds of years that ancient societies were mostly patriarchal, with men holding power and passing it down through their families. But a groundbreaking DNA study has turned that idea on its head. It shows that women ruled a Neolithic community in eastern China 4,500 years ago. Genetic testing on skeletons found ...
Ramesses II, often called Ramesses the Great, reigned for 66 years during Egypt’s New Kingdom and became one of its most iconic rulers. Known for his ambitious construction projects, military campaigns, and reputed fatherhood of over 100 children, his life and death continue to captivate archaeologists and historians alike. New investigations, blending archaeological records, anatomical ...
Scientists have perplexed for decades over a basic question: How could a small group of Homo sapiens effectively leave Africa around 50,000 years ago, spreading to every corner of the planet, while earlier migration attempts failed? According to a ground-breaking research that was written about in Nature, our predecessors did not merely happen onto fresh ...
In these decades, one of the most intriguing puzzles in paleoanthropology has been the Harbin skull known as “Dragon Man.” Discovered almost a century ago from the depths of a Chinese well, the large, thick-browed cranium defied categorization and generated intense arguments on its position in the human family tree. Now, innovative genetic and protein ...
New research has revealed that biofluorescence in marine fishes is far more ancient and widespread than previously believed. Studies show that this glowing trait has evolved independently more than 100 times over the past 112 million years. Led by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, the findings highlight the evolutionary significance of biofluorescence ...
A new study has shed light on the rare and enigmatic practice of bed burials in early medieval Europe, revealing a complex and regionally diverse funerary tradition. Published in the European Journal of Archaeology, the research by Dr. Astrid Noterman explores over 60 known bed burials from the sixth to tenth centuries AD, spanning Germany, ...
Leander McCabe Maritz, BA (Law) English & Philosophy
