An international team of archaeologists has uncovered the remains of a large Bronze Age settlement not far from the town of Dohuk in northern Iraq. The mound of ruins at Bassetki, Iraq, with the broad area of the lower town where sheep now graze. Image credit: Peter Pfälzner. The settlement …

A team of researchers headed by Lund University’s Professor Dan Hammarlund has uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved Mesolithic site off the Baltic Sea coast at Haväng in south-eastern Sweden. They believe the location was a lagoon environment where ancient humans lived during parts of the year. 9,000 year-old antler pick axe; …

A team of archaeologists excavating the Mitla Fortress, a Zapotec site in Oaxaca, Mexico, dating to the Classic to Early Postclassic period (300-1200 CE), has uncovered the remains of juvenile and adult turkeys, whole eggs, and numerous eggshell fragments in domestic refuse and ritual offering contexts. They say this is …

An international research group has found evidence that humans have been utilizing milk and dairy products across the northern Mediterranean region from the onset of agriculture – approximately 9,000 years ago. C.D. Spiteri et al discovered widespread evidence of prehistoric milk production in southern Europe. Image credit: Samuel Daniell. The …

New research on three archaeological sites of the famed Indus Valley civilization (3000-1500 BC) in north-west India has revealed that domesticated rice farming in South Asia began far earlier than previously believed, and may have developed in tandem with — rather than as a result of — rice domestication in …

According to a new study by Florida State University researchers, Native Americans were keeping eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) as early as 1200 – 1400 CE. A wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Image credit: Vince Pahkala / CC BY-SA 3.0. Researchers knew that turkeys had been a part of Native …

A research team led by Liverpool John Moores University scientists has discovered what could be the world’s very first polluted river, contaminated 7,000 years ago. In a now-dry riverbed in the Faynan Orefield of southern Jordan, the team found evidence of anthropogenic copper pollution. Wadi Faynan, where J.P. Grattan et …

A pair of mummified knees on display in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, belongs to Egyptian Queen Nefertari, the favorite wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, according to a research team led by University of Zurich scientist Prof. Frank Rühli. Egyptian Queen Nefertari playing senet, one of the world’s earliest …

Bitumen — a rare, tar-like material — from the Middle East is present in the 7th century Anglo-Saxon ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, UK, according to a study led by Dr. Pauline Burger of the British Museum, London. Model of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial. The placement of the burial chamber …

According to new research, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have remained virtually untouched by evolutionary change for at least 8 million years — up to 6 million years older than previously thought. American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Image credit: Gareth Rasberry / CC BY-SA 3.0. “If we could step back in time …