Archeaology

New evidence from a rockshelter in northern Australia shows human occupation of the continent for at least 65,000 years — much longer than other estimates of closer to 50,000 years. Photograph of the Madjedbebe rockshelter during the 2015 excavation. Image credit: Clarkson et al, doi: 10.1038/nature22968. The discovery was made …

New research provides evidence contrary to the widely-held belief that the prehistoric population of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) caused an ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. Easter Island, known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the …

In September 2014, archaeologists from Aarhus University and the Museum of South East Denmark announced the discovery of a Viking ring fortress at Borgring, Denmark. Since then, researchers have been waiting for the reliable results of the dating of the fortress. Now, a new find has resulted in a breakthrough …

While modern marine concrete structures crumble within years, ancient Roman piers and breakwaters endure to this day, and are stronger now than when they were first constructed. New research led by the University of Utah has found that seawater filtering through the concrete leads to the growth of interlocking minerals …

A team of archaeologists and anthropologists, led by the University of Utah, has discovered potato starch residues in the crevices of a 10,900-year-old stone tool in Escalante, southern Utah — the earliest evidence of wild potato use in North America. This is the first archaeological study to identify a spud-bearing …

Three carved skull fragments uncovered at Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic site in southeast Turkey known for its impressive megalithic architecture with characteristic T-shaped pillars, feature modifications not seen before among human remains of the time. The finds could indicate a new, previously undocumented variation of ‘skull cult’ in the Early …

A team of archaeologists from Belgium, the United States and Egypt has uncovered some previously unknown rock inscriptions, which include 5,200-year-old Egyptian hieroglyphs, at the archaeological site of El-Khawy, near the ancient Egyptian city of Elkab. The newly discovered panel of signs features images of a bull’s head on a …

An international team of researchers led by University of Exeter archaeologists has discovered the ruins of an ancient city — once thought to be the ‘home of giants’ — in eastern Ethiopia. The ruins of a 12th-century mosque in Harlaa, eastern Ethiopia. Image credit: Timothy Insoll, University of Exeter. The …

Using multispectral imaging, a team of Israeli researchers has discovered a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon (ink-inscribed pottery shard) that has been on display for half a century. The recto (upper image) and the verso (lower image) of the ostracon Arad 16: color images, multispectral …

An international team of archaeologists has provided a window into one of the most exciting periods in human history — the transition between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. A suspected speartip made from material sourced more than 60 miles (100 km) east of Pod Hradem Cave. Image credit: Miroslav Kralik. The …