Recent paleontological explorations in the Tatacoa Desert in Colombia led to the recovery of the most complete skeleton of a "saber-toothed marsupial” discovered in northern South America.
The hunt for the world’s most ancient mammals descended into academic warfare in the seventies, researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered.
University of Illinois anthropology professor Lisa Lucero argues in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that ancient Maya reservoirs, which used aquatic plants to filter and clean the water, “can serve as archetypes for natural, sustainable water systems to address future water needs.” The Maya built and maintained reservoirs that were in use for more than 1,000 years, providing potable water for thousands to tens of thousands of people in cities during the annual, five-month dry season and in periods of prolonged drought.
A German-Austrian team led by archaeologist Christiana Köhler from the University of Vienna is investigating the tomb of Queen Meret-Neith in Abydos, Egypt. She was the most powerful woman in the period around 3,000 BC.
Palaeontologists at University College Cork (UCC) have found the first molecular evidence of phaeomelanin, the pigment that produces ginger colouration, in the fossil record.
New research reaffirms that human footprints found in White Sands National Park, New Mexico, date to the Last Glacial Maximum, placing humans in North America thousands of years earlier than once thought.
Recent study sheds new light on the enigmatic early evolution of snakes by examining an unexpected source: their brains. The results emphasise the significance of studying both the soft parts of animals’ bodies and their bones for understanding how animals evolved.
Archaeometallurgists have been debating the exact origin of tin used in the Bronze Age for 150 years. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and in the Bronze Age it was used to make a range of goods including swords, helmets, bracelets, plates and pitchers.
Half a million years ago, earlier than was previously thought possible, humans were building structures made of wood, according to new research by a team from the University of Liverpool and Aberystwyth University.
An international research team led by maritime archaeologist Staffan von Arbin of the University of Gothenburg has studied what might be Europe’s oldest shipboard cannon. The cannon was found in the sea off Marstrand on the Swedish west coast and dates back to the 14th century.
Researchers discover how molecules in ancient glass rearrange and recombine with minerals over centuries to form a patina of photonic crystals – ordered arrangements of atoms that filter and reflect light in very specific ways - an analog of materials used in communications, lasers and solar cells
Rock faces in Namibia are decorated with hundreds of stone-age images not only of animals and human footprints, but also of animal tracks. These have been largely neglected to date as researchers lacked the knowledge required to interpret them.
A new study led by Archaeologist Michelle Bebber, Ph.D., an assistant professor in Kent State University’s Department of Anthropology, has demonstrated that the atlatl (i.e. spear thrower) functions as an “equalizer”, a finding which supports women’s potential active role as prehistoric hunters.
The end of the last Ice Age also marked the end for more than three dozen genera of large mammals in North America, from mammoths and mastodons to bison and saber-toothed cats. Details concerning the precise timing and circumstances, however, have remained murky ever since.
Research team used advanced sequencing technology to analyze Ötzi’s genome to obtain a more accurate picture of the Iceman’s appearance and genetic origins.
A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of complex engineering feats without the need for a centralised state authority, finds a new study by UCL researchers.
An international research team details changes in DNA that researchers found are shared by humans and other mammals throughout history and are associated with life span and numerous other traits.
Paleoclimate evidence shows that around 1.1 million years ago, the southern European climate cooled significantly and likely caused an extinction of early humans on the continent, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
An analysis of the hierarchy of tipping points suggests that during the last 66 million years two events set the scene for further climate tipping and for the evolution of the climate system in particular.
A new DNA study has nuanced the picture of how different groups intermingled during the European Stone Age, but also how certain groups of people were actually isolated.
New study explores the relationship between a canine’s facial appearance and how expressive they appear to be when communicating with their human companions.
Florida Public Archaeology Network, a program of #UWF, has received a $99,968 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative.
Gems' unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones’ past, and with it, historical trade routes. In AIP Advances, Khedr et al. employ three modern spectroscopic techniques to rapidly analyze gems found in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compare them with similar gems from around the world. The authors identified elements that influence gems’ color, differentiated stones found within and outside the region, and distinguished natural from synthetic.
An international research study led by the University of Vienna (Austria) and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) in Barcelona (Spain), recently published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, provides a better insight into the evolutionary history of gorillas.
A genetic analysis suggests that the servants and retainers who lived, worked, and died at Machu Picchu, the renowned 15th century Inca palace in southern Peru, were a diverse community representing many different ethnic groups from across the Inca empire.
The Neolithic lifestyle, based on farming instead of hunting and gathering, emerged in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and contributed profoundly to the modern way of life.
Jakarta … San Francisco … Shanghai … Phoenix … Houston. These major cities and others around the globe have many similarities, but they share one particular commonality that is concerning for residents. They are among the global cities most affected by climate change.
A new study from Tel Aviv University and Tel-Hai College solves an old mystery: Where did early humans in the Hula Valley get flint to make the prehistoric tools known as handaxes?
Women buried at the ancestral Ohlone site of Kalawwasa Rummeytak in the San Francisco Bay Area in California were breastfed longer and accumulated greater wealth than the men. Isotopic analysis indicates that after marriage, men lived with their wives’ families and women tended to remain in their birth community. This study is the first of its kind to uncover wealth-driven patterns in maternal investment among ancient populations.
As the summer migrant labor season is in full swing in the U.S., health inequities and other social disparities that affect these communities become more visible. Over 3 million people in the U.S. work temporarily or seasonally in farm fields, orchards, canneries, plant nurseries, fish/seafood/meat packing plants, and more.
University of Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley, Oregon more than 18,000 years ago.
A Cretaceous origin for placental mammals, the group that includes humans, dogs and bats, has been revealed by in-depth analysis of the fossil record, showing they co-existed with dinosaurs for a short time before the dinosaurs went extinct.
The new discovery of ancient stone artefacts at an underwater spring off the WA Pilbara coast has confirmed the location is a submerged archaeological site where more ancient Aboriginal artefacts are likely hidden beneath the sea.
15 years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site, scientists report in Nature Communications. Excavations reveal that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years – and likely even longer.
Markings on a cave wall in France are the oldest known engravings made by Neanderthals, according to a study published June 21, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jean-Claude Marquet of the University of Tours, France and colleagues.
A Cambridge University researcher has digitally reconstructed the missing soft tissue of an early human ancestor – or hominin – for the first time, revealing a capability to stand as erect as we do today.
What connects a fossil found in a cave in northern Laos with stone tools made in north Australia? The answer is, we do. When our early Homo sapiens ancestors first arrived in Southeast Asia on their way from Africa to Australia, they left evidence of their presence in the form of human fossils that accumulated over thousands of years deep in a cave.
Cultural exchanges and interbreeding between African hunter-gatherers, Neolithic European farmers, and East-Saharan herders shaped changes in lifestyles, cultural expression and genetic makeup in the Maghreb between 5500 and 4500 BC, according to a study published today in Nature.
Although the prehistoric site of Eynan-Mallaha in northern Israel has been thoroughly examined since 1955, it still holds some surprises for scientists. Seven prehistoric wind instruments known as flutes, recently identified by a Franco-Israeli team.
Tightly curled scalp hair protected early humans from the sun’s radiative heat, allowing their brains to grow to sizes comparable to those of modern humans. Loughborough University researchers in the UK worked with Penn State University to study heat transfer through human hair wigs and the environment to examine how diverse hair textures affect heat gain from solar radiation.
A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from Morocco in northwest Africa revealed that food production was introduced by Neolithic European and Levantine migrants and then adopted by local groups.