http://phys.org/science-news/archaeology-fossils/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on archaeology, fossils, archaeological sciences and archaeological technology. Hereditary inequality began over 7,000 years ago in the early Neolithic era, with new evidence showing that farmers buried with tools had access to better land than those buried without. http://phys.org/news257415590.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 28 May 2012 15:00:14 EST news257415590 At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that was the size of a school bus and tipped the scales at more than eight tons. http://phys.org/news257316386.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Sun, 27 May 2012 13:00:02 EST news257316386 Argentine experts have discovered the near-complete remains of a new species of Jurassic-era dinosaur that stood on its rear legs and had tiny arms, according to a leading paleontologist. http://phys.org/news257133644.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 25 May 2012 03:01:02 EST news257133644 Palaeontology has gone high-tech: no more wax and plaster-cast models. Instead, 3D data from computed tomography (CT) scans is overturning long-held views of how the earliest land animals moved. http://phys.org/news257014818.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 23 May 2012 18:00:38 EST news257014818 Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,700-year-old seal that bears the inscription "Bethlehem," the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday, in what experts believe to be the oldest artifact with the name of Jesus' traditional birthplace. http://phys.org/news257013964.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 23 May 2012 17:46:21 EST news257013964 Shifts in exchange patterns provide a new perspective on the fall of inland Maya centers in Mesoamerica approximately 1,000 years ago. This major historical process, sometimes referred to as the "Maya collapse" has puzzled archaeologists, history buffs, and the news media for decades. The new research was published online today in the journal Antiquity. http://phys.org/news256998034.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 23 May 2012 13:23:59 EST news256998034 (Phys.org) -- An international team of researchers, including a University of Virginia professor, has found that two ink sacs from 160-million-year-old giant squid fossils discovered two years ago in England contain the pigment melanin, and that it is essentially identical to the melanin found in the ink sacs of modern-day squid. http://phys.org/news256814781.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:07 EST news256814781 (Phys.org) -- Large clusters of rock art spanning thousands of years but located at the same site may hold key to detecting massive cultural changes in prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the north. http://phys.org/news256797610.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 21 May 2012 05:40:32 EST news256797610 Two studies led by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and National Geographic's Genographic Project reveal new information about the migration patterns of the first humans to settle the Americas. The studies identify the historical relationships among various groups of Native American and First Nations peoples and present the first clear evidence of the genetic impact of the groups' cultural practices. http://phys.org/news256493988.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 17 May 2012 17:20:13 EST news256493988 Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen – the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now Colombia. http://phys.org/news256475090.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:05 EST news256475090 (Phys.org) -- At least seven different killer dinosaurs once lived in what is now south-eastern Australia, a new study has found. http://phys.org/news256457434.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 17 May 2012 08:00:03 EST news256457434 Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones... if they're over two meters long! A new study by scientists at the University of Bristol has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilized Jurassic reptiles. http://phys.org/news256311603.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:01 EST news256311603 The oldest agricultural settlement ever found on a Mediterranean island has been discovered in Cyprus by a team of French archaeologists involving CNRS, the National Museum of Natural History, INRAP, EHESS and the University of Toulouse. Previously it was believed that, due to the island's geographic isolation, the first Neolithic farming societies did not reach Cyprus until a thousand years after the birth of agriculture in the Middle East (ca. 9500 to 9400 BCE). However, the discovery of Klimonas, a village that dates from nearly 9000 years before Christ, proves that early cultivators migrated to Cyprus from the Middle Eastern continent shortly after the emergence of agriculture there, bringing with them wheat as well as dogs and cats. http://phys.org/news256287928.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Tue, 15 May 2012 08:05:44 EST news256287928 Anthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research, reported in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans. http://phys.org/news256225903.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:08 EST news256225903 Vicarious travellers and students of history can take a virtual stroll through the vast necropolis build by the ancient Egyptians in the Giza Plateau, thanks to a 3D Internet project launched this week. http://phys.org/news255957261.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 11 May 2012 12:14:32 EST news255957261 A vast city built by the ancient Maya and discovered nearly a century ago is finally starting to yield its secrets. http://phys.org/news255875870.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:22 EST news255875870 While the disappearance of Neanderthals remains a mystery, paleoanthropologists have an increasing understanding of what allowed their younger cousins, Homo sapiens, to conquer the planet. According to Ariane Burke, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal, the rapid dispersal of anatomically modern humans was not so much due to superior intelligence or improved hunting or gathering techniques, but rather to the creation of symbolic objects that allowed them to extend their social relations across vast territories. http://phys.org/news255772400.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 09 May 2012 08:53:34 EST news255772400 (Phys.org) -- The smallest mammoth known to have ever lived has been identified by Natural History Museum scientists, and is reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B today. http://phys.org/news255751440.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 09 May 2012 04:07:55 EST news255751440 George Washington University Professor Jeffrey P. Blomster's latest research explores the importance of the ballgame to ancient Mesoamerican societies. Dr. Blomster's findings show how the discovery of a ballplayer figurine in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca demonstrates the early participation of the region in the iconography and ideology of the game, a point that had not been previously documented by other researchers. Dr. Blomster's paper, Early evidence of the ballgame in Oaxaca, Mexico, is featured in the latest issue of Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://phys.org/news255709529.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Tue, 08 May 2012 15:26:05 EST news255709529 A basic tenet underpinning scientists' understanding of extinction is that more abundant species persist longer than their less abundant counterparts, but a new University of Georgia study reveals a much more complex relationship. http://phys.org/news255694524.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Tue, 08 May 2012 11:15:54 EST news255694524 (Phys.org) -- New research led by the University of Reading has revealed that finds at Glastonbury Abbey provide the earliest archaeological evidence of glass-making in Britain. http://phys.org/news255689036.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Tue, 08 May 2012 09:44:27 EST news255689036 Experts have long debated whether the sophisticated animal drawings in a famous French cave are indeed the oldest of their kind in the world, and a study out Monday suggests that yes, they are. http://phys.org/news255626138.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 07 May 2012 16:30:02 EST news255626138 (Phys.org) -- One of the world’s most important fossils has a story to tell about the brain evolution of modern humans and their ancestors, according to Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk. http://phys.org/news255611114.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 07 May 2012 15:00:24 EST news255611114 Scientists said Monday a new fossil discovery suggested Australia's dinosaurs were cosmopolitan globe-trotters, unlike the "unique weirdos" of its current wildlife. http://phys.org/news255584456.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Mon, 07 May 2012 04:41:14 EST news255584456 A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to a University of Iowa researcher. http://phys.org/news255409835.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Sat, 05 May 2012 04:50:01 EST news255409835 (AP) -- A new look at a 425-year-old map has yielded a tantalizing clue about the fate of the Lost Colony, the settlers who disappeared from North Carolina's Roanoke Island in the late 16th century. http://phys.org/news255313977.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 04 May 2012 01:40:01 EST news255313977 (AP) - Traces of blood and fragments of muscle, tendon, skin and hair found on 2,000-year-old stone knives have given researchers the first conclusive evidence that the obsidian blades were used for human sacrifice so long ago in Mexico. http://phys.org/news255279957.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 May 2012 16:50:01 EST news255279957 (Phys.org) -- A new University of Florida study that determined the age of skeletal remains provides evidence humans reached the Western Hemisphere during the last ice age and lived alongside giant extinct mammals. http://phys.org/news255278803.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 May 2012 15:47:00 EST news255278803 Sheep-sized ancient relatives of modern-day wombats lived in Australia’s treetops 15 million years ago, according to new research led by Dr Karen Black from the University of New South Wales. http://phys.org/news255239034.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 May 2012 04:45:22 EST news255239034 While we may brush and floss tirelessly and our dentists may regularly scrape and pick at our teeth to minimize the formation of plaque known as tartar or dental calculus, anthropologists may be rejoicing at the fact that past civilizations were not so careful with their dental hygiene. http://phys.org/news255190545.html Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 02 May 2012 15:16:57 EST news255190545