https://phys.org/science-news/archaeology-fossils/ en-us The latest news on archaeology, archaeological research and archaeological advancements. Some 400 years ago, a member of the Indigenous Potano-Timucua tribe scooped up some clay and carefully molded it into a modest vessel, small enough to rest in the palm of their hand. You can imagine their fingers pressing a tight crease around the pot's simple rim and smoothing its dull gray surface, leaving it free of any adornment. We may never know exactly what the pot held or how many hands it passed through before it was excavated, still fully intact, by students at the University of Florida earlier this year. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-students-unearth-rare-centuries-pot.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:10:01 EDT news703868282 A team of international scientists led by Dr. Ariel Malinsky-Buller, together with Ph.D. students David Nora, Ioannis Oikonomou and Dominik Rogall from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has uncovered new insights into the strategic decision-making and survival techniques of Middle Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. The study, led by Nora, examined ancient stone tool fragments from Ararat-1 Cave in Armenia. Researchers mapped how early human populations adapted their technology to survive in a rugged and ecologically varied environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-stone-tools-reveal-complex.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news703862884 Researchers from the UAB have found the remains of a Roman camp linked to the suppression of the Ceretani revolt that took place in Cerdanya in 39 BCE. The research, based on archaeological surveys and the spatial distribution of recovered materials, provides new evidence placing these violent events within the ancestral territory of the Ceretani. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-redraws-roman-conquest-conflict.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:20:06 EDT news703857167 Iñaki Intxaurbe, a researcher at the EHU-University of the Basque Country, analyzed the distribution of images in nine caves in the Basque Country using network-based analysis and statistical techniques. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-animals-prehistoric-reveal-hidden-pattern.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:40:06 EDT news703857472 A new exhibition at the University of Nottingham Museum is bringing the prehistoric story of the Trent Valley to life, showcasing archaeological discoveries that are transforming understanding of one of Britain's most significant river landscapes. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-years-prehistoric-life-trent.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:40:07 EDT news703849621 A remarkable discovery has been made at the Givati Parking Lot excavations in the City of David, within Jerusalem Walls National Park. Excavations led by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University uncovered massive wooden beams that collapsed and burned during the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-burnt-wooden-jerusalem-temple-destruction.html Archaeology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news703851165 Archaeologists have uncovered a rare and intricate polychrome mosaic within the remains of a Roman villa beneath Devon farmland. Made up of thousands of red, white and dark blue-gray cubes, the 12 m2 (129 square feet) mosaic would have been a striking decorative floor feature in the villa when it was likely installed sometime in the 4th century A.D. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-archaeological-reveals-full-extent-roman.html Archaeology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news703759561 Nearly 40% of Canadian workers say they feel burned out often or always, according to a 2025 survey by Mental Health Research Canada and Canada Life. The term has become part of a broader lexicon of modern work, alongside quiet quitting, hustle culture and grindset and "taskmasking." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-burnout-isnt-18thcentury-farm-workers.html Archaeology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:20:04 EDT news703747801 Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of 7,000-year-old fish traps in the mountains of southern Norway, indicating that fish were intentionally introduced to upland lakes by Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers and showing that human management of nature was not limited to agricultural societies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-centuries-farming-hunter-fish-norwegian.html Archaeology Sun, 19 Jul 2026 19:00:01 EDT news703144536 The United Nations looks set to list a Biblical site, Lebanese castles, an antelope migration path and the world's deepest lake as world treasures under threat, including from war or climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sites-danger-conflict-climate.html Archaeology Sat, 18 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news703566692 In the mid-19th century, the remote island of St. Helena, located about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the southwestern coast of Africa, became a receiving point for thousands of enslaved Africans rescued from illegal slave ships by the British Royal Navy. Tragically, about 8,000 died shortly after arriving and were buried in unmarked graves in Rupert's Valley. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tooth-enamel-reveals-african-slaves.html Archaeology Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703497617 For decades, scientists have disputed the meaning of the weapons found in the burial chambers of some ancient Egyptian princesses. Were they symbolic or practical tools? Now, a reassessment of five royal women's mummies from the Middle Kingdom has shown that some princesses buried with weapons could use them. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bones-reveal-ancient-egyptian-princesses.html Archaeology Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:02 EDT news703402947 For decades, researchers have debated the subsistence strategies of precolonial societies in the Brazilian Cerrado (tropical savanna): Were they hunter-gatherers or intensive maize farmers, and in either case, how did they organize themselves and interact with the land they inhabited? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-large-precolonial-villages-brazilian-cerrado.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:05 EDT news703325677 Archaeological work conducted at the Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Priorat)—located within the Serra de Montsant Natural Park—between May 30 and June 28, 2026, has yielded important new evidence for understanding the prehistory of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The campaign was conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Prehistory at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Milà i Fontanals Institution for Research in the Humanities of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC-IMF). https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-transition-hunter-early-farming.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:00:04 EDT news703326110 A blacksmith, a stable boy, a soldier, a slave: The faces and stories of these and other residents of an ancient Roman city in modern Hungary have been brought to life in remarkable fidelity for a new exhibition in Budapest. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-rome-hungary-forgotten-life.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:40:02 EDT news703308008 Lithuania was famously the final pagan state in Europe. While the rest of the continent converted to Christianity, Lithuania remained officially pagan until Catholicism was adopted in AD 1387. Despite this, the extent to which Lithuania's population remained pagan or converted to Christianity was unclear, as was the extent of migration from the wider Christian world. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-pagan-state-diverse-medieval.html Archaeology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:00:02 EDT news702720625 Female farm managers are hidden in plain sight in ancient Roman texts, mentioned in laws, literature and grave inscriptions across five centuries. Modern historians have generally assumed they were housekeepers, in charge of domestic tasks and household meals, and segregated from the productive business of the farm. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-roman-farm-women-wine.html Archaeology Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:40:11 EDT news703245669 Researchers have reconstructed and transcribed a mathematical formula from the site of Xultun, Guatemala, revealing the name of a Maya astronomer for the first time. During the Classic period (250–900 CE), mathematics and astronomy were a key part of Maya society, with complex calculations based on calendar dates and astronomical observations influencing everything from the erection of monuments to the inauguration of kings and queens. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-maya-wall-astronomer-emerges.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:00:01 EDT news702638642 One of the many marvels of the Roman world is that some of its buildings are still with us. But why have they lasted for so long when some relatively modern structures are in a state of decay after a few decades? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-emperor-hadrian-latrines-durability-roman.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703166448 A team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen has developed a new framework for identifying the often-subtle signs of child abuse and neglect in antiquity. Previous osteoarchaeological studies have tended to focus on skeletal signs of severe physical injury, but this new research focuses on more subtle injuries and child neglect. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-uncovering-evidence-child-abuse-neglect.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news703156090 Buried in the rubble outside an ancient city, archaeologists have discovered golden diadems and mouthpieces stamped with sun-crowned bulls and running ibexes. Their designs borrow from nearly every corner of the ancient Mediterranean, providing a snapshot of ancient trade in one of history's first great ages of globalization. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-year-gold-diadems-mouth-pieces.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:20:07 EDT news703150118 Memories of pandemics are often contentious. They can be disputed, uncomfortable and politically charged. As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to feel more distant, governments, communities and families have started asking how it should be remembered. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-medieval-plague-survivors-left-graffiti.html Archaeology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:20:09 EDT news703152182 If you visit Scandinavia, you are likely to find yourself at an exhibition about Vikings. There are many to choose from. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-vikings-bearded-marauders-scandinavia-national.html Archaeology Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:00:04 EDT news702562833 They have been our meat and our messengers, a source of fertilizer and a religious symbol: while pigeons are now mostly reviled as dirty city pests, they long played an important role in human society. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-story-pigeons-humans-years.html Archaeology Sat, 11 Jul 2026 10:20:01 EDT news698555993 When archaeologists find adults and children buried together in medieval graves, it is often assumed that they were members of the same family. A new study from Stockholm University in Science Advances suggests otherwise. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ancient-dna-family-assumptions-medieval.html Archaeology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news702888069 A large cemetery containing the lavishly adorned remains of unidentified high-status individuals dating from around 2,000 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists from Archaeology South-East (UCL Institute of Archaeology). The completed excavations near Chelmsford, Essex, revealed the cremated remains of more than 100 individuals in a square, ditched enclosure mostly dating to the first century AD, bridging the transition to Roman rule in Britain following Emperor Claudius' invasion in AD 43. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-high-status-iron-age-burials.html Archaeology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:40:01 EDT news702901165 Adapting canonical literary classics into cinema is an inherently difficult task, as it requires walking a razor's edge between remaining faithful to the text and translating it into another medium. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-godfather-middlemarch-faithful.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:00:03 EDT news702814657 Lovesickness was taken seriously as a distinct mental illness by physicians in the medieval Islamic world, new research shows. Islamic scholars considered lovesickness, which they called ʿishq, to be different from melancholy—unlike Galen and other physicians from ancient Greece. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-medieval-islamic-societies-lovesickness-distinct.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:01:16 EDT news702835250 Major drought forced people to migrate across the Pacific beyond Samoa and Tonga and toward the Americas, scientists have discovered. With the new live-action "Moana" film hitting cinemas, a team of geographers and climate scientists from the Universities of Southampton and East Anglia has discovered the true history of the tale. The paper is published in the Journal of Pacific Archaeology. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-real-moana-story-polynesians-suddenly.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 16:20:11 EDT news702825661 An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has obtained the first close-up images of the wreck of Quest, the last ship of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, in the Labrador Sea. The images were obtained by WHOI's Falcon ROV and DSV Alvin, the first submersible to visit the wreck of Titanic 40 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-shackleton-ship-longer-sonar-shadow.html Archaeology Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:40:10 EDT news702807367