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Archaeology news
First ancient herpesvirus genomes document their deep history with humans
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the ancient genomes of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old. The study, led by the University of Vienna ...
Archaeology
Jan 2, 2026
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Inside scoop: The 2,500-year history of ice-cream
We all scream for ice-cream, especially as temperatures soar in the summer. Ancient civilizations had the same desire for a cold, sweet treat to cope with heat waves.
Archaeology
Jan 2, 2026
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What were books like in ancient Greece and Rome?
If you were to visit a bookshop in the ancient world, what would it be like?
Archaeology
Jan 2, 2026
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Recent discovery reveals Africa's oldest cremation pyre and complex ritual practices
About 9,500 years ago, a community of hunter-gatherers in central Africa cremated a small woman on an open pyre at the base of Mount Hora, a prominent natural landmark in northern Malawi, according to a new study coauthored ...
Archaeology
Jan 1, 2026
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'Weights of gold in bullion': How the ancients invested in precious metals
"All I want is an income of 20,000 sesterces from secure investments," proclaims a character in a poem by Juvenal (1st–2nd century CE), the Roman poet.
Archaeology
Dec 30, 2025
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Scientists have uncovered evidence of Ireland's largest prehistoric hillfort settlement
In a recent study published in Antiquity, Dr. Dirk Brandherm and his colleagues identified more than 600 suspected house platforms in the Brusselstown Ring hillfort, making it the largest nucleated settlement ever discovered ...
Five lessons about misinformation from ancient Greek and Roman scientists
Ancient scientists can be easy to dismiss.
Archaeology
Dec 29, 2025
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Archaeology team uncovers lost mission site of Espiritu Santo
An archaeology team from Texas Tech University in collaboration with Texas Historical Commission archaeologists Kay Hindes, Jim Bruseth, Tiffany Osburn and Brad Jones found the lost site of Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu ...
Archaeology
Dec 29, 2025
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Ancient Puebloans kept macaws and parrots in great houses for ceremonial use
In a recent study, Dr. Katelyn Bishop conducted a zooarchaeological and archival data reanalysis of macaws and parrots recovered from Chaco Canyon to better understand their depositional contexts, material associations, and ...
Ancient bone arrow points reveal organized craft production in prehistoric Argentina
For decades, research and understanding of the diverse bone raw material used by the Late Prehispanic Period (~1220 to 330 cal BP) people of the Sierras de Córdoba were scarce. However, Dr. Matías Medina and his colleagues, ...
What Renaissance readers left behind in haircare books
What if the pages of an old book could tell us who touched them, what medicines they made, and even how their bodies responded to treatment?
Archaeology
Dec 28, 2025
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Humans made fire 350,000 years earlier than believed, archaeological study finds
A team of researchers led by the British Museum has unearthed the oldest known evidence of fire-making, dating back more than 400,000 years, in a field in Suffolk. The discovery shows humans were making fire about 350,000 ...
Archaeology
Dec 27, 2025
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Chinchorro mummification may have originated as a form of art therapy, study suggests
In a recent study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Dr. Bernardo Arriaza argues that the practice of artificial mummification among the Chinchorro people may have evolved as a response to high infant mortality ...
How did Bronze Age plague spread? A sheep might solve the mystery
In the Middle Ages, a plague killed a third of Europe's population. Fleas carried the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, transmitting the Black Death from infected rats to millions of people.
Archaeology
Dec 26, 2025
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New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians descend from two groups who arrived 60,000 years ago, research suggests
A collaboration between the University of Huddersfield's Archaeogenetics Research Group and the University of Southampton's Center for Maritime Archaeology, has clarified the first settlement of New Guinea and Australia by ...
Archaeology
Dec 25, 2025
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Archaeologists discover unique mosaic patolli board at Guatemalan Maya city
In a study published in Latin American Antiquity, Dr. Julien Hiquet and Dr. Rémi Méreuze analyzed the remains of a unique mosaic-style patolli game board discovered in the Classic Period city of Naachtun, Guatemala.
We discovered an ancient 'party boat' in the waters of Alexandria. Here's what might have happened on board
Beneath the shifting waters of Alexandria's eastern harbor, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, lie the drowned remnants of a once-splendid city—ports, palaces and temples swallowed by the sea. Submerged by earthquakes and ...
Archaeology
Dec 23, 2025
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Ancient pottery workshop reveals Iron Age production chain
Ceramics are one of the most important sources of information for archaeologists. Yet how these objects are produced, especially in the firing stage, has received little attention to date. The excavation of a well-preserved ...
Archaeology
Dec 23, 2025
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Toddlers with facial tattoos: How Christianity expanded body art in Nile Valley civilizations
Ancient Nubians who lived between the 7th and 9th centuries tattooed the cheeks and foreheads of their infants and toddlers. This surprising discovery was made during a systematic survey of more than 1,000 human remains from ...
Simulations explore Neanderthal and modern human encounters in ancient Europe
Using a specially developed simulation model, researchers at the University of Cologne have traced and analyzed the dynamics of possible encounters between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans on the Iberian Peninsula ...
Archaeology
Dec 22, 2025
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