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Archaeology news
Ochre used in ancient graves in Finland reflects identity of deceased
Roughly 5,500–6,000 years ago, the area including present-day Finland was inhabited by hunter-fisher-gatherers living in small village-like clusters. Traveling via waterways, these people established permanent fishing systems, ...
Archaeology
18 hours ago
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In ancient Mesopotamia, what was a ziggurat?
A ziggurat (also spelled ziqqurat) was a raised platform with four sloping sides that looked like a tiered pyramid.
Archaeology
22 hours ago
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Hafted stone tools in China suggest early hominins were more inventive than thought
A newly excavated archaeological site in central China is reshaping long-held assumptions about early hominin behavior in Eastern Asia. Led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers conducted ...
Archaeology
Jan 27, 2026
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The Great Mongolian Road: Japanese Imperial Army maps reveal first detailed documentation
In a study published in the Journal of Historical Geography, researchers Dr. Chris McCarthy and his colleagues have documented, for the first time, the Great Mongolian Road, a major yet understudied east-west caravan route ...
Scientists recover the oldest wooden tools from a site in Greece
Two artifacts found at a lake shore in Greece are the oldest wooden tools to be uncovered so far and date back 430,000 years.
Archaeology
Jan 26, 2026
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The masters behind Bronze Age rock art
For more than 200 years, Nordic Bronze Age rock art has sparked the interest of academics. Yet we still know surprisingly little about the individuals who carved these figures into the rock. A new doctoral dissertation at ...
Archaeology
Jan 26, 2026
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South African San rock art reveals trance dances and initiation ceremonies
In a study published in Telestes, Dr. Joshua Kumbani and Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu categorized the various dance scenes depicted in South African rock art, drawing on ethnographic sources, published studies, and the comprehensive ...
Humanity's oldest known cave art has been discovered in Sulawesi
When we think of the world's oldest art, Europe usually comes to mind, with famous cave paintings in France and Spain often seen as evidence this was the birthplace of symbolic human culture. But new evidence from Indonesia ...
Archaeology
Jan 24, 2026
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Refined radiocarbon dating provides clearer timeline of human activity along Cantabrian coast 18,000 years ago
A new study refines radiocarbon dating of marine remains and significantly improves the precision with which the human past of the Magdalenian period in the Cantabrian region of Spain can be reconstructed, a key phase of ...
Archaeology
Jan 23, 2026
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Social networks spanned thousands of square kilometers during the Upper Paleolithic period, study finds
Researchers from several European institutions, led by scientists from the University of Barcelona and the University of Alcalá, have demonstrated that the hunter-gatherers who inhabited the interior of the Iberian Peninsula ...
Archaeology
Jan 22, 2026
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5,500-year-old skeleton yields oldest evidence yet of syphilis-related bacteria
Scientists have recovered a genome of Treponema pallidum—the bacterium whose subspecies today are responsible for four treponemal diseases, including syphilis—from 5,500-year-old human remains in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia. ...
Archaeology
Jan 22, 2026
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Prehistoric tool made from elephant bone is the oldest discovered in Europe
A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analyzed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London.
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2026
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A wild potato that changed the story of agriculture in the American Southwest
Starchy residue preserved in ancient stone tools may rewrite the story of crop domestication in the American Southwest, according to research led by the University of Utah.
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2026
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Iron Age dental plaque reveals Scythians consumed milk from horses and ruminants
Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from ...
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2026
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World's oldest rock art holds clues to early human migration to Australia
A hand stencil on the wall of a cave in Indonesia has become the oldest known rock art in the world, exceeding the archaeologists' previous discovery in the same region by 15,000 years or more.
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2026
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Neanderthals took reusable toolkits with them on high-altitude treks through the Alps
When Neanderthals in Italy were crossing the Alps, it's likely they took refuge in high-altitude bear caves. A new study of stone tools in Caverna Generosa, a cave sitting 1,450 meters up in the mountains, found that these ...
Olympic visitors to Milan get a rare chance to glimpse restoration of a long-hidden Leonardo gem
In honor of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Milan cultural officials are for a brief time only allowing visitors access to a long-hidden wall and ceiling painting by Leonardo da Vinci while restoration work is underway.
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2026
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Ancient Jordan mass grave reveals human impact of first known pandemic
"A plague is upon us'' may have been a common phrase in ancient Jordan, where countless people perished from a mysterious malady that would shape both a society and an era of civilization.
Archaeology
Jan 20, 2026
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Anglo-Saxon center unearthed near Skipsea castle
Archaeologists working near Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire say a series of rare discoveries is transforming understanding of life in the centuries before the Norman Conquest.
Archaeology
Jan 20, 2026
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Ancient Mesopotamian medical texts reveal the role of divine sanctuaries in treating ear and spleen ailments
In a study published in the journal Iraq, Dr. Troels Arbøll analyzed medical prescriptions from ancient Mesopotamia to understand and re-evaluate the role sanctuaries played in the healing process. The study found that specific ...
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