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Archaeology news
Inside Europe's largest Copper Age tomb, children's bones expose an ancient health crisis hidden for 5,000 years
Nearly 5,000 years ago, respiratory infections, possibly including tuberculosis, were ravaging the children buried at Camino del Molino (CMOL), Spain. The massive circular burial cave carved into rock is Europe's largest ...
British naked chalk giant gets spruced up
Getting hot and sweaty in a British heat wave, volunteers from home and abroad have been hard at work all week to restore a historic naked chalk giant dubbed "Rude Man" on a hillside in southwest England.
Archaeology
17 hours ago
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Unearthing Namibia's forgotten genocide through forensic archaeology
The Namibian genocide was one of the first genocides of the 20th century. Between 1904 and 1908, tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people were killed under German colonial rule.
Archaeology
May 28, 2026
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Green stones buried with Panama's ancient chiefs confirmed as Colombian emeralds
More than 1,000 years ago, Panama elites were buried together with translucent green stones long suspected to be emeralds. However, scientific analysis confirming the suspicion has never been conducted. Now, scientists have ...
Researchers link specific microbiomes to archaeological bone degradation
Well-preserved archaeological bone samples have different microbial communities than heavily degraded bone samples, providing a new understanding of how microbes contribute to bone degradation, according to a study published ...
Archaeology
May 27, 2026
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Beyond Anglo‑Saxons, Celts and Vikings: DNA uncovers a dynamic history of migration to Britain
Each of us tells a story about who we are, often tracing our identity back through an imagined line of ancestors. Though identity is fundamentally cultural, we tend to anchor it in biology—in the idea of a stable genetic ...
Archaeology
May 26, 2026
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Ancient DNA rewrites the story of a historical Sámi burial
A new study by the University of Turku and partners provides fresh insights into an individual buried near Lake Kitka in Kuusamo, Finland, at the turn of the 17th century (c. 1600 CE). DNA and isotope analyses show that the ...
Archaeology
May 26, 2026
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Ancient anesthetic reveals Ming China's sophisticated medicine
Microscopic analysis of residues on surgical scissors and tweezers from a 1348–1411 CE tomb in Jiangyin, China, finds the first evidence for the controlled application of a highly toxic chemical as anesthetic, highlighting ...
Archaeology
May 25, 2026
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Payre fossils from Europe's earliest Neanderthals reveal dynamic evolution shaped by climatic oscillations
The Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) has led the international team behind a new study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences exploring the complex evolution of Neanderthals ...
Archaeology
May 25, 2026
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'Patchwork families' existed more than 5,000 years ago, Neolithic DNA reveals
Children from previous relationships growing up as siblings in a new family, couples adopting or fostering children: So-called patchwork families are a widespread way of life today. It is considered modern, but is in fact ...
Archaeology
May 24, 2026
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The first signs of human cremation may date back 100,000 years
The latest discoveries by an international research team, which includes Academy Research Fellow Ferhat Kaya from the University of Oulu, Finland, offer a detailed view of how early humans lived, moved, and adapted to their ...
Archaeology
May 23, 2026
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The Bayeux Tapestry tells only the winner's story—but the other side can be found in old English texts
As the Bayeux Tapestry comes to London, the year 1066 and the Norman Conquest are in the spotlight. The tapestry—an embroidered cloth nearly 70 meters long, created soon after the events it depicts—tells the story of the ...
Archaeology
May 22, 2026
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Ancient DNA reveals web of marriage and migration in Peru centuries before Inca rule
Long-distance migration along Peru's Pacific coast began at least 800 years ago, centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire and much earlier than previously thought, a new international study reveals.
Archaeology
May 22, 2026
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Romania dig uncovers 350-square-meter megastructure in 45-house prehistoric settlement
Researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have found new indications of how large prehistoric settlements were organized. Their research focused on a special type of building known as a megastructure. ...
Archaeology
May 21, 2026
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Flint reveals changes in human mobility in the southern Pyrenees during the Upper Paleolithic
Analysis of more than 3,000 lithic artifacts from the Cova Gran de Santa Linya site (Les Avellanes-Santa Linya, Lleida) shows that anatomically modern human communities occupying the southern Pyrenees during the Upper Paleolithic ...
Archaeology
May 21, 2026
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Friend or foul? Exploring the ancient bond between pigeons and people
Examination of pigeon bones from Late Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus indicates they were already semi-domesticated as early as c. 1400 BCE, pushing back direct evidence for pigeon domestication almost 1,000 years and ...
Archaeology
May 20, 2026
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Contemporary archaeologists dig into the present—bringing those so often forgotten into the light
The classic image of an archaeologist is of someone unearthing a potsherd in Pompeii or opening a Viking grave to better understand the distant past. Yet the same methods can also be applied to our own time—a field known ...
Archaeology
May 20, 2026
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How climate change is destroying Arctic cultural heritage sites
Climate change is rapidly destroying cultural heritage sites across the Arctic, as exemplified in a 17th century "whalers' graveyard" which provides invaluable insights into early whalers' way of life, according to a study ...
Archaeology
May 20, 2026
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Portugal burial reveals first known bone dental bridge in national archaeological record
The first documented case of a fixed bone bridge unearthed in Portugal was presented in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology by researchers Ms. Steffi Vassallo and her colleagues. The item is estimated to date to ...
How a 4,000-year-old city defied history's 'rules' by becoming more equal as it became more successful
For decades, historians have generally agreed that the progress of small villages as they evolved into cities came at the price of widening inequality. A small group of leaders, kings and priests, would inevitably seize control ...
Archaeology
May 19, 2026
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