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Archaeology news
Cannabis was used as an intoxicant as early as 2,800 years ago
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used psychoactive plants today. However, it is difficult to determine archaeologically how cannabis was used in prehistoric times. Plant parts such as flowers, leaves and resins are perishable ...
Archaeology
33 minutes ago
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Mystery origin of iconic Stonehenge Altar Stone deepens as search narrows
The hunt for the source of Stonehenge's mysterious Altar Stone has entered a new phase after scientists ruled out several previously proposed locations and moved a step closer to identifying its origins.
Archaeology
2 hours ago
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Archaeologists uncover possible 19th-century castaway camp on island 'at the end of the world'
On a desolate island at the end of the world, battered by freezing winds, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a possible 19th-century castaway camp that may have belonged to a renowned Argentine sailor and his shipwrecked ...
Centuries-old cemetery helps scientists link climate shocks to Industrial Revolution disease
During England's Industrial Revolution, when the country's farming-based economy transformed into an industrial one between roughly 1760 and 1840, pollution, harsh working conditions, inadequate housing and limited access ...
Archaeology
14 hours ago
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Ancient coins suggest influential Iron Age king was female
Bournemouth University (BU) archaeological research has revealed that Iron Age British ruler "Verica," who was central to the Roman invasion of Britain in A.D. 43, was in fact a woman. This discovery rewrites the history ...
Archaeology
19 hours ago
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Hundreds of Ice Age rock art engravings discovered hidden in plain sight
Archaeologists have discovered the third-largest assemblage of Ice Age cave art ever found in Mediterranean Iberia in a region thought devoid of cave art, transforming our knowledge of Paleolithic European art.
Archaeology
20 hours ago
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A 7,000-year-old piece of leather reveals a deep history of Spanish goats
Ancient DNA reveals that denizens of the Iberian Peninsula made leather from domestic goats as far back as 7,000 years ago, according to a study published Nov. 4, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Jolijn A. M. Erven of University ...
Archaeology
Nov 4, 2026
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Ancient DNA traces origins of English, German and Scandinavian languages
English, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages are all members of the Germanic language group, spoken by hundreds of millions of people today. But where did these languages come from?
Archaeology
Nov 4, 2026
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CT scans reveal four-letter code to 400-year-old lock from Welsh shipwreck
Experts from Amgueddfa Cymru and Cardiff University have used cutting-edge CT scanning technology to unlock a centuries-old combination lock recovered from one of Wales' most remarkable maritime discoveries.
Archaeology
Nov 4, 2026
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Who killed British archaeologist James Starkey? Archival records shed light on an 88-year-old mystery
Eighty-eight years after pioneering British archaeologist Starkey was shot dead while traveling from the ancient city of Lachish to Jerusalem, researchers say they have uncovered compelling new evidence explaining who was ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Scarcer food may have pushed early humans to rework stone tools for longer use
About 300,000 years ago, the emergence of the first Homo sapiens in Africa was accompanied by major cultural and technological changes, marking the beginning of a new archaeological period, the Middle Stone Age. At that time, ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Stone Age hunters in northern Europe may have used poison arrows to hunt big prey
Autumn walks in Britain are glorious, as the foliage changes color and cool, crisp air begins to bite. However, some of these European trees hide a much darker secret. For example, the yew tree's lovely red arils—the cup-shaped ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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The marginalia found in millions of Arabic manuscripts could reshape our understanding of Islamic history
For a comprehensive understanding of the content of millions of Arabic manuscripts held in libraries around the world, it is crucial for scholars to first examine what their marginalia reveal, according to a new study published ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Cold without consequences? Short-term climate fluctuations appear to have had less impact on early farmers
Cold conditions may not have been responsible for the centuries-long pause in the spread of farming across south-eastern Europe during prehistory, according to a new study by the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) in ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Boat burial reveals leprosy strain in fifth-century Germany
Visigothic and Vandal forces marched into Italy and conquered Rome; the Huns spread fear and terror on their campaigns through Western Europe; the Franks expanded their domain southward—the fifth century was an era of profound, ...
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Forgotten flint tools reveal how Egypt's farmers organized work before the pharaohs
More than a century after they were excavated from beneath Cairo, almost 3,000 stone tools from Heliopolis show that specialized work was already reshaping village life before Egypt became a state.
Archaeology
Nov 3, 2026
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Analysis of Inca mummies identifies the drugs used in their most important sacrificial ritual
Archaeologists have performed toxicological analysis on the mummified remains of people sacrificed at mountain shrines across the Inca Empire, revealing the psychoactive substances they consumed before their deaths.
Archaeology
Nov 2, 2026
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Early humans needed more than access to water to settle ancient Arabian deserts
Models of early population migrations assume people moved to places with easy access to water. But this assumption has left us with a fascinating mystery in ancient Arabia. Despite evidence that monsoon rains once filled ...
2,700-year-old mummy head yields first molecular evidence linking aloe to Egyptian embalming
What materials did ancient Egyptians use to preserve the dead, and how can their composition still be investigated thousands of years later? An interdisciplinary team at Marburg University has combined modern natural product ...
Archaeology
Nov 1, 2026
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Rare Iron Age Celtic helmet discovered in northeastern Poland far from its homeland
Around 2,400 years ago, at Łysa Góra in Poland, a group of people took a bronze helmet, crushed it, broke it into pieces and threw it into a pit with iron adzes and a scythe. Such helmets are sometimes found in lavish graves ...
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