Strontium isotope maps are disturbed by agricultural lime

Strontium isotopes are frequently used in archaeological studies to establish the provenance and migration history of prehistoric people and artifacts. Many of these studies may be based on incorrect data. A Danish study ...

Tripolye 'mega-structures' were ancient community centers

So-called "mega-structures" in ancient Europe were public buildings that likely served a variety of economic and political purposes, according to a study released September 25, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by ...

Mapping the LGM refugia of deciduous oak and its distribution

Forests have important roles in the global water and biogeochemical cycles. Climate change has led to worldwide changes in forest distributions, especially in the mid-latitude regions. As one of the most important forest ...

How breastfeeding sparked population growth in ancient cities

Historians down the ages have examined the ebb and flow of populations in ancient societies. But most of these examinations have tended to focus on male dominated events—the wars, the politics and the money. But there is ...

Volunteering for cranial surgery in medieval Italy

Sometime in the period from the 6th to the 8th century, a woman willingly underwent surgery to scrape a hole into the top of her skull. The procedure must have gone well, at least well enough for her to survive and to try ...

page 3 from 6