The Archaeology News Network

New discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Archaeologists have made a discovery in southern subtropical China which could revolutionise thinking about how ancient humans lived in the region. They have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practised agriculture -- before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region. Xincun site under excavation [Credit: Dr Jun Wei] Current archaeological thinking is that it was the...

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New archaeological area declared near Athens

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

The peninsula of Cape Zoster, now called Mikro Kavouri “protects the modern yacht harbor and bathing beaches of Vouliagmeni. Near its base is the ‘laimos’, the low, sandy neck of land on which stood the temple of Apollo Zoster and other near-by ancient buildings. From the ‘laimos’ southward the peninsula rises to form rocky peaks. Immediately south of the ‘laimos’ and the temple of Apollo is a wooded hill now belonging to the Astir...

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Saxon skeletons unearthed near Stonehenge

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Archaeologists have discovered six pagan Saxon skeletons dating back over 1,000 years on a housing development site just a few miles from Stonehenge. Six pagan Saxon skeletons unearthed at a housing development site just a few miles from Stonehenge [Credit: Dash24] The discoveries, which also include round barrows dating back to the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, were unearthed at a redundant brownfield development site in...

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Site provides clearer picture of China's ancient past

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

New archaeological discoveries in Yuyao city, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, provide a clearer picture of life in China's Neolithic age and confirm that the nation originated the practice of paddy cultivation. The archaeological site of Hemudu [Credit: WikiCommons] Archaeologists are completing a 10-year dig in Tianluo Mountain, which demonstrates a clear layout of typical Neolithic tribes, Sun Guoping, captain of the...

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Tamil Brahmi script dating to 500 BC found near Erode

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

In a major find that throws evidence to Erode’s connection to Tamil Brahmi era, a research team of Pondicherry University found several pot shells containing Tamil Brahmi letters dating to 500 BC at Kodumanal near Chennimalai. Workshop where ornaments were manufactured [Credit: |Express] A team of students from Pondicherry University, led by Dr K Rajan and TN archaeological department assistant director Subramaniam, has been...

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Cemetery reveals baby making season in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

The peak period for baby-making sex in ancient Egypt was in July and August, when the weather was at its hottest. An infant burial from Kellis, Dakhleh, Egypt [Credit: Lana Williams/LiveScience] Researchers made this discovery at a cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt whose burials date back around 1,800 years. The oasis is located about 450 miles (720 kilometers) southwest of Cairo. The people buried in the cemetery lived in...

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Viking-era coins unearthed by Danish teenager

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins. Coins from Bohemia, Germany, Denmark and England were discovered during an archaeological dig last year; the coins were originally discovered by a Danish teenager using a metal detector [Credit: Stokke Brothers/AP] Danish National Museum spokesman Jens Christian Moesgaard says the coins have a...

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New x-ray system to yield secrets of 'unopenable' scrolls

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Pioneering X-ray technology is making it possible to read fragile rolled-up historical documents for the first time in centuries. Technique works by scanning parchment with x-rays [Credit: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council] Old parchment is often extremely dry and liable to crack and crumble if any attempt is made to physically unroll or unfold it. The new technology, however, eliminates the need to do so by...

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Genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:30:00 +0000

How can the Tibetan antelope live at elevations of 4,000-5,000m on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau? Investigators rom Qinghai University, BGI, and other institutes now provide evidence of genetic factors that may be associated with the species' adaption to harsh highland environments. The data in this work will also provide implications for studying specific genetic mechanisms and the biology of other ruminant species. Tibetan...

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The eloquence of the otoliths

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Fish fossils that are about 23 million years old give unprecedented insight into the evolutionary history of the gobioid order, one of the most species-rich groups among the modern bony fishes. Gobioid fish fossil from Southern France [Credit:Christoph Gierl et al. An Extraordinary Gobioid Fish Fossil from Southern France. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (5): e64117 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064117] Researchers led by paleontologist Professor...

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Prehistoric creature with scissor hand-like claws named after actor

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

A scientist has discovered an ancient extinct creature with scissor hand-like claws in fossil records and named it in honour of movie star. Kooteninchela deppi [Credit: Imperial College Londo] The 505 million year old fossil called Kooteninchela deppi which is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, was named after the actor Johnny Depp for his starring role as Edward Scissorhands - a movie about an artificial man named...

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World’s most extraordinary species mapped for the first time

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Scientists pinpointed areas of the world where Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) mammals and amphibians occur. Regions containing the highest concentrations of these species are highlighted as global conservation priorities. The research paper is published today (15th May) in PLOS ONE. Black and white ruffed lemur eating fruit [Credit: WikiCommons] The map reveals that high priority conservation areas for...

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Carbon storage in Arctic tundra reveals insight into ecosystem resiliency

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:00:00 +0000

When UC Santa Barbara doctoral student Seeta Sistla and her adviser, environmental studies professor Josh Schimel, went north not long ago to study how long-term warming in the Arctic affects carbon storage, they had made certain assumptions. The U.S. Arctic LTER greenhouse in peak autumn and early winter [Credit: Sadie Iverson (autumn), and Josh Schimel (winter)] "We expected that because of the long-term warming, we would...

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World’s biggest ice sheets likely more stable than previously believed

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:30:00 +0000

For decades, scientists have used ancient shorelines to predict the stability of today's largest ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Markings of a high shoreline from three million years ago, for example -- when Earth was going through a warm period -- were thought to be evidence of a high sea level due to ice sheet collapse at that time. This assumption has led many scientists to think that if the world's largest ice sheets...

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World’s melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

While 99 percent of Earth's land ice is locked up in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the remaining ice in the world's glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009, says a new study led by Clark University and involving the University Colorado Boulder. Melt from Alaska's Columbia Glacier and other glaciers around the world contributed as much to global sea rise as the...

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Weather on the outer planets only goes so deep

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

What is the long-range weather forecast for the giant planets Uranus and Neptune? These planets are home to extreme winds blowing at speeds of over 1000 km/hour, hurricane-like storms as large around as Earth, immense weather systems that last for years and fast-flowing jet streams. Both planets feature similar climates, despite the fact that Uranus is tipped on its side with the pole facing the sun during winter. The winds on these...

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New method proposed for detecting gravitational waves from ends of universe

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000

A new window into the nature of the universe may be possible with a device proposed by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno and Stanford University that would detect elusive gravity waves from the other end of the cosmos. Their paper describing the device and process was published in the prestigious physics journal Physical Review Letters. A simulation of merging black holes [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ O. Krause (Steward...

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Galaxy's ring of fire

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:30:00 +0000

Johnny Cash may have preferred this galaxy's burning ring of fire to the one he sang about falling into in his popular song. The "starburst ring" seen at center in red and yellow hues is not the product of love, as in the song, but is instead a frenetic region of star formation. How many rings do you see in this new image of the galaxy Messier 94, also known as NGC 4736? While at first glance one might see a number of them,...

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Asteroid 1998 QE2 to sail past Earth nine times larger than cruise ship

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at...

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Sacramento dig unearths Miwok artifacts

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Archaeologists have been huddled along Highway 101 north of Novato for the past month sifting the dirt for clues about how humans survived hundreds of years ago. Sacramento State Archaeological Research Center staff and Caltrans crews dig for Indian artifacts on Thursday, May 16, 2013, along Highway 101 in Novato, Calif. [Credit: IJ/Robert Tong] Arrowheads, parts of grinding bowls, stone tools and shells are some of what was...

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Billion-year-old water could hold clues to life on Earth and Mars

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

A UK-Canadian team of scientists has discovered ancient pockets of water, which have been isolated deep underground for billions of years and contain abundant chemicals known to support life. The water found in the Ontario mine is at least 1.5 billion years old [Credit: J Telling] This water could be some of the oldest on the planet and may even contain life. Not just that, but the similarity between the rocks that trapped it and...

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1,400 year old remains of Nubian soldier found

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Archaeologists found the 1,400-year-old remains of a Nubian soldier in Aswan, a city in southern Egypt, Minister of State for Antiquities Ahmed Eisa said. Archaeologists found the 1,400-year-old remains of a Nubian soldier in Aswan, a city in southern Egypt [Credit: EFE/Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities] The soldier's remains were discovered in a field that dates to the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Age near the...

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Medieval church found beneath Lincoln Castle

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

A previously undiscovered church, thought to be at least 1,000 years old, has been found beneath Lincoln Castle. Archaeologist Cecily Spall from FAS Heritage uncovers one of the skeletons [Credit: Lincolnshire County Council] It is believed the stone church was built in the Anglo-Saxon period, after the Romans left Britain and before the Norman conquest of 1066. Lincolnshire County Council said the find was unexpected...

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Light cast on lifestyle and diet of first New Zealanders

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

A University of Otago-led multidisciplinary team of scientists have shed new light on the diet, lifestyles and movements of the first New Zealanders by analysing isotopes from their bones and teeth. Isotopic study sheds light on the diet, lifestyles and movements of New Zealand's first settlers [Credit: Veer Images] In research published today in the international journal PLOS ONE, the team are able to identify what is likely to...

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Roman temple dig to restart in Maryport

noreply@blogger.com (TANN) — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The Senhouse Roman Museum will begin its third summer of excavation next month on the site next to the Roman fort. Excavations on site at Maryport set to resume this summer [Credit: Newcastle University] The museum is working in collaboration with the University of Newcastle and the Camp Farm landowners Hadrian’s Wall Trust and from June 10, Professor Ian Haynes from the university and Tony Wilmott of English Heritage will return...

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