Stone Pages Archaeo News: May 2013 Archives

May 2013 index:

11 May 2013: First Australians may have been migrants; The prehistoric settlement of Australia has long been considered a simple story: a founding group of 150 people or fewer made it to the Australian mainland 50 millennia ago and...
: Ancient burial chamber found in Oman; An international team of archaeologists has stumbled upon a cache of relics dating back several millennia in the northern Omani enclave of Musandam. The discovery, which was made in the...
: Use of fertilizers 5,000 years ago in Scandinavia; Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have spent many years studying the remains of a Stone Age community in Karleby outside the town of Falköping (Sweden). The researchers have for...
12 May 2013: Neolithic Scotland investigations; A research project undertaken between 1994 and 2003 examined the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age occupation around the Bay of Firth in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of...
: Astronomical alignment at Peruvian pyramid; Hundreds of years ago, anyone descending the valley toward the site of Cerro del Gentil at the time of the winter solstice would have seen the sun set directly behind...
13 May 2013: 40,000 boxes of Neolithic artifacts locked in Turkish warehouse; Marmaray Metro Project consists of the construction of an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait in Turkey as well as the modernization of rail lines along the Sea of...
: Neanderthals were right handed; Eleven of the 13 Neanderthals who lived in northern Spain's El Sidron cave were right-handed, indicating that these cousins of modern humans had a brain structure similar to that of...
: Reconstruction of the face of an ancient Maltese woman; Heritage Malta surprised guests at the Malta Fashion Week with an exhibition entitled 'Jewellery through the times' showing that Malta's first residents were not the aggressive, dirty individuals with unkempt...
14 May 2013: Making of Europe unlocked by DNA; DNA sequenced from 39 ancient skeletons suggests the foundations of the modern European gene pool were laid down between 4000 and 2000 BCE, in Neolithic times - likely by the...
: Indus civilization: a melting pot with powerful women; The sophisticated Indus Valley civilisation - which flourished four millennia ago in what is now Pakistan and western India - remains tantalisingly mysterious. At its peak, its settlements spanned an...
: Beaker burial ground uncovered in Scotland; Human remains and earthen vessels dating to the Bronze Age 'Beaker' settlers were uncovered at Duns Law, in southeast Scotland. The finds are estimated to be 4500 years old. Simon...
18 May 2013: Evolutionary answers from prehistoric ear bones; According to a recent study, the bones of the middle ear could provide huge clues about our evolution and the development of modern-day humans. Darryl de Ruiter, a professor in...
: The mysterious mounds of Nicaragua; National Geographic explorer and archaeologist Alex Geurds is currently in the field investigating a prehistoric, ceremonial center of stone circles in Central Nicaragua. Researchers will be working for the next...
: Dismembered dogs point to ancient initiation rite; Did Bronze Age initiation rites for boys 'destined' to become warriors involve animal sacrifice? At first, archaeologists Dorcas Brown and David Anthony were deeply puzzled. While excavating the Bronze Age...
20 May 2013: Scottish island hints at undiscovered burial sites; Evidence of previously undiscovered historic burial sites may have been found on the Scottish island of Iona. A geophysical survey revealed signs of burial to the south of the village,...
: Agriculture may predate rice in subtropical China; Using a new method of analysis on ancient grinding stones, archaeologists in southern subtropical China have discovered evidence that people living in Xincun 5000 years ago may have practised agriculture...
: Ancient burials uncovered in Amesbury; Archaeologists have discovered previously unknown round barrows dating back 4000 years to the Bronze Age, just a few miles from Stonehenge. The finds, which also include six Pagan Saxon skeletons...
22 May 2013: Minoans originated in Europe, not Egypt; The Minoan culture - famous for the myth of the half-man, half-bull, Minotaur in the labyrinth - emerged on the Mediterranean island of Crete, and flourished for more than a...
: Star Carr finds exhibited together for the first time; Deer skull head-dresses, a wooden paddle, bone harpoons, and amber and shale jewellery - some of the most remarkable and complete finds from Britain's Stone Age - will be assembled...
: Neolithic site revealed in China; New archaeological discoveries in Yuyao city, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, provide a clearer picture of life in China's Neolithic age. Archaeologists are completing a 10-year dig in Tianluo Mountain...
24 May 2013: Neolithic hut re-construction in Wiltshire; Old Sarum has been chosen as the site for the re-construction of three Neolithic huts, in an attempt to understand what they looked like and how they worked. Different construction...
: Stone Age hunter-scavengers; Evidence has been brought to light that our Stone Age ancestors developed techniques in hunter-scavenging, to fuel their evolution. The research study was carried out by a team from Baylor...
: Remains of ancient oak boat found in Ireland; On the River Boyne, in the republic of Ireland, near Drogheda, a team from the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service came across an interesting discovery when they were out...
25 May 2013: Who invented clothes?; Becky Wragg Sykes, a postdoctoral researcher working on Neanderthal archaeology, reveals some of the history of clothing. People were already making finely worked bone needles 20,000 years ago - probably...
: New insights on prehistoric dog burials; Analysis of ancient dog burials finds that the typical prehistoric dog owner ate a lot of fish, had spiritual beliefs, and wore jewellery. The study is one of the first...
: Thousands of ancient cave paintings found in Mexico; Archaeologists in Mexico have found 4,926 well-preserved cave paintings in the north-eastern region of Burgos - previously thought not to have been inhabited by ancient cultures. The images in red,...
26 May 2013: Did Japanese fishermen reach America 5000 years ago?; Differences and similarities in pottery decorations can offer clues about cultural relationships over space and through time. Residues on pots reveal important clues to how people used their pottery. An...
: Submerged structure in Sea of Galilee stumps archaeologists; A massive circular structure at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee (Israel) has puzzled researchers who have been unable to excavate it. Now archaeologists are trying to raise money...
: Bronze Age boat reconstruction is changing view of era; Professor Van de Noort, along with shipwright Brian Cumby, was the driving force behind a project to build the first full-size replica of a boat used around British shores 4,000...
27 May 2013: Baby Neanderthal breast-fed for 7 months; A baby Neanderthal who lived in what is now Belgium about 100,000 years ago started eating solid food at 7 months old, revealing a new aspect of the evolution of...
: Why our early ancestors took to two feet; A new study by archaeologists at the University of York (UK) challenges evolutionary theories behind the development of our earliest ancestors from tree dwelling quadrupeds to upright bipeds capable of...
31 May 2013: Apulian dolmen under constant threat by vandals; Vandals are keeping damaging and defacing a 3600-year-old monument in Southern Italy. Members of 'Puglia Scoperta', a local cultural association, reported that during their recent visit to the La Chianca...
: Climate change - prehistoric style; In an extract from 'The Origin of the Species', Charles Darwin wrote that "Climate plays an important part in determining the average numbers of a species, and periodical seasons of...