Flint chopping tools were used by early humans beginning 2.6 million years ago to break animal bones and release the high-calorie marrow inside, a study has found. Researchers led from Germany and Isreal analysed the function of 53 similar chopping tools found at the 400,000-year old site of Revadim, east of Ashdod. Each chopping tool … Read more
Excavations of a massive Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Northamptonshire have revealed thousands of beads and brooches, along with weapons, textiles and other goods. Experts from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) uncovered the burial site at Overstone Gate amid preparations of the 15 hectare area for construction. Over the course of 12 months, the team identified 154 Anglo-Saxon … Read more
Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a ritual bath, dating back to the time of Jesus, at Gethsemane — the place where Christ is said to have spent his last night. Isreal Antiquities Authority experts unearthed the remains — complete with the steps that would have led down into the water — at the foot … Read more
The remains of a two-year-old Neanderthal who died some 41,000 years ago had been lain carefully in a grave that was covered with fresh soil, a study has concluded. The poor child’s skeleton was unearthed in 1973 from a rock shelter at the La Ferrassie dig site in Savignac-de-Miremont, Dordogne, southwest France. Researchers from France re-examined the … Read more
Ancient Amazonians laid out their settlements in circles 700 years ago — with radiating mounds and roads as may have represented the cosmos — a study found. Experts led from Exeter used lidar-based sensing equipment mounted on helicopters to see below the canopy of the overlying rainforest in south Acre State, Brazil. The 35 mounded … Read more
After months of painstaking excavation work, the remains of a faithful dog of a long-vanished breed who was buried more than 8,400 years ago beside his master in a grave in Sweden have been revealed in their full glory. The Stone Age hound was unearthed by archaeologists in the Ljungaviken neighbourhood of Sölvesborg, Blekinge County back in late … Read more
Evidence for a Stone Age campsite — including flint tools and the charred remains of a 7,000-year-old hazelnut shell have been found in the New Forest. Archaeologists and volunteers from the National Park Authority and the University of Bournemouth carried out the excavations at the Beaulieu Estate in Hampshire. Destructive radiocarbon dating of the shell placed it and … Read more
An ancient ‘mega henge’ in Dorset was the product of frantic building activity — having been constructed in less than 125 years — a study has concluded. British researchers applied cutting-edge dating techniques to samples taken from the Mount Pleasant structure, located near Dorchester, back in the early seventies. The site was the product of a construction boom … Read more
Bison engravings discovered in Spanish caves reveal a common art culture existed across Europe over 25,000 years ago Experts analysed cave drawings from the Aitzbitarte Hill in the Basque Country The engravings — discovered in 2015 — also feature other animals such as birds The style of the drawings matches the so-called Gravettian cultural complex … Read more
Ancient Maya water purification system developed over 2,000 years ago in Guatemala ‘would still work today’, study shows By Ian Randall For Mailonline Published: 12:00 GMT, 26 October 2020 | Updated: 12:05 GMT, 26 October 2020 The ancient Maya people of Mesoamerica developed one of the world’s oldest water purification systems — and it would … Read more