Archaeology news

• Audio News for November 24th through the 30th, 2024

  02-12-2024 15:48 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:European Pleistocene lithics mark key development in human technological evolution(details)(details)Newly uncovered ancient dams showcase Liangzhu's advanced hydraulic engineering(details) Pre-Columbian fishery system discovered in Belize sustained thousands(details)(details)Footprints in Kenya reveal coexistence of multiple hominin species(details)(details)
  
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• Audio News for November 17th through the 23rd, 2024

  25-11-2024 18:03 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Newly discovered alphabet could be oldest in human history(details)Cutting-edge imaging reveals hidden text in legendary Blue Qur'an(details)New statistics technique better detehttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241119181845.htmBermuda dig reveals forgotten Colonial-era history(details)
  
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• Audio News for November 10th through the 16th, 2024

  18-11-2024 17:27 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Satellite imaging pinpoints location of ancient Islamic battle(details)(details)Earliest known Maya salt production site uncovered in Belize(details)(details)Dexterity in australopithecines like Lucy may have developed far earlier than thought(details)(details)Ancient Greece’s cultural rise started a century earlier than previously thought—new research(details)(details)
  
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• Audio News for November 3rd through 9th, 2024

  11-11-2024 17:25 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Mesopotamian cylinder seals linked to development of writing system(details)(details)DNA analysis challenges previous assumptions about Pompeii body casts(details)(details)Ice Age stone tablets show oldest known images of fishing nets(details)(details)Excavation of Peruvian burial mound reveals 76 child sacrifice victims(details)å
  
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• Audio News for October 27th through November 2nd, 2024

  04-11-2024 17:21 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Archaeologists discover bronze plaque with inscriptions at monumental temple of Poseidon in Greece(details)New evidence reveals prehistoric Polynesians' southernmost voyage(details)(details)LiDAR technology reveals ancient Maya settlement patterns in Campeche(details)(details)(details)4,000-year-old Bronze Age settlement found at Khaybar Oasis in Saudi Arabia(details)(details)å
  
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• Audio News for October 20th through the 26th, 2024

  28-10-2024 14:40 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Rare Minoan sanctuary discovered at Archanes(details)Copper Age Carpathian miners spurred developments in the wheel(details)(details)Forgotten colonial-era settlement found beneath the Amazon rainforest(details)High-altitude settlements along the Silk Road puzzle archaeologists(details)(details)å
  
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• #RealArchaeology and how to get involved in it!

  27-10-2024 23:00 via dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com
  
  Over the last three days, archaeologists have been participating in an event to highlight great archaeological work in a variety of media – podcasts, videos, blog posts, twitter threads, etc. The topics are diverse and the content is superb. If you missed it, the website for it (http://real-archaeology.com/) has a list of all the participants and their content so you can go back and look at it all. I highly recommend it.
  But can a non-archaeologist do archaeology?Maybe for some of you, you
  
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• Audio News for October 13th through the 19th, 2024

  21-10-2024 18:40 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:New documentary suggest Columbus was of Spanish Jewish heritage(details)Untouched burial chamber discovered beneath Petra’s ‘Treasury’(details)(details)Unearthed throne room suggests Peru's ancient Moche society had a female ruler(details)(details)Fifty well-preserved Viking era skeletons discovered in Denmark(details)å
  
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• Audio News for October 6th through the 12th, 2024

  14-10-2024 18:00 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Rising and lowering sea levels influenced living patterns of earliest coastal villages(details) (details)Jade artifacts reveal evidence of trade between two cultures in ancient China(details)Early Neolithic longhouse uncovered in Poland(details)Scythian-like horse sacrifice in southern Siberia royal tomb(details) (details)å
  
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• Audio News for September 29th through October 5th, 2024

  07-10-2024 12:41 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Archaeologists discover large cemetery of Viking skeletons(details)More than 1000 clay tablets returned from Chicago to Iran(details)Walrus ivory shows interactions between Vikings and Indigenous North Americans(details) (details)South African site shows 9,000 years of genetic continuity(details)(details)å
  
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• Audio News for September 22nd through the 28th, 2024

  30-09-2024 16:17 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Identified Nazca Lines nearly doubled with assistance from AI model(details)(details)Surprise discovery of centuries-old sweet potato cultivation in New Zealand(details)(details)DNA analysis reveals gender imbalance in the Neolithic necropolis of Panoría(details)(details)Bronze Age find reveals second origin point for cheese(details)(details)å
  
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• Audio News for September 15th through the 21st, 2024

  23-09-2024 13:52 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Analysis of America's oldest tombstone illuminates colonial era trade networks(details)South African rock art may depict animal that went extinct before dinosaurs(details)(details)Mystery man interred under Notre-Dame nave was noted French poet(details)Isotopic and stylistic analysis reveals The Lion of Venice’s Chinese origins(details)å
  
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• Audio News for September 8th through the 14th, 2024

  16-09-2024 17:53 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:DNA of 'Thorin,' one of the last Neanderthals, finally sequenced, revealing inbreeding and 50,000 years of genetic isolation(details)(details)Easter Island's population never collapsed, but it did have contact with Native Americans, DNA study suggests(details)(details)Archaeologists challenge theory of violent Steppe invasion in Iberia Peninsula(details)(details)Clovis people used Great Lakes camp annually about 13,000 years ago, researchers confirm(detai
  
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• Audio News for September 1st through the 7th, 2024

  09-09-2024 17:48 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Scientist rules out Orkney origin for Stonehenge Altar Stone(details)Roman silver coins may have been hidden from pirates(details)New model reveals how climate impacted human dispersal over Europe(details)Activists memorialize New York cemetery for enslaved people(details)å
  
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• Audio News for August 25th through the 31st, 2024

  03-09-2024 16:54 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:17th century samurai sword found in German WWII rubble(details)Study finds sacrificed Inca child had violent death(details)Mysterious Nordic burial ground for children unearthed(details)Missing WWII USAF pilot identified at Sicilian crash site(details)å
  
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• Audio News for August 18th through the 24th, 2024

  26-08-2024 13:05 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Unearthed Peru temple burials predate Inca empire by millennia(details)New planted spear idea upends view of how prehistoric hunters downed huge prey(details)(details)Ancient burial site spanning over 2,100 years located under zoo in south China(details)8,000-year old female figurine in Turkish Neolithic site may have been protective talisman(details)å
  
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• Audio News for August 11th through the 17th, 2024

  19-08-2024 19:02 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Altar Stone at Stonehenge matches the bedrock found in Scotland(details)(details)Giant stone glyph uncovered on the bottom of a Maya sacred pool(details)Neanderthals in southern Pyrenees were highly capable and adaptable(details)(details)West Papua cave reveals early pathway for seafaring migrants into Sahul(details)(details)(details)å
  
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• Audio News for August 4th through the 10th, 2024

  12-08-2024 16:54 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:New fossils provide insights into development of extinct hominin species(details)New proposal for abandonment of ancient American settlement of Cahokia(details)(details)Göbekli Tepe might show world’s oldest calendar(details)(details)Excavation of Chinese bone needle workshop shows developments in ancient industrialization(details)å
  
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• Audio News for July 28th through August 3rd, 2024

  05-08-2024 10:42 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Burial site used throughout Iron and Bronze ages unearthed in Germany(details) (details)Remains of affluent life in 17th century Williamsburg unearthed in Virginia(details)Chinese Bronze Age human sacrifice shows reinforcement of social status(details)Virtual dissection conducted of 3,500 year old “Screaming Woman” mummy(details) (details)å
  
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• Audio News for July 21st through the 27th, 2024

  29-07-2024 19:22 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Workshop buried in Sanxingdui Ruins offers clues to ancient jade and stone sourcing, crafting, distribution(details)(details)Lake draining helps team find proof of ancient pre-Vikings in Norway(details)Genetics show how ancient wild Four Corners potato became widespread staple(details)(details)Excavations at ruined Anatolian castle uncover underground temple of secret religion(details)å
  
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• Audio News for July 14th through the 20th, 2024

  22-07-2024 15:33 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Archaeologists uncover underwater rock carvings of Egyptian pharaohs(details)Early humans in South America arrived early and ate armadillos(details)(details)Ancient circular stone structures in Saudi Arabia indicate inhabitants were sophisticated thinkers(details)(details)New geologic dating shows early European hominins came via Gibraltar(details)(details)å
  
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• Audio News for July 7th through the 13th, 2024

  15-07-2024 17:11 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Roman garden may have belonged to Caligula(details)Hittite royal seal warns of punishment(details)Plant remains show how early farming unfolded in east Africa(details)(details)Peruvian temple and theater are four thousand years old(details)å
  
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• Audio News for June 30th through July 6th, 2024

  08-07-2024 17:47 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Novel analysis of cave bone fragments brings lives of extinct humans on the Tibetan plateau into focus(details)(details)Newly discovered Venezuelan rock art may point to an unknown culture(details)(details)Australia’s oldest known wooden artifacts document Aboriginal rituals(details)(details)Analysis of Neolithic tomb provides intimate look at Europe’s family tree(details)å
  
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• Audio News for June 23rd through the 29th, 2024

  01-07-2024 18:23 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Groundbreaking discovery in tomb-filled capital of Korea's ancient Silla Kingdom(details)Laser sensors pierce forest canopy to reveal forgotten Maya settlements(details)Gravitational wave science helps solve mystery of ancient analog computer(details)First discovery of Neanderthal with Down syndrome confirms culture of community care(details)
  
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• Audio News for June 16th through the 22nd, 2024

  24-06-2024 09:00 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Medieval stone catapult balls found at Kenilworth Castle(details)Sweet find in the cellars of Mount Vernon(details)Protein analysis reveals human blood in plaster used on royal tomb in Benin(details)Remains of Celtic people at Swiss site show violent death, probably in a bridge collapse(details)
  
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• Audio News for June 9th through the 15th, 2024

  17-06-2024 19:10 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Dietary evidence shows how a Bronze Age city in Syria survived(details)Glass beads reveal Indigenous American trade networks(details)(details)New evidence shows where survivors of Vesuvius eruption resettled(details)Dating for the world’s oldest wooden sculpture(details)(details)
  
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• Audio News for June 2nd through the 8th, 2024

  10-06-2024 10:59 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include:Cooking techniques of Mongolian nomads revealed(details)(details)Woman warrior uncovered among 25 warrior monks in Spain(details)(details)(details)Prehistoric South American rock art served as possible territory markers(details)(details)(details)Study proposes that Seahenge was built to extend the warm weather(details)(details)
  
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• King’s Watermark Spotted on 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights

  09-06-2024 04:37
  WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a report in The Guardian, Ian Christie-Miller, a former visiting research fellow at London University, examined a first draft of slaveowner George Mason’s 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights with infrared imaging and found a watermark showing the Hanover crown and the emblem of King George III. “It is ironic that paper bearing the arms of the king was used by George Mason for his first draft declaration, which was to lead to the overthrow of Englis
  
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• Seattle Resident Repatriates Artifact Collection to Mexico

  09-06-2024 04:34
  SEATTLE, WASHINGTON—Komo News reports that a private citizen in Seattle has stepped forward to return a collection of artifacts to Mexico. The objects, including pottery, knives, and figurines, have been verified by scholars at Mexico’s National Heritage Museum, who determined that most of them came from the Cintalapa region of Chiapas and were made between A.D. 100 and 600. “These items were illegally taken from Mexico, and they’ve been passed around from generation to g
  
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• Excavation Unearths Traces of 16th-Century Mansion in England

  08-06-2024 05:44
  EXETER, ENGLAND—Devon Live reports that excavations in southwestern England have uncovered traces of the sixteenth-century Columbjohn mansion on the grounds of the Killerton estate, which once belonged to the Acland family. Unused musket balls found at the site may have belonged to the troops loyal to King Charles I who were garrisoned there during the English Civil Wars. The mansion was later taken over by Parliamentarians, who used it as a headquarters during the siege of the city of Exe
  
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• Viking Age Silver Ingot Recovered on the Isle of Man

  07-06-2024 04:01
  MANX, ISLE OF MAN—According to a Witchita Eagle report, a metal detectorist on the Isle of Man discovered a silver ingot thought to be about 1,000 years old. Vikings arrived on the Isle of Man in the ninth century and eventually settled there. “Ingots like this were used in the Viking world for trade,” said archaeologist Allison Fox of Manx National Heritage. Each ingot would have been weighed and tested to confirm its silver content before it would be accepted in trade anywher
  
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• Spain’s Neanderthal Hearths Dated With New Technique

  07-06-2024 03:51
  BURGOS, SPAIN—Nature News reports that a new dating technique has revealed that traces of hearths found in the same layer of soil at El Salt, a Neanderthal site in western Spain, came from fires made over a period of more than 200 years some 50,000 years ago. Because the hearths were all found in the same layer of the archaeological site, it had been previously thought that they had all been made by a single group of Neanderthals. But archaeologist Ángela Herrejón-Lagunilla o
  
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• Genetic Study Yields New Thoughts on Horse Domestication

  07-06-2024 03:31
  TOULOUSE, FRANCE—According to a Science News report, molecular archaeologist Ludovic Orlando and his colleagues analyzed the genomes of 475 ancient horses and 77 modern ones. The oldest remains were dated to some 50,000 years ago. The researchers then combined the genetic data, carbon dates, and archaeological information to determine that horses were domesticated some 4,200 years ago on the steppes of what is now southwestern Russia. Domestication was identified through the decrease in th
  
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• Study Shows Bronze Age Cauldrons Held Blood and Milk

  06-06-2024 03:12
  BASEL, SWITZERLAND—According to a statement released by the University of Basel, an international team of scientists has analyzed proteins recovered from residues in two 2,700-year-old bronze cauldrons discovered in northern Mongolia. The test results indicate that the vessels were used to process animal blood, mostly from sheep and goats, and milk, mostly from domestic cattle and yaks. The researchers, led by Shevan Wilkin of the University of Basel, suggest that nomads in Mongolia collec
  
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• Bones of Early Cattle Herd in Northern Europe Analyzed

  06-06-2024 02:46
  GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS—According to a statement released by Antiquity, new dates and stable isotope analysis for the bones of cattle, sheep, and pigs from the Swifterbant site indicate that animal husbandry in what is now the Netherlands dates back to about 4240 B.C. “What is more, these early farmers had different herds of cattle that were fed and herded in different ways,” said Nathalie Brusgaard of Leiden University. The chemical composition of the cattle bones shows tha
  
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• Roman Pet Burials Examined in Egypt

  06-06-2024 02:22
  WROCŁAW, POLAND—According to a Science in Poland report, the graves of more than 200 monkeys, dogs, cats, and calves have been recently unearthed by an international team of researchers led by Marta Osypińska of the University of Wrocław in the pet cemetery at Berenice, a port city built on the coast of the Red Sea in the first century A.D. by the Roman emperor Tiberius. Previous research has shown that many of the monkeys buried in the cemetery were rhesus macaques and bonn
  
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• Rock Art May Have Marked Territory in South America

  05-06-2024 05:03
  LONDON, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by Antiquity, a new study of rock engravings along the Atures Rapids on the Orinoco River in Colombia and Venezuela suggests that they may have been used to communicate territorial boundaries more than 2,000 years ago. Philip Riris of Bournemouth University and his colleagues worked with local guides to map artworks at 14 sites in the river basin with drone photography. Some of these rock art sites had been previously identified, but a few
  
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• Genetic Study Investigates Relationships Between Iron Age Elites

  05-06-2024 03:53
  BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY—An analysis of DNA samples suggests that elite Iron Age Celts may have passed power along matrilineal lines, according to a Live Science report. The samples were taken from 31 skeletons recovered from seven burial sites in southwestern Germany that have been dated to the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. and include gold and bronze artifacts. State of Baden-Württemberg archaeologist Dirk Krausse and his colleagues identified two men buried in neighboring m
  
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• Rare “Blue Room” Discovered in Pompeii

  05-06-2024 03:50
  NAPLES, ITALY—CNN reports that a possible sacrarium has been uncovered in a large residential area in central Pompeii’s Regio IX. Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s Minister of Culture, said that the room is thought to have been dedicated to ritual activities and the conservation of sacred objects. The walls of the room are painted blue and feature female figures representing the four seasons of the year and allegorical representations of agriculture and pastoralism. A collection of
  
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• 18th-Century Lime Kiln Uncovered in Northern England

  04-06-2024 03:33
  YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND—Teeside Live reports that a limestone kiln has been uncovered on a farm in North York Moors National Park. The structure likely dates to the eighteenth century. Limestone from a nearby quarry would have been fired in the kiln to produce lump lime, or quick lime, which was spread over local farmland to improve it. Landowners Elaine and Dave Newham said that although the kiln was marked on an old map, it was not clear if any of the structure had been preserved. Archaeologi
  
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• Remains of Medieval Warrior Monks Examined in Spain

  04-06-2024 03:17
  GUADALAJARA, SPAIN—According to a statement released by the University of Rovira i Virgili (URV), the remains of 25 people who were buried between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries in central Spain’s castle at Zorita de los Canes have been examined by researchers from URV, the Max Planck Institute, and the University of Barcelona. In the late twelfth century, Alfonso VIII of Castile ceded the castle to a Cistercian military and religious order known as the Order of Calatrava. Carme
  
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• Lost World War II Sub Discovered in South China Sea

  04-06-2024 02:42
  NEW YORK, NEW YORK—Live Science reports that the wreckage of the USS Harder has been found under 3,750 feet of water by members of the Lost 52 Project, a group that looks for the 52 U.S. submarines lost during World War II. Naval records show that the Harder, nicknamed the “Hit ‘Em Harder,” had torpedoed and sunk five Japanese destroyers and other enemy ships in the Pacific Ocean before it was lost during a battle in the South China Sea near the Philippine Island of Luzon
  
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• Audio News for May 26th through June 1st, 2024

  03-06-2024 10:50 via archaeologychannel.org
  
  
  News items read by Laura Kennedy include: 4,000 year old tablet reveals Anatolian business plan(details)(details)Ancient Egyptians may have performed cancer-treating surgeries(details)(details)Characteristics of prehistoric Central European burial mounds may indicate trends in inequality(details)(details)Seven-century-old ceremonial offerings recovered at Mexico’s Tlatelolco Archaeological Zone(details)(details)
  
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• 2,000-Year-Old Burial Mounds Excavated in Kazakhstan

  01-06-2024 01:30
  ASTANA, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN—According to a Live Science report, archaeologists from Ozbekali Zhanibekov University and the Turkistan Regional Administration have excavated three 2,000-year-old burial mounds in southern Kazakhstan. The researchers found that two of the mounds had been looted in antiquity. Aleksandr Podushkin of Ozbekali Zhanibekov University said that the recovered artifacts are thought to have been made during the period of the Kangju state, which was made up of groups
  
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• Ancient Roman Correspondence Recovered at Egyptian Sea Port

  01-06-2024 01:01
  WROCŁAW, POLAND—Newsweek reports that correspondence between Roman centurions has been found on the outskirts of Berenice, an ancient port on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea. Founded during the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty in the third century B.C., the city came under Roman control in 30 B.C. The papyrus letters, recovered in fragments from the site of a 2,000-year-old pet cemetery, may have originated in a nearby centurion’s office or residence. Archaeologists have now reassemble
  
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• U.S. Museum Agrees to Return Ptolemaic Statue to Libya

  31-05-2024 04:52
  CLEVELAND, OHIO—According to a New York Times report, the Cleveland Museum of Art has agreed to return a 2,200-year-old sculpture to Libya. The two-foot-tall basalt carving of a striding man was discovered in a storage jar unearthed at the site of a Greek palace in eastern Libya in the 1930s. It was put on display and photographed in Libya’s Ptolemais Museum, which was located near the site, before it was stolen in the 1940s during World War II. The statue reappeared in Switzerland i
  
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• Did Ancient Egyptian Physicians Treat Cancer?

  31-05-2024 04:21
  TÜBINGEN, GERMANY—Cosmos Magazine reports that two skulls held at Cambridge University were examined as part of a study of ancient Egyptian medical practices by an international team of archaeologists and medical professionals. The first skull and jaw, labeled 236, belonged to a man who died between the ages of 30 and 35, sometime between 2687 and 2345 B.C. The second skull, labeled E270, belonged to a woman who was more than 50 years old when she died between 663 and 343 B.C. Micro-C
  
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• Ancient Egyptian Sarcophagus Fragment Reexamined

  30-05-2024 03:20
  PARIS, FRANCE—According to a Live Science report, a new study of a granite fragment unearthed in Abydos in 2009 suggests that it was part of a sarcophagus that belonged to the 19th Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses II, who reigned from about 1279 to 1213 B.C. The pharaoh’s mummy and an ornate coffin were discovered in Deir el-Bahari in 1881. Archaeologists Ayman Damrani of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and Kevin Cahail of the University of Pennsylvania suggested at the time of
  
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• 2,000-Year-Old Horse Burials Unearthed in France

  30-05-2024 03:18
  VILLEDIEU-SUR-INDRE, FRANCE—CNN reports that the remains of 28 horses have been found in nine graves in central France by researchers from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). The bones have been radiocarbon dated to between 100 B.C. and A.D. 100. Traces of a fortified Celtic settlement of similar age have been found in the area. In one of the pits, the complete remains of 10 horses were found. Another contained the remains of two horses. All of them
  
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• Excavation Update From Pompeii

  30-05-2024 03:17
  NAPLES, ITALY—Gizmodo reports that recent excavations at Pompeii have uncovered graffiti on the walls of the House of the Colonnaded Cenacle that may have been drawn by children with charcoal. The images include two gladiators; a possible hunting scene with a figure thought to represent a wild boar; the head of a bird of prey; outlines of small hands; figures playing with a ball; and a scene drawn in red pigment of two boxers—one of whom appears to have been knocked out. In front of
  
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