Archeaology

Earliest Inhabitants of Amazon Created Thousands of Artificial Forest Islands, Study Shows A University of Bern-led study shows that, starting at around 10,850 years ago, inhabitants of the Llanos de Moxos region in northern Bolivia began to create a landscape that ultimately comprised 4,700 artificial ‘forest islands’ within a treeless, …

Archaeologists Unearth 22,500-Year-Old Mammoth-Bone Structure An international team of archaeologists led by the University of Exeter has discovered a new circular mammoth-bone feature at the Paleolithic site of Kostenki 11 in Eastern Europe. The newly-discovered mammoth-bone structure at the site of Kostenki 11; the two visible scales are 5 and …

Archaeologists Unearth Long-Lost Capital of Ancient Maya Kingdom Archaeologists excavating the site of Lacanja Tzeltal in Mexico have discovered the ruins of the capital of a kingdom known from Classic period Maya inscriptions as Sak Tz’i’ (White Dog). Among their findings is a trove of Maya monuments, one of which …

The remains of a previously unknown Canaanite temple, dating from the 12th century BCE, have been uncovered in the north-eastern corner of the site of Tel Lachish in Israel. The ruins of the 3,100-year-old Canaanite temple at Tel Lachish, Israel. Image credit: Fourth Expedition to Lachish. Lachish was one of …

Mud wasp nests have helped establish a date for the Gwion Gwion rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. A typical remnant mud wasp nest (A) overlying pigment from a Gwion motif before removal and (B) the remainder with pigment revealed underneath. Image credit: Damien Finch. “The Kimberley …

An international team of archaeologists has unearthed a Neolithic water well made of oak trees at the northern border of the town of Ostrov in the Czech Republic. The 7,300-year-old water well near Ostrov, the Czech Republic. Image credit: Archaeological Centre in Olomouc. “Today, over 40 Neolithic water wells are …

A cache of gold dinars dating to the 9th century CE has been unearthed by a team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). 1,100-year-old gold dinars from the early Abbasid period found inside a juglet in Yavne, Israel. Image credit: Liat Nadav-Ziv, Israel Antiquities Authority. The hoard, which …

Neanderthals were once widespread across Europe and western Asia. They also penetrated into the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, but the geographical origin of these populations and the timing of their dispersal remain elusive. Archaeologists excavating Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai foothills have found 90,000 stone artifacts, numerous bone tools, …

The blue monkeys painted on the walls of Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini are among many animals found in the frescoes of this 3,600-year-old city. Historians have studied the murals for decades since they were unearthed in the 1960s and 1970s on the island, which was once known …

Shell fishing was a common activity of Neanderthals, according to new research led by University of Colorado, Boulder archaeologists. Homo neanderthalensis by Charles R. Knight. In 1949, archaeologists working at the site of Grotta dei Moscerini, a cave in the Latium region of central Italy, found a large collection of …