news 2012

CHAMPAIGN, lll. In the early 1900s, an archaeologist, William Mills, dug up a treasure-trove of carved stone pipes that had been buried almost 2,000 years earlier. Mills was the first to dig the Native American site, called Tremper Mound, in southern Ohio. And when he inspected the pipes, he made a reasonable - but untested - assumption.

A Yale scientist and colleagues in Britain have found a highly unusual ancient marine fossil that retains soft body parts as well as its shell, including limbs, eyes, gills and alimentary system. The fossil represents a new species of ostracod, a tiny crustacean related to crabs, lobsters and shrimps.

The first unequivocal evidence that humans in prehistoric Northern Europe made cheese more than 7,000 years ago is described in research by an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, published today in Nature. By analysing fatty acids extracted from unglazed pottery pierced with small holes excavated from archaeological sites in Poland, the researchers showed that dairy products were processed in these ceramic vessels.

Researchers involved in a new study led by Oxford University have found that between three million and 3.5 million years ago, the diet of our very early ancestors in central Africa is likely to have consisted mainly of tropical grasses and sedges. The findings are published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

Medieval objects including a 4,000 year old Bronze Age arrowhead have been uncovered in East Oxford after five weeks of digging and research by archaeologists, local volunteers and university staff. Archeox (the Archaeology of East Oxford Community Project) has been excavating a medieval nunnery at Minchery Paddock, between Blackbird Leys and Littlemore.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. The role of climate change in the development and demise of classic Maya civilization, ranging from AD 300 to 1000, has been controversial for decades because of a lack of well-dated climate and archaeological evidence. But an international team of archaeologists and earth science researchers has compiled a precisely dated, high-resolution climate record of 2,000 years that shows how Maya political systems developed and disintegrated in response to climate change.

University Home Analysing ancient footprints in major BBC series Professor Robin Crompton, from the University's Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease , will appear in the final episode of the major BBC series, Prehistoric Autopsy , to discuss how ancient footprints found in Laetoli, Tanzania, could explain the history of human walking.

Every four years, the differences between the U.S. political parties are thrown into sharp relief, thanks to presidential elections. A study of three decades of voter choice has shown that while the influence of religion on voter choice intensified in the years between the elections of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and Barack Obama in 2008, the phenomenon is limited to upper-income white Protestants and Catholics.

Illuminated manuscripts are revealing their secret histories thanks to the application of techniques more commonly found in scientific laboratories. Art historical and linguistic research can take you a long way towards answering questions but scientific analysis can clinch arguments and dispel myths." —Dr Stella Panayotova Fairy-tale pinnacles stretch to the horizon in an azure sky, scarlet flags flutter, an angel plays a golden horn, and the Madonna, shrouded in folds of tumbling ivory, serenely cradles her newborn baby.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham studying New Caledonian crows have discovered why these birds, which are famed for their intelligence, are able to use tools with such accuracy. The answer lies in their vision, according to research published today (9 October 2012) .

New data extracted from Greenland's glaciers show that methane in the atmosphere follows the waxing and waning of civilizations. Humans have been producing substantial amounts of greenhouse gases since long before the industrial revolution 2012. By studying the tiny amounts of gases trapped in air bubbles in Greenland's glaciers, researchers have been able to add details to an emerging picture of historical human induced environmental change that reaches as far back as the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty.

The material remains of the First World War on the British Home Front will be investigated by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of York, thanks to £39,500 funding from English Heritage. The material remains of the First World War on the British Home Front will be investigated by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of York, thanks to £39,500 funding from English Heritage.

In a ‘trick’ survey, participants switched their opinion on ethical issues without being aware of it. This has been shown in a study by cognitive science researchers at Lund University, Sweden, that was published recently in the open access journal PLOS ONE. In the study, led by Lars Hall, Petter Johansson and Thomas Strandberg, participants were presented with a questionnaire about either fundamental ethical principles or current hot topics with moral implications, such as illegal immigration or the legalisation of prostitution.

In the last decade a raft of legislation has attempted to bring about equality for people of all religions and beliefs within British society. A University of Derby-led research team who have been investigating what and how much has really changed over this decade will present their preliminary findings at a series of workshops around the UK this autumn.

Horseshoe crabs, including the iconic Limulus we know today, have existed for more than 450 million years. Over that long history, evolutionary change has particularly affected the nature of their legs. A new fossil discovery in Britain captures a previously unseen stage in the evolution of these ancient arthropods - the transformation of two-branched legs into nearly identical but separately attached limbs, one of which was destined to disappear.

German Idealism changed the world and influenced politics. art and numerous other fields. The ways in which it shaped the modern world have been the subject of a three-year research project, which reaches its conclusion in Cambridge this week. —Nick Boyle The culmination of an international project which aims to trace the legacy of German Idealism – an explosion of philosophical ideas which emerged from Germany during the 19th century – begins in Cambridge today (Thursday, 6 September).

An ancient Italian town whose remains are buried beneath the earth has been mapped by a team of researchers, revealing evidence of a bustling social and economic settlement 1,500 years ago. Having the complete streetplan and being able to pick out individual details allows us to start zoning the settlement and examine how it worked and changed through time." —Martin Millett An ancient Italian town, which disappeared after its abandonment 1

An archaeologist from the University of Sheffield has revealed the origin and trading routes of razor-sharp stone tools 4,200 years ago in Syria. Ancient sites and cultural heritage are under threat in Syria due to the current conflict. An interdisciplinary research team hopes this new discovery, which has major implications for understanding the world's first empire, will help to highlight the importance of protecting Syria's heritage.

Excavations at Britain's largest prehistoric hillfort have given archaeologists from Cardiff and Cambridge universities a glimpse of what life was like inside the fort more than 2000 years ago. Niall Sharples of Cardiff's School of History, Archaeology and Religion and Chris Evans of Cambridge's Archaeological Unit are jointly leading a team excavating Ham Hill in Somerset.

A second season of excavations at Britain's biggest Iron Age hill-fort has uncovered remains of Roman weaponry, and the site of the first "ham stone" house. The fort's construction marked a major transformation of the landscape as a considerable area of farmland had to be abandoned." —Chris Evans, Cambridge Archaeological Unit.