news

A new multidisciplinary study reconstructs the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era, a time and place of profound demographic, cultural and linguistic change. The Balkan Peninsula is broadly defined as the region surrounded by the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas.

Archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin together with an international team confirm ancient prehistoric fortifications in Siberia. Research results published in the scientific journal "Antiquity." In a groundbreaking archaeological discovery, an international team led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered fortified prehistoric settlements in a remote region of Siberia.

A possibly pre-Christian temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings, some 1,400 years ago, has been found at Rendlesham, near Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, by a team of archaeologists led by UCL researchers. The discovery was made over the summer by Suffolk County Council's Rendlesham Revealed community archaeology project.

Recent research has shown that engravings in a cave in La Roche-Cotard (France), which has been sealed for thousands of years, were actually made by Neanderthals. This research was performed by Basel archaeologist Dorota Wojtczak together with a team of researchers from France and Denmark, whose findings reveal that the Neanderthals were in fact the first humans with an appreciation of art.

Over 2,000 seal impressions discovered provide vivid insights into city administration in Roman Antiquity Archaeologists from the Asia Minor Research Centre have uncovered the city archives in the ancient city of Doliche in south-eastern Türkiye and recovered more than 2,000 seal impressions used to seal documents.

Scientists also recover more than 2,000 seal impressions in the ancient city of Doliche Archaeologists from the Asia Minor Research Center have uncovered the city archives in the ancient city of Doliche in south-eastern Turkey and recovered more than 2,000 seal impressions used to seal documents. The team led by Michael Blömer and Engelbert Winter from the University of Münster thus made a significant discovery: although there were archives for storing contracts in every city, for example, only a handful of archive buildings from the Roman Empire have been identified to date.

Heidelberg Earth scientists lead research ship METEOR's voyage to the eastern Mediterranean How did climatic and environmental change impact early eastern Mediterranean cultures, and what were the consequences of human settlement on land and marine ecosystems? In order to collect research data to answer these questions, the German research ship METEOR - under the guidance of Earth scientists from Heidelberg University - is embarking on a multi-week expedition to the Aegean and Ionian seas.

Between 13,000 and 9,650 years ago, the Natoufian culture developed on the eastern Mediterranean coast of northern Israel. According to recent discoveries, these hunter-gatherers were the first to use red pigments of organic origin. "It was a great surprise to discover such ancient and well-preserved pigments of organic origin" , confides Laurent Davin, archaeologist at the Laboratoire Technologie et ethnologie des mondes préhistoriques (Temps) 1 and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-author of the study just published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Before modern humans settled definitively in Europe, other human populations left Africa for Europe beginning approximately 60,000 years ago, albeit without settling for the long term. This was due to a major climatic crisis 40,000 years ago, combined with a super-eruption originating from the Phlegraean Fields volcanic area near current-day Naples, subsequently precipitating a decline in ancient European populations.

By analyzing genomes up to 40,000 years old, a team from the University of Geneva has traced the history of migrations between Sapiens and Neanderthals. About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa.

Researchers from the University of Valencia have revealed that social relations during the Copper Age in the Iberian Peninsula went from a first homogeneous phase of great connectivity to a more fragmented and regionalised stage. Through the analysis of the ceramic decorations of the Bell Beaker vase, characteristic of the European Chalcolithic and associated with funerary contexts of the elites, the work published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory concludes that these vessels were -democratised- in almost 300 years, with the consequent reinterpretation and heterogenisation.

Study reveals our European ancestors ate seaweed and freshwater plants Published: 17 October 2023 Researchers say they have found "definitive" archaeological evidence that seaweeds and other local freshwater plants were eaten in the Mesolithic, through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages.

Experts from Egypt and Germany have completed the restoration of the ceiling of the Temple of Esna.

UCLA study shows a 99% population reduction in the 20th century, but genetic diversity remains high Science + Technology UCLA study shows a 99% population reduction in the 20th century, but genetic diversity remains high October 12, 2023 Key takeaways Whaling in the 20th century destroyed 99% of the Eastern North Pacific fin whale breeding population.

New archaeological discoveries at the tomb of Meret-Neith in Abydos A German-Austrian team led by archaeologist Christiana Köhler from the University of Vienna is investigating the tomb of Queen Meret-Neith in Abydos, Egypt.

Health + Behavior UCLA study shows it can also spur support for policies aimed at equity Elizabeth Kivowitz September 28, 2023 Key takeaways Two-thirds of white Americans believe that Black Americans do not experience racism or racial inequities in health care. UCLA psychologists exposed white study participants to the well-documented history of medical-related mistreatment of Black Americans.

A remarkable archaeological breakthrough has been made with the excavation and restoration of rooms in the pyramid of Sahura. The discovered chambers are probably storage rooms intended to hold the royal burial objects. An Egyptian-German mission led by Egyptologist Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled of the Department of Egyptology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU) has made a significant discovery within Sahura's Pyramid.

An excavation in Turkey has brought to light an unknown Indo-European language. Professor Daniel Schwemer, an expert for the ancient near east from Würzburg, is involved in investigating the discovery.

Researchers discover complete Neolithic cursus on the Isle of Arran A leading team of researchers have discovered what is believed to be a complete Neolithic cursus set within a rich prehistoric landscape on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. A leading team of researchers have discovered what is believed to be a complete Neolithic cursus set within a rich prehistoric landscape on the Isle of Arran, Scotland.

Researchers in Vienna have obtained the world's first gene sequences of the human roundworm from the Bronze Age, as well as the first gene sequences from prehistoric parasites in Austria. The analysis was conducted on human faeces from prehistoric miners in Hallstatt. The findings were published by a team from the Medical University Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and the Natural History Museum Vienna in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.