news

New insights into our linguistic roots via ancient DNA analysis Where lies the origin of the Indo-European language family? Ron Pinhasi and his team in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna contribute a new piece to this puzzle in collaboration with David Reich's ancient DNA laboratory at Harvard University.

5 km west of Soissons, in the commune of Pernant (Aisne), an excavation carried out from August to December 2024 uncovered part of an ancient villa .

Ancient genomes show integration of genetically different groups to the same early medieval Avar society in the Vienna Basin, Austria Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, together with an international team, carried out an archeogenetic study of human remains from more than 700 individuals from the Early Middle Ages.

CSI methods show: Skull from the collection of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology is not from Arsinoë IV An interdisciplinary research team led by anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna, together with experts from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has analysed a skull that was found in the ruins of Ephesos (Turkey) in 1929.

A new study from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Adelaide has outlined the first genomic evidence of early migration from New Guinea into Wallacea, an archipelago containing Timor-Leste and hundreds of inhabited eastern Indonesian islands. The study addresses major gaps in the human genetic history of the Wallacean Archipelago and West Papuan regions of Indonesia - a region with abundant genetic and linguistic diversity that is comparable to the Eurasian continent - by analysing 254 newly sequenced genomes.

Ice cores from the Arctic made it possible to reconstruct lead pollution in ancient Rome An international team of scientists with the participation of the University of Vienna examined three ice cores to determine lead pollution between 500 BCE and 600 CE in the Roman Empire. Lead has many negative effects on human health, one of which is a reduction in the intelligence quotient - the scientists focused on this in this study and were able to determine that lead pollution led to a reduction in IQ of 2 to 3 points among people in ancient Rome.

Researchers showed how records from missionaries and early explorers in 19th century Tanzania could be used to mitigate a legacy of scientific neglect An international team led by McGill researchers has devised a way to improve the accuracy of climate change models for the Global South by integrating historical records kept by missionaries and other visitors.

Waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD have been revealed using a more precise method of analysing ancestry with ancient DNA, in research co-led by a UCL and Francis Crick Institute researcher. Researchers can bring together a picture of how people moved across the world by looking at changes in their DNA, but this becomes a lot harder when historical groups of people are genetically very similar.

An international team of archaeologists, including researchers from the VUB, has analyzed more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments from the Charterhouse Warren site in England, a location dated to the Early Bronze Age. The site represents the first evidence from the Bronze Age of a human massacre carried out by another hostile group, with indications of cannibalism.

University of Bonn Researcher Involved in Sensational Find in Frankfurt University of Bonn Researcher Involved in Sensational Find in Frankfurt Inscription on 3rd-century amulet capsule highly significant, says Professor Wolfram Kinzig Some time ago, archaeological excavations in the Praunheim district of Frankfurt am Main uncovered a burial ground from the 3rd century.

Scientists unravel timing and impact of Neandertal gene flow into early modern humans Ancient DNA research suggests that our non-African ancestors mixed with Neandertals about 50,000 years ago, resulting in one to two percent Neandertal DNA in non-African modern humans. In a study of 300 genomes, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the University of California, Berkeley found that this likely occurred in a single instance about 47,000 years ago, suggesting a human migration out of Africa no later than 43,500 years ago.

Genomes of seven early Europeans show they belonged to a small, isolated group that had recently mixed with Neandertals but left no present-day descendants Few genomes have been sequenced from early modern humans, who first arrived in Europe when the region was already inhabited by Neandertals. An international team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has now sequenced the oldest modern human genomes to date.

On the banks of the Rhône, at the foot of the Massif du Malpas, a team of Inrap archaeologists has excavated part of an ancient spa area, occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries AD.

In a surprising discovery, researchers have found evidence of an African intestinal parasite in a 500-year-old cesspit in Bruges. The find offers valuable insights into how diseases spread in the past. The research, a collaboration between Canada's McMaster University and Ghent University, shows how migration and trade contributed to the spread of infectious diseases such as schistosomiasis.

Major 25-year study reveals a "dual pathway" for when people start carrying. Carrying a concealed firearm is now a common event in the life course for Americans Charles Lanfear Around a third (32%) of people who grew up in Chicago have carried a concealed firearm on the city streets at least once by the time they turn 40 years old, according to a major study of gun usage taking in a quarter of a century of data.

Genetic study also reveals long-distance travelling in Neolithic societies An international team of researchers led by Pere Gelabert and Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna and David Reich of Harvard University has produced the most complete set of Early Neolithic genetic data from Central Europe to date.

A new study in the journal Nature shows that the oceans were less cold in the early 20th century (1900-1930) than previously thought. During this period the ocean appears too cold due to the way some measurements were taken. This makes global ocean surface temperature measurements during this period inconsistent with both land air temperatures and palaeoclimatic data and the differences between land and ocean are larger than shown in climate models.

Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city Archaeological findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries What appears to be evidence of some of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history is etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in Syria by a team of Johns Hopkins researchers.

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications examines the use of ochre in southern Africa and shows that the earth mineral has been used there as a dye and for ritual purposes for almost 50,000 years. The researchers analyzed 173 samples from 15 Stone Age sites and reconstructed methods of ochre extraction, use and transport networks, with local strategies and long-distance trade playing a role.