Reconstructing how Neanderthals grew, based on an El Sidrón child

How did Neanderthals grow? Does modern man develop in the same way as Homo neanderthalensis did? How does the size of the brain affect the development of the body? A study led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) researcher, Antonio Rosas, has studied the fossil remains of a Neanderthal child's skeleton in order to establish whether there are differences between the growth of Neanderthals and that of sapiens.Neanderthal children...

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Nymphaion in ancient city of Side undergoing restoration

Restoration and conversation is set to start again at the Monumental Fountain (Nymphaion) in the ancient city of Side in the southern Turkish province of Antalya. The Nymphaion of Side [Credit: AA]The Monumental Fountain dates back to the 2nd century AD and has undergone a series of restorations since 2004.Antalya Surveying and Monuments Director Cemil Karabayram, who recently visited the ancient site, said only 20 percent of the restoration...

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Continued excavations of the Minoan Neopalatial complex at Sissi, Crete

A team of the Université Catholique de Louvain under the auspices of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi and the Belgian School at Athens, aided by experts and students from many Greek and foreign universities, continued the excavation of a monumental court-centered building on the Kephali-hill at Sissi (Lassithi, Crete) during the summer of 2017.Aerial view of the court-centred complex at Sissi [Credit: © EBSA/N. Kress]The entire...

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Ancient textiles reveal differences in Mediterranean fabrics in the 1st millennium BC

Textiles represent one of the earliest human craft technologies and applied arts, and their production would have been one of the most important time, resource and labour consuming activities in the ancient past.Twill example from Civita Castellana, Italy, seventh century BC [Credit: Margarita Gleba]In archaeological contexts, textiles are relatively rare finds, especially in Mediterranean Europe where conditions are unfavourable for organic...

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Ancient human DNA in sub-Saharan Africa lifts veil on prehistory

The first large-scale study of ancient human DNA from sub-Saharan Africa opens a long-awaited window into the identity of prehistoric populations in the region and how they moved around and replaced one another over the past 8,000 years.Mount Hora in Malawi, where the oldest DNA in the study, from a woman who lived more than 8,000 years ago, was obtained [Credit: Jessica C. Thompson/Emory University]The findings, published Cell by...

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3-D analysis of dog fossils sheds light on domestication debate

In an effort to settle the debate about the origin of dog domestication, a technique that uses 3-D scans of fossils is helping researchers determine the difference between dogs and wolves.3D plot of PC1–3 mandible shape variation. Black: dogs, dark grey: Alaskan wolves, light grey: European wolves, dark red: Ivolgin fossils, green: Ust’-Polui fossils, purple: Pleistocene Alaskan wolves, cyan: 1600CE fossil dogs, orange: unknown...

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Viking boat burial found in Norway

On one of the last days of the excavation in the market square, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) became aware of a feature with a somewhat special shape.The boat dates between the seventh and 10th centuries, around the time the Vikings began exploring and raiding Europe [Credit: Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU)]The feature, which was dug into the natural deposits,...

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Urartian necropolis reveals burial customs

Excavations in a Urartian necropolis in the eastern province of Van’s Çavuştepe Castle, which has been plundered by treasure hunters in recent years, provide important details about Urartian burial customs. AA PhotoThe Culture and Tourism Ministry has initiated excavations to rescue the necropolis in the castle. During the excavations, a tomb was unearthed with the skeletons of a man and a woman. Officials believe they were husband and...

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Dinosaurs laid blue-green eggs

Scientists have found evidence that dinosaurs laid blue-green eggs, telling us something about the prehistoric creatures’ behaviour and challenging what we know about how coloured eggs evolved.(A) Pair of oviraptorid Heyuannia eggs (NMNS CYN-2004-DINO-05) from the Chinese province of Jiangxi before sampling. Porosity measurements and calculations of water vapour conductance are based on these eggs. Pieces of eggshell from each...

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Early trilobites had stomachs, new fossil study finds

Exceptionally preserved trilobite fossils from China, dating back to more than 500 million years ago, have revealed new insights into the extinct marine animal's digestive system. Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the new study shows that at least two trilobite species evolved a stomach structure 20 million years earlier than previously thought.A specimen of the trilobite Palaeolenus lantenoisi from the Guanshan Biota in southern Yunnan...

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Big herbivorous dinosaurs ate crustaceans as a side dish

Some big plant-eating dinosaurs roaming present-day Utah some 75 million years ago were slurping up crustaceans on the side, a behavior that may have been tied to reproductive activities, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.CU Boulder Associate Professor Karen Chin excavating dinosaur coprolites at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. The new study shows herbivorous dinosaurs also were eating crustaceans,...

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Racism behind outlandish theories about Africa’s ancient architecture

Some of the most impressive buildings and cities ever made by humans can be found in Africa: the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe in South Africa, Kenya’s Gedi Ruins and Meroe in Sudan. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring of these are the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt.The pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt [Credit: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]This should...

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New scientific dating research unravels the story of life in prehistoric Orkney

A new study, published today in Antiquity journal, is challenging the previously understood narrative for prehistoric life on Orkney. It was led by Professor Alex Bayliss of Historic England and is based on the interrogation of more than 600 radiocarbon dates, enabling much more precise estimates of the timing and duration of events in the period c.3200-2500 BC. Excavating the Smerquoy Hoose [Credit: © Colin Richards]The study is part...

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