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January 19th, 2014

Genome Study Reveals New Insight on Dog Domestication

The results of a recent study of canine genomes suggests that dogs and their wolf cousins share an evolutionary history that is considerably more complex than previously thought, pointing to a common ancestor that lived between 11,000 and 34,000 years ago and that the earliest dogs may have first lived among hunter-gatherer societies, before the advent of agriculture.
It challenges the popular theory that humans domesticated dogs around the time that they developed agriculture, and that dogs evolved from a single wolf population or group. (Popular Archaeology)

Bones From Human Sacrifice at Tenochtilan Ceremonial Complex

Fragments of human bones that exhibit cut marks and prolonged exposure to fire have been discovered through various excavations in the Sacred Precinct of Tenochtitlan (located in Mexico City). These skeletal remains are from individuals, such as children, slaves and captured warriors, who were sacrificed during religious festivals. (Past Horizons)

Archaeologists may have found remains of Alfred the Great

Archaeologists have identified a piece of bone they believe may have belonged to the English king Alfred the Great. The section of human pelvis, carbon-dated to within the lifetimes of Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder, has been found in Winchester, the first solid result in centuries of attempts to find the last resting place of one of the most famous English kings. (The Guardian)

Severed Heads Eaten by Dogs in Roman Times

Forensic techniques have shed light on the gruesome fate of dozens of people whose severed heads were thrown into open pits 2,000 years ago and left there to decompose. Excavated in the heart of London more than 25 years ago and dated to between 120 and 160 A.D., the skulls are believed to have belonged to defeated gladiators or victims of Roman soldiers’ practice of “headhunting,” in which heads of enemies were displayed as trophies. (Discovery News)

Ancient Sican tombs found in northern Peru

Archaeologists in Peru’s northern Lambayeque region have discovered an ancient cemetery with 35 tombs believed to be up to 1,000 years old. The tombs -containing skeletal remains, ceramics, textiles and gold-plated copper pieces- are thought to be of a pre-hispanic Sican descent. (Andina.com)

Earliest Use of Steel in Britain Identified at Scottish Hillfort

Archaeologists have identified examples of the earliest use of steel in the British Isles from a site in East Lothian. The site, an Iron Age hill fort known as Broxmouth, was excavated in the 1970s, however the discoveries are only now being published.
As part of the re-examination of the findings at Broxmouth, new analysis of some iron artefacts has found that they can be dated to 490-375BC. (Past Horizons)

Archaeologists discover ancient death chambers used for execution, torture in Bursa

Archaeological excavations that have been carried out in the northwestern province of Bursa have discovered 2,300-year-old dungeons used for execution and torturing during the Bithynia Kingdom era. Archaeologists discovered that the dungeons, which contain a “bloody well,” “torture chamber” and “corridors connected to tower,” used horrific execution methods. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Archaeologists uncover new pharaoh in Egypt

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the remains of a previously unknown pharaoh who reigned more than 3,600 years ago in Egypt. The skeleton of King Senebkay was uncovered at South Abydos in the province of Sohag, about 500 km south of Cairo, by a University of Pennsylvania expedition working with the government, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said. (Haaretz)

Well Preserved Iron Age Village Uncovered in Denmark

During evaluation of land prior to the construction of a new hospital in Aalborg, Northern Denmark, archaeologists uncovered an Iron Age village dating back around 2000 years. The settlement differs from other sites of this period because of its well preserved condition, including a number of houses complete with fireplaces, chalk floors and cobbled paving. (Past Horizons)

Bath tunnels of king’s daughters discovered under Turkey’s second largest castle

Two secret tunnels have been discovered under Turkey’s second largest castle, in the northern province of Tokat’s Niksar district. The tunnels date back to the Roman period, and it has been claimed that one of the tunnels was used by a Roman king’s daughters in order to go to the bath in the Çanakçi stream area. (Hurriyet Daily News)

The results of a recent study of canine genomes suggests that dogs and their wolf cousins share an evolutionary history that is considerably more complex than previously thought, pointing to a common ancestor that lived between 11,000 and 34,000 years ago and that the earliest dogs may have first lived among hunter-gatherer societies, before the advent of agriculture.

It challenges the popular theory that humans domesticated dogs around the time that they developed agriculture, and that dogs evolved from a single wolf population or group. 

The study, led by Adam Freedman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), published in PLoS Genetics on January 16, 2014, also indicates that dogs are more closely related to each other than they are to wolves, suggesting that some of the genetic overlap observed between some modern dogs and modern wolves is more likely the result of interbreeding after dog domestication. 

“Dog domestication is more complex than we originally thought,” said John Novembre, associate professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago and co-author of the study. “In this analysis we didn’t see clear evidence in favor of a multi-regional model, or a single origin from one of the living wolves that we sampled. It makes the field of dog domestication very intriguing going forward.”

To get to these conclusions, the research team constructed high quality genome sequences from three gray wolves: one each from China, Croatia and Israel, regions where dogs are thought to have originated. They also produced genomes from two modern dog breeds: a basenji, a breed which originates in central Africa, and a dingo from Australia, both areas that have been historically isolated from modern wolf populations. In addition to the wolves and dogs, they sequenced the genome of a golden jackal to serve as an “outgroup” representing earlier divergence.

Their analysis of the basenji and dingo genomes, plus a previously published boxer genome from Europe, showed that the dog breeds were most closely related to each other. Likewise, the three wolves from each geographic area were more closely related to each other than any of the dogs. This seems to be true regardless of geographic proximity between the dog breeds and their wolf counterparts. It suggests that, according to Novembre, both dogs and wolves were descended from an older, wolf-like ancestor common to both species. It raises the possibility that there were other, now extinct, wolf lineages from which the ancestors of the modern dogs diverged. 

“So now when you ask which wolves are dogs most closely related to,” he says, “it’s none of these three because these are wolves that diverged in the recent past. It’s something more ancient that isn’t well represented by today’s wolves.”

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 Graphic from the study depicting how wolf and dog lineages diverged over time. Credit: Freedma, et al / PLoS Genetics

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Accounting for gene flow between dogs and wolves after domestication was a crucial step in the analyses. According to Freedman, gene flow across canid species appears more pervasive than previously thought.

“If you don’t explicitly consider such exchanges, these admixture events get confounded with shared ancestry,” he said. “We also found evidence for genetic exchange between wolves and jackals. The picture emerging from our analyses is that these exchanges may play an important role in shaping the diversification of canid species.”

Domestication apparently occurred with significant bottlenecks in the historical population sizes of both early dogs and wolves. Freedman and his colleagues were able to infer historical sizes of dog and wolf populations by analyzing genome-wide patterns of variation, showing that dogs suffered a 16-fold reduction in population size as they diverged from wolves. Wolves also experienced a sharp drop in population size soon after their divergence from dogs, implying that diversity among both animals’ common ancestors was larger than represented by modern wolves.

The researchers also found differences across dog breeds and wolves in the number of amylase (AMY2B) genes that help digest starch. Recent studies have suggested that this gene was critical to domestication, allowing early dogs living near humans to adapt to an agricultural diet. But the research team surveyed genetic data from 12 additional dog breeds and saw that while most dog breeds had high numbers of amylase genes, those not associated with agrarian societies, like the Siberian husky and dingo, did not. They also saw evidence of this gene family in wolves, meaning that it didn’t develop exclusively in dogs after the two species diverged, and may have expanded more recently after domestication.

“We’re trying to get every thread of evidence we can to reconstruct the past,” said Novembre. “We use genetics to reconstruct the history of population sizes, relationships among populations and the gene flow that occurred. So now we have a much more detailed picture than existed before, and it’s a somewhat surprising picture.”

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Robert Wayne, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA, was co-senior author of the study.

Additional authors include Rena Schweizer, Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo, Eunjung Han, Farhad Hormozdiari, Kevin Squire and Stanley Nelson from UCLA; Ilan Gronau, Adam Boyko and Adam Siepel from Cornell Univesity; Pedro Silva from University of Porto, Portugal; Marco Galaverni from Ozzano dell’Emilia, Italy; Zhenxin Fan from Sichuan University, China; Peter Marx from Budapest University, Hungary; Belen Lorente-Galdos, Oscar Ramirez and Tomas Marques-Bonet from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC – Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Spain; Holly Beale, Heidi Parker and Elaine Ostrander from the National Institutes of Health; Can Alkan from Bilkent University, Turkey; Carles Vila from Estacion Biologia de Doñana, Spain; Eli Geffen from Tel Aviv University, Israel; Josip Kusak from the University of Zagreb, Croatia; Clarence Lee, Vasisht Tadigotla and Timothy Harkins from Life Technologies; and Carlos Bustamante from Stanford University.

The National Science Foundation and Life Technologies provided funding and reagents. 

Article Source: Adapted and edited from a University of Chicago Medical Center press release.

Cover Photo, Top Left: Gray Wolf, USFWS Endangered Species, Wikimedia Commons cc-by-2.0

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According to the Biblical account, the ancient fortified city of Lachish was for a time considered, after Jerusalem, the second-most important city in the Kingdom of Judah. Today, its ruins can be seen atop a prominent “tel” or mound located in the Shephelah lowland of Israel between Mount Hebron and the maritime Mediterranean coast. The remains are a visible reminder of a city that represented a strength and glory ravaged through the military designs of advancing Assyrian and Babylonian armies long before the ancient Romans ever set foot in this country. It is best known as the location of a great siege by Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 B.C.E. 

Today, this city may sit again in the cross-hairs of a different kind of battle — one that revolves around the debate concerning the nature and historicity of the early Kingdom of Judah. Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, the Yigael Yadin Chair of archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, stands at the center of the debate. His headline-making discoveries at the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, which included, most notably, a massive monumental fortified casemate wall and two city gates, the famous inscribed ostracon that arguably represents the longest Proto-Canaanite text ever found, and the remains of a palatial structure and pillared store room, all suggested to date to the time of the Biblical King David and attributed to his kingdom, have drawn criticism from other scholars who contend that David and Solomon and the kingdom they ruled may not have been the larger-than-life entities that are depicted in the Biblical accounts. Now, in part to address some of the arguments, issues and interpretations swirling within this debate, Garfinkel and colleagues are heading a new team that will begin re-exploring and excavating Lachish in 2014. It is a site that has already been the subject of several historic excavation expeditions but, as is common with many archaeolgical sites, remains unfinished business. And within the context of acquiring a better understanding of the early Judahite State, they are drawing a research connection between their completed excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa and re-newed excavations at Lachish.

“The results from Khirbet Qeiyafa, together with the results from Lachish,” write Garfinkel and colleagues in a recent article published in Biblical Archaeology Review, “will enable us to obtain a clearer and more complete picture of the early history of the kingdom of Judah in the tenth and ninth centuries B.C.E. We view these two excavations as one regional Project.”*

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 View of the western gate at Khirbet Qeiyafa, excavated under the direction of Yosef Garfinkel. Yaels, Wikimedia Commons

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View of some of the ancient excavated remains of Lachish as they appear today. Pikiwiki Israel 

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Inscription on the Assyrian Lachish Reliefs. Left hand side states: “”Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment, before (or at the entrance of) the city of Lachish (Lakhisha). I give permission for its slaughter,” per “Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon”, p 128. Oncenawhile, Wikimedia Commons

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Past excavations at Lachish have revealed a city that was occupied from the Pottery Neolithic (5500–4500 B.C.E.) period to the 2nd century B.C.E.  Key finds have included abundant evidence of the Assyrian siege, a number of ostraca inscribed in classical Hebrew, and the largest collection of LMLK seals, seal stamps on jar handles attributed to the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah in the 8th – 7th century B.C.E.

“The current expedition will concentrate on the 10th–9th centuries B.C.E. and we’ll try to answer questions like: When was Lachish inhabited for the first time in the Iron Age [1200 – 500 B.C.E.]? When was Lachish first fortified in the Iron Age? How did the economy, administration, international connections, writing, cult and art develop in the first 200 years of the Kingdom of Judah? We will also examine the connection between archaeology and the Biblical narrative of the tenth century B.C.E.”**

Garfinkel, along with co-directors Michael G. Hasel and Martin G. Klingbeil of Southern Adventist University, hope to begin excavations with a team of other specialists, students and volunteers in June of 2014. More information about the expedition and how one can participate can be obtained at this website.

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See the detailed article related to this development, published by Bibilical Archaeology Society, here.

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*Garfinkel, et al., An Ending and a Beginning: Why We’re Leaving Qeiyafa and Going to Lachish, Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2013, Vol 39 No 6, pp. 50 – 51.

**http://digs.bib-arch.org/digs/tel-lachish.asp

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And, Popular Archaeology’s annual Discovery edition is a selection of the best stories published in Popular Archaeology Magazine in past issues, with an emphasis on some of the most significant, groundbreaking, or fascinating discoveries in the fields of archaeology and paleoanthropology and related fields. At least some of the articles have been updated or revised specifically for the Discovery edition.  We can confidently say that there is no other single issue of an archaeology-related magazine, paper print or online, that contains as much major feature article content as this one. The latest issue, volume 2, has just been released. Go to the Discovery edition page for more information.

Subscription Price: A very affordable $5.75 for those who are not already premium subscribers of Popular Archaeology Magazine (It is FREE for premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology). Premium subscribers should email [email protected] and request the special coupon code. Or, for the e-Book version, it can be purchased for only $3.99 at Amazon.com. 

January 12th, 2014

Archaeologists Discover Rare Ancient Maya Mural in Belize

Known as Tulix Mul, it appears at first blush as a mound-like island of jumbled trees and bushes jutting out of a landscape that has been otherwise cleared by local mechanized ranchers for their cattle ranch operations. It is a curious protrusion, but only because this site holds special value to archaeologists and other researchers. The local landowner ranchers have agreed to leave it untouched — at least for now. Going forward, however, there are no guarantees. Development must ultimately meet the needs of developers. In the meantime, investigators are racing against the clock and other elements to excavate, study, and preserve the site. It is an ancient Early Classic (200-600 CE) Maya site in northwestern Belize that contains evidence of at least two standing vaulted rooms. (Popular Archaeology)

There She Blew! Volcanic Evidence Of The World’s First Map

A new study of volcanic rocks suggests that an ancient mural may indeed depict an erupting volcano, adding new weight to a theory that this image is a contender for the world’s oldest known landscape painting or map. The mural was found at a vast archaeological site in central Turkey known as Catalhoyuk. This Neolithic town goes back 9,000 years and was a huge settlement for a time when people were first transitioning from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. (NPR)

Searching for the Amazon’s Hidden Civilizations

Look around the Amazon rainforest today and it’s hard to imagine it filled with people. But in recent decades, archaeologists have started to find evidence that before Columbus’s arrival, the region was dotted with towns and perhaps even cities. The extent of human settlement in the Amazon remains hotly debated, partly because huge swaths of the 6-million-square-kilometer rainforest remain unstudied by archaeologists. Now, researchers have built a model predicting where signs of pre-Columbian agriculture are most likely to be found, a tool they hope will help guide future archaeological work in the region. (Science)

Rare Gaming Piece Found at Anglo-Saxon Royal Hall

University of Reading archaeologists have discovered an ancient and extremely rare Anglo-Saxon board gaming piece while excavating a royal complex at Lyminge, Kent. The piece would have been used for a game similar to that of backgammon or draughts. The Anglo-Saxon’s had a strong tradition of playing board games. Individual gaming pieces, and sometimes complete sets in burials of the period, have been discovered. However not only is the piece the first of this type to be found since the Victorian period, it is the first ever piece to be discovered in a ‘gaming’ setting, an Anglo-Saxon royal hall. (Past Horizons)

Mexican archaeologists pinpoint origin of Aztatlan ceramics

Archaeological finds in the southern part of the western state of Sinaloa suggest that the culture that developed in that region gave rise to the ceramics at the Aztatlan Complex, Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said. (Global Post)

Mapping the Origins of Cholera

Working with a nearly 200-year-old sample of preserved intestine, researchers at McMaster University and the University of Sydney have traced the bacterium behind a global cholera pandemic that killed millions – a version of the same bug that continues to strike vulnerable populations in the world’s poorest regions. Using sophisticated techniques, the team has mapped the entire genome of the elusive 19th century bacterium. (Past Horizons)

How a hunch led Nepalese archaeologist Kosh Prasad Acharya to stunning claim on Buddha birth date

Two archaeologists had a hunch that the Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal held secrets that could transform how the world understood the emergence and spread of Buddhism. Their pursuit would eventually see them excavate the sacred site of Lumbini as monks prayed nearby, leading to the stunning claim that the Buddha was born in the sixth century BC, two centuries earlier than thought. (ArtDaily.org)

American team identifies tomb of obscure Egyptian king

A team of American archaeologists this week identified the tomb of a hitherto obscure Egyptian king, Sobekhotep I, believed to be the founder of the 13th Dynasty. The 60-ton pink quartzite sarcophagus was unearthed last year, but the University of Pennsylvania team only managed to decipher the royal inscription on the stone at the beginning of 2014. Little is known about the 13th Dynasty’s rulers. (The Times of Israel)

Remains of 2,000-year-old woman found under South Florida road

Archeologists say a significant prehistoric find was made outside a quiet Florida neighborhood just before Christmas: a woman’s remains perfectly preserved for 2,000 years. A few weeks ago as construction crews were digging a trench for a water main along a busy road, they made a fascinating find in Davie, Fla. “We uncovered the remains of an Indian woman,” said Bob Carr, director of Archaeological and Historical Conservancy. “Prehistoric dating back 2,000 years.” (Ksat.com)

It was in the autumn of 2010 when local amateur archaeologists discovered evidence of harbor facilities thought to date from around 1000–1200 AD near Ahvenkoski village at the mouth of the western branch of the Kymi River in southeastern Finland. The findings included a smithy, an iron smelting furnace, and forceps, as well as hundreds of iron objects such as boat rivets similar to those found at Viking settlements in different parts of the Baltic, Scandinavia, Scotland and Iceland. Then, in 2011, a possible 2 x 3-meter-wide cremation grave was uncovered, confirmed later through rescue excavations by archaeologists from the Finnish National Board of Antiquities and through osteological analysis at the University of Helsinki. Artifacts included a battle axe, a knife, and a bronze buckle, all associated with burned human bones, initially thought to be dated to around 1000 – 1200 CE before analysis. Similar objects have been discovered in the Baltic Sea area and in Ladoga Karelia. Identical cape buckles have also been found in Gotland. 

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Location of the excavations (blocked in red). Courtesy Jouni Jäppinen

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 A National Board of Antiquities archaeologist excavates at the Ahvenkoski harbor forge. The furnace was located between two stones, and in the ground one can see dark gray iron slag pieces. Image courtesy Jouni Jäppinen.

But based on the University of Helsinki analysis, the cremation grave finds date to a time that is significantly earlier — during the Viking Age between 775-980 CE, based on their application of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) techniques. 

“The dating results show that the pyres burned about 895cal CE, not during the Crusader period,” says Jouni Jäppinen, a key participant in the excavations. “So, now we are talking about a Viking Age harbor baseline in the Kymi River delta.” Other results indicate that the harbor facilities were used from the Viking Age to the end of the Middle Ages, for as long as 500 – 600 years. Jäppinen and colleagues hypothesize that the harbor could have been a part of the Gotland or Danish operating range during the Viking Age, then after the year 1200 in use by Bishop Hemming of Turku, and beginning about 1350 as an Estonian monastery’s salmon export center. 

But perhaps the most eye-opening finds come from a number of sites located in the area between the towns of Loviisa and Pyhtää near the northeastern shores of the Gulf of Finland, not far from the Ahvenkoski harbor discoveries. There, they have located as many as twenty possible Roman Iron Age sites, with closer examination of ten. Of those more closely investigated, five revealed evidence of what the excavators interpret as early iron smelting furnaces and smithies. Two of the furnaces have been dated using AMS to between 204 BCE and 180 CE, within the Roman Iron Age period, but test results are still pending on analysis of iron slag deposits sampled from the sites. 

“Some of the objects found also relate to the Migration Period and Viking Age activity in the Kymi River area,” says Jäppinen, “such as a casted bronze ”triangle legs buckle”, which is the first artifact found from the Migration Period in southeastern Finland. Other artifacts are from the Roman Iron Age, and indicate a connection with Estonia and also Sweden. However, based on the asbestos ceramics found, there also appear to be connections to the inlands of Finland through the rivers.” 

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Migration Period bronze buckle. Courtesy Jouni Jäppinen

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Roman Iron Age razor. Courtesy Jouni Jäppinen

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“These discoveries will change the prevailing view about Iron Age settlements on the eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland,” says  Jäppinen. Until now, this part of Finland was thought to be devoid of human settlement during that time period. 

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It could be argued by archaeologists and anthropologists alike that when ancient humans became efficient and effective hunters tens of thousands of years ago, it started a stone rolling, in both an evolutionary and ecological sense, that changed the world forever. Now, the descendants of these ancient hunters can make another difference, but time could be running out……… 

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In ecosystems around the world, the decline of large predators such as lions, dingoes, wolves, otters, and bears is changing the face of landscapes from the tropics to the Arctic – but an analysis of 31 carnivore species published today in the journal Science shows for the first time how threats such as habitat loss, persecution by humans and loss of prey combine to create global hotspots of carnivore decline.

More than 75 percent of the 31 large-carnivore species are declining, and 17 species now occupy less than half of their former ranges, the authors reported.

Southeast Asia, southern and East Africa and the Amazon are among areas in which multiple large carnivore species are declining. With some exceptions, large carnivores have already been exterminated from much of the developed world, including Western Europe and the eastern United States.

“Globally, we are losing our large carnivores,” said William Ripple, lead author of the paper and a professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University.

“Many of them are endangered,” he said. “Their ranges are collapsing. Many of these animals are at risk of extinction, either locally or globally. And, ironically, they are vanishing just as we are learning about their important ecological effects.”

Ripple and colleagues from the United States, Australia, Italy and Sweden called for an international initiative to conserve large predators in coexistence with people. They suggested that such an effort be modeled on the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, a nonprofit scientific group affiliated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The researchers reviewed published scientific reports and singled out seven species that have been studied for their widespread ecological effects or “trophic cascades.” This includes African lions, leopards, Eurasian lynx, cougars, gray wolves, sea otters and dingoes.

Ripple and his Oregon State co-author Robert Beschta have documented impacts of cougars and wolves on the regeneration of forest stands and riparian vegetation in Yellowstone and other national parks in North America. Fewer predators, they have found, lead to an increase in browsing animals such as deer and elk. More browsing disrupts vegetation, shifts birds and small mammals and changes other parts of the ecosystem in a widespread cascade of impacts.

Studies of Eurasian lynx, dingoes, lions and sea otters have found similar effects, the authors reported.

Lynx have been closely tied to the abundance of roe deer, red fox and hare. In Australia, the construction of a 3,400-mile dingo-proof fence has enabled scientists to study ecosystems with and without the animals, which are closely related to gray wolves. In some parts of Africa, the decrease of lions and leopards has coincided with a dramatic increase in olive baboons, which threaten farm crops and livestock. In the waters off southeast Alaska, a decline in sea otters through killer whale predation has led to a rise in sea urchins and loss of kelp beds.

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Leopards, an important predator, are in serious decline. Credit: Photo by Kirstin Abley. Courtesy Oregon State University

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The authors call for a deeper understanding of the impact of large carnivores on ecosystems, a view that they trace back to the work of landmark ecologist Aldo Leopold. The classic concept that predators are harmful and deplete fish and wildlife is outdated, they said. Scientists and wildlife managers need to recognize a growing body of evidence for the complex roles that carnivores play in ecosystems and for their social and economic benefits.

Leopold recognized such relationships between predators and ecosystems, Ripple said, but his observations on that point were largely ignored for decades after his death in 1948.

“Human tolerance of these species is a major issue for conservation,” Ripple said. “We say these animals have an intrinsic right to exist, but they are also providing economic and ecological services that people value.”

Among the services that have been documented in other studies are carbon sequestration, riparian restoration, biodiversity and disease control.

Where large carnivores have been restored — such as wolves in Yellowstone or Eurasian lynx in Finland — ecosystems have responded quickly, said Ripple. “I am impressed with how resilient the Yellowstone ecosystem is. It isn’t happening quickly everywhere, but in some places, ecosystem restoration has started there.”

In those cases, where loss of vegetation has led to soil erosion, for example, full restoration in the near term may not be possible, he said.

“Nature is highly interconnected,” said Ripple. “The work at Yellowstone and other places shows how one species affects another and another through different pathways. It’s humbling as a scientist to see the interconnectedness of nature.”

Cover Photo, Top Left: Wolves are one of the important large predators that are disappearing and causing ecological disruption as a result. Credit: Photo by Doug McLaughlin. Courtesy Oregon State University.

Source: Oregon State University Press Release.

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Read about the most fascinating discoveries with a premium subscription to Popular Archaeology Magazine.  Find out what Popular Archaeology Magazine is all about.  AND MORE:

On the go? Purchase the mobile version of the current issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine here for only $2.99.

And, Popular Archaeology’s annual Discovery edition is a selection of the best stories published in Popular Archaeology Magazine in past issues, with an emphasis on some of the most significant, groundbreaking, or fascinating discoveries in the fields of archaeology and paleoanthropology and related fields. At least some of the articles have been updated or revised specifically for the Discovery edition.  We can confidently say that there is no other single issue of an archaeology-related magazine, paper print or online, that contains as much major feature article content as this one. The latest issue, volume 2, has just been released. Go to the Discovery edition page for more information.

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An Oxford University study has concluded that our ancient ancestors who lived in East Africa between 2.4 million-1.4 million years ago survived mainly on a diet of tiger nuts. Tiger nuts are edible grass bulbs still eaten in parts of the world today. The study published in the journal, PLOS ONE, also suggests that these early hominins may have sought additional nourishment from fruits and invertebrates, like worms and grasshoppers.

Study author Dr Gabriele Macho examined the diet of Paranthropus boisei, nicknamed “Nutcracker Man” because of his big flat molar teeth and powerful jaws, through studying modern-day baboons in Kenya. Her findings help to explain a puzzle that has vexed archaeologists for 50 years.

Scholars have debated why this early human relative had such strong jaws, indicating a diet of hard foods like nuts, yet their teeth seemed to be made for consuming soft foods. Damage to the tooth enamel also indicated they had come into contact with an abrasive substance. Previous research using stable isotope analyses suggests the diet of these homimins was largely comprised of C4 plants like grasses and sedges. However, a debate has raged over whether such high-fibre foods could ever be of sufficiently high quality for a large-brained, medium-sized hominin.

Dr Macho’s study finds that baboons today eat large quantities of C4 tiger nuts, and this food would have contained sufficiently high amounts of minerals, vitamins, and the fatty acids that would have been particularly important for the hominin brain. Her finding is grounded in existing data that details the diet of year-old baboons in Amboseli National Park in Kenya – a similar environment to that once inhabited by Paranthropus boisei. Dr Macho’s study is based on the assumption that baboons intuitively select food according to their needs. She concludes that the nutritional demands of a hominin would have been quite similar.

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Landscape at the Amboseli National Park (with baboons). The landscape inhabited by Paranthropus boisei was very similar. Image courtesy Gabriele Macho.

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Dr Macho modified the findings of the previous study on baboons by Stuart Altmann (1998) on how long it took the year-old baboons to dig up tiger nuts and feed on various C4 sources. She calculated the likely time taken by hominins, suggesting that it would be at least twice that of the yearling baboons once their superior manual dexterity was taken into account. Dr Macho also factored in the likely calorie intake that would be needed by a big-brained human relative.

Tiger nuts, which are rich in starches, are highly abrasive in an unheated state. Dr Macho suggests that hominins’ teeth suffered abrasion and wear and tear due to these starches. The study finds that baboons’ teeth have similar marks giving clues about their pattern of consumption.

In order to digest the tiger nuts and allow the enzymes in the saliva to break down the starches, the hominins would need to chew the tiger nuts for a long time. All this chewing put considerable strain on the jaws and teeth, which explains why “Nutcracker Man” had such a distinctive cranial anatomy.

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Skull of ‘Nutcracker Man’ or Paranthropus boisei. This image is of Olduvai Hominid 5 (OH 5), the most famous of the early human fossils found at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Image courtesy Donald C Johanson.

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Palate and maxillary teeth of Paranthropus boisei (OH 5). Image courtesy Donald C Johanson.

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The Oxford study calculates a hominin could extract sufficient nutrients from a tiger nut- based diet, i.e. around 10,000 kilojoules or 2,000 calories a day – or 80% of their required daily calorie intake, in two and half to three hours. This fits comfortably within the foraging time of five to six hours per day typical for a large-bodied primate.

Dr Macho, from the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, said: ‘I believe that the theory – that “Nutcracker Man” lived on large amounts of tiger nuts– helps settle the debate about what our early human ancestor ate. On the basis of recent isotope results, these hominins appear to have survived on a diet of C4 foods, which suggests grasses and sedges. Yet these are not high quality foods. What this research tells us is that hominins were selective about the part of the grass that they ate, choosing the grass bulbs at the base of the grass blade as the mainstay of their diet.

‘Tiger nuts, still sold in health food shops as well as being widely used for grinding down and baking in many countries, would be relatively easy to find. They also provided a good source of nourishment for a medium-sized hominin with a large brain. This is why these hominins were able to survive for around one million years because they could successfully forage – even through periods of climatic change.’

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Source: University of Oxford Press Release

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First discovered and excavated in the 1960’s by British archaeologist James Mellaart, the world-famous 9,000-year-old Neolithic site of Catälhöyuk in Central Anatolia, Turkey, has provided a unique window on the lives of humans at the transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture societies. Among the spectacular finds was a mural or wall-painting dated to about 6600 BCE and described by its discoverer and others as depicting a volcanic eruption. Arguably regarded as the first map or graphical representation of a landscape, it featured “a rendering of a mountain with two peaks with the cell-like patterns representing a plan view of a village with a general layout of the houses similar to that of Catälhöyuk and other nearby Neolithic settlements”……”with the summit region showing ‘‘falling volcanic ‘bombs’ or large semiliquid lava.’’*

This description or interpretation has been contested, however, as critics have maintained that there has been little or no geologic evidence for an explosive volcanic eruption in the area contemporaneous with the age of the site, and other scholars have descibed the painting as representing a “leopard skin with its extremities cut off”.*

Now, new volcanic rock dating suggests the mural date may have overlapped with the date of an eruption from the nearby Hasan Dagi volcano. Led by Axel Schmitt from the University of California Los Angeles and colleagues from other institutions, an international team of scientists analyzed rocks from the nearby Hasan Dagi volcano in order to determine whether it was the volcano depicted in the mural from ~6600 BC. To determine if Hasan Dagi was active during that time, scientists collected and analyzed volcanic rock samples from the summit and flanks of the Hasan Dagi volcano using (U-Th)/He zircon geochronology. This resulted in the first radiometric ages for a Holocene volcanic eruption in the area. The ages were then compared to the archaeological date of the mural.

They found that volcanic rock textures and ages support the interpretation that residents of Çatalhöyük may have recorded an explosive eruption of Hasan Dagi volcano. The dating of the volcanic rock indicated an eruption around 6900 BC, which closely overlaps with the time the mural was estimated to have been painted in Çatalhöyük. The overlapping timeframes thus indicate humans in the region may have witnessed this eruption.

Says Schmitt, “We tested the hypothesis that the Çatalhöyük mural depicts a volcanic eruption and discovered a geological record consistent with this hypothesis. Our work also demonstrates that Hasan Dagi volcano has potential for future eruptions.”

The sudy results are published in detail in the January 8, 2014, open access journal PLOS ONE. 

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Excavations at Çatalhöyük first began under James Mellaart in 1958 and were later renewed under Ian Hodder in 1993. Ziggurat, Wikimedia Commons

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*Schmitt AK, Danišík M, Aydar E, Şen E, Ulusoy İ, et al. (2014) Identifying the Volcanic Eruption Depicted in a Neolithic Painting at Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. PLoS ONE 9(1): e84711. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084711

Partial support for this study comes from NSF EAR 1029193 “Facility Support: The UCLA National Ion Microprobe”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study. 

Cover Photo, Top Left: The Hasan Dagi volcano. Credit: Janet C. Harvey

Source: Adaped and edited from a press release for the Public Library of Science and relevant excerpts from the detailed study cited above.

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A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), may strengthen the argument for an evolutionary link between Ardipithecus ramidus (nicknamed ‘Ardi’ for short), a 4.4 million-year-old hominoid species that featured a brain about the size of a chimpanzee but locomotor behavior that may have included both walking upright on the ground and a life in the trees, and humans. A hominoid is a type of animal belonging to the superfamily Hominoidea, consisting of both apes and humans.

Ardipithecus ramidus, now long extinct, is the biological species name given to fossils first discovered in 1992 by a research team led by Tim White.  Exploring the Afar Depression in the Middle Awash river valley of Ethiopia, they found seventeen fragments including skull, mandible, teeth and arm bones. Later, additional fragments were recovered in 1994. The pelvis remains of Ardi, which were found in a crushed state, were analyzed and interpreted to be shorter and broader than an ape’s — more like that of a human or Australopithecus, indicating that she was bipedal, able to walk upright. White and colleagues initially classified it as belonging to Australopithecus, a more human-like genus thought to be ancestral to humans, but later renamed the fossil finds under a new genus, Ardipithecus. Then, between 1999 and 2003, another team led by Sileshi Semaw discovered fossils of nine A. ramidus individuals at As Duma in the Gona Western Margin of Ethiopia’s Afar Region. These fossils were dated to between 4.35 and 4.45 million years old. Questions surrounding how this species is related to human ancestors have been long debated, with many scholars suggesting it represents evidence of homoplasy, or independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineages. In the case of Ardi, the homoplasy adherents have pointed out that certain aspects of the foot and pelvis which are strongly indicative of arboreal locomotion (life in the trees, like other primates), suggest that this species may instead “exemplify parallel evolution of human-like traits among apes around the time of the chimpanzee-human split”.*

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Ardipithecus ramidus („Ardi“), complete skeleton. Own drawn remake of p.36, “Science” of 2nd October 2009. Tobias Fluegel, Wikimedia Commons

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 A map with the fossil sites of the earliest hominids and hominoids, from 35.8 M BP until 3.3 M BP.

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Now, an international team of scientists, including study authors William H. Kimbel of Arizona State University and Tim D. White of the University of California, Berkely, report that key morphological aspects of the base of the Ardi skull (the basicranium) indicates affinities to that of the Australopithecines and early Homo, supporting the hypothesis that Ardi had a closer relationship to humans than the homoplasy supporters suggest. Report the study authors:

“Our investigation of the basicranium shows that Ar. ramidus shares with Australopithecus and Homo a relatively short, broad central cranial base and related modifications of the tympanic, petrous, and basioccipital elements. These similarities support the proposed relationship of Ar. ramidus to Australopithecus + Homo. Reorganization of the central basicranium is among the earliest morphological attributes of this group.”*

The researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing the length and breadth of the external cranial base of the skull, including the temporal bone , of the best-preserved basicranial specimen of Ardi and similar samples from Australopithecines, chimpanzees, bonobos, and modern humans.

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Ardipithecus cranium image. Michael Keesey, Wikimedia Commons 

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Other key researchers and study authors included Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo, Berhane Asfaw of the Rift Valley Research Service, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Yoel Rak of Tel Aviv University and Arizona State University.

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*Article #13-22639: “Ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base,” by William H. Kimbel et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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University of Cincinnati archaeologists are turning up discoveries in the famed Roman city of Pompeii that are wiping out the historic perceptions of how the Romans dined, with the rich enjoying delicacies such as flamingos and the poor scrounging for soup or gruel.

Steven Ellis, a University of Cincinnati associate professor of classics, will present these discoveries on Jan. 4, at the joint annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and American Philological Association (APA) in Chicago.

UC teams of archaeologists have spent more than a decade at two city blocks within a non-elite district in the Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried under a volcano in 79 AD. The excavations are uncovering the earlier use of buildings that would have dated back to the 6th century. 

Ellis says the excavation is producing a complete archaeological analysis of homes, shops and businesses at a forgotten area inside one of the busiest gates of Pompeii, the Porta Stabia. 

The area covers 10 separate building plots and a total of 20 shop fronts, most of which served food and drink. The waste that was examined included collections from drains as well as 10 latrines and cesspits, which yielded mineralized and charred food waste coming from kitchens and excrement. Ellis says among the discoveries in the drains was an abundance of the remains of fully-processed foods, especially grains.

“The material from the drains revealed a range and quantity of materials to suggest a rather clear socio-economic distinction between the activities and consumption habits of each property, which were otherwise indistinguishable hospitality businesses,” says Ellis. Findings revealed foods that would have been inexpensive and widely available, such as grains, fruits, nuts, olives, lentils, local fish and chicken eggs, as well as minimal cuts of more expensive meat and salted fish from Spain. Waste from neighboring drains would also turn up less of a variety of foods, revealing a socioeconomic distinction between neighbors.

A drain from a central property revealed a richer variety of foods as well as imports from outside Italy, such as shellfish, sea urchin and even delicacies including the butchered leg joint of a giraffe. 

“That the bone represents the height of exotic food is underscored by the fact that this is thought to be the only giraffe bone ever recorded from an archaeological excavation in Roman Italy,” says Ellis. “How part of the animal, butchered, came to be a kitchen scrap in a seemingly standard Pompeian restaurant not only speaks to long-distance trade in exotic and wild animals, but also something of the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet.”

Deposits also included exotic and imported spices, some from as far away as Indonesia.

Ellis adds that one of the deposits dates as far back as the 4th century, which he says is a particularly valuable discovery, since few other ritual deposits survived from that early stage in the development of Pompeii.

“The ultimate aim of our research is to reveal the structural and social relationships over time between working-class Pompeian households, as well as to determine the role that sub-elites played in the shaping of the city, and to register their response to city-and Mediterranean-wide historical, political and economic developments. However, one of the larger datasets and themes of our research has been diet and the infrastructure of food consumption and food ways,” says Ellis.

He adds that as a result of the discoveries, “The traditional vision of some mass of hapless lemmings – scrounging for whatever they can pinch from the side of a street, or huddled around a bowl of gruel – needs to be replaced by a higher fare and standard of living, at least for the urbanites in Pompeii.”

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Detail of excavated features in the neighborhood under excavation and study. Courtesy UC Department of Classics 
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Contributing team leaders on the project who have focused on diet and food ways are Michael MacKinnon, a professor at the University of Winnipeg; Mark Robinson, professor at Oxford University; Jennifer Robinson, also of Oxford University; Emily Holt, professor at Oberlin College and Professor Andrew Fairbairn of the University of Queensland.

Funding for the research was supported by the UC Department of Classics Louise Taft Semple Fund, with generous additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Geographic Society, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation and several private benefactors.

Ellis’ presentation, “Explorations into the Complexities of Foodways of Non-elite Roman Urbanites,” will be presented at the Presidential Plenary Session focusing on food and drink. The Presidential Plenary Session is considered one of the highlights of the conference.

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Source: Dawn Fuller, University of Cincinnati Press Release

All images courtesy UC Department of Classics and Steven Ellis

Cover Photo, Top Left: Overview of the neighborhood of Pompeii under excavation by the University of Cincinnati. 

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December 31st, 2013

10 Coolest Archaeology Discoveries of 2013

Archaeologists dig through the faint traces of the past to learn more about human history. And 2013 was a big year for new archaeology finds. From royal tombs to the mysterious vanished inhabitants of Europe, here are some of the strangest and most exciting archaeology finds of the year. (Live Science)

Violent death in the bogs of Ireland

The headless body of Old Croghan Man was found preserved in the bog in 2003. He had died sometime between 362BC and 175BC. Slideshow (BBC News)

New Theory: Hunter-Gatherers Domesticated Dogs From Gray Wolves

Man’s best friends may have started off as European gray wolves, according to scientists whose research is challenging earlier thinking around where and why dogs became domestic animals. The finding, detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Science, challenges past research that had placed dog domestication in East Asia or the Middle East and that had linked the phenomena to the rise of agriculture. (National Geographic)

Massacre in the Well – A 1200 Year Old Murder Mystery

French archaeologists recently completed five months of excavations at the town of Entrains-sur-Nohain in Burgundy as part of a private development in the area. What they did not expect to find in this routine excavation of a Gallo-Roman site was the remains of a mass grave – witness to the massacre of a civilian population from over 1000 years ago. (Past Horizons)

Centuries Before China’s ‘Great Wall,’ There Was Another

The Great Wall of China, built more than 2,000 years ago, stands as one of the monumental feats of ancient engineering. Stretching thousands of miles, it protected the newly unified country from foreign invaders. But before the Great Wall, warring Chinese dynasties built many other walls for protection. An American archaeologist recently began surveying one of the biggest. (NPR)

A team of Israeli scientists have reported the discovery of a hominin (early human) occupation site near Nesher Ramla, Israel. The site, according to archaeologist Yossi Zaidner of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa and colleagues, presents evidence for human occupation or use during Middle Paleolithic times (about 300,000 to 40 – 50,000 years ago).

Unearthed were numerous finds that comprised an 8-meter deep sequence of “rich and well-preserved lithic [worked stone tool artifacts] and faunal assemblages [animal and early human bones], combustion features [features evidencing use or presence of fire], hundreds of manuports [natural objects moved from their original locations possibly by human agency] and ochre.”* Ochre, an iron oxide pigment, was often used for a variety of purposes by prehistoric humans, including the creation of wall paintings.

Using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating technique, the researchers were able to place habitation or use of the site during the MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 6-5, or a date range between about 190,000 and 74,000 years ago. Although the type of human was not identified as yet in their report, this time period witnessed activities of both Neanderthals and early modern humans. The lithic artifacts were of the Mousterian tradition, and included Levallois cores, flakes, points, and side-scrapers. They also discovered a “vertebral column in anatomic articulation” and “probable cutmarks observed in the field on an aurochs-sized long bone shaft fragment”.* The auroch is a large, extinct type of wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa. 

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Above: Typical example of a Levallois point, found in Beuzeville, Eure, France. Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons

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Summarizes Zaidner, et al.: “The site, found within a karst depression at Nesher Ramla, Israel, provides novel evidence for Middle Paleolithic lifeways in an environmental and depositional setting that is previously undocumented in the southern Levant. The carbonate bedrock in the area is characterized by surface depressions formed by gravitational sagging of the rock into underlying karst voids.”* 

Karst features such as depressions and caves are naturally caused by water action over time with carbonate rock, such as limestone and dolomite. Israel features a number of such caves, some of which have revealed evidence of human habitation by Neanderthals and other early human species. Kebara cave near Zikhron Ya’akov, for example, has yielded fossilized 60,000-year-old remains of a Neanderthal and lithic artifacts; and the Tabun Cave, near Mount Carmel, contained a Neanderthal-type female dated to about 120,000 years ago.  

The details of the report, currently in press, are documented in the Journal of Human Evolution.  

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* A series of Mousterian occupations in a new type of site: The Nesher Ramla karst depression, Israel

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The most complete sequence to date of the Neanderthal genome, using DNA extracted from a woman’s toe bone that dates back 50,000 years, reveals a long history of interbreeding among at least four different types of early humans living in Europe and Asia at that time, according to a University of California, Berkeley, team of scientists.

Population geneticist Montgomery Slatkin, graduate student Fernando Racimo and post-doctoral student Flora Jay were part of an international team of anthropologists and geneticists who generated a high-quality sequence of the Neanderthal genome and compared it with the genomes of modern humans and a recently recognized group of early humans called Denisovans.

The comparison shows that Neanderthals and Denisovans are very closely related, and that their common ancestor split off from the ancestors of modern humans about 400,000 years ago. Neanderthals and Denisovans split about 300,000 years ago.

Though Denisovans and Neanderthals eventually died out, they left behind bits of their genetic heritage because they occasionally interbred with modern humans. The research team estimates that between 1.5 and 2.1 percent of the genomes of modern non-Africans can be traced to Neantherthals.

Denisovans also left genetic traces in modern humans, though only in some Oceanic and Asian populations. The genomes of Australian aborigines, New Guineans and some Pacific Islanders are about 6 percent Denisovan genes, according to earlier studies. The new analysis finds that the genomes of Han Chinese and other mainland Asian populations, as well as of native Americans, contain about 0.2 percent Denisovan genes.

The genome comparisons also show that Denisovans interbred with a mysterious fourth group of early humans also living in Eurasia at the time. That group had split from the others more than a million years ago, and may have been the group of human ancestors known as Homo erectus, the fossils of which indicate their presence in Europe and Asia a million or more years ago.

“The paper really shows that the history of humans and hominins during this period was very complicated,” said Slatkin, a UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology. “There was a lot of interbreeding that we know about and probably other interbreeding we haven’t yet discovered.”

In another analysis, Jay discovered that the Neanderthal woman whose toe bone provided the DNA was highly inbred. The woman’s genome indicates that she was the daughter of a very closely related mother and father who either were half-siblings who shared the same mother, an uncle and niece or aunt and nephew, a grandparent and grandchild, or double first-cousins (the offspring of two siblings who married siblings).

Further analyses suggest that the population sizes of Neanderthals and Denisovans were small and that inbreeding may have been more common in Neanderthal groups than in modern populations.

As part of the new study, Racimo was able to identify at least 87 specific genes in modern humans that are significantly different from related genes in Neanderthals and Denisovans, and that may hold clues to the behavioral differences distinguishing us from early human populations that died out.

“There is no gene we can point to and say, ‘This accounts for language or some other unique feature of modern humans,'” Slatkin said. “But from this list of genes, we will learn something about the changes that occurred on the human lineage, though those changes will probably be very subtle.”

According to Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, the list of genes “is a catalog of genetic features that sets all modern humans apart from all other organisms, living or extinct. I believe that in it hide some of the things that made the enormous expansion of human populations and human culture and technology in the last 100,000 years possible”.

The Pääbo group last year produced a high-quality Denisovan genome based on DNA from a pinky finger bone discovered in 2008 in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia. That bone is from a young woman who lived about 40,000 years ago. The Neanderthal toe bone was found in the same cave in 2010, though in a deeper layer of sediment that is thought to be about 10,000-20,000 years older. The cave also contains modern human artifacts, meaning that at least three groups of early humans occupied the cave at different times. The Pääbo group developed new techniques to extract DNA from these old bones.

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This is the Denisova Cave entrance, located in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Russia. The cave was inhabitated at various times by three different groups of early humans: Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans. Credit: Copyright Bence Viola

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Slatkin noted that no one is sure how long the various now-extinct groups lasted, but there is evidence that Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted in Europe and Asia for at least 30,000 years. Interbreeding was infrequent, though how infrequent is unclear given the genomic information available today.

“We don’t know if interbreeding took place once, where a group of Neanderthals got mixed in with modern humans, and it didn’t happen again, or whether groups lived side by side, and there was interbreeding over a prolonged period,” he said.

The genome analysis is published in the Dec. 19 issue of the journal Nature. Slatkin, Racimo and Jay are members of a large team led by former UC Berkeley post-doc Svante Pääbo, who is now at the Max Planck Institute.

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Source: Edited and adapted from a University of California – Berkeley  press release. 

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December 17th, 2013

Cat Domestication in China 5,300 Years Ago

A study conducted by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has produced the first direct evidence for the processes of cat domestication. Led by Yaowu Hu, he and his colleagues analyzed eight bones from at least two wild cats excavated from the site of the ancient Chinese village of Quanhucun, using radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen traces in the bones of the cats. The analysis showed that the cats were preying on animals that lived on farmed millet — probably rodents. Archaeological evidence indicated that the village farmers had problems with rodents in the grain stores. In essence, the cats and the villagers had developed a kind of symbiotic relationship. (Popular Archaeology)

Ancient Pig-Shaped Baby Bottle Found

Italian archaeologists have discovered an ancient terracotta pig which worked as a toy as well as a modern-day baby bottle. Known as guttus, the unique vessel dates back about 2,400 years, when the “heel” of Italy was inhabited by the Messapian people, a tribal group who migrated from Illyria (a region in the western part of the Balkan peninsula) around 1000 B.C. (Discovery News)

Yes, Neanderthals Buried Their Dead, Say Researchers

An international team of scientists have announced new evidence supporting the long-debated hypothesis that Neanderthals, a now extinct ancient human cousin species that lived more than 30-40,000 years ago, intentionally buried their dead. (Popular Archaeology)

Mummy Mystery: Multiple Tombs Hidden in Egypt’s Valley of Kings

Multiple tombs lay hidden in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, where royalty were buried more than 3,000 years ago, awaiting discovery, say researchers working on the most extensive exploration of the area in nearly a century. The hidden treasure may include several small tombs, with the possibility of a big-time tomb holding a royal individual, the archaeologists say.  (Live Science)

Storms could reveal new archaeological sites in Scotland

The recent storms that hit the Scottish coastline could reveal important new archaeological sites, according to Fife scientists. St Andrews University archaeologists are appealing to the public to help find sites that have been uncovered by the storms. They also hoping people contact them to record local sites that have been damaged by the recent bad weather. (BBC News)

In 2011, a team led by Fredrick Manthi from the West Turkana Paleontology Project of the National Museums of Kenya discovered a well-preserved hominin (early human ancestor) hand bone from the site of Kaitio, located in northern Kenya west of Lake Turkana. 

Any hominin fossil find would be considered a rarity when compared to the abundance of finds from other ancient animals. But this fossil was rarer still, for two reasons. First, it was a type of bone (the third metacarpal in the hand) that, along with other distinct anatomical features, allowed humans, in contrast to other primates, the ability to make tools and perform other manipulative functions that are unique to humans. Second, it was dated to about 1.42 million years ago. It constitutes the earliest evidence of a modern human-like hand, indicating that this anatomical feature existed more than half a million years earlier than previously known.

Researchers suspect the bone belonged to the early human species, Homo erectus, a human species that existed between 1.8 million and 143,000 years ago. It is considered the first human species to go global — geographically, Home erectus fossil remains have been found in East Africa, Georgia, India, Sri Lanka, China and Java. The bone was found near sites where the earliest Acheulian tools have appeared. Acheulian tools are ancient, shaped stone tools that include stone hand axes more than 1.6 million years old. They are most often associated with the presence of Homo erectus.

“What makes this bone so distinct,” says Carol Ward, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and lead author of the study, “is the presence of a styloid process, or projection of bone, at the end that connects to the wrist. Until now, this styloid process has been found only in us, Neandertals and other archaic humans” whose remains have been dated to much later times. 

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The styloid process is a projection of bone. Ward and her team found a styloid process at the end of a hand/wrist bone more than 1.42 million years old, indicating this anatomical feature existed more than half a million years earlier than previously known. By explanation, above, Australopithecus is an early hominin that is generally thought to be ancestral to, and predates, the Homo genus, which contains the earliest species of the human line. Credit: University of Missouri

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Image of the fossil third metacarpal bone shown in its position on the human hand, connecting the wrist with the middle finger. The styloid process allows the hand to lock into the wrist bones, giving humans the ability to apply greater amounts of pressure to the hand. This allows humans to make and use tools. Credit: University of Missouri

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“The styloid process reflects an increased dexterity that allowed early human species to use powerful yet precise grips when manipulating objects. This was something that their predecessors couldn’t do as well due to the lack of this styloid process and its associated anatomy,” Ward said. “With this discovery, we are closing the gap on the evolutionary history of the human hand. This may not be the first appearance of the modern human hand, but we believe that it is close to the origin, given that we do not see this anatomy in any human fossils older than 1.8 million years. Our specialized, dexterous hands have been with us for most of the evolutionary history of our genus, Homo. They are – and have been for almost 1.5 million years – fundamental to our survival.”

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science this week. Members of Ward’s team who helped discover and analyze the bone include: Matthew Tocheri, National Museum of Natural History in the Smithsonian Institution; J. Michael Plavcan, University of Arkansas; Francis Brown, University of Utah; and Fredrick Manthi, National Museums of Kenya.

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Source: Adapted and edited from a University of Missouri-Columbia press release.

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Read about the most fascinating discoveries with a premium subscription to Popular Archaeology Magazine.  Find out what Popular Archaeology Magazine is all about, including the special Holiday Discount offer.  AND MORE:

On the go? Purchase the current issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine for your Kindle, iPad or iPhone.

And, Popular Archaeology’s annual Discovery edition is a selection of the best stories published in Popular Archaeology Magazine in past issues, with an emphasis on some of the most significant, groundbreaking, or fascinating discoveries in the fields of archaeology and paleoanthropology and related fields. At least some of the articles have been updated or revised specifically for the Discovery edition.  We can confidently say that there is no other single issue of an archaeology-related magazine, paper print or online, that contains as much major feature article content as this one. The latest issue, volume 2, has just been released. Go to the Discovery edition page for more information.

Subscription Price: A very affordable $5.75 for those who are not already premium subscribers of Popular Archaeology Magazine (It is FREE for premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology). Premium subscribers should email [email protected] and request the special coupon code. Or, for the e-Book version, it can be purchased for only $3.99 at Amazon.com. 

An international team of scientists have announced new evidence supporting the long-debated hypothesis that Neanderthals, a now extinct ancient human cousin species that lived more than 30-40,000 years ago, intentionally buried their dead.

Led by William Rendu and colleagues of the Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, New York City, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Bordeaux in France and Archéosphère, a private research firm, they analyzed results of excavations Rendu and an excavation team conducted at the bouffia Bonneval, La Chapelle-aux-Saints cave system site, in southwestern France, in 2011 and 2012, including the results of an excavation conducted there over 100 years ago. The site is famous for the discovery in 1908 of a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton with evidence that has been interpreted to suggest that the skeleton was intentionally buried by other Neanderthals. That interpretation, however, has been historically challenged by many scholars.  

Now, through the renewed excavations, the scientists found the remains of an additional adult and two youth or children and additional elements of the 1908 skeleton find, along with bones of reindeer and bison and numerous lithic tools of the type usually associated with Neanderthals. They also conducted further study of the geological context of the initial 1908 finds and that of the new finds. They determined that the pit or geological depression where the original skeleton was found in 1908 was not a natural feature of the cave floor, and that it best fit the hypothesis that it had “anthropic origins” (created by humans).

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The bouffia Bonneval at La Chapelle-aux-Saints and its Neanderthal burial pit. Image courtesy Cédric Beauval.

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Moreover, their examination of the reindeer and bovid (bison) remains associated within the same time and spatial context as the Neanderthal remains indicated a significant difference in their relative condition. In contrast to the Neanderthal, the reindeer and bovid bones exhibited clear deterioration or wear due to climatic, mechanical, and carnivore activity.  

Combined with the geological analysis, the researchers came to a clear conclusion.

As Rendu, et al., write in their report: 

The results of the comparative taphonomic analysis of the human and faunal materials demonstrate that the LCS1 Neandertal [1908 skeleton find] corpse was rapidly interred and protected from the post-depositional modifications experienced by the faunal remains. The existence of an artificially modified pit and the rapid burial of the body constitute convincing criteria for establishing purposeful burial during the Middle Paleolithic of Western Europe.*

In short, they say, the debatable hypothesis has been strengthened: Neanderthals buried their dead.

Adds Rendu, “While we cannot know if this practice was part of a ritual or merely pragmatic, the discovery reduces the behavioral distance between them and us.”

The detailed report has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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*Article #13-16780: “Evidence supporting an intentional Neandertal burial at La Chapelle-aux-Saints,” by William Rendu et al.

Cover Photo, Top Left: Homo neanderthalensis, State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt / State Museum of Prehistory Halle, Wikimedia Commons

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Read about the most fascinating discoveries with a premium subscription to Popular Archaeology Magazine.  Find out what Popular Archaeology Magazine is all about, including the special Holiday Discount offer.  AND MORE:

On the go? Purchase the current issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine for your Kindle, iPad or iPhone.

And, Popular Archaeology’s annual Discovery edition is a selection of the best stories published in Popular Archaeology Magazine in past issues, with an emphasis on some of the most significant, groundbreaking, or fascinating discoveries in the fields of archaeology and paleoanthropology and related fields. At least some of the articles have been updated or revised specifically for the Discovery edition.  We can confidently say that there is no other single issue of an archaeology-related magazine, paper print or online, that contains as much major feature article content as this one. The latest issue, volume 2, has just been released. Go to the Discovery edition page for more information.

Subscription Price: A very affordable $5.75 for those who are not already premium subscribers of Popular Archaeology Magazine (It is FREE for premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology). Premium subscribers should email [email protected] and request the special coupon code. Or, for the e-Book version, it can be purchased for only $3.99 at Amazon.com. 

A three-year-old excavation at the graveyard of the Abbey of St. Peter in Lucca, Italy, is yielding something more than archaeologists initially expected, and they’re not just talking about bones and other grave features and artifacts. While excavating, they stumbled upon a mass grave of human remains that contain evidence of an ancient cholera outbreak. 

Led by Giuseppe Vercellotti and Clark Larson from Ohio State University and Hendrik Poinar from McMaster University, the researchers at the site have collected samples of ancient DNA from both humans and bacteria, hoping to find answers to questions about how past epidemics, such as the bubonic plague, developed, spread and devastated historic human populations in Europe. Moreover, they hope that making comparisons to modern bacterial genomes can shed light on how pathogens evolved under a variety of conditions, such as war and famine.  

The Abbey of St. Peter was situated along an early pilgrimage route, and was a congregational point for knights, clerics, monks and peasants. The researchers are comparing fossils and genes from a variety of social classes and time periods to build a picture of how people lived and died in Middle Age Europe, and beyond. One of their research questions centers around why the bacterial strain for bubonic plague is much less virulent today than it was centuries ago. Other answers have already been found, such as how malaria effected a historic battle at the site hundreds of years ago. 

A detailed news story about the discoveries and research is published in the journal Science.*

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*Article #35: “The Thousand-Year Graveyard,” by Ann Gibbons at Science News in Washington, DC.

Cover Photo, Top Left: The city of Lucca in Giovanni Sercambi‘s Cronica, Archivio di Stato, Lucca, Biblioteca Manoscritti. Wikimedia Commons

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Read about the most fascinating discoveries with a premium subscription to Popular Archaeology Magazine.  Find out what Popular Archaeology Magazine is all about, including the special Holiday Discount offer.  AND MORE:

Popular Archaeology’s annual Discovery edition is a selection of the best stories published in Popular Archaeology Magazine in past issues, with an emphasis on some of the most significant, groundbreaking, or fascinating discoveries in the fields of archaeology and paleoanthropology and related fields. At least some of the articles have been updated or revised specifically for the Discovery edition.  We can confidently say that there is no other single issue of an archaeology-related magazine, paper print or online, that contains as much major feature article content as this one. The latest issue, volume 2, has just been released. Go to the Discovery edition page for more information.

Subscription Price: A very affordable $5.75 for those who are not already premium subscribers of Popular Archaeology Magazine (It is FREE for premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology). Premium subscribers should email [email protected] and request the special coupon code. Or, for the e-Book version, it can be purchased for only $3.99 at Amazon.com.