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Ancient stone tools from China provide earliest evidence of rice harvesting

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE—A new Dartmouth-led study analyzing stone tools from southern China provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago. The researchers identified two methods of harvesting rice, which helped initiate rice domestication. The results are published in PLOS ONE.

Wild rice is different from domesticated rice in that wild rice naturally sheds ripe seeds, shattering them to the ground when they mature, while cultivated rice seeds stay on the plants when they mature.

To harvest rice, some sort of tools would have been needed. In harvesting rice with tools, early rice cultivators were selecting the seeds that stay on the plants, so gradually the proportion of seeds that remain increased, resulting in domestication.

“For quite a long time, one of the puzzles has been that harvesting tools have not been found in southern China from the early Neolithic period or New Stone Age (10,000 – 7,000 Before Present) — the time period when we know rice began to be domesticated,” says lead author Jiajing Wang, an assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth. “However, when archaeologists were working at several early Neolithic sites in the Lower Yangtze River Valley, they found a lot of small pieces of stone, which had sharp edges that could have been used for harvesting plants.”

“Our hypothesis was that maybe some of those small stone pieces were rice harvesting tools, which is what our results show.”

In the Lower Yangtze River Valley, the two earliest Neolithic culture groups were the Shangshan and Kuahuqiao.

The researchers examined 52 flaked stone tools from the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites, the latter of which was occupied by Shangshan and Kuahuqiao cultures.

The stone flakes are rough in appearance and are not finely made but have sharp edges. On average, the flaked tools are small enough to be held by one hand and measured approximately 1.7 inches in width and length.

To determine if the stone flakes were used for harvesting rice, the team conducted use-wear and phytolith residue analyses.

For the use-wear analysis, micro-scratches on the tools’ surfaces were examined under a microscope to determine how the stones were used. The results showed that 30 flakes have use-wear patterns similar to those produced by harvesting siliceous (silica-rich) plants, likely including rice.

Fine striations, high polish, and rounded edges distinguished the tools that were used for cutting plants from those that were used for processing hard materials, cutting animal tissues, and scraping wood.

Through the phytolith residue analysis, the researchers analyzed the microscopic residue left on the stone flakes known as “phytoliths” or silica skeleton of plants. They found that 28 of the tools contained rice phytoliths.

“What’s interesting about rice phytoliths is that rice husk and leaves produce different kinds of phytolith, which enabled us to determine how the rice was harvested,” says Wang.

The findings from the use-wear and phytolith analyses illustrated that two types of rice harvesting methods were used — “finger-knife” and “sickle” techniques. Both methods are still used in Asia today.

The stone flakes from the early phase (10,000 – 8,200 BP) showed that rice was largely harvested using the finger-knife method in which the panicles at the top of the rice plant are reaped. The results showed that the tools used for finger-knife harvesting had striations that were mainly perpendicular or diagonal to the edge of the stone flake, which suggests a cutting or scraping motion, and contained phytoliths from seeds or rice husk phytoliths, indicating that the rice was harvested from the top of the plant.

“A rice plant contains numerous panicles that mature at different times, so the finger-knife harvesting technique is especially useful when rice domestication was in the early stage,” says Wang.

The stone flakes however, from the later phase (8,000 – 7,000 BP) had more evidence of sickle harvesting in which the lower part of the plant was harvested. These tools had striations that were predominantly parallel to the tool’s edge, reflecting that a slicing motion had likely been used.

“Sickle harvesting was more widely used when rice became more domesticated, and more ripe seeds stayed on the plant,” says Wang. “Since you are harvesting the entire plant at the same time, the rice leaves and stems could also be used for fuel, building materials, and other purposes, making this a much more effective harvesting method.”

Wang says, “Both harvesting methods would have reduced seed shattering. That’s why we think rice domestication was driven by human unconscious selection.”

Wang is available for comment at: Jiajing.Wang@dartmouth.edu. Jiangping Zhu at Pujiang Museum, Dongrong Lei at Longyou Museum, and Leping Jiang at Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the University of Science and Technology of China, also served as co-authors of the study.

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A selection of stone flake tools from the Shangshan ((a)-(h)) and Kuahuqiao ((i)–(l)) cultures. Red dots delineate working edge of tools. Image by Jiajing Wang.

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Phytolith recovered from stone flakes from Shanghsan and Hehuashan flakes: rice husk phytolith (on left) and rice leaf phytolith. Image by Jiajing Wang

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Article Source: DARTMOUTH COLLEGE news release.

Jawbone may represent earliest presence of humans in Europe

BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – For over a century, one of the earliest human fossils ever discovered in Spain has been long considered a Neanderthal. However, new analysis from an international research team, including scientists at Binghamton University, State University of New York, dismantles this century-long interpretation, demonstrating that this fossil is not a Neanderthal; rather, it may actually represent the earliest presence of Homo sapiens ever documented in Europe.

In 1887, a fossil mandible was discovered during quarrying activities in the town of Banyoles, Spain, and has been studied by different researchers over the past century. The Banyoles fossil likely dates to between approximately 45,000-65,000 years ago, at a time when Europe was occupied by Neanderthals, and most researchers have generally linked it to this species.

“The mandible has been studied throughout the past century and was long considered to be a Neanderthal based on its age and location, and the fact that it lacks one of the diagnostic features of Homo sapiens: a chin,” said Binghamton University graduate student Brian Keeling. 

The new study* relied on virtual techniques, including CT scanning of the original fossil. This was used to virtually reconstruct missing parts of the fossil, and then to generate a 3D model to be analyzed on the computer. 

The authors studied the expressions of distinct features on the mandible from Banyoles that are different between our own species, Homo sapiens, and the Neanderthals, our closest evolutionary cousins.

The authors applied a methodology known as “three-dimensional geometric morphometrics” that analyzes the geometric properties of the bone’s shape. This makes it possible to directly compare the overall shape of Banyoles to Neanderthals and H. sapiens.

“Our results found something quite surprising — Banyoles shared no distinct Neanderthal traits and did not overlap with Neandertals in its overall shape,” said Keeling.

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While Banyoles seemed to fit better with Homo sapiens in both the expression of its individual features and its overall shape, many of these features are also shared with earlier human species, complicating an immediate assignment to Homo sapiens. In addition, Banyoles lacks a chin, one of the most characteristic features of Homo sapiens mandibles.

“We were confronted with results that were telling us Banyoles is not a Neanderthal, but the fact that it does not have a chin made us think twice about assigning it to Homo sapiens,” said Rolf Quam, professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, State University of New York. “The presence of a chin has long been considered a hallmark of our own species.”

Given this, reaching a scientific consensus on what species Banyoles represents is a challenge. The authors also compared Banyoles with an early Homo sapiens mandible from a site called Peştera cu Oase in Romania. Unlike Banyoles, this mandible shows a full chin along with some Neandertal features, and an ancient DNA analysis has revealed this individual had a Neandertal ancestor four to six generations ago. Since the Banyoles mandible shared no distinct features with Neanderthals, the researchers ruled out the possibility of mixture between Neanderthals and H. sapiens to explain its anatomy.

The authors point out that some of the earliest Homo sapiens fossils from Africa, predating Banyoles by more than 100,000 years, do show less pronounced chins than in living populations. 

Thus, these scientists developed two possibilities for what the Banyoles mandible may represent: a member of a previously unknown population of Homo sapiens that coexisted with the Neanderthals; or a hybrid between a member of this Homo sapiens group and a non-Neandertal unidentified human species. However, at the time of Banyoles, the only fossils recovered from Europe are Neanderthals, making this latter hypothesis less likely.

“If Banyoles is really a member of our species, this prehistoric human would represent the earliest H. sapiens ever documented in Europe,” said Keeling.

Whichever species this mandible belongs to, Banyoles is clearly not a Neanderthal at a time when Neanderthals were believed to be the sole occupants of Europe. 

The authors conclude that “the present situation makes Banyoles a prime candidate for ancient DNA or proteomic analyses, which may shed additional light on its taxonomic affinities.” 

The authors plan to make the CT scan and the 3D model of Banyoles available for other researchers to freely access and include in future comparative studies, promoting open access to fossil specimens and reproducibility of scientific studies.

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Map of the Iberian Peninsula indicating the location where the Banyoles mandible (yellow star) was found, along with Late Pleistocene Neanderthal (orange triangles) and Homo sapiens (white squares) sites. Brian Keeling

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Comparison of the Banyoles mandible (center), with H. sapiens (left), and a Neanderthal (right). Brian Keeling

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Reconstruction of the 3D model of the Banyoles mandible. Highlighted piece in blue indicates a mirrored element. Left: lateral view of the Banyoles mandible during the alignment process. Center: lateral view of the Banyoles mandible after joining the two pieces together. Right: superior view of the mandible after reconstruction. Brian Keeling

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Article Source: BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY news release.

The paper, “Reassessment of the human mandible from Banyoles (Girona, Spain),” was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

Findings from Bronze Age shipwreck reveal complex trade network

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS—More than 3,000 years before the Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean, another famous ship wrecked in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern shores of Uluburun — in present-day Turkey —  carrying tons of rare metal. Since its discovery in 1982, scientists have been studying the contents of the Uluburun shipwreck to gain a better understanding of the people and political organizations that dominated the time period known as the Late

Now, a team of scientists, including Michael Frachetti, professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, have uncovered a surprising finding: small communities of highland pastoralists living in present-day Uzbekistan in Central Asia produced and supplied roughly one-third of the tin found aboard the ship — tin that was en route to markets around the Mediterranean to be made into coveted bronze metal.

The research, published on November 30 in Science Advances, was made possible by advances in geochemical analyses that enabled researchers to determine with high-level certainty that some of the tin originated from a prehistoric mine in Uzbekistan, more than 2,000 miles from Haifa, where the ill-fated ship loaded its cargo.

But how could that be? During this period, the mining regions of Central Asia were occupied by small communities of highlander pastoralists — far from a major industrial center or empire. And the terrain between the two locations — which passes through Iran and Mesopotamia — was rugged, which would have made it extremely difficult to pass tons of heavy metal.

Frachetti and other archaeologists and historians were enlisted to help put the puzzle pieces together. Their findings unveiled a shockingly complex supply chain that involved multiple steps to get the tin from the small mining community to the Mediterranean marketplace.

“It appears these local miners had access to vast international networks and — through overland trade and other forms of connectivity — were able to pass this all-important commodity all the way to the Mediterranean,” Frachetti said.

“It’s quite amazing to learn that a culturally diverse, multiregional and multivector system of trade underpinned Eurasian tin exchange during the Late Bronze Age.”

Adding to the mystique is the fact that the mining industry appears to have been run by small-scale local communities or free laborers who negotiated this marketplace outside of the control of kings, emperors or other political organizations, Frachetti said.

“To put it into perspective, this would be the trade equivalent of the entire United States sourcing its energy needs from small backyard oil rigs in central Kansas,” he said.

About the research

The idea of using tin isotopes to determine where metal in archaeological artifacts originates dates to the mid-1990s, according to Wayne Powell, professor of earth and environmental sciences at Brooklyn College and a lead author on the study. However, the technologies and methods for analysis were not precise enough to provide clear answers. Only in the last few years have scientists begun using tin isotopes to directly correlate mining sites to assemblages of metal artifacts, he said.

“Over the past couple of decades, scientists have collected information about the isotopic composition of tin ore deposits around the world, their ranges and overlaps, and the natural mechanisms by which isotopic compositions were imparted to cassiterite when it formed,” Powell said. “We remain in the early stages of such study. I expect that in future years, this ore deposit database will become quite robust, like that of Pb isotopes today, and the method will be used routinely.”

Aslihan K. Yener, a research affiliate at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University and a professor emerita of archaeology at the University of Chicago, was one of the early researchers who conducted lead isotope analyses. In the 1990s, Yener was part of a research team that conducted the first lead isotope analysis of the Uluburun tin. That analysis suggested that the Uluburun tin may have come from two sources — the Kestel Mine in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains and some unspecified location in central Asia.

“But this was shrugged off since the analysis was measuring trace lead and not targeting the origin of the tin,” said Yener, who is a co-author of the present study.

Yener also was the first to discover tin in Turkey in the 1980s. At the time, she said the entire scholarly community was surprised that it existed there, right under their noses, where the earliest tin bronzes occurred.

Some 30 years later, researchers finally have a more definitive answer thanks to the advanced tin isotope analysis techniques: One-third of the tin aboard the Uluburun shipwreck was sourced from the Mušiston mine in Uzbekistan. The remaining two-thirds of the tin derived from the Kestel mine in ancient Anatolia, which is in present-day Turkey.

Findings offer glimpse into life 3,000 years ago

By 1500 B.C., bronze was the “high technology” of Eurasia, used for everything from weaponry to luxury items, tools and utensils. Bronze is primarily made from copper and tin. While copper is fairly common and can be found throughout Eurasia, tin is much rarer and only found in specific kinds of geological deposits, Frachetti said.

“Finding tin was a big problem for prehistoric states. And thus, the big question was how these major Bronze Age empires were fueling their vast demand for bronze given the lengths and pains to acquire tin as such a rare commodity. Researchers have tried to explain this for decades,” Frachetti said.

The Uluburun ship yielded the world’s largest Bronze Age collection of raw metals ever found — enough copper and tin to produce 11 metric tons of bronze of the highest quality. Had it not been lost to sea, that metal would have been enough to outfit a force of almost 5,000 Bronze Age soldiers with swords, “not to mention a lot of wine jugs,” Frachetti said.

“The current findings illustrate a sophisticated international trade operation that included regional operatives and socially diverse participants who produced and traded essential hard-earth commodities throughout the late Bronze Age political economy from Central Asia to the Mediterranean,” Frachetti said.

Unlike the mines in Uzbekistan, which were set within a network of small-scale villages and mobile pastoralists, the mines in ancient Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age were under the control of the Hittites, an imperial global power of great threat to Ramses the Great of Egypt, Yener explained.

The findings also show that life 2,000-plus years ago was not that different from what it is today.

“With the disruptions due to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, we have become aware of how we are reliant on complex supply chains to maintain our economy, military and standard of living,” Powell said. “This is true in prehistory as well. Kingdoms rose and fell, climatic conditions shifted and new peoples migrated across Eurasia, potentially disrupting or redistributing access to tin, which was essential for both weapons and agricultural tools.

“Using tin isotopes, we can look across each of these archaeologically evident disruptions in society and see connections were severed, maintained or redefined. We already have DNA analysis to show relational connections. Pottery, funerary practices, etc., illustrate the transmission and connectivity of ideas. Now with tin isotopes, we can document the connectivity of long-distance trade networks and their sustainability.”

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More clues to explore

The current research findings settle decades-old debates about the origins of the metal on the Uluburun shipwreck and Eurasian tin exchange during the Late Bronze Age. But there are still more clues to explore.

After they were mined, the metals were processed for shipping and ultimately melted into standardized shapes — known as ingots — for transporting. The distinct shapes of the ingots served as calling cards for traders to know from where they originated, Frachetti said.

Many of the ingots aboard the Uluburun ship were in the “oxhide” shape, which was previously believed to have originated in Cyprus. However, the current findings suggest the oxhide shape could have originated farther east. Frachetti said he and other researchers plan to continue studying the unique shapes of the ingots and how they were used in trade.

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Tin from the Mušiston mine in Central Asia’s Uzbekistan traveled more than 2,000 miles to Haifa, where the ill-fated ship loaded its cargo before crashing off the eastern shores of Uluburun in present-day Turkey. Map provided by Michael Frachetti/Washington University in St. Louis

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Above and below: Uluburun excavation. Cemal Pulak/Texas A&M University

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Article Source: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS news release.

In addition to Frachetti, Powell and Yener, the following researchers contributed to the present study: Cemal Pulakat at Texas A&M University, H. Arthur Bankoff at Brooklyn College, Gojko Barjamovic at Harvard University, Michael Johnson at Stell Environmental Enterprises, Ryan Mathur at Juniata College, Vincent C. Pigott at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Michael Price at the Santa Fe Institute.

The study was funded in part by a Professional Staff Congress-City University of New York Research Award, in addition to a research grant from the Institute for Aegean Prehistory.

Ancient Roman coins reveal long-lost emperor

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON—A gold coin long dismissed as a forgery appears to be authentic and depicts a long-lost Roman emperor named Sponsian, according to a new UCL-led study.

The coin, housed at The Hunterian collection at the University of Glasgow, was among a handful of coins of the same design unearthed in Transylvania, in present-day Romania, in 1713. They have been regarded as fakes since the mid-19th-century, due to their crude, strange design features and jumbled inscriptions.

In the new study*, published in PLOS ONE, researchers compared the Sponsion coin with other Roman coins kept at The Hunterian, including two that are known to be genuine.

They found minerals on the coin’s surface that were consistent with it being buried in soil over a long period of time, and then exposed to air. These minerals were cemented in place by silica – cementing that would naturally occur over a long time in soil. The team also found a pattern of wear and tear that suggested the coin had been in active circulation.

Lead author Professor Paul N. Pearson (UCL Earth Sciences) said: “Scientific analysis of these ultra-rare coins rescues the emperor Sponsian from obscurity. Our evidence suggests he ruled Roman Dacia, an isolated gold mining outpost, at a time when the empire was beset by civil wars and the borderlands were overrun by plundering invaders.”

The Roman province of Dacia, a territory overlapping with modern-day Romania, was a region prized for its gold mines. Archaeological studies have established that the area was cut off from the rest of the Roman empire in around 260 CE. Surrounded by enemies, Sponsian may have been a local army officer forced to assume supreme command during a period of chaos and civil war, protecting the military and civilian population of Dacia until order was restored, and the province evacuated between 271 and 275 CE.

Coinage has always been an important symbol of power and authority. Recognizing this and unable to receive official issues from the mint in Rome, Sponsian seems to have authorized the creation of locally produced coins, some featuring an image of his face, to support a functioning economy in his isolated frontier territory.

When the coins were discovered in the early 18th century, they were thought to be genuine and classed alongside other imitations of Roman coins made beyond the fringes of the empire. However, from the mid-19th century, attitudes changed. Coins from the hoard were dismissed as fakes because of the way they looked. This has been the accepted view until now.

The new study is the first time scientific analysis has been undertaken on any of the Sponsian coins. The research team used powerful microscopes in visible and ultraviolet light, as well as scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopy – studying how light at different wavelengths is absorbed or reflected – to study the coins’ surface.

Only four coins featuring Sponsian are known to have survived to the present day, all apparently originally from the 1713 hoard. Another is in Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu, Romania. High magnification microscopic analysis performed there, following the research on the coin at The Hunterian, has revealed similar evidence of authenticity.

Curator of Numismatics at The Hunterian, Jesper Ericsson, said: “This has been a really exciting project for The Hunterian and we’re delighted that our findings have inspired collaborative research with museum colleagues in Romania. Not only do we hope that this encourages further debate about Sponsian as a historical figure, but also the investigation of coins relating to him held in other museums across Europe.”

The interim manager of the Brukenthal National Museum, Alexandru Constantin Chituță, said: “For the history of Transylvania and Romania in particular, but also for the history of Europe in general, if these results are accepted by the scientific community they will mean the addition of another important historical figure in our history.

“It is a wonderful thing for the Brukenthal National Museum, because the museum in Sibiu, Romania, is the holder of the only known coin belonging to Sponsian from the territory of Romania. I would like to express my gratitude to the colleagues from the Brukenthal Național Museum – History Museum Altemberger House and especially to the leader of the scientific team, Professor Paul N. Pearson from UCL, for their commitment, hard work and their impressive result.”

Four gold coins analyzed by researchers, including the Sponsian coin and other Roman coins previously dismissed as forgeries, are on display in The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow, while the Sponsian coin in the Brukenthal National Museum is also on public display.

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Sponsian gold coin, c.260-c.270 CE (obverse). The Hunterian, University of Glasgow.

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON news release.

1,700-year-old spider monkey remains discovered in Teotihuacán, Mexico

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The complete skeletal remains of a spider monkey — seen as an exotic curiosity in pre-Hispanic Mexico — grants researchers new evidence regarding social-political ties between two ancient powerhouses: Teotihuacán and Maya Indigenous rulers. 

The discovery was made by Nawa Sugiyama, a UC Riverside anthropological archaeologist, and a team of archaeologists and anthropologists who since 2015 have been excavating at Plaza of Columns Complex, in Teotihuacán, Mexico. The remains of other animals were also discovered, as well as thousands of Maya-style mural fragments and over 14,000 ceramic sherds from a grand feast. These pieces are more than 1,700 years old.

The spider monkey is the earliest evidence of primate captivity, translocation, and gift diplomacy between Teotihuacán and the Maya. Details of the discovery* will be published in the journal PNAS. This finding allows researchers to piece evidence of high diplomacy interactions and debunks previous beliefs that Maya presence in Teotihuacán was restricted to migrant communities, said Sugiyama, who led the research. 

“Teotihuacán attracted people from all over, it was a place where people came to exchange goods, property, and ideas. It was a place of innovation,” said Sugiyama, who is collaborating with other researchers, including Professor Saburo Sugiyama, co-director of the project and a professor at Arizona State University, and Courtney A. Hofman, a molecular anthropologist with the University of Oklahoma. “Finding the spider monkey has allowed us to discover reassigned connections between Teotihuacán and Maya leaders. The spider monkey brought to life this dynamic space, depicted in the mural art. It’s exciting to reconstruct this live history.”

Researchers applied a multimethod archaeometric (zooarchaeology, isotopes, ancient DNA, paleobotany, and radiocarbon dating) approach to detail the life of this female spider monkey. The animal was likely between 5 and 8 years old at the time of death.

Its skeletal remains were found alongside a golden eagle and several rattlesnakes, surrounded by unique artifacts, such as fine greenstone figurines made of jade from the Motagua Valley in Guatemala, copious shell/snail artifacts, and lavish obsidian goods such as blades and projectiles points. This is consistent with evidence of live sacrifice of symbolically potent animals participating in state rituals observed in Moon and Sun Pyramid dedicatory caches, researchers stated in the paper.

Results from the examination of two teeth, the upper and lower canines, indicate the spider monkey in Teotihuacán ate maize and chili peppers, among other food items. The bone chemistry, which offers insight to the diet and environmental information, indicates at least two years of captivity. Prior to arriving in Teotihuacán, it lived in a humid environment, eating primarily plants and roots.

The research is primarily funded by grants awarded to Sugiyama from the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities. Teotihuacán is a pre-Hispanic city recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage site and receives more than three million visitors annually. 

In addition to studying ancient rituals and uncovering pieces of history, the finding allows for a reconstruction of greater narratives, of understanding how these powerful, advanced societies dealt with social and political stressors that very much reflect today’s world, Sugiyama said. 

“This helps us understand principles of diplomacy, to understand how urbanism developed … and how it failed,” Sugiyama said. “Teotihuacán was a successful system for over 500 years, understanding past resilience, its strengths and weaknesses are relevant in today’s society. There are many similarities then and now. Lessons can be seen and modeled from past societies; they provide us with cues as we go forward.” 

Article Source: University of California, Riverside news release.

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Complete skeletal remains of a 1,700 year-old female spider monkey found in Teotihuacán, Mexico. Nawa Sugiyama, UC Riverside.

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The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California’s diverse culture, UCR’s enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.

Researchers discovered Egypt’s oldest tomb oriented to winter solstice

UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA—Researchers of the University of Malaga (UMA) and the University of Jaen (UJA) have discovered Egypt’s oldest tomb oriented to the winter solstice. Located in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan), it is precisely oriented to the sunrise of the winter solstice, in such a way that the sun’s rays bathed with its light the place that was intended to house the statue of a governor of the city of Elephantine, who lived at the end of the XII Dynasty, around 1830 b. C.

This way, the tomb perfectly registered the whole solar cycle, related to the idea of rebirth. While the winter solstice meant the beginning of the sunlight victory over darkness, the summer solstice generally coincided with the beginning of the annual flooding of the Nile, hence both events had an important symbolism linked to the resurrection of the deceased governor.

Perfection in the orientation

In this paper, recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, the researchers explain that, in order to achieve perfection in the orientation, the Egyptian architect simply used a two-cubit pole, around one meter long, a square and some robes, with which he was able to perfectly calculate the orientation of the funerary chapel and the location of the statue of the governor.

Moreover, they explain that the Egyptian architect not only achieved the perfect orientation, but also designed its volume with great precision, as determined in a previous paper published by the UJA in 2020 and signed by, among others, Professor Antonio Mozas –also author of this article–, which revealed that the volume of the tomb was perfectly calculated to avoid being coincident with any previous tomb.

The tomb of this governor, catalogued with No. 33, and possibly built by Governor Heqaib-ankh, was excavated by the UJA between 2008 and 2018. From that time on, it has been architecturally studied by different specialists, among them, the Professor of Architecture at the UMA Lola Joyanes, who has been participating in this project since 2015, working on her own line of research since 2019.

The work this researcher of the UMA has performed in the necropolis involves everything related to architecture and landscape, particularly, their study through drawing and photogrammetry.

A specific software to reproduce the position of the sun

The Andalusian scientists reached these conclusions thanks to the identification of the period where the tomb was built, which allowed them to use a specific software (Dialux Evo) that reproduces the position of the sun with respect to the horizon in ancient times.

“This study demonstrates that Egyptians were capable of calculating the position of the sun and the orientation of its rays to design their monuments. Although the tomb No. 33 of Qubbet el-Hawa is the oldest example ever found, certainly it is not the only one”, say the scientists.

This research has been financed by the Government of Andalusia within its projects “A way to immortality: beyond the preparation for death during Middle Kingdom at Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan, Egypt)” of the University of Jaen and “Archaeology, Architecture and Landscape: typological evolution and state of conservation of tombs in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan, Egypt). Intervention criteria”.

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Located in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan), it is precisely oriented to the sunrise of the winter solstice, in such a way that the sun’s rays bathed with its light the place that was intended to house the statue of a governor of the city of Elephantine, who lived at the end of the XII Dynasty, around 1830 B. C. University of Jaen and Malaga

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA news release.

Footprints claimed as evidence of ice age humans in North America need better dating, new research shows

DESERT RESEARCH—The wide expanse of an ancient lakebed in New Mexico holds the preserved footprints of life that roamed millennia ago. Giant sloths and mammoths left their mark, and alongside them, signs of our human ancestors. Research* published in September 2021 claimed that these footprints are “definitive evidence of human occupation of North America” during the last ice age, dating back to between 23 and 21 thousand years ago. Now, a new study disputes the evidence of such an early age.

Scientists from DRIKansas State University, the University of Nevada, Reno, and Oregon State University caution in Quaternary Research that the dating evidence is insufficient for claims that would so radically alter our understanding of when, and how, humans first arrived in North America. Using the same dating method and materials, the new study shows that the footprints could have been left thousands of years later than originally claimed.

“I read the original Science article on the human footprints at White Sands and was initially struck not only by how tremendous the footprints were on their own, but how important accurate dating would be,” says Charles Oviatt, emeritus professor of geology at Kansas State University and one of the new study’s authors. “I saw potential problems with the scientific tests of the dates reported in the Science paper.”

“It really does throw a lot of what we think we know into question,” says David Rhode, Ph.D., a paleoecologist at DRI and co-author of the new study. “That’s why it’s important to really nail down this age, and why we’re suggesting that we need better evidence.”

Archaeologists and historians use a number of methods to determine the timing of historic events. Based on these methods, scientists tend to agree that the earliest known dates of humanity’s colonization of North America lie between 14 and 16 thousand years ago, after the last ice age. If the original claims are correct, current chronological models in fields as varied as paleogenetics and regional geochronology would need to be reevaluated.

“23 to 21 thousand years ago is in a timeframe where you need to really pay attention to how people got into North America,” says Rhode. “At that time, there was a huge, mile-high mountain range of ice covering Canada to the north, and the pathway down the Pacific Coast wasn’t very accommodating either – so it may have been that people had to come here much earlier than that.”  

By studying ancient DNA from human fossils and using rates of genetic change (a sort of molecular clock using DNA), paleogeneticists surmise that the American Southwest was first occupied no earlier than 20 thousand years ago. If the footprints are older, it throws into question the use and integrity of these genetic models. It’s possible that the ages from one study at a single site in a New Mexico lake basin are valid, and that age estimates from a variety of other fields are invalid, the authors write, but more robust evidence is needed to confirm the claims.

At the center of the debate are the tiny seeds of an aquatic plant used to age the footprints. The timeframe for the seeds was identified using radiocarbon dating methods, in which researchers examine a type of carbon known as Carbon-14. Carbon-14 originates in the atmosphere and is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. These carbon isotopes decay at a constant rate over time, and comparing the amount of Carbon-14 in the atmosphere to the amount present in fossilized plant material allows scientists to determine their approximate age. But the plant species used, Ruppia cirrhosa, grows underwater and therefore obtains much of its carbon for photosynthesis not directly from the atmosphere as terrestrial plants do, but from dissolved carbon atoms in the water.

“While the researchers recognize the problem, they underestimate the basic biology of the plant,” says Rhode. “For the most part, it’s using the carbon it finds in the lake waters. And in most cases, that means it’s taking in carbon from sources other than the contemporary atmosphere – sources which are usually pretty old.”

This method is likely to give radiocarbon-based age estimates of the plant that are much older than the plants themselves. Ancient carbon enters the groundwater of the Lake Otero basin from eroded bedrock of the Tularosa Valley and the surrounding mountains, and occurs in extensive calcium carbonate deposits throughout the basin.

The authors demonstrated this effect by examining Ruppia plant material with a known age from the same region. Botanists collected living Ruppia plants from a nearby spring-fed pond in 1947 and archived them at the University of New Mexico herbarium. Using the same radiocarbon dating method, the plants that were alive in 1947 returned a radiocarbon date suggesting they were about 7400 years old, an offset resulting from the use of ancient groundwater by the plant. The authors note that if the ages of the Ruppia seeds dated from the human footprints were also offset by roughly 7400 years, their real age would be between 15 and 13 thousand years old – a date which aligns with ages of several other known early North American archaeological sites.

The dating of the footprints can be resolved through other methods, including radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plants (which use atmospheric carbon and not carbon from groundwater) and optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz found in the sediment, the authors write.

“These trackways really are a great resource for understanding the past, there’s no doubt about that,” says Rhode. “I’d love to see them myself. I’m just cautious about the ages that the researchers put to them.”

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White sands fossil footprints – clockwise from top left. Top left: USGS research geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati collecting seeds embedded in an ancient human footprint for radiocarbon dating. Top right: Multiple human trackways from Track Horizon 1 (white arrows), Track Horizon 3 (red arrows), and Track Horizon 4 (black arrows). Bottom left, right: Closeup photographs of excavated human trackways from Track Horizon 4. United States Geological Survey, Public Domain

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Article Source: Desert Research Institute news release.

*A critical assessment of claims that human footprints in the Lake Otero basin, New Mexico date to the Last Glacial Maximum, is available from Quaternary Researchhttps://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2022.38

About DRI

The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a recognized world leader in basic and applied environmental research. Committed to scientific excellence and integrity, DRI faculty, students who work alongside them, and staff have developed scientific knowledge and innovative technologies in research projects around the globe. Since 1959, DRI’s research has advanced scientific knowledge on topics ranging from humans’ impact on the environment to the environment’s impact on humans. DRI’s impactful science and inspiring solutions support Nevada’s diverse economy, provide science-based educational opportunities, and inform policymakers, business leaders, and community members. With campuses in Las Vegas and Reno, DRI serves as the non-profit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu.

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World Famous Hegra’s Tomb enters the Metaverse

AlUla, Saudi Arabia: The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has officially entered the world of the Metaverse for the very first time with a to-scale and completely immersive 3D model of Hegra’s Tomb of Lihyan, Son of Kuza, UNESCO World Heritage site.

Created in the vast and rapidly expanding digital landscape, Decentraland, the world-famous AlUla monument will be accessible to virtual tourists, who will be able to explore its unique features from anywhere in the world.

Marking AlUla’s very first-ever venture into the innovative digital realm, and the first UNESCO World Heritage site in the Metaverse, a trip to Hegra will be just as impressive, inspiring, and mesmerizing as in real life.

Visitors will be able to take a 360 tour of the Hegra’s most famous and imposing tomb, set amongst a realistic rendering of AlUla’s desert landscape and its wild surroundings. 

A focal point for the online exploration of AlUla, Decentraland ‘tourists’ will be able to immerse themselves in Hegra’s history by entering the tomb and activating information points to reveal its story in vivid, interactive detail.

Although inaccessible in the real world, virtual visitors will be able to step through the tomb’s imposing doorway, presented in realistic dimensions.

As RCU’s Metaverse presence evolves and grows, the digital Hegra will also play host to a calendar of virtual events and more that can be fully explored by visitors’ avatars.

An extension of the popular AlUla Moments season, the exciting activations will digitally introduce people to the wonders of AlUla through the fascinating, high-tech lens of the Metaverse, making the rich culture, heritage, and traditions of north-west Arabia more accessible to more people than ever before.

Information portals will direct visitors to different areas of AlUla’s heritage, expanding awareness of its 200,000 years of human history while radically reimagining its rich tradition of sharing knowledge for the 21st Century and beyond as part of KSA’s Vision 2030 National Transformation Programme to empower technological transformation and innovation.

A decentralized, online repository of wisdom, landmarks, and experiences, the Metaverse is the ultimate destination for Hegra as part of RCU’s development of AlUla into the world’s largest living museum, in both the real and digital world.

Eng Amr AlMadani CEO of RCU, said: “RCU’s entry into the Metaverse is a groundbreaking development in innovation and virtual reality tourism that connects the whole world with the wonders of AlUla.

“As the custodians of a unique culture, fascinating heritage, and ancient traditions, the adoption of the latest technologies represents the next exciting step for RCU’s commitment to empower AlUla’s regeneration – moving from the physical to the digital realm and accessible to everyone, everywhere.

“A new frontier for innovation and collaboration, our debut, which also sees the first UNESCO World Heritage site enter the Metaverse, represents an exciting evolution of AlUla’s unique heritage, acting as an open invitation to travelers, academics, and digital explorers to log in and witness AlUla like never before.”

UNESCO designated Hegra as the KSA’s first World Heritage Site in 2008. Located 20km north of AlUla town, the site covers a total of 52 hectares and features 110 tombs amid countless rock formations, with the Tomb of Lihyan, Son of Kuza the largest at 22 metres tall.

Referred to as the ‘lonely castle’ in English because of its distance from other monuments, it is the largest preserved site of the ancient Nabataean civilization south of Petra in Jordan.

Global creative consultancy frog, part of Capgemini Group, was appointed to develop and facilitate Hegra’s Metaverse debut and support the Royal Commission for AlUla’s strategy to propel innovation and technological advances across the county.

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Madain Salih archaeological site, Hegra. Prof. Mortel, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, Wikimedia Commons

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Article Source: Royal Commission for ALULa news release.

About the Royal Commission for AlUla

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU’s long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area’s natural and historic heritage while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, culture, education, and the arts, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program.

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Footprints indicate the presence of humans in Southern Spain in the Middle Pleistocene, 200,000 years earlier than previously thought

UNIVERSITY OF SEVILLE—The discovery in June 2020 of hominin footprints more than 106,000 years old next to El Asperillo (Matalascañas, Huelvawas a revolution for the scientific world, so much so that it was considered one of the most important discoveries of that year. But now, the publication of this new paper has confirmed what some experts suspected at the time: those footprints were much older and are in fact 200,000 years older than previously thought. While it was previously placed in the Upper Pleistocene, the evidence now points clearly to the Middle Pleistocene, and to its being 295,800 years old, making it a unique record in Europesince there is no better site in the world in terms of number, age and area than that of the El Asperillo beach for hominin fossil footprints.

After collecting samples from the various levels, and another two later to compare the first results, the age of the fossil remains was established and points to the Middle Pleistocene, a crucial moment between different climatic stages, between a warm period, MIS 9 (360,000-300,000 years ago), in transition to MIS 8 (300,000-240,000 years ago), in which a major glaciation took place.

The age is thus specified at 295,800 years, with a margin of error of 17,800 years, according to the data collected from the four samples of sedimentary levels in the cliffs of El Asperillo where the site was found, initially 87 footprints, which now has a record of more than 300 footprints, of which 10% are considered well-preserved. With the exception of those from Matalascañas, it is noted that no other hominin footprints are known between the climatic stages MIS9 and MIS 8 of the Middle Pleistocene. That is why it is questioned whether they belong to Neanderthals.

But are they Neanderthals?

At first they were thought to be Neanderthals, but that is now in doubt. The main hypothesis among the scientists is that they are individuals of the Neanderthal lineage, among which Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis have been associated. The hypothesis that they are pre-neanderthal hominins is feasible. Precisely for this reason, the Matalascañas footprints are now more valuable due to their contribution to the fossil records of hominins in the Middle Pleistocene, which is very poor in Europe because of the scarcity of deposits with footprints. Until now, according to the Nature paper, footprints this period have only been found at Terra Amata and Roccamonfina (Italy), which were dated to between 380,000 and 345,000 years ago, with records of Homo heidelbergensisThey are the only ones older than that at Huelva in this era. After these, Biache-Vaast (France) and Theopetra (Greece) sites, from 236,000 to 130,000 years ago, are attributed to Homo neanderthalensisIn this context, the length range of all the footprints found at Matalascañas, from 14 to 29 centimetres, is similar to that found at European sites, such as Theopetra (14-15 centimetres), Roccamonfina (24-27 cm) and Terra Amata (24 cm).

In any case, the experts highlight the singularity of the Matalascañas discovery, whose new dating has questioned the existing paradigms and has required a deep analysis before accepting its conclusions. 

The new chronology now establishes a change in the scenario that then prevailed on the coast of the Gulf of Cádiz, with human settlements in a more temperate and humid climate than in the rest of Europe, with high water tables and abundant vegetation.

In that same period the sea level would have been about 60 metres below its current level. This implies that the coast would be more than 20 kilometres from where it is today, which is how there would have been a great coastal plain, with large flood-prone areas, in which the footprints discovered in mid-2020 would have been made.

The site’s new dating also affects the vertebrate animals found, since the hominin traces there also included footprints of large mammals such as straight-tusked elephants, gigantic bulls (aurochs) and boars. It was the fauna that inhabited Doñana 300,000 years ago and not 100,000 years ago, as other investigations stated.

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Article Source: University of Seville news release.

International team

The paper, New dating of the Matalascañas footprints provides new evidence of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 9-8) hominin paleoecology in southern Europe, is the result of the work of an international team of scientists led by the Professor of Paleontology at the University of Huelva, Eduardo Mayoral,alongside the lecturer Antonio Rodríguezand Professor of Stratigraphy Juan Antonio Morales, all of the Department of Earth Sciences of the Faculty of Experimental Sciences, who are also members of the Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (CCTH) at UHU, as well as Jérémy Duvau, a researcher at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (France); Ana Santos, from the University of Oviedo; Ricardo Díez-Delgado, from the Doñana-CSIC Biological Station; Jorge Rivera, from the University of Seville; Asier Gómez-Olivencia, from the University of the Basque Country; and Ignacio Díaz, from the University of Río Negro (Argentina).

First sentence ever written in Canaanite language discovered: Plea to eradicate beard lice

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM—The alphabet was invented around 1800 BCE and was used by the Canaanites and later by most other languages in the world.  Until recently, no meaningful Canaanite inscriptions had been discovered in the Land of Israel, save only two or three words here and there. Now an amazing discovery presents an entire sentence in Canaanite, dating to about 1700 BCE. It is engraved on a small ivory comb and includes a spell against lice.

The comb was unearthed at Tel Lachish in Israel by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and Southern Adventist University in the United States, under the direction of Professors Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel and Martin Klingbeil.  The inscription was deciphered by semitic epigraphist Dr. Daniel Vainstub at Ben Gurion University (BGU). The ivory was tested by HU Prof. Rivka Rabinovich and BGU Prof. Yuval Goren and was found to originate from an elephant tusk.  Their findings were published in Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology*.

The letters of the inscription were engraved in a very shallow manner. It was excavated in 2017 but the letters were noticed only in subsequent post-processing in 2022 by Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu. It was cleaned and preserved by Miriam Lavi.

The ivory comb is small, measuring roughly 3.5 by 2.5 cm.  The comb has teeth on both sides. Although their bases are still visible, the comb teeth themselves were broken in antiquity. The central part of the comb is somewhat eroded, possibly by the pressure of fingers holding the comb during haircare or removal of lice from the head or beard. The side of the comb with six thick teeth was used to untangle knots in the hair, while the other side, with 14 fine teeth, was used to remove lice and their eggs, much like the current-day two-sided lice combs sold in stores.

There are 17 Canaanite letters on the comb. They are archaic in form—from the first stage of the invention of the alphabet script. They form seven words in Canaanite, reading: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

“This is the first sentence ever found in the Canaanite language in Israel. There are Canaanites in Ugarit in Syria, but they write in a different script, not the alphabet that is used till today. The Canaanite cities are mentioned in Egyptian documents, the Amarna letters that were written in Akkadian, and in the Hebrew Bible. The comb inscription is direct evidence for the use of the alphabet in daily activities some 3700 years ago. This is a landmark in the history of the human ability to write,” shared Garfinkel.

Ancient combs were made from wood, bone, or ivory. Ivory was a very expensive material and likely an imported luxury object.  As there were no elephants in Canaan during that time period, the comb likely came from nearby Egypt—factors indicating that even people of high social status suffered from lice.

The research team analyzed the comb itself for the presence of lice under a microscope and photographs were taken of both sides. Remains of head lice, 0.5–0.6 mm in size, were found on the second tooth. The climatic conditions of Lachish, however, did not allow preservation of whole head lice but only those of the outer chitin membrane of the nymph stage head louse.

Despite its small size, the inscription on the comb from Lachish has very special features, some of which are unique and fill in gaps and lacunas in our knowledge of many aspects of the culture of Canaan in the Bronze Age.  For the first time, we have an entire verbal sentence written in the dialect spoken by the Canaanite inhabitants of Lachish, enabling us to compare this language in all its aspects with the other sources for it. Second, the inscription on the comb sheds light on some hitherto poorly attested aspects of the everyday life of the time, haircare and dealing with lice.

Third, this is the first discovery in the region of an inscription referring to the purpose of the object on which it was written, as opposed to dedicatory or ownership inscriptions on objects. Further, the engraver’s skill in successfully executing such tiny letters (1–3 mm wide) is a fact that from now on should be taken into account in any attempt to summarize and draw conclusions on literacy in Canaan in the Bronze Age.

Lachish was a major Canaanite city state in the second millennium BCE and the second most important city in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah. To date, 10 Canaanite inscriptions have been found in Lachish, more than at any other site in Israel. The city was the major center for the use and preservation of the alphabet during some 600 years, from 1800-1150 BCE. The site of Tel Lachish is under the protection of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

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The ivory comb (Credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority). 

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Aerial view of Tel Lachish (Credit: Emil Aladjem).

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Article Source: THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM news release. 

Ancient DNA from pre-pottery Neolithic people gives new genetic insights on Mesopotamian culture

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)—A new analysis of Neolithic-era people from Çayönü Tepesi in the Upper Tigris portion of Mesopotamia adds genomic data that clarifies archaeological findings, defining how ancestral immigration helped the ancient settlement become a hub for cultural interaction. “The question has remained as to whether this cultural dynamism was driven by large-scale population circulation at the site, especially through connections with distant regions of the Fertile Crescent, or whether it purely reflected the local community’s ingenuity,” said N. Ezgi Altınışık, first author of the study. “Our 13 ancient genomes, the largest sample produced yet from this region, allowed us to finally address this.” From roughly 8600 to 6800 BCE, Çayönü was a community that produced countless innovations in agriculture, animal husbandry, architecture, and technology. But there had not been a genetic analysis of the site’s inhabitants until now. Here, Altınışık and colleagues share new findings on the Çayönü people’s ancestral history and familial ties. To do so, they extracted ancient DNA from 14 people, including 2 suspected to be identical twins, discovered in a burial site. This gave them 13 distinct genomes spanning 8500-7500 BCE. Analyses revealed the community’s ancestors included a blend of demographics from both the East and West Fertile Crescent, indicating waves of migrations. Yet, results showed these large waves had stopped by the time that the people studied were alive. The team also examined 76 pairs of people who were buried together and established degrees of relatedness. This provided genetic evidence for an existing hypothesis that family ties influenced co-burial practices in Çayönü. During this work, the authors noted intentional head-shaping and cauterization on a toddler’s cranium, which are some of the earliest examples of this treatment in the region. The toddler was likely a migrant, implying that Çayönü was a community open to outsiders. “Her maternal lineage is probably from the east, while her paternal lineage was likely local, and she was buried in the same house as an individual we estimate to be her paternal great-aunt,” Altınışık said. “Hence, we find people moving and integrating, and these small-scale movements could be among the factors shaping cultural dynamism in Çayönü.”

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Cranial features of the cay008 toddler. Altınışık et al., Sci. Adv. 8, eabo3609 (2022)

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Article Source: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS) news release.

A Stone Age child buried with bird feathers, plant fibers and fur

UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI—The exceptional excavation of a Stone Age burial site was carried out in Majoonsuo, situated in the municipality of Outokumpu in Eastern Finland. The excavation produced microscopically small fragments of bird feathers, canine and small mammalian hairs, and plant fibres. The findings gained through soil analysis are unique, as organic matter is poorly preserved in Finland’s acidic soil. The study*, led by Archaeologist Tuija Kirkinen, was aimed at investigating how these highly degraded plant- and animal-based materials could be traced through soil analysis.

During the Stone Age in Finland, the deceased were interred mainly in pits in the ground. Little of the organic matter from human-made objects have been preserved in Stone Age graves in Finland, but it is known, on the basis of burial sites in the surrounding regions, that objects made of bones, teeth and horns as well as furs and feathers were placed in the graves.

Teeth and arrowheads found in the red ochre grave

The Trial Excavation Team of the Finnish Heritage Agency examined the site in 2018, as it was considered to be at risk of destruction. The burial place was located under a gravelly sand road in a forest, with the top of the grave partially exposed. The site was originally given away by the intense colour of its red ochre. Red ochre, or iron-rich clay soil, has been used not only in burials but also in rock art around the world.

In the archaeological dig at the burial site, only a few teeth were found of the deceased, on the basis of which they are known to have been a child between 3 and 10 years of age. In addition, two transverse arrowheads made of quartz and two other possible quartz objects were found in the grave. Based on the shape of the arrowheads and shore-level dating, the burial can be estimated to have taken place in the Mesolithic period of the Stone Age, roughly 6,000 years before the Common Era.

What made the excavation exceptional was the near-complete preservation of the soil originating in the grave. A total of 65 soil sample bags weighing between 0.6 and 3.4 kilograms were collected, also comparison samples were taken from outside the grave. The soil was analyzed in the archaeology laboratory of the University of Helsinki. Organic matter was separated from the samples using water. This way, the exposed fibres and hairs were identified with the help of transmitted-light and electron microscopy.

Oldest feather fragments found in Finland

From the soil samples, a total of 24 microscopic (0.2–1.4 mm) fragments of bird feathers were identified, most of which originated in down. Seven feather fragments were identified as coming from the down of a waterfowl (Anseriformes). These are the oldest feather fragments ever found in Finland. Although the origin of the down is impossible to state with certainty, it may come from clothing made of waterfowl skins, such as a parka or an anorak. It is also possible that the child was laid on a down bed.

In addition to the waterfowl down, one falcon (Falconidae) feather fragment was identified. It may have originally been part of the fletching of the arrows attached to the arrowheads, or, for example, from feathers used to decorate the garment.

Dog or wolf hairs?

Besides the feathers, 24 fragments of mammalian hair were identified, ranging from 0.5 to 9.5 mm in length. Most of the hairs were badly degraded, making identification no longer possible. The finest discoveries were the three hairs of a canine, possibly a predator, found at the bottom of the grave. The hairs may also originate, for example, in footwear made of wolf or dog skin. It is also possible a dog was laid at the child’s feet.

“Dogs buried with the deceased have been found in, for example, Skateholm, a famous burial site in southern Sweden dating back some 7,000 years,” says Professor Kristiina Mannermaa, University of Helsinki.

“The discovery in Majoonsuo is sensational, even though there is nothing but hairs left of the animal or animals – not even teeth. We don’t even know whether it’s a dog or a wolf,” she says, adding: “The method used, demonstrates that traces of fur and feathers can be found even in graves several thousands of years old, including in Finland.”

“This all gives us a very valuable insight about burial habits in the Stone Age, indicating how people had prepared the child for the journey after death”, says Kirkinen.

The soil is full of information

Also found were three fragments of plant fibres, which are preserved particularly poorly in the acidic Finnish soil. The fibres were what are known as bast fibres, meaning that they come from, for example, willows or nettles. At the time, the object they were part of may have been a net used for fishing, a cord used to attach clothes, or a bundle of strings. For the time being, only one other bast fibre discovery dating back to the Mesolithic Stone Age is known in Finland: the famed Antrea Net on display in the National Museum of Finland, laced with willow bast fibres.

A fibre separation technique was developed in the study*, and is already being applied in subsequent studies. The project has demonstrated the great information value of soil extracted from archaeological sites.

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An artist’s impression of the child buried in Majoonsuo during their life. Tom Bjorklund

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Location of Majoonsuo. Johanna Roiha

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The red-ochre burial site of the child in Majoonsuo. Kristiina Mannermaa

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI news release.

*Preservation of microscopic fur, feather, and bast fibers in the Mesolithic ochre grave of Majoonsuo, Eastern Finland, PLoS ONE, 27-Sep-2022. 10.1371/journal.pone.0274849 

The study is part of the ERC-funded project entitled Animals Make Identities (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/animals-make-identities) headed by Kristiina Mannermaa.

The study was published in the PlosONE series. In addition to Kirkinen and Mannermaa, contributing to the study were Olalla López-Costas and Antonio Martínez Cortizas from the EcoPast research group at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Sanna P. SihvoHanna Ruhanen and Reijo Käkelä from the Helsinki University Lipidomics Unit (HiLIPID), Marja Ahola and Johanna Roiha from the discipline of archaeology at the University of Helsinki, Jan-Erik NymanEsa Mikkola and Janne Rantanen from the Archaeological Field Services unit of the Finnish Heritage Agency and Esa Hertell from the museums of the City of Lappeenranta.

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Cocoa: Not Just for Kings and Priests

In the jungles of Central America, one can spot the otherwise inconspicuous Theobroma cacao, or cacao tree, by its small, somewhat bulbous, yellow-orange watermelon-shaped fruit hanging away from its body. Like most other plants that constitute the complex mix of the tropical mosaic, it assumes its own oblivion amidst the forest ecology.

But mention the name to local residents of these forest zones, and to scientists and scholars who explore and study the culture and history of this region, and you will learn that this tree plant is imbued with a special significance. Its prime produce, the cacao (or cocoa) bean, was historically, at least among the ancient Maya, used as a valuable currency of commerce, and cacao, the bean’s best known derivative, is today an important export for the production of chocolate. For decades, archaeologists and other scholars have also uncovered evidence of its use through detection of the biomarkers of its residue on highly decorative ceramic objects in ancient Maya elite ceremonial contexts, suggesting its use as an important ceremonial drink among the Maya elite. 

A recent study*, however, is showing that the drink was not the exclusive domain of the ancient Maya privileged classes. Recently, researchers examined 54 ceramic sherds sampled from a cross-section of archaeological contexts in the area of El Pilar, a major Maya center that straddles both sides of the border between Guatemala and Belize. The artifacts were found in both Late Classic (600 to 900 CE) residential and civic contexts, although much of the tested sample represented wares belonging to residential spaces of the general population surrounding and associated with the center. All artifacts were tested for the presence of theophylline, a distinct drug/chemical marker for cacao in this region. 

According to the study results, positive traces for cacao were detected for all forms of ceramic material, not only drinking vessels. The chemical traces were thus also found in mixing bowls, storage jars and serving plates, and the distribution of the evidence was spread across a variety of archaeological contexts, including both elite/public spaces and domestic residential sites. “We conclude that cacao biomarkers are common in many Late Classic contexts, and can be recognized in all basic domestic vessel forms, across every landform in the El Pilar area, in residential units of every status and, of course, in civic centers,” report the study authors in the paper, published September 26, 2022 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.* “……..We interpret the identification of cacao in vessels belonging to people of all walks of life as confirmation that cacao’s prestige was consumed by all in Maya society………Formal celebrations recognized in regal formats were cultural features that must have included everyone.”*  

About El Pilar

Divided along the imaginary line between western Belize and northeastern Guatemala, El Pilar is considered the largest site in the Belize River region, boasting over 25 known plazas and hundreds of other structures, covering an area of about 120 acres. Monumental construction at El Pilar began in the Middle Preclassic period, around 800 BCE, and at its height centuries later it supported more than 20,000 people. For decades, archaeologist Anabel Ford, the lead study author of the PNAS-published report, has been exploring and studying this ancient Maya site. She is the Director of the Mesoamerican Research Center of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Unlike most archaeologists, however, she has taken a unique, highly selective conservation approach to investigating the site. With the exception of a fully exposed Maya house structure, most of the structures at El Pilar have remained completely conserved by design, still covered in their tropical shroud. She calls this ‘archaeology under the canopy’, where the natural environment enveloping the ancient monuments is maintained to protect the fragile structures from the elements. “Living biofilms attack the limestone where exposed, which rapidly deteriorates the vulnerable limestone facades,” she says. “It is tree cover that reduces exposure to sunshine and rain and maintains an even temperature that will preserve the monuments.”

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The Maya house site Tzunu’un at the ancient Maya city center El Pilar. Congobongo1041, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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More detailed information about the study can be obtained in the published report.

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*Ford, Anabel, et. al., New light on the use of Theobroma cacao by Late Classic Maya, September 26, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121821119.

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Penn Museum and Iraqi Archaeologists Uncover 2,700-Year-Old Artifacts, After Destruction by ISIS

PENN MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA—In partnership with an Iraqi excavation team, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology have unearthed intricate rock carvings that are 2,700 years old at Nineveh, a site on the east side of the Tigris River, inside the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq. Now, with support from the ALIPH Foundation, they are working to carefully reconstruct the ancient city’s Mashki Gate—one of the many Mesopotamian monuments that were destroyed by militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Through a community-led excavation, conservation, and restoration project funded by the Penn Museum, an international team of archaeologists found seven marble reliefs depicting finely chiseled war scenes, mountains, grape vines, and palm trees—a monumental and meaningful find amid the area’s cultural destruction. Skillfully carved with exceptional details, these remarkable ancient panels will remain in Iraq, with plans for building a visitor center at Nineveh, advancing research and understanding of ancient Mesopotamian history for generations to come.

One of the biggest discoveries since the 19th century, these superbly preserved reliefs date back to an Assyrian king who ruled Nineveh from 705 to 681 BCE. Known for his military campaigns, including one referenced in the Bible, King Sennacherib constructed 18 similar gates surrounding the city, but the Mashki Gate, the “Gate of the Watering Places,” was important for its direct access to the Tigris.

Reconstructed in the 1970s by the Nineveh Inspectorate of Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, this prominent monument is located on the main north-south highway, easily visible from the west side of the Tigris. The gate symbolizes Mosul’s deep history and continues to be an important shared site for Christians, Jewish people, and Muslims. In 2016, during their occupation of Iraq, ISIS militants used a bulldozer to destroy the gate—a deliberate attempt to erase the cultural memory of Iraq’s Assyrian heritage.

Yet amid the chaos and conflict, these seven reliefs survived, buried in an area that had not yet been excavated—until now.

A team of scholars and archaeologists worked in partnership with the Iraqi excavation team to restore this piece of Iraq’s cultural heritage: Field Director Dr. Michael D. Danti, the director for Penn’s Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program; Dr. Richard L. Zettler, associate curator-in-charge of the Penn Museum’s Near East Section and associate professor in the Penn School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; Dr. Ali al-Jabbouri, the former dean of the University of Mosul’s College of Archaeology; Dr. John MacGinnis from the University of Cambridge; and Dr. Darren P. Ashby, Program Manager of the Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program.

“What we’re trying to do is preserve cultural diversity and protect cultural freedom of expression in a way that meets the expectations and priorities of both the local community and the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage,” says Dr. Danti, who is also a consulting scholar at the Penn Museum.

Their goal is to conserve ancient Nineveh as a massive archaeological site within a modern city, moving it towards becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site to ensure its future preservation, as well as to promote sustainability for the people of East Mosul.

“For an archaeologist, a discovery of this magnitude is an honor, a serious responsibility. In a way, Mashki Gate is a symbol of international hope and cross-cultural collaboration. Out of the ashes, a phoenix rises,” Dr. Danti adds.

“These are the first Assyrian reliefs to have come out of the ground in 75 years at least,” Dr. Zettler explains. “This discovery adds new data and ultimately advances the understanding of Neo-Assyrian history in ancient Mesopotamia.”

“We are thrilled by the ongoing conservation of this incredibly rare and historic find,” says Dr. Christopher Woods, Williams Director at the Penn Museum and the Avalon Professor of the Humanities at Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, who specializes in ancient Mesopotamian languages and civilizations. “Encouraged by the Nineveh Inspectorate of Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to expand our cultural heritage work and Neo-Assyrian archaeological research in their region, the Penn Museum is excited to be collaborating in this international effort towards post-conflict reconciliation.”

In their previous cultural heritage work, Dr. Zettler and Dr. Danti have had a long history of collaborating with Iraqi officials to restore sites in various stages of disrepair, including Taq-i Kisra, a major landmark south of Baghdad. During the coming months, excavations at Mashki Gate will continue through the chambers that remain unexplored, while the team works to conserve the ancient reliefs, preparing to share them with the world. 

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Discovered in northern Iraq, this marble relief shows a high-ranking captive of the Assyrians during a military campaign—
part of a larger scene illustrating a fortified Assyrian military encampment. Photo: Penn Museum.

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The remarkably preserved reliefs discovered at the Mashki Gate in Nineveh offer exquisite detail. Photo-Penn Museum

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Penn’s Dr. Michael Danti cleans one of the seven ancient reliefs found at Nineveh. Photo-Penn Museum

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Article Source: Penn Museum news release.

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About the Penn Museum

Home to over a million extraordinary objects, the Penn Museum has been highlighting our shared humanity across continents and millennia since 1887. In expanding access to archaeology and anthropology, the Penn Museum builds empathy and connections between cultures through experiences online and onsite in our galleries.

The Penn Museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm. For information, visit www.penn.museum, call 215.898.4000, or follow @PennMuseum on social media.

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Massive Late Neolithic animal traps in Arabia have archaeologists mobilized

AlUla, Saudi Arabia, 24 October 2022: New peer-reviewed research into ancient stone-built animal traps, known as ‘desert kites’, reveals sophisticated and extensive hunting of wild animals from the Late Neolithic and shows the ingenuity and perhaps collaborative nature of the region’s peoples in the past.

The structures were named ‘kites’ by aviators in the 1920s because, observed from above, their form is reminiscent of old-fashioned children’s kites with streamers.  However, the origins and function of these huge, monumental structures had been a matter of debate.

Dr Remy Crassard, a leading expert on desert kites, notes that they are some of the largest ancient structures of their era. The oldest kites, in southern Jordan, have been dated to 7000 BCE. The age of newly found kites in north-west Arabia is still being determined but appears to straddle the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age (5000–2000 BCE). Dr Crassard – who, besides being affiliated with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), is a co-director of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, which is sponsored by RCU and its strategic partner Afalula (France’s Agency for the Development of AlUla) – estimates that 700 to 800 kites were known 20 years ago compared to about 6,500 now, with the number still growing. 

Based on recent research conducted in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Armenia and Kazakhstan, Dr Crassard’s team affirms that kites were used for hunting and not for domestication, that they “mark a profound change in human strategies for trapping animals”, and that “the development of these mega-traps made a spectacular human impact on the landscape”. Kites may have led to hunting well beyond subsistence levels, related to “an increase in symbolic behaviour related to food production and social organisation”. Some wild species such as gazelles might have altered their migratory routes as a result, and other species might have been hunted to extinction.

In Saudi Arabia, research led by Rebecca Repper of the University of Western Australia’s RCU-sponsored team, Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Al Ula, detected 207 previously unknown kites in AlUla County. These are especially concentrated on the Harrat ‘Uwayrid, an upland area with an extinct volcano. The team found that a distinct type of V-shaped kite was the dominant form in their study area, in contrast to kites found elsewhere in the region. Kites have been described in a variety of shapes, including V, ‘sock’, ‘hatchet’ and W-shaped. 

Regardless of form, all kites in the region have driving lines of low stone walls that converge to funnel animals towards a trap such as a pit or precipice. On average, the driving lines of the AlUla kites are approximately 200m long. However, elsewhere they can stretch for kilometres. Ms Repper says the shorter length shows the local knowledge of the hunters, who placed the traps in areas where existing landscapes naturally restricted animal movements. Kite placement also suggests that the hunters had an intimate knowledge of prey movements.

While kites recorded in the AlUla region tended to funnel prey towards a sudden precipice, kites elsewhere often end in concealed pits, in which hundreds of animals could be killed during a single hunt. This difference could be an adaptation to the local geography or an evolution of trap hunting.

The aerial archaeology team’s research in the region complements work by Dr Crassard, who contributed data on the kites of Khaybar to a recently published study led by Dr Olivier Barge (CNRS) on the relative chronology of kite types. In Khaybar, two types of kites have been distinguished: traditionally defined desert kites and rudimentary proto-kites, which do not have a well-defined enclosure surrounded by traps or pits. The team suggests that the proto-kites might have been a precursor to desert kites. The more complex kites may reflect less opportunistic and more formalized hunting techniques.

Dr Rebecca Foote, Director of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research for RCU, said: “These studies add to our growing understanding of the rich cultural heritage of the people of north-west Arabia, in this case more on prehistoric practices. The recent studies expand on our earlier discoveries of the Neolithic period in the region, including the construction of large-scale ritual structures known as mustatils. As we embark on the autumn season of RCU-supported archaeological fieldwork, with teams from KSA, France, Australia, Germany and beyond, we look forward to many more insightful findings as part of our ambitious plan to create a global hub of archaeological research and conservation in AlUla.”

That hub, the Kingdoms Institute, is currently active as a research organization, with plans to open a physical presence at AlUla by 2030. The RCU-sponsored research in and around AlUla is adding to the knowledge base that will inform the Kingdoms Institute. RCU expects the institute to become a prime destination by the time AlUla is receiving 2 million visitors a year in 2035. 

Dr Ingrid Périssé Valéro, Director of Archaeology and Heritage for Afalula, said: “The recording of these new kites in AlUla and Khaybar opens up important perspectives on the origins, development and diffusion of these hunting structures, which marked a significant milestone in the history of human evolution and mankind’s relationship with the natural environment. The groundbreaking research from these international teams, including work by France’s expert Dr Rémy Crassard, combines the results of satellite image analysis and fieldwork, which is the only way to provide precise dating and function by analysing the material associated with these structures. Without a doubt, the ongoing research will be a landmark in prehistorical studies.”

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A kite in the Khaybar area of north-west Saudi Arabia. New archaeological findings on kites show the ingenuity of the region’s peoples in the past. (Diaa Albukaai and Kévin Guadagnini, Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project/RCU/Afalula/CNRS)

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A kite in Khaybar. These ancient hunting traps were named ‘kites’ by aviators in the 1920s because, from above, they resemble old-fashioned children’s kites. (Diaa Albukaai and Kévin Guadagnini, Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project/RCU/Afalula/CNRS)

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This and the following photograph show an ancient ‘kite’ in a sandstone landscape in AlUla County, north-west Saudi Arabia. The walls of this kite extend about 300 metres across a mesa … (Don Boyer/RCU/AAKSAU)

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… leading to a sudden precipice over which hunters drove prey including gazelles and ibex. (David Kennedy/RCU/AAKSAU).

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The recent research is detailed in the following:

• ‘The Use of Desert Kites as Hunting Mega Traps: Functional Evidence and Potential Impacts on Socioeconomic and Ecological Spheres’ by Rémy Crassard, et al, published in Journal of World Prehistory. Project sponsored by CNRS and French National Research Agency.

• ‘Kites of AlUla County and the Ḥarrat ‘Uwayriḍ, Saudi Arabia’ by Rebecca Repper, et al, published in Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. Project sponsored by RCU.

• ‘New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps’ by Olivier Barge, et al, published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Khaybar data in this article results from the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project. 

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Article Source: HK Strategies and Royal Commission for ALULa

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About the Royal Commission for AlUla 

RCU was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU’s long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area’s natural and cultural heritage, while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, education,  the arts, nature and more, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme. 

About Afalula (French Agency for the Development of AlUla)

The French Agency for the Development of AlUla (Afalula) was founded in Paris in July 2018 following an intergovernmental agreement signed by France and Saudi Arabia in April of that year. Afalula aims to support its Saudi partner, The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), in the co-construction of the economic, touristic and cultural development of AlUla, a region located in north-west Saudi Arabia which benefits from outstanding natural and cultural heritage. The agency’s mission is to mobilise French knowledge and expertise and to gather the finest operators and companies in the fields of archaeology, museography, architecture, environment, tourism, hospitality, infrastructure, education, security, equestrianism, agriculture, botany and the sustainable management of natural resources.

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If you liked this, you may like the newly published feature article in Popular Archaeology: Lost Worlds of Arabia.

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Discovery of extracts from a lost astronomical catalogue

CNRS—Old grimoires, even for the most Cartesian minds, often contain coveted secrets, such as the fragments of an ancient astronomical treatise lost for centuries: the Hipparchus Star Catalogue. Written between 170 and 120 BC by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, it is the oldest known attempt to determine the precise position of fixed stars by associating them with numerical coordinates.

Until now, this text was known only through the writings of Claudius Ptolemy, another ancient astronomer who composed his own catalogue nearly 400 years after Hipparchus. Researchers from the Centre Léon Robin de recherche sur la pensée antique (CNRS/Sorbonne Université) and their British colleague from Tyndale House in Cambridge have just deciphered the descriptions of four constellations from Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue.

This discovery comes from the Codex Climaci Rescriptus1  ‒ a book made up of parchments that were erased and then rewritten on, also known as a palimpsest. In the past, this Codex contained an astronomical poem in ancient Greek with, among elements of commentary on the poem, fragments of Hipparchus’ Catalogue. This palimpsest text, erased in medieval times, has been revealed through multispectral imaging2 by teams from the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library, the Lazarus Project and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The fragments of the Star Catalogue are the oldest known to date and bring major advances in its reconstruction. Firstly, they refute a widespread idea that Claudius Ptolemy’s Star Catalogue is merely a “copy” of Hipparchus’ as the observations of the four constellations are different. Furthermore, Hipparchus’ data are verified to the nearest degree, which would make his catalogue much more accurate than Ptolemy’s, even though it was composed several centuries earlier.

For the research team this major discovery sheds new light on the history of astronomy in antiquity and on the beginnings of the history of science. Above all, it illustrates the power of advanced techniques, such as multispectral imaging, whose application on illegible palimpsests could save numerous lost texts on philosophy, medicine or horticulture from oblivion.

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A folio from the Codex Climaci Rescriptus. © Peter Malik

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Article Source: CNRS news release.

Notes

  1. The Codex Climaci Rescriptus is kept at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC (USA) and probably comes from the monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai (Egypt), one of the oldest active monasteries in the world. It is composed of folios from a Greek manuscript of the fifth or sixth century AD.
  2. 2 Multispectral imaging consists of measuring the light reflected by an object at different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, using artificial lighting and high dynamic range sensors. The data collected is then processed to extract relevant information, such as traces of erased writing, presented in the form of images.

Bibliography

New Evidence for Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue Revealed by Multispectral Imaging. Victor Gysembergh, Peter J. Williams and Emanuel Zingg. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 18 October 2022. DOI:10.1177/00218286221128289

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A 10,000-year-old infant burial provides insights into the use of baby carriers and family heirlooms in prehistory

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER—If you’ve taken care of an infant, you know how important it is to find ways to multitask. And, when time is short and your to-do list is long, humans find ways to be resourceful—something caregivers have apparently been doing for a very, very long time.

The authors of a new article published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory* argue that they have found evidence of the use of baby carriers 10,000 years ago at the Arma Veirana site in Liguria, Italy. The research, led by Arizona State University’s Claudine Gravel-Miguel, PhD, also includes the University of Colorado Denver’s Jamie Hodgkins, PhD, an Associate Professor of Anthropology, and a co-principal investigator on the excavation of Arma Veirana.

Because material used to make the first baby carriers does not preserve well in the archaeological record and because prehistoric baby burials are very uncommon, evidence for prehistoric baby carriers is extremely rare. The site—which includes the oldest documented burial of a female infant in Europe, a 40- to 50-days-old baby, nicknamed Neve—has both. Researchers used innovative analytical methods to extract hard-to-obtain information about perforated shell beads found at the site.

The study used a high-definition 3D photogrammetry model of the burial combined with microscopic observations and microCT scan analyses of the beads to document in detail how the burial took place and how the beads were likely used by Neve and her community in life and in death.

The results of this research show that the beads were likely sewn onto a piece of leather or cloth that was used to wrap Neve for her burial. This decoration contained more than 70 small, pierced shell beads and four big, pierced shell pendants, the likes of which have yet to be found elsewhere. Most of the beads bear heavy signs of use that could not have been produced during Neve’s short life, demonstrating they were handed down to her as heirlooms.

“Given the effort that had been put into creating and reusing these ornaments over time, it is interesting that the community decided to part with these beads in the burial of such a young individual, said Gravel-Miguel. “Our research suggests that those beads and pendants likely adorned Neve’s carrier, which was buried with her.”

Relying on ethnographic observations of how baby carriers are adorned and used in some modern hunter-gatherer societies, this research suggests that Neve’s community may have decorated her carrier with beads in order to protect her against evil. However, it is possible that her death signaled that those beads had failed, and it would have been better to bury the carrier rather than reuse it.

“Infant burials are so rare, and this one had so many beads,” said Hodgkins. “Being able to look at the use wear and positioning of the ornaments around the infant to determine that these beads were handed down and the infant was wrapped in a way that matches the form of a baby carrier is truly a unique glimpse into the past, giving us  a connection to this tragic event that happened so long ago.”

Learn More: This new research about Neve contributes to the growing literature of prehistoric childcare and the likely use and reuse of beads to protect individuals and maintain the social links within a community. Neve’s remains were found in 2017 in a cave located in Liguria, Italy. The ongoing study of this rare infant burial provides insight into customs and daily life of the early Mesolithic period. To read more, click here

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Team of researchers including Claudine Gravel-Miguel from Arizona State University, Jamie Hodgkins from the University of Colorado Denver work at the excavation of Arma Veirana. University of Colorado Denver

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER news release.

About University of Colorado Denver

The University of Colorado Denver is the state’s premier public urban research university and equity-serving institution. Globally connected and locally invested, CU Denver partners with future-focused learners and communities to design accessible, relevant, transformative educational experiences for every stage of life and career. Across seven schools and colleges in the heart of downtown Denver, our leading faculty inspires and works alongside students to solve complex challenges through boundary-breaking innovation and impactful research and creative work. As part of the state’s largest university system, CU Denver is a major contributor to the Colorado economy, with 2,000 employees and annual economic impact of $800 million. For more information, visit www.ucdenver.edu.

Meet the first Neanderthal family

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY—The first Neanderthal draft genome was published in 2010. Since then, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have sequenced a further 18 genomes from 14 different archaeological sites throughout Eurasia. While these genomes have provided insights into the broader strokes of Neanderthal history, we still know little of individual Neanderthal communities.

To explore the social structure of Neanderthals, the researchers turned their attention to southern Siberia, a region that has previously been very fruitful for ancient DNA research – including the discovery of Denisovan hominin remains at the famous Denisova Cave. From work done at that site, we know that Neanderthals and Denisovans were present in this region over hundreds of thousands of years, and that Neanderthals and Denisovans have interacted with each other – as the finding of a child with a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother has shown.

First Neanderthal community

In their new study, the researchers focused on the Neanderthal remains in Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves, which are within 100 kilometers of Denisova Cave. Neanderthals briefly occupied these sites around 54,000 years ago, and multiple potentially contemporaneous Neanderthal remains had been recovered from their deposits. The researchers  successfully retrieved DNA from 17 Neanderthal remains – the largest number of Neanderthal remains ever sequenced in a single study.

Chagyrskaya Cave has been excavated over the last 14 years by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences. Besides several hundred thousand stone tools and animal bones, they also recovered more than 80 bone and tooth fragments of Neanderthals, one of the largest assemblages of these fossil humans not only in the region but also in the world.

The Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov hunted ibex, horses, bison and other animals that migrated through the river valleys that the caves overlook. They collected raw materials for their stone tools dozens of kilometers away, and the occurrence of the same raw material at both Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves also supports the genetic data that the groups inhabiting these localities were closely linked.

Previous studies of a fossil toe from Denisova cave showed that Neanderthals inhabited the Altai mountains considerably earlier as well, around 120,000 years ago. Genetic data shows though, that the Neanderthals from Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves are not descendants of these earlier groups, but are closer related to European Neanderthals. This is also supported by the archaeological material: the stone tools from Chagyrskaya Cave are most similar to the so-called Micoquian culture known from Germany and Eastern Europe.

The 17 remains came from 13 Neanderthal individuals – 7 men and 6 women, of which 8 were adults and 5 were children and young adolescents. In their mitochondrial DNA, the researchers  found several so-called heteroplasmies that were shared between individuals. Heteroplasmies are a special kind of genetic variant that only persists for a small number of generations.

The easternmost Neanderthals

Among these remains were those of a Neanderthal father and his teenage daughter. The researchers also found a pair of second degree relatives: a young boy and an adult female, perhaps a cousin, aunt or grandmother. The combination of heteroplasmies and related individuals strongly suggests that the Neanderthals in Chagyrskaya Cave must have lived – and died – at around the same time.

“The fact that they were living at the same time is very exciting. This means that they likely came from the same social community. So, for the first time, we can use genetics to study the social organization of a Neanderthal community,” says Laurits Skov, who is first author on this study.

Another striking finding is the extremely low genetic diversity within this Neanderthal community, consistent with a group size of 10 to 20 individuals. This is much lower than those recorded for any ancient or present-day human community, and is more similar to the group sizes of endangered species at the verge of extinction.

However, Neanderthals didn’t live in completely isolated communities. By comparing the genetic diversity on the Y-chromosome, which is inherited father-to-son, with the mitochondrial DNA diversity, which is inherited from mothers, the researchers could answer the question: Was it the men or the women who moved between communities? They found that the mitochondrial genetic diversity was much higher than the Y chromosome diversity, which suggests that these Neanderthal communities were primarily linked by female migration. Despite the proximity to Denisova Cave, these migrations do not appear to have involved Denisovans – the researchers found no evidence of Denisovan gene flow in the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals in the last 20,000 years before these individuals lived.

“Our study provides a concrete picture of what a Neanderthal community may have looked like”, says Benjamin Peter, the last author of the study. “It makes Neanderthals seem much more human to me.”

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Chagyrskaya Cave, Siberia. Bence Viola

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A Neanderthal father and his daughter. Tom Bjorklund

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Article Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY news release.

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Research suggests ancient Troy was embedded in a larger Anatolian civilization

For most of us, ancient Troy brings to mind a besieged, almost mythical legendary city that in the end finally fell in a dramatic, fiery and violent battle to the Achaeans, a massive Aegean military force assembled and executed, according to the ancient Greek author Homer, for one purpose — to force the return of Helen, the (from the Achaean perspective) abducted wife of Sparta’s King Menelaus. 

Scholars suggest that, beyond Homer’s myth and legend, there was a historical basis for the city. Many of them identify the archaeological remains excavated at the Hisarlik hill or tell near the northwest coast of modern day Turkey as evidence for the storied city. The first excavations began in 1871 with Heinrich Schliemann and Frank Calvert. The combination of succeeding excavations eventually revealed nine major layers and 46 strata, the first and earliest dating to the Early Bronze Age and the latest to the Byzantine era. 

But recent investigations are showing that the city, contrary to its popular conception as a magnificent, isolated enclave at the edge of the Aegean, was actually part of a much larger civilization and culture. 

“A recently published scientific study argues that Troy was not an isolated outpost on the wrong – non-European – side of the Aegean Sea,” writes Eberhard Zangger, a Swiss geoarchaeologist who has devoted many years of research on ancient settlements in western Turkey. “Instead,” Zangger suggests, “the city was embedded in a long-lasting and influential culture, which, however, has hardly been investigated so far.”

In his recently published article, “Ancient Troy and its Neighbors: Acknowledging the Luwian Culture at Last”, Zangger relates the efforts of 33 archaeological excavations and 30 archaeological surveys that have resulted in a catalog of 477 settlements representing a culture that “is not indicated on maps”. Troy, he postulates, was a part of this ancient civilization and culture. Moreover, he suggests that this culture may have played a major role among the “Sea Peoples” who are hypothesized by some scholars to have contributed to the great Late Bronze Age collapse. 

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The excavated walls of ancient Troy. Ebru Sargın L.,Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Wikimedia Commons

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More about the research can be obtained in the article, Ancient Troy and its Neighbors: Acknowledging the Luwian Culture at Last, published in the fall 2022 issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine.

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Study suggests Neanderthals were carnivores

Were Neanderthals carnivores? Scientists have not yet settled the question. While some studies of the dental tartar of individuals from the Iberian Peninsula appear to show that they were major consumers of plants, other research carried out at sites outside Iberia seem to suggest that they consumed almost nothing but meat. Using new analytical techniques on a molar belonging to an individual of this species, researchers1 have shown that the Neanderthals at the Gabasa site in Spain appear to have been carnivores.

To determine an individual’s position in the food chain, scientists have until now generally had to extract proteins and analyze the nitrogen isotopes present in the bone collagen. However, this method can often only be used in temperate environments, and only rarely on samples over 50,000 years old. When these conditions are not met, nitrogen isotope analysis is very complex, or even impossible. This was the case for the molar from the Gabasa site analysed in this study.

Given these constraints, Klevia Jaouen, a CNRS researcher, and her colleagues decided to analyze the zinc isotope ratios present in the tooth enamel, a mineral that is resistant to all forms of degradation. This is the first time this method has been used to attempt to identify a Neanderthal’s diet. The lower the proportions of zinc isotopes in the bones, the more likely they are to belong to a carnivore. The analysis was also carried out on the bones of animals from the same time period and geographical area, including carnivores such as lynxes and wolves, and herbivores like rabbits and chamois. The results showed that the Neanderthal to whom this tooth from the Gabasa site belonged was probably a carnivore who did not consume the blood of their prey.

Broken bones found at the site, together with isotopic data, indicate that this individual also ate the bone marrow of their prey, without consuming the bones, while other chemical tracers show that they were weaned before the age of two. Analyses also show that this Neanderthal probably died in the same place they had lived in as a child.

Compared to previous techniques, this new zinc isotope analysis method makes it easier to distinguish between omnivores and carnivores. To confirm their conclusions, the scientists hope to repeat the experiment on individuals from other sites, especially from the Payre site in south-east France, where new research is under way.

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A first molar from a Neanderthal, analyzed for this study.
© Lourdes Montes

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Excavation work at the Gabasa site, Spain.
© Lourdes Montes

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Article Source: CNRS news release

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Notes

  1. 1 In France, the work involved scientists from the Geosciences Environment Toulouse Laboratory (CNRS/CNES/IRD/UT3 Paul Sabatier), and the Geology Laboratory of Lyon: Earth, Planets, Environment (CNRS/UCBL1), together with teams from the University of Zaragoza, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, and the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz.

A Neandertal dietary conundrum: new insights provided by tooth enamel Zn isotopes from Gabasa, Spain. Klervia Jaouen, Vanessa Villalba Mouco, Geoff M. Smith, Manuel Trost, Jennifer Leichliter, Tina Lüdecke, Pauline Méjean, Stéphanie Mandrou, Jérôme Chmeleff, Danaé Guiserix, Nicolas Bourgon, Fernanda Blasco, Jéssica Mendes Cardoso, Camille Duquenoy, Zineb Moubtahij, Domingo C. Salazar Garcia, Michael Richards, Thomas Tütken, Jean Jacques Hublin, Pilar Utrilla and Lourdes Montes, PNAS, the 17th of october. DOI :2021-09315RR

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