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How Archaeologists Can Solve the Earth’s ‘Wicked Problems’

Posted on January 20, 2025 by John Schofield -

John Schofield is a professor of archaeology at the University of York, United Kingdom, and the author of the new book Wicked Problems for Archaeologists: Heritage as Transformative Practice (Oxford University Press, 2024).

We used to have “balloon” debates in school: The hot-air balloon is losing height and, to avoid disaster, people must be jettisoned. To avoid this fate, everybody must justify why they should remain on board and their classmates then vote them “on” or “off.”

In reality, the result was determined entirely by one’s popularity. But perhaps this is always the case. In seeking to avoid funding cuts, for example, museums or cultural services are often considered easy targets, since archaeologists and heritage professionals are far less useful than doctors, engineers, or mathematicians. Beyond archaeology itself, cultural heritage has few friends, one might argue.

But I present the argument that far from being the irrelevant or outdated subject some politicians, career advisers, and university leaders might consider it to be, archaeology is essential to the future of humanity and planetary health. This is for three main reasons. First, archaeologists have the capacity to think about and to understand humanity of the past, and to project that insight into the future. Second, archaeologists are uniquely placed to comprehend the many and complex ways in which humans, over time, have related to their environment and environmental and other processes, such as the changing climate, migration, or pandemics. And third, archaeology provides opportunities for everyone to benefit, whether in terms of physical (by undertaking surveys or excavations) or mental health (through social interaction or artifact handling, to address loneliness or anxiety, for example).

York Archaeology’s Archaeology on Prescription project is one example of this: The program enables adults facing various conditions to gain a detailed understanding of life in a specific area of York, and in the process to improve their health and well-being, on top of volunteerism’s generally positive health effects, as demonstrated by a 2024 article.

In my new book, Wicked Problems for Archaeologists, I examine a few creative ways that we can use archaeology to help directly address some of the global challenges that threaten both human and planetary health. The book’s main argument is that as archaeologists we need to stop thinking only about the past and also think about the future. We also need to engage more with policymakers to help them address their challenges and opportunities.

Wicked Problems

Wicked problems emerged from research in the late 1960s to devise ways of using outcomes from the United States’ NASA-funded space program to help resolve urban problems such as crime and poverty. The definition of wicked problems as those that are “complex, intractable, open-ended, and unpredictable” captures both the scale of these problems and the difficulties they entail. We also now have “super-wicked problems” that introduce the additional dimension of time (or the lack of time to be precise). Super-wicked problems are in addition to the original 10 characteristics of wicked problems, defined by Horst W.J. Rittel and Melvin M. Webber:

Time is running out;
There is no central authority, or only a weak authority, to manage the problem; and
The same actors causing the problem are required to help solve it.

Both climate change and environmental pollution are examples of super-wicked problems in which archaeologists have recently become involved, including my own work in the Galápagos and the wider South Pacific region. Social injustice, crime, and conflict are widely used as examples of wicked problems.

Small Wins

I suggest that the only realistic way to achieve success with wicked and super-wicked problems, and ultimately to make a difference, is by adopting a small-wins framework. These small wins (also referred to as small gains or nudges) align well with what universities in the UK refer to as impact, which, for the purposes of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework is defined as, “an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.” Small wins have been defined by theorist Karl Weick as, “a series of concrete, complete outcomes of moderate importance [that] builds a pattern that attracts allies and deters opponents.” The strategy of small wins incorporates sound psychology and is sensitive to the pragmatics of policymaking. Examples of small wins include the plastic pollution work in the Galápagos and neighboring coastal South America, and the Archaeology on Prescription project, referred to previously.

But even with small wins, we need to be careful. Wicked problems are deeply entangled with one another, meaning that any solution to one problem may exacerbate other problems elsewhere. Climate change and social injustice are a well-known example of this entanglement.

Promoting Success

Once small wins have been achieved, as archaeologists, we need to tell influential people about the outcomes so that our museums and galleries, local services, and archaeology departments are not threatened with closure by people who fail to understand the significance (or the potential) of the work we do.

For this conversation to happen, we need spokespeople who are good at communicating and have access to data and projects that deserve to be talked about. Archaeology needs influencers, or policy entrepreneurs as they are sometimes referred to. As archaeologists, we have not always been very good at this. It is probably why climate scientists on the IPCC don’t take much notice of us.

Preparing Archaeologists for a Wicked Future

We also need to think about how we manage people, resources, and priorities within our profession and how we prepare students for wicked futures. Management leadership scholar Keith Grint has explained how, across disciplines, academics need to be collaborative and passionate leaders inspiring an even more collaborative and passionate next generation. These, he thinks, are essential qualities for creating structures conducive to successfully addressing wicked problems.

We should also be looking to create (and teach our students to prepare for) some entirely new business models that provide the foundations for success: for example, new board structures that provide opportunities for younger people. Often advisory boards and boards of trustees are composed of older people with more experience. Younger idealists are often not welcome because they lack real-world experience. But for a world of wicked problems, we need to be much more creative. The old ways have not worked, so we need to try some new ones.

The Council for British Archaeology’s Youth Advisory Board is an excellent example of what can be done easily and immediately. And as archaeologists, we must continue to teach students how to find, research, interpret, and conserve the places and the materials from which we create an understanding of the past and its relevance in the present. These skills are fundamental to archaeology. But we need to go further.

To ensure that the relevance of archaeology is widely felt, students also need to learn how to communicate with non-specialists. To engage with wicked problems they must also learn about global challenges, and activism, and think more about the future. We need to produce what Paul Handstedt calls “wicked students.”

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This article was produced by Human Bridges.

Cover Image, Top Left: NickyPe, Pixabay

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EXPLORE THE ANCIENT ETRUSCANS IN PERSON!
Experience a unique, up-close-and-personal hike among ancient hilltop towns in central Italy. You will walk the sensational countryside of the regions of Umbria and Tuscany, soaking in important sites attesting to the advanced Etruscan civilization, forerunners of the ancient Romans; imposing architectural and cultural remains of Medieval Italy; local food and drink; and perhaps best of all — spectacular scenic views! Join us in this collaborative event for the trip of a lifetime!

Three million years ago, our ancestors were vegetarian

Posted on January 17, 2025 by University of the Witwatersrand -

University of the Witwatersrand—Human ancestors like Australopithecus – which lived around 3.5 million years ago in southern Africa – ate very little to no meat, according to new research* published in the scientific journal Science. This conclusion comes from an analysis of nitrogen isotope isotopes in the fossilized tooth enamel of seven Australopithecus individuals. The data revealed that these early hominins primarily relied on plant-based diets, with little to no evidence of meat consumption.

The consumption of animal resources, especially meat, is considered a crucial turning point in human evolution. This protein-rich food has been linked to the increase in brain volume and the ability to develop tools. However, direct evidence of when meat emerged among our early ancestors, and of how its consumption developed though time, has been elusive. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa (Wits University) now provide evidence that human ancestors of the genus Australopithecus that lived in southern Africa between 3.7 and 3.3 million years ago subsisted mostly on plants.

The research team analyzed stable isotope data from tooth enamel of Australopithecus individuals found in the Sterkfontein cave near Johannesburg, part of South Africa’s “Cradle of Humankind”, an area known for its rich collection of early hominin fossils. They compared the isotopic data of Australopithecus with that from tooth samples of coexisting animals, including monkeys, antelopes, and large predators such as hyenas, jackals, and big cats.

Tooth enamel preserved dietary signatures

“Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue of the mammalian body and can preserve the isotopic fingerprint of an animal’s diet for millions of years,” says geochemist Tina Lüdecke, lead author of the study. Lüdecke has led the “Emmy-Noether Junior Research Group for Hominin Meat Consumption” at the Mainz-based Max Planck Institute for Chemistry since 2021 and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Evolutionary Studies Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She regularly travels to Africa to sample fossilized teeth for her analysis. Wits University owns the Sterkfontein Caves and is the custodian of the Australopithecus fossils.

When animals digest food, biochemical reactions favor the “light” isotope of nitrogen (¹⁴N). Consequently, the degradation products that are produced in their body contain high proportions of ¹⁴N. The excretion of these “light” nitrogen compounds in urine, feces, or sweat increases the ratio of “heavy” nitrogen (¹⁵N) to this “light” nitrogen the body in comparison to the food it eats. This means that herbivores have a higher nitrogen isotope ratio than the plants they consume, while carnivores in turn have a higher nitrogen isotope ratio than their prey. Therefore, the higher the ¹⁵N to ¹⁴N ratio in a tissue sample, the higher is the trophic position of the organism in the food web.

Nitrogen isotope ratios have long been used to study the diets of modern animals and humans in hair, claws, bones and many other organic materials. However, in fossil material, these measurements have previously been limited to samples that are only a few tens of thousands of years old due to the degradation of organic material over time. In this study, Tina Lüdecke used a novel technique developed in Alfredo Martínez-García’s laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, to measure nitrogen isotopes ratios in fossilized tooth enamel that is millions of years old.

Evidence of mostly plant-based food

The team of researchers found that the nitrogen isotope ratios in the tooth enamel of Australopithecus varied, but were consistently low, similar to those of herbivores, and much lower than those of contemporary carnivores. They conclude that the diet of these hominins was variable but consisted largely or exclusively of plant-based food. Therefore, Australopithecus did not regularly hunt large mammals like, for example, the Neanderthals did a few million years later. While the researchers cannot completely rule out the possibility of occasional consumption of animal protein sources like eggs or termites, the evidence indicates a diet that was predominantly vegetarian.

Further research on fossilized tooth enamel

Lüdecke’s team plans to expand their research, collecting more data from different hominin species and time periods. They aim to examine fossils from other key sites in eastern and southern Africa as well as southeast Asia to explore when meat consumption began, how it evolved, and whether it provided an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors.

“This method opens up exciting possibilities for understanding human evolution, and it has the potential to answer crucial questions, for example, when did our ancestors begin to incorporate meat in their diet? And was the onset of meat consumption linked to an increase in brain volume?” says Alfredo Martínez-García, from the Max Planck institute for Chemistry.

“This work represents a huge step in extending our ability to better understand diets and trophic level of all animals back into the scale of millions of years. The research provides clear evidence that its diet did not contain significant amounts of meat. We are honored that the pioneering application of this new method was spearheaded at Sterkfontein, a site that continues to make fundamental contributions to science even 89 years after the first hominin fossils were discovered there by Robert Broom,” says Professor Dominic Stratford, Director of Research at the Sterkfontein Caves and co-author of the paper.

The study was funded by the Max Planck Society. Tina Lüdecke’s research group is supported by the Emmy Noether program of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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Hand-drawn illustration of two of the seven sampled molars from Australopithecus. Dom Jack, MPIC

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The Sterkfontein excavation site, which exposes the ancient deposits that once formed underground and contain Australopithecus fossils. The fossil-bearing red sediments clearly contrast with the grey dolomite of the cave walls and remnant roof of the chamber. Dominic Stratford

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Tina Lüdecke stands beside “Little Foot,” a remarkably well-preserved skeleton of Australopithecus discovered in the Sterkfontein Cave, celebrated as the most complete pre-human skeleton ever found. In her research, however, Lüdecke and her team primarily work with isolated fossilized tooth fragments. Bernhard Zipfel/Wits University

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Article Source: University of the Witwatersrand news release

*Australopithecus at Sterkfontein did not consume substantial mammalian meat, Science, 16-Jan-2025. 10.1126/science.adq7315

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Volcanic eruption caused Neolithic people to sacrifice unique “sun stones”

Posted on January 16, 2025 by University of Copenhagen Faculty of Humanities -

University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Humanities—Throughout history, volcanic eruptions have had serious consequences for human societies such as cold weather, lack of sun, and low crop yields. In the year 43 BC when a volcano in Alaska spewed large quantities of sulphur into the stratosphere, harvests failed the following years in the countries around the Mediterranean, causing famine and disease. This is well-documented in written sources from ancient Greece and Rome.

We do not have written sources from the Neolithic. But climate scientists from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have analyzed ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet and can now document that around 2,900 BC a similar volcanic eruption took place. An eruption that must have had equally devastating consequences for the Neolithic peoples who lived in Northern Europe at the time and who were deeply dependent on agriculture.

This new insight into a climate episode in the Neolithic period has led archaeologists from the University of Copenhagen, the National Museum of Denmark and the Museum of Bornholm to view their findings of so-called “sun stones” from the Neolithic Vasagård site on Bornholm in a new light, and they have just published a scientific article on the phenomenon in the journal Antiquity:

“We have known for a long time that the sun was the focal point for the early agricultural cultures we know of in Northern Europe. They farmed the land and depended on the sun to bring home the harvest. If the sun almost disappeared due to mist in the stratosphere for longer periods of time, it would have been extremely frightening for them,” says archaeologist Rune Iversen from the University of Copenhagen, who has participated in the excavations at the site led by the Museum of Bornholm and the National Museum. He adds:

“One type of find that is completely unique to Bornholm is the so-called sun stones, which are flat shale pieces with engraved patterns and sun motifs. They symbolized fertility and were probably sacrificed to ensure sun and growth. Sun stones were found in large quantities at the Vasagård West site, where residents deposited them in ditches forming part of a causewayed enclosure together with the remains of ritual feasts in the form of animal bones, broken clay vessels, and flint objects around 2,900 BC. The ditches were subsequently closed.”

Rune Iversen and his colleagues believe that there is a very high probability that there is a connection between the volcanic eruption, the subsequent climate changes and the discovery of the ritual sun stone sacrifices.

“It is reasonable to believe that the Neolithic people on Bornholm wanted to protect themselves from further deterioration of the climate by sacrificing sun stones – or perhaps they wanted to show their gratitude that the sun had returned again.”

Major cultural changes
As if an acute climate deterioration around 2,900 BC was not enough, Northern European Neolithic cultures were also affected by other disasters; New DNA studies of human bones have shown that the plague was very widespread and fatal.

During the same period when the Neolithic people were affected by both climate change and disease, archaeologists can also document a shift in the traditions they had held on to for a long time. The so-called Funnel Beaker Culture, which had been dominant until about 5,000 years ago with its characteristic ceramics and passage graves, was gradually disappearing.

“At the causewayed enclosure we have excavated on Bornholm, we can also see that, after the sacrifice of the sun stones, the residents changed the structure of the site so that instead of sacrificial ditches it was provided with extensive rows of palisades and circular cult houses. We do not know why, but it is reasonable to believe that the dramatic climatic changes they had been exposed to would have played a role in some way, Rune Iversen concludes.

Sun stones to be exhibited in Copenhagen
Four of the sun stones from Vasagård on Bornholm can be experienced from 28 January in the prehistoric exhibition at The National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. They probably exemplify one of the earliest depositional practices connected to a Neolithic sun-cult in South Scandinavia, which are also known from the Nordic Bronze Age with objects like the sun chariot.

“The sunstones are completely unique, also in a European context. The closest we get to a similar sun-cult in the Neolithic is some passage graves in southern Scandinavia or henge structures like Stonehenge in England, which some researchers associate with the sun. With the sun stones, there is in my mind no doubt. It is quite simply an incredible discovery, which demonstrates that depositions honoring the sun is an ancient phenomenon, which we encounter again in South Scandinavia during the climate disaster caused by a volcanic eruption in the year 536 AD, where several large gold hoards were deposited as sacrifices,” says Lasse Vilien Sørensen, who is senior researcher at The National Museum of Denmark and co-author of the research paper.

Volcanic eruption 2,900 BC
The researchers can document reduced radiation from the sun and consequent cooling, which can be traced in both the United States and Europe around 2,900 BC.

Dendrochronological analyses of fossil wood show signs of frost in the spring and summer months both before and after 2,900 BC.

And ice cores from the Greenland ice cap and the Antarctica contain sulphur, which is a sign of the occurrence of a strong volcanic eruption.

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Two so-called sun stones, which are small flat shale pieces with finely incised patterns and sun motifs. They are known only from the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. National Museum of Denmark

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The archaeological site Vasagård is located on Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. University of Copenhagen

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Article Source: University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Humanities news release

*Sun stones and the darkened sun: Neolithic miniature art from the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Antiquity, 16-Jan-2025. 10.15184/aqy.2024.217

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Human ancestor thrived longer in harsher conditions than previous estimates

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Griffith University -

Griffith University—An early human ancestor of our species successfully navigated harsher and more arid terrains for longer in Eastern Africa than previously thought, according to a new study published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment.

Homo erectus, the first of our relatives to have human-like proportions and the first known early human to migrate out of Africa, was the focus of the new study led by the international research team.

The researchers analyzed evidence from Engaji Nanyori in Tanzania’s Oldupai Gorge, revealing Homo erectus thrived in hyper-arid landscapes one million years ago – well before our species, Homo sapiens, emerged.

“Now extinct, Homo erectus existed more than an estimated 1.5 million years, marking them as a species survival success in the human evolution story when compared with our own estimated existence of around 300,000 years to date,” Professor Michael Petraglia said, Director of the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University.

“That success came down to their ability to survive over a long period marked by many changes to the environment and climate,” noted the lead author, Professor Julio Mercader of the University of Calgary.

Using biogeochemical analyses, chronometric dating, palaeoclimate simulations, biome modelling, fire history reconstructions, palaeobotanical studies, faunal assemblages, and archaeological evidence, the research team reconstructed an environment dominated by semidesert shrubland.

Despite the challenges of these conditions, Homo erectus repeatedly occupied landscapes created by rivers and streams, leveraging water sources and ecological focal points to mitigate risk.

These findings suggest archaic humans possessed an ecological flexibility previously attributed only to later hominins.

“Debate has long centred on when the genus Homo acquired the adaptability to thrive in extreme environments such as deserts and rainforests,” said Dr Abel Shikoni of the University of Dodoma, Tanzania.

“Traditionally, only Homo sapiens was thought capable of sustained occupation in such ecosystems, with archaic hominins seen as restricted to narrower ranges”.

“However, the biogeochemical, palaeoenvironmental, and archaeological evidence we analysed suggests early Homo had the ability to adapt to diverse and unstable environments from the East African Rift floor and Afromontane areas as early as two million years ago,” Professor Petraglia said.

“This adaptive profile, marked by resilience in arid zones, challenges assumptions about early hominin dispersal limits and positions Homo erectus as a versatile generalist and the first hominin to transcend environmental boundaries on a global scale.”

“This adaptability likely facilitated the expansion of Homo erectus into the arid regions of Africa and Eurasia, redefining their role as ecological generalists thriving in some of the most challenging landscapes of the Middle Pleistocene,” said Professor Paul Durkin of the University of Manitoba.

The study ‘Homo erectus adapted to steppe-desert climate extremes one million years ago ’ has been published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment.

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Excavations in foreground and background at Engaji Nanyori, Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania, in 2022, conducted by Masai landowners and project members. Julio Mercader

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Selected stone tools from Engaji Nanyori. Julio Mercader

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A model of the face of an adult female Homo erectus, one of the first truly human ancestors of modern man, on display in the Hall of Human Origins in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Reconstruction by John Gurche; photographed by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Article Source: Griffith University news release

If you liked this article, you may like Traveling Upright: Humanity’s First Global Ancestor, published previously in Popular Archaeology.

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Ancient genomes reveal an Iron Age society centered on women

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Trinity College Dublin -

Trinity College Dublin—An international team of geneticists, led by those from Trinity College Dublin, has joined forces with archaeologists from Bournemouth University to decipher the structure of British Iron Age society, finding evidence of female political and social empowerment.

The researchers seized upon a rare opportunity to sequence DNA from many members of a single community. They retrieved over 50 ancient genomes from a set of burial grounds in Dorset, southern England, in use before and after the Roman Conquest of AD 43. The results revealed that this community was centered around bonds of female-line descent.

Dr Lara Cassidy, Assistant Professor in Trinity’s Department of Genetics, led the study* that has been published in the leading international journal Nature today. She said: “This was the cemetery of a large kin group. We reconstructed a family tree with many different branches and found most members traced their maternal lineage back to a single woman, who would have lived centuries before. In contrast, relationships through the father’s line were almost absent.

“This tells us that husbands moved to join their wives’ communities upon marriage, with land potentially passed down through the female line. This is the first time this type of system has been documented in European prehistory and it predicts female social and political empowerment.

“It’s relatively rare in modern societies, but this might not always have been the case.”

Incredibly, the team found that this type of social organization, termed “matrilocality”, was not just restricted to Dorset. They sifted through data from prior genetic surveys of Iron Age Britain and, although sample numbers from other cemeteries were smaller, they saw the same pattern emerge again and again.

Dan Bradley, Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity’s Department of Genetics, and a co-author of the study, added: “Across Britain we saw cemeteries where most individuals were maternally descended from a small set of female ancestors. In Yorkshire, for example, one dominant matriline had been established before 400 BC. To our surprise, this was a widespread phenomenon with deep roots on the island.”

Iron Age cemeteries with well-preserved burials are rare in Britain. Dorset is an exception, due to the unique burial customs of the people who lived there, named as the “Durotriges” by the Romans. The researchers sampled DNA from a site near the village of Winterborne Kingston, nicknamed “Duropolis”, which archaeologists from Bournemouth University have been excavating since 2009. Previously, the team had observed the more richly furnished Durotrigan burials to be those of women.

Dr Miles Russell, the excavation’s director and co-author on the study, commented: “Beyond archaeology, knowledge of Iron Age Britain has come primarily from the Greek and Roman writers, but they are not always considered the most trustworthy. That said, their commentary on British women is remarkable in light of these findings. When the Romans arrived, they were astonished to find women occupying positions of power. Two of the earliest recorded rulers were queens – Boudica and Cartimandua – who commanded armies.

“It’s been suggested that the Romans exaggerated the liberties of British women to paint a picture of an untamed society. But archaeology, and now genetics, implies women were influential in many spheres of Iron Age life. Indeed, it is possible that maternal ancestry was the primary shaper of group identities.”

Anthropologist Dr Martin Smith, one of the project’s bone specialists, added: “These results give us a whole new way of looking at the burials we are uncovering with our students. Rather than simply seeing a set of skeletons, hidden aspects of these people’s lives and identities come into view as mothers, husbands, daughters and so on. We also see these folk had deep knowledge of their own ancestry – multiple marriages between distant branches of this family occurred and were possibly favoured, but close inbreeding was avoided.”

Echoing the writings of Julius Caesar, the researchers further uncovered a footprint of Iron Age migration into coastal southern England, which had gone undetected in prior genetic studies. This will add more fuel to debates surrounding the arrival of Celtic language in Britain.

Dr Cassidy explained: “Migration into Britain during the later Bronze Age has previously been detected, leading some to hypothesize that Celtic language arrived during this period. But our results point towards substantial cross-channel mobility during the Iron Age as well. Narrowing down the arrival time of Celtic will be difficult. Indeed, it is quite possible that Celtic languages were introduced to Britain on more than one occasion.”

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Durotrigian burial of a young woman from Langton Herring sampled for DNA (c) Bournemouth University. She was buried with a mirror (right panels) and jewellery, including a Roman coin amulet showing a female charioteer representing Victory. Bournemouth University

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Excavating a Late Iron Age Durotriges burial at Winterborne Kingston (c) Bournemouth University. Bournemouth University

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Article Source: Trinity College Dublin news release

*10.1038/s41586-024-08409-6

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Texts to Textiles: Reconstructing Mycenaean textile production through Linear B

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Dan McLerran -

In the latest released episode of Dr. Ester Salgarella’s podcast series, Aegean Connections, Marie Louise Nosch, Professor of ancient history at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, relates the significance of textiles and their production and commerce in the Bronze Age palatial societies of the Mediterranean. She does this by discussing how the reading and analysis of Linear B, the ancient script of the Mycenaean civilization, has revealed a surprising amount of information about the making, trade distribution, business and value of textiles as a prominent part of the economies of societies of the time.

“Textile production was the fuel of the Bronze Age economy”, says Nosch in the podcast interview.

Indeed, at least among the elite in the even earlier Minoan cities like Knossos in Crete and Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, the evidence for the sophistication and importance of textiles for clothing was clearly illustrated in the magnificent frescoes known today among the archaeological remains and collections of those sites.

Nosch also elaborates how Linear B texts have described in detail the stages of textile production, as well as the remarkable standardization and fixed cycles that defined broadly applied expectations in the world of textiles of the Mediterranean Bronze Age.

Readers can listen to much more about this in the newly released, free podcast, Texts and Textiles: reconstructing Mycenaean textile production through Linear B.

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Cover Image, Top Left: Wall painting from the House of the Ladies in Akrotiri. An iconic example of the sophisticated and artful style of clothing made possible by the mastery and production of textiles during the Bronze Age.

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Popular Archaeology collaborates with Wayfaring Walks to visit ancient Etruscan sites in Italy

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Dan McLerran -

Far from the crunch of the madding crowd one typically encounters with the big Italian tourist sites in places like Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples, a small group of travelers will have the opportunity to explore spectacular off-the-beaten-path sites scattered across the Italian provinces of Umbria and Tuscany. The sites, mostly situated at or near aesthetically scenic and historic Medieval and Etruscan hilltop towns and villages, will define a picture of the Etruscans, the ancient civilization that preceded the Romans. The Etruscans dominated most of the Italian peninsula for centuries, and heavily influenced the culture and character of the civilization that eventually became the Roman Empire.

What distinguishes this tour from most other tours revolves around one human activity — walking. Rather than shuttling large groups of tourists from one congested site after another in chartered buses or vans, this comparatively smaller group will spend the majority of its time hiking across the countryside, taking ancient paths, roads and trails in between up-close-and-personal historic, cultural and archaeological sites that tell the story of the ancient Etruscans as well as the later Medieval and Roman periods.

“Unlike the typical tourist-type experience, this group will be hiking through country that most people, other than the local population, do not see. It will be a more intimate encounter with the landscape and people of ancient and historic Italy,” says Dan McLerran, founder and editor of Popular Archaeology Magazine. “Along with this, the mere act of walking has a profound impact on personal health, both physically and mentally/emotionally. In our mad dash in life to tick off the tasks we have created for ourselves in this life, we forget to ‘smell the flowers’ and nurture closer relationships with others along the way — the very things that make life worth living.”

The trip plan, created and operated by Wayfaring Walks, will take participants to towns that feature ancient and Medieval architecture set high atop rocky, cliff-like formations, as well as anciently-carved and constructed tombs and underground habitations beneath.

“Along with developing new relationships with like-minded people participating in the walk, this will be a photographer’s paradise, so if you are into creating distinctive and artistic images with your camera, this will be an excellent opportunity to do so,” added McLerran.

The towns the group will encounter are among the most scenically picturesque in Italy, affording views not encountered by most vacationing visitors. Moreover, the experience promises to focus on education as well, expanding the participant’s understanding of the ancient and historic cultures encountered.

The walk is open to anyone interested, although individuals who are premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology Magazine will be offered a $500 discount on the trip price (for the first 4 who register). Participants should know that the walking/hiking element of this tour is NOT mandatory. If for any reason a person cannot or does not wish to do some or all of the walk aspect of the tour, arrangements can be made with the tour leader and manager to do limited independent explorations of the towns and sites on the travel itinerary.

For more information about this, and how to register, go to Etruscan Hilltop Towns at https://www.wayfaringwalks.com/tour/etruscan-hilltop-towns/. For current premium subscribers to Popular Archaeology Magazine, go to https://www.wayfaringwalks.com/welcome-popular-archaeology-subscribers/

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View of Civita Bagnoregio, one of the towns to be visited. Orlando Paride, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, Wikimedia Commons

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Orvieto. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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Pozzo di San Patrizio, Orvieto. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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Sorano. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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The Citta del Tufo Archaeological Park. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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Sorano Castle stairs. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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Pitigliano, illuminated. Courtesy Wayfaring Walks

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Archaeological team discovers ancient Etruscan ritual pit and votive niche

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Dan McLerran -

A team of students led by archaeologist Luca Nejrotti recently unearthed two previously undiscovered features among ancient Etruscan tombs in Tuscany, Italy. During the summer of 2024, in collaboration with the Archaeological Park “Città del Tufo”, the team, consisting of archaeologists, students and local volunteers, revisited six Etruscan tombs nestled for more than 2500 years within the area known as the Via Cava di San Sebastiano, near the town of Solano.

The team revisited a number of 7th – 6th century BC tombs carved anciently into the area’s characteristic volcanic tufa rock, already explored and exposed by Roman looting and 19th and 20th century digging. At the end of their season, they uncovered two previously unknown features left untouched for more than 2500 years — a ritual pit and a funerary niche. The ritual pit contained a double-handled bowl and four dishes, and the funerary niche, sealed with terra-cotta tiles, revealed nine ceramic vessels, spindle whorls, and a bronze fragment.

According to lead archaeologist Nejrotti, the finds “represent an exceptional testimony to the religious practices associated with funerary offerings”.

Although the details of ancient Etruscan religious practices and culture are not as well known as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their tombs have revealed the significance of religious beliefs and practices in their society.

The Etruscans were an ancient people who preceded the Romans and inhabited current day central Italy from around 900 BC to roughly 100 BC. They possessed a common language and culture but governed themselves independently through federations of city-states (three confederacies in all: Etruria (today’s Tuscany, Latium and Umbria), the Po Valley with the eastern Alps, and the area known today as Campania. At its greatest extent, Etruria covered what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, northern Lazio, the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania.

More about the team’s work and results can be found in the major feature article recently published in the winter 2025 issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine.

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Excavating the ritual pit. Courtesy Luca Nejrotti

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The funerary niche after the removal of the tiles. Courtesy Luca Nejrotti

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Ukraine was a crossroads of human mobility until around 500 years ago

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Estonian Research Council -

Estonian Research Council—The North Pontic region, which encompasses present-day Ukraine, was for centuries a crossroads of migration from multiple directions, connecting the vast Eurasian Steppe with Central Europe.

A study recently published in Science Advances uses ancient human remains to reveal the remarkably high genetic heterogeneity in the region during the last 3,500 years up to around 500 years ago. The study is led by Lehti Saag, a researcher at the University of Tartu Institute of Genomics (UT IG) and a former Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at University College London (UCL), alongside professor Mark Thomas from UCL and Pontus Skoglund from the Francis Crick Institute. The study was made possible by the resilience of Ukrainian researchers – second author Olga Utevska who is currently a MSCA4Ukraine fellow at UT IG, and numerous archaeologists still actively conducting excavations in Ukraine despite the war.

The analyses show that at the end of the Bronze Age, broad-scale ancestry proportions are similar to contemporary populations in the rest of Europe – a mixture of European hunter-gatherer, Anatolian early farmer and Steppe pastoralist ancestries – and these ancestry components have been present in the Ukraine region since then until today. However, from the Early Iron Age until the Middle Ages, the appearance of eastern nomads in the Pontic region became a regular occurrence. Their genetic composition varied from Steppe-like superimposed on the locals to high degrees of East Asian ancestry with minimal local admixture.

At the same time, individuals from the rest of the Ukrainian region had ancestry mostly from different regions in Europe. The palimpsest created by migration and population mixing in the Ukraine region will have contributed to the high genetic heterogeneity in geographically, culturally and socially homogeneous groups, with different genetic profiles present at the same site, at the same time and among individuals with the same archaeological association.

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Scythian burial at the Skorobir necropolis in the fortified settlement of Bilski. Iryna Shramko

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Article Source: Estonian Research Council news release.

*North Pontic crossroads: Mobility in Ukraine from the Bronze Age to the early modern period, Science Advances, 8-Jan-2025. 10.1126/sciadv.adr0695

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Tattoos revealed on mummified skin

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—Researchers used lasers to reveal highly detailed tattoos on 1,200-year-old mummies from Peru. Mummified human remains from pre-Hispanic South America provide evidence of a long history of tattooing in the region. The ink used in tattoos tends to bleed and fade with age, a process further exacerbated by mummification, rendering the original designs difficult to discern. Michael Pittman and colleagues used laser-stimulated fluorescence to study approximately 1,200-year-old tattoos on mummified individuals belonging to the pre-Columbian Chancay culture in present-day coastal Peru. The authors inspected more than 100 mummified individuals for tattoos. The preserved skin of the mummified individuals fluoresced brightly, in contrast with the black tattoo ink. The resulting high-contrast images virtually eliminated the effects of ink bleed, revealing previously hidden details of the tattoo designs. The complex geometric and zoomorphic patterns were inked with a finely pointed object, possibly a single cactus needle or sharpened animal bone. The authors note that the artistic details and precision of the tattoos exceed that of contemporary Chancay pottery, textiles, and rock art, suggesting that some tattoos were the product of special effort. According to the authors, the findings provide insight into the artistic development and complexity found in pre-Columbian South America.

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1,200-year-old mummified forearm under laser-stimulated fluorescence revealing details of tattoo designs. Michael Pittman and Thomas G Kaye

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1,200-year-old mummified hand featuring tattoos. Michael Pittman and Thomas G Kaye

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Article Source: PNAS news release

*“Hidden artistic complexity of Peru’s Chancay culture discovered in tattoos by laser-stimulated fluorescence,” by Thomas G. Kaye, Judyta Bąk, Henry William Marcelo, and Michael Pittman, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 13-Jan-2025. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421517122

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When the past meets the future: Innovative drone mapping unlocks secrets of Bronze Age ‘mega fortress’ in the Caucasus

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Cranfield University -

Cranfield University—A Cranfield University, UK, academic has used drone mapping to investigate a 3000-year-old ‘mega fortress’ in the Caucasus mountains. Dr Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Science at Cranfield Forensic Institute, has been researching the site since 2018 with Dimitri Jachvliani, his co-director from the Georgian National Museum, revealing details that re-shape our understanding of the site and contribute to a global reassessment of ancient settlement growth and urbanism.

Fortress settlements in the South Caucasus appeared between 1500-500 BCE, and represent an unprecedented development in the prehistory of the regions. Situated at the boundary between Europe, the Eurasian Steppe, and the Middle East, the Caucasus region has a long history as a cultural crossroads with distinctive local identities.

Research on the fortress – named Dmanisis Gora – began with test excavations on a fortified promontory between two deep gorges. A subsequent visit in Autumn, when the knee-high high summer grasses had died back, revealed that the site was much larger than originally thought. Scattered across a huge area outside the inner fortress were the remains of additional fortification walls and other stone structures. Because of its size, it was impossible to get a sense of the site as a whole from the ground.

“That was what sparked the idea of using a drone to assess the site from the air,” commented Dr Erb-Satullo. “The drone took nearly 11,000 pictures which were knitted together using advanced software to produce high-resolution digital elevation models and orthophotos – composite pictures that show every point as if you were looking straight down.

“These datasets enabled us to identify subtle topographic features and create accurate maps of all the fortification walls, graves, field systems, and other stone structures within the outer settlement. The results of this survey showed that the site was more than 40 times larger than originally thought, including a large outer settlement defended by a 1km long fortification wall.”

The research team used a DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone which can provide relative positional accuracy of under 2cm as well as extremely high-resolution aerial imagery. In order to obtain a highly accurate map of human-made features, the team carefully checked each feature in the aerial imagery to confirm its identification.

To understand how the landscape of the site had evolved, the orthophotos were compared with 50-year-old photos taken by a Cold War-era spy satellite declassified in 2013. That gave researchers much needed insight into which features were recent, which were older. It also enabled researchers to assess what areas of the ancient settlement were damaged by modern agriculture. All of those data sets were merged in Geographic Information System (GIS) software, helping to identify patterns and changes in the landscape.

“The use of drones has allowed us to understand the significance of the site and document it in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible on the ground” said Dr Erb-Satullo. ”Dmanisis Gora isn’t just a significant find for the Southern Caucasus region, but has a broader significance for the diversity in the structure of large scale settlements and their formation processes. We hypothesize that Dmanisis Gora expanded because of its interactions with mobile pastoral groups, and its large outer settlement may have expanded and contracted seasonally. With the site now extensively mapped, further study will start to provide insights into areas such as population density and intensity, livestock movements and agricultural practices, among others.”

This data will give researchers new insights into Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age societies, and how these communities functioned. Since the aerial survey was completed, Dr. Erb-Satullo has been carrying out further excavations at the site, uncovering tens of thousands of pottery shards, animal bones, and other artefacts that tell us more about the society that built this fortress.

This work* has been funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Gerald Averay Wainwright Fund and the British Institute at Ankara.

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Atmospheric photo of the site at dusk, showing the location at the convergence of two gorges. 2023 excavations of inner fortress are visible in foreground. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo

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Photo of structures in the outer settlement, 1km long fortification wall is visible in upper left. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo

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Article Source: Cranfield University news release

*MEGA-FORTRESSES IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: NEW DATA FROM SOUTHERN GEORGIA, Antiquity, 8-Jan-2025. 10.15184/aqy.2024.197

Penn Museum’s New Exhibition Preserving Assyria Highlights Restoring Iraq’s Cultural Heritage Through Community-Led Archaeology

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Penn Museum -

PHILADELPHIA, January 7, 2025—In conflict zones like Syria and Ukraine, erasure is a part of systematic genocide and cultural cleansing, but a new exhibition shifts the focus to cultural heritage restoration through community-led excavation—Preserving Assyria showcases archaeology’s role in safeguarding cultural heritage from targeted destruction.

With 16 objects on display from the Penn Museum’s collection, touchable 3D replicas of monumental relief carvings, and interactive multimedia components, this exhibition will be on view in the Merle-Smith Galleries on the Lower Level starting Saturday, February 8, 2025.

One of the world’s earliest empires, Assyria represents a crucial part of Iraq’s cultural identity, which the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attempted to erase by destroying many Mesopotamian monuments in 2016––one of which was Mashki Gate in the ancient city of Nineveh (near Mosul in Northern Iraq).

With a long history of collaborating with the Iraqi researchers and officials, exhibition curators Dr. Michael Danti, Program Director of the Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program, and Dr. Richard L. Zettler, Director Emeritus, intend to spotlight the groundbreaking archaeological discoveries at Mashki Gate, and underscore how collaborative excavations center the cultural heritage priorities of the local people.

“Working closely with our Iraqi colleagues and local communities, scientific field archaeology is playing a key role in recovery efforts in Iraq, shedding new light on ancient cultures and, at the same time, enabling us to reconstruct damaged sites in more authentic and sustainable ways,” Dr. Danti explains. “Our main goal is to re-establish and enhance access to cultural heritage as a fundamental human right.”

One of the biggest discoveries since the 19th century are superbly preserved marble reliefs unearthed at Mashki Gate. They date back to an Assyrian king, Sennacherib, who ruled Nineveh from 705 to 681 BCE. As the original skillfully carved panels, depicting finely chiseled war scenes, mountains, grape vines, and palm trees remain in Iraq, visitors will be able to view intricate replicas, made via 3D scanning,of segments from these extraordinary reliefs.

“…These panels can become a celebrated cultural and archaeological attraction for Iraqis and international tourists. Personally, I have longed to touch our ancestors’ artifacts on museum visits in the West. Now, with these panels restored by Iraqi hands, I can experience the joy of physically connecting with our heritage and marvel at the skill and dedication of ancient artists,” explains Iraqi Assyriologist Dr. Ali al-Jabouri, Professor Emeritus at University of Mosul.

To chart the story of the Neo-Assyrian empire and its deep significance to Iraq’s heritage, the exhibition will feature a timeline of Assyrian history; digital reconstructions of what the ancient city once looked like; illustrations of King Sennacherib’s palace; and images from current excavations that offer “day-in-the-life” glimpses of archaeologists-in-action.

Preserving Assyria will illuminate select artifacts from the Penn Museum’s Near East collections, such as a stamp-inscribed brick from Tell Yarah, Iraq (near Mosul) written in the Sumerian language (911-612 BCE); a Sumerian clay tablet that contains ancient spells to ward off witchcraft (1900-1600 BCE); a glazed terracotta wall tile from Hasanlu, Iran (1000–800 BCE), cylinder seals made of quartz and marble; and a protective amulet made of carnelian.

Public programs related to the new exhibition include a special Curator’s Lectureon February 8 at 2:00 pm in Rainey Auditorium, as well as an engaging four-week online class, The Deep Dig: The Rise and Fall of Assyria, led by Dr. Michael Danti beginning March 6.

Included with Museum admission, Preserving Assyria will be on view through February 2026.

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Opening at the Penn Museum on Feb. 8, 2025, the Preserving Assyria exhibition will showcase a rendering of a restored palace wall in Nineveh. Photo_ Penn Museum.jpg

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The remarkably preserved reliefs discovered at the Mashki Gate in Nineveh offer exquisite detail. Portions of this have been 3D scanned and replicas will be on display as a part of Preserving Assyria at the Penn Museum. Opening Feb. 8, 2025 Photo_ Penn Museum.jpg

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This Mashki Gate marble relief shows a high-ranking captive of the Assyrians during a military campaign. Portions of this have been 3D scanned and replicas will be on display as a part of Preserving Assyria at the Penn Museum. Opening Feb. 8, 2025. Photo_ Penn Museum.jpg

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The U.S.-Iraqi excavation team continue their work to protect and preserve cultural heritage. Opening Feb. 8, 2025, a new exhibition, Preserving Assyria, highlights the Penn Museum’s cultural preservation work in Iraq. Photo-Penn Museum.jpeg

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

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An international team of Iraqi archaelogists, alongside researchers from the Penn Museum, uncover the 6.5-foot-high monumental doors ot an Assyrian king’s palace. Photo_ Michael Danti, Penn Museum.JPG

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ABOUT THE PENN MUSEUM

The Penn Museum’s mission is to be a center for inquiry and the ongoing exploration of humanity for our University of Pennsylvania, regional, national, and global communities, following ethical standards and practices.

Through conducting research, stewarding collections, creating learning opportunities, sharing stories, and creating experiences that expand access to archaeology and anthropology, the Museum builds empathy and connections across diverse cultures.

The Penn Museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm. On first Wednesdays of the month, it is open until 8:00 pm. The Café is open Tuesday–Thursday, 9:00 am–3:00 pm and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 am–2:00 pm. On Sundays, the Café is open 10:30 am–2:30 pm. For information, visit www.penn.museum, call 215.898.4000, or follow @PennMuseum on social media.

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Article Source: Penn Museum news release.

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Cutting edge simulations unveil clues to human evolution

Posted on January 7, 2025 by University of Liverpool -

University of Liverpool—The University of Liverpool has led an international team of scientists to take a fresh look at the running capabilities of Australopithecus afarensis, the early human ancestor famously represented by the fossil ‘Lucy’.

Karl Bates, Professor of Musculoskeletal Biology, convened experts from institutions across the UK and the Netherlands. Together they used cutting-edge computer simulations to uncover how this ancient species ran, using a digital model of ‘Lucy’s’ skeleton.

Previous work on the fossilized footprints of Australopithecus by multiple research teams has suggested that Lucy probably walked relatively upright and much more like a human than a chimpanzee. These new findings demonstrate that Lucy’s overall body shape limited running speed relative to modern humans and therefore support the hypothesis that the human body evolved to improve running performance, with top speed being a more critical driver than previously thought.

Professor Bates said: “When Lucy was discovered 50 years ago, it was by far the most complete skeleton of an early human ancestor. Lucy is a fascinating fossil because it captures what you might call an intermediate stage in Homo sapiens’ evolution. Lucy bridges the gap between our more tree-dwelling ancestors and modern humans, who walk and run efficiently on two legs.

“By simulating running performance in Australopithecus and modern humans with computer models, we’ve been able to address questions about the evolution of running in our ancestors.

“For decades scientists have debated whether more economical walking ability or improved running performance was the primary factor that drove the evolution of many distinctly human characteristics, such as longer legs and shorter arms, stronger leg bones and our arched feet. By illustrating how Australopithecus walked and ran, we have started to answer these questions.”

The team used computer-based movement simulations to model the biomechanics and energetics of running in Australopithecus afarensis, alongside a model of a human. In both the Australopithecus and human models, the team ran multiple simulations where various features thought to be important to modern human running, like larger leg muscles and a long Achilles Tendon, were added and removed, thereby digitally replaying evolutionary events to see how they impact running speed and energy use.

Muscles and other soft tissues are not preserved in fossils, so palaeontologists don’t know how large ‘Lucy’s’ leg muscles and other important parameters were. However, these new digital models varied the muscle properties from chimpanzee-like to human-like, producing a range of estimates for running speed and economy.

The simulations reveal that while Lucy was capable of running upright on both legs, her maximum speeds were significantly slower than those of modern humans. In fact, even the fastest speed the team predicted for Lucy (in a model with very human-like muscles) remained relatively modest at just 11mph (18kph). This is much slower than elite human sprinters, which reach peak speeds of more than 20mph (38kph). The models show the range of intermediate (‘jogging’) speeds that animals use to run longer distances (‘endurance running’) was also very restricted, perhaps suggesting that Australopithecus didn’t engage in the kind of long-distance hunting activities thought to be important to the earliest humans.

Professor Bates continued: “Our results highlight the importance of muscle anatomy and body proportions in the development of running ability. Skeletal strength doesn’t seem to have been a limiting factor, but evolutionary changes to muscles and tendons played a major role in enhancing running speed and economy.

“As the 50th anniversary of Lucy’s discovery is celebrated, this study* not only sheds new light on her capabilities but also underscores how far modern science has come in unravelling the story of human evolution.”

The study, ‘Running performance in Australopithecus afarensis’ was published in Current Biology (DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2024.11.025).

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Reconstruction of “Lucy”, Warsaw Museum of Evolution. Shalom, CC
BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Article Source: University of Liverpool news release

*Running performance in Australopithecus afarensis, Current Biology, 6-Jan-2025. 10.1016/j.cub.2024.11.025

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Atmospheric lead pollution in the Roman era

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—Lead mining in the Roman era resulted in widespread lead pollution and cognitive decline, according to a study. The negative impact of lead exposure in the modern era on human health and development has been widely recognized. Historical and archaeological records indicate that European populations in the Roman era also had high levels of lead exposure, including from air pollution associated with the large-scale mining and smelting of silver and lead ores. Joseph McConnell and colleagues used Artic ice core records and atmospheric aerosol modeling to estimate the concentrations and potential health impact of lead in European air during the height of the Roman Empire, called the Pax Romana. Analysis of three ice cores spanning 500 BCE to 600 CE indicated that European lead emissions sharply increased around 15 BCE, following the rise of the Roman Empire, remained high until the decline of the Pax Romana, beginning around 165 CE, and were not exceeded until the early 2nd millennium CE. Based on modern epidemiological studies, the authors estimated that atmospheric lead pollution during the Pax Romana would have resulted in an average increase in childhood blood lead levels of around 2.4 micrograms per deciliter. According to the authors, childhood lead exposure would have led to widespread cognitive declines of 2.5–3 IQ points throughout the Roman Empire.

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High-resolution measurement of Roman era lead pollution in Arctic ice cores at the Desert Research Institute. Jessi LeMay

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Article Source: PNAS news release

*“Pan-European atmospheric lead pollution, enhanced blood lead levels, and cognitive decline from Roman-era mining and smelting,” by Joseph R. McConnell et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 6-Jan-2025. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2419630121

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Starchy plant food processing in the Early Middle Pleistocene

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—Early hominins in the Early Middle Pleistocene Epoch processed a wide variety of starch-rich plant foods, according to a study. Compared with animal foods, wild plants require more extensive processing prior to consumption. The use of wild plants over the course of human evolution has not been well-studied, partly due to the low archaeological visibility of plant resources. Hadar Ahituv, Nira Alperson-Afil, Amanda Henry, Naama Goren-Inbar, and colleagues analyzed preserved plant microremains on eight basalt percussive tools, including anvils and hammerstones, from the early Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel. The authors extracted and classified more than 650 starch grains embedded in the surfaces of the basalt tools. The authors detected starches from acorns, grass grains, water chestnuts, yellow waterlily rhizomes, and legume seeds. The identified plants originated from diverse habitats, including a lake close to the site and more distant upland areas. The documented diversity and association with stone tools suggest that the microremains represent residues of plant food processing by hominins, rather than a natural representation of local flora. The authors note that the identified plants vary in seasonality and require diverse gathering and processing methods, representing indirect evidence of advanced cognitive abilities. According to the authors, the findings suggest that carbohydrates extracted from diverse wild plants played an important role in the diets of early hominins at least 780,000 years ago.

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Whole plant (top), edible part (middle), and characteristic starch grain (bottom) of oak. Hadar Ahituv and Yoel Melamed

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Article Source: PNAS news release

*“Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools,” by Hadar Ahituv et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 6-Jan-2025. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2418661121

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Ancient DNA unlocks new understanding of migrations in the first millennium AD

Posted on January 1, 2025 by The Francis Crick Institute -

The Francis Crick Institute—Waves of human migration across Europe during the first millennium AD have been revealed using a more precise method of analysing ancestry with ancient DNA, in research led by the Francis Crick Institute.

Researchers can bring together a picture of how people moved across the world by looking at changes in their DNA, but this becomes a lot harder when historical groups of people are genetically very similar.

In research published today in Nature, researchers report a new data analysis method called Twigstats¹, which allows the differences between genetically similar groups to be measured more precisely, revealing previously unknown details of migrations in Europe.

They applied the new method to over 1500 European genomes (a person’s complete set of DNA) from people who lived primarily during the first millennium AD (year 1 to 1000), encompassing the Iron Age, the fall of the Roman Empire, the early medieval ‘Migration Period’ and the Viking Age.

Germanic-speaking people move south in the early Iron Age

The Romans – whose empire was flourishing at the start of the first millennium – wrote about conflict with Germanic groups outside of the Empire’s frontiers.

Using the new method, the scientists revealed waves of these groups migrating south from Northern Germany or Scandinavia early in the first millennium, adding genetic evidence to the historical record.

This ancestry was found in people from southern Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and southern Britain, with one person in southern Europe carrying 100% Scandinavian-like ancestry.

The team showed that many of these groups eventually mixed with pre-existing populations. The two main zones of migration and interaction mirror the three main branches of Germanic languages, one of which stayed in Scandinavia, one of which became extinct, and another which formed the basis of modern-day German and English.

Finding a Roman gladiator?

In 2^nd-4^th century York in Britain, 25% of the ancestry of an individual who could have been a Roman soldier or slave gladiator came from early Iron Age Scandinavia. This highlights that there were people with Scandinavian ancestry in Britain earlier than the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods which started in the 5th century AD.

Germanic-speaking people move north into Scandinavia before the Viking Age

The team then used the method to uncover a later additional northward wave of migration into Scandinavia at the end of the Iron Age (300-800 AD) and just before the Viking Age. They showed that many Viking Age individuals across southern Scandinavia carried ancestry from Central Europe.

A different type of biomolecular analysis of teeth found that people buried on the island of Öland, Sweden, who carried ancestry from Central Europe, had grown up locally, suggesting that this northward influx of people wasn’t a one-off, but a lasting shift in ancestry.

There is archaeological evidence for repeated conflicts in Scandinavia at this time, and the researchers speculate that this unrest may have played a role in driving movements of people, but more archaeological, genetic and environmental data is needed to shed light on the reasons why people moved into and around Scandinavia².

Viking expansion out of Scandinavia

Historically, the Viking Age (c.800-1050 AD) is associated with people from Scandinavia raiding and settling throughout Europe.

The research showed that many people outside of Scandinavia during this time show a mix of local and Scandinavian ancestry, in support of the historical records.

For example, the team found some Viking Age individuals in the east (now present-day Ukraine and Russia) who had ancestry from present-day Sweden, and individuals in Britain who had ancestry from present-day Denmark.

In Viking Age mass graves in Britain, the remains of men who died violently showed genetic links to Scandinavia, suggesting they may have been executed members of Viking raiding parties.

Adding genetic evidence to historical accounts

Leo Speidel, first author, former postdoctoral researcher at the Crick and UCL and now group leader at RIKEN, Japan, said: “We already have reliable statistical tools to compare the genetics between groups of people who are genetically very different, like hunter-gatherers and early farmers, but robust analyses of finer-scale population changes, like the migrations we reveal in this paper, have largely been obscured until now.

“Twigstats allows us to see what we couldn’t before, in this case migrations all across Europe originating in the north of Europe in the Iron Age, and then back into Scandinavia before the Viking Age. Our new method can be applied to other populations across the world and hopefully reveal more missing pieces of the puzzle.”

Pontus Skoglund, Group Leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Crick, and senior author, said: “The goal was a data analysis method that would provide a sharper lens for fine-scale genetic history. Questions that wouldn’t have been possible to answer before are now within reach to us, so we now need to grow the record of ancient whole-genome sequences.”

Peter Heather, Professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, and co-author of the study, said: “Historical sources indicate that migration played some role in the massive restructuring of the human landscape of western Eurasia in the second half of the first millennium AD which first created the outlines of a politically and culturally recognisable Europe, but the nature, scale and even the trajectories of the movements have always been hotly disputed. Twigstats opens up the exciting possibility of finally resolving these crucial questions.”

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Three waves of migrations across Europe were identified in the paper. Leo Speidel, The Francis Crick Institute

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Diagram showing how Twigstats works. Leo Speidel, the Francis Crick Institute

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Article Source: Francis Crick Institute news release.

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How does Twigstats work?

The more genetic mutations (differences in our DNA) that we share with another person, the closer we tend to be related. This is because we inherit our DNA through our ancestors, and so we inherit the same mutations that they also carried. Our DNA is therefore a proxy for the genetic ‘family trees’ that connect us all.

Over the past few years, scientists have found ways to directly reconstruct these genetic family trees by looking at how mutations are shared between people, connecting our DNA today with those of ancient people. These genetic family trees reveal how old mutations are and who they are shared by.

Twigstats directly looks at these genetic family trees to summarize who we have inherited our DNA from. This new approach looks at more recent mutations to reveal connections between people who lived closer together in time.

The period 300-800 AD is dynamic, and also one where the runic script and language changed across Scandinavia, as explored in the illustration.

About the Francis Crick Institute

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.

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*High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe, Nature, 1-Jan-2025. 10.1038/s41586-024-08275-2

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The Controversy Over Cannibalism

Posted on December 26, 2024 by Brenna R. Hassett -

Brenna R. Hassett, PhD, is a biological anthropologist and archaeologist at the University of Central Lancashire and a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum, London. In addition to researching the effects of changing human lifestyles on the human skeleton and teeth in the past, she writes for a more general audience about evolution and archaeology, including the Times (UK) top 10 science book of 2016 Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death, and her most recent book, Growing Up Human: The Evolution of Childhood. She is also a co-founder of TrowelBlazers, an activist archive celebrating the achievements of women in the “digging” sciences.

A recent investigation of human remains found in the UK’s Cheddar Gorge has once again brought a particularly unsavory aspect of our human story into the light: human consumption of other humans. The surprising discovery of cannibalism in the Early Bronze Age comes from the re-examination of the remains of 37 men, women, and children that were found in pieces at the site of Charterhouse Warren, down a disused shaft cut into the Mendip Hills. This is the first instance of cannibalism of humans, or anthropophagy, to be discovered in British prehistory on such a large scale, and the reported findings force a reconsideration of what role cannibalism may have played in the life of humans in the past. Reckoning with such an emotive and sensational topic has never been easy for scientists, however, and there is still quite a lot of controversy about exactly how much cannibalism ever really happened in the past.

In the fairly recent past, accusations of cannibalism in a society or group were often considered to be a propaganda move on the part of the accusers. William Arens argued in his 1979 book The Man-Eating Myth that accusations of anthropophagy were never based on observation, only second-hand reports, and reflected deeply held prejudices by racist and colonial commentators. Whether it was the dog-headed Cynocephali, a tribe of barbarian cannibals described by Ancient Greeks that somehow made it down to medieval times or the Carib people who were described as cannibals to the newly arrived Christopher Columbus by the neighboring Arawak group, what most accusations of cannibalism have in common is that they are used to denigrate the humanity of the accused. Columbus’s description of the “Caniba” in his 1490s journal tells of the people he encountered describing their rivals as “dog-nosed” cannibals. What is left to prove the truth of these accusations then, and what Columbus himself used to bolster his arguments for a dangerous and evil people that had to be subjugated, is the physical evidence left behind by the consumption of human flesh: the bones themselves.

While Columbus was, of course, not a biological anthropologist—a scientist who studies bones and teeth from people in the past—it is within the study of human remains of the past that we can start to see the reality of cannibalism. Anthropologists borrow techniques from forensic medicine to identify the traces of trauma left on human bones to quite literally piece together evidence of what has happened to a human body. Knives, axes, teeth, hammers, and other tools leave cuts, furrows, scrapes, and other marks on the bones they touch. These will differ depending on whether they are made in living flesh or dry bone, and what kind of tool was used for what kind of purpose. We know that humans have a long history of butchering animals for food, and we can recognize the characteristic patterns that they use to acquire specific cuts of meat or extract nutritious marrow from bones.

Sometimes, this pattern appears on human bones as well. Anthropologists have recognized the characteristic patterns of butchery on human remains in archaeological sites from around the world, across huge swathes of time. There are cups made from skulls from Gough’s Cave in the same Cheddar Gorge that date back almost 15,000 years. Bones found in the cave systems of Spain’s Atapuerca mountains show that about 800,000 years ago individuals from an ancient hominin species, Homo antecessor, were butchered and eaten by tool-wielding hominins far before the evolution of modern Homo sapiens. Perhaps the best-known examples of large-scale cannibalism come from the south-west of North America, where the remains of people from the Ancestral Puebloan culture were identified as having been cannibalized in the best-selling book Man Corn by anthropologists Christy G. Turner II and Jacqueline A. Turner. The broken-open bones, with distinct cut marks from being severed by tools, characteristic polish where they were stirred in a boiling pot—and later even a human coprolite that showed its owner had eaten another human—were a direct riposte to the anthropologists who insisted cannibalism was only something people accused other people of.

It was in fact a disease in living people that forced a reconsideration of whether or not our species was a habitual cannibal—and why. The discovery of a prion disease, kuru, in the Fore people of Papua New Guinea that was transmitted by consuming contaminated human brain tissue of family members during funeral rites demonstrated that cannibalism exists in living cultures. It further showed that the practice is not necessarily the bloodthirsty act of a warlike people, as those with vested interests in making another group “less” than human, like Columbus, reported. Many instances of what looks like butchery on human remains may reflect a cultural type of cannibalism; a particular society’s death rituals. In other cases, ecological pressures such as a natural disaster may prompt eating other humans, as has been proposed for the Ancestral Puebloans who may have been cannibalized during a period of intense drought, or for cases of known anthropophagy such as the Andes Flight Disaster.

These far more functional explanations for why humans would eat other humans are a far cry from the violence and inhumanity suggested by Columbus and his classical Western European idea of cannibalism, which is precisely why the Bronze Age remains from Cheddar Gorge come as such a surprise. The remains from Charterhouse Warren show signs that they were attacked and killed en masse as well as signs of being butchered, processed for meat, and even possible scrape marks from human teeth. This suggests that, on top of the cultural and ecological cannibalism we have slowly begun to accept as part of our story, we must also contend with cannibalism as a part of extreme violence that is also part of our species’s history.

Cover Image, Top Left: Skull. Peter Dargatz, Pixabay

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Source: This article was produced by Human Bridges.

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Family tree of Moche elites in Peru

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—Researchers reconstructed familial relationships among elite individuals buried around 500 CE in Peru, including two ritually sacrificed relatives. The Moche archaeological culture lived in sophisticated urban complexes along the north coast of present-day Peru from 300 to 950 CE. Kinship is hypothesized to have played a central role in the maintenance of political authority in Moche society. Jeffrey Quilter, Régulo Fanco Jordan, John Krigbaum, Lars Fehren-Schmitz, Erik Marsh, John Verano, and colleagues used archaeological, genetic, and isotopic data to characterize familial relationships between four adults and two sacrificed juveniles buried in a pyramid-like temple in Chicama Valley, Peru. The burial group included an adult woman known as the Señora de Cao, who was interred along with numerous offerings and a sacrificed juvenile individual. The results revealed that all six individuals were biologically related in a family tree spanning at least four generations. Isotopic analyses suggested that most of the individuals likely spent their childhoods in or near the Chicama Valley and had similar diets rich in maize and marine-derived proteins. The juvenile sacrificed and buried with the Señora de Cao was possibly her niece and had a distinct geographic origin and diet. The finding suggests a previously undocumented form of ritual sacrifice among Moche elites involving close relatives. According to the authors, the study* provides insight into the intersection of kinship, elite status, and ritual practices in Moche society.

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Enclosure of burials at the Huaca Cao Viejo temple at the El Brujo archaeological complex in Peru. Credit Jeffrey Quilter

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Huaca Cao Viejo temple at the El Brujo archaeological complex in Peru. Credit Jeffrey Quilter

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Article Source: PNAS news release

*“Family relations of Moche elite burials on the North Coast of Peru (~500 CE): Analyses of the Señora de Cao and relatives,” by Jeffrey Quilter et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 23-Dec-2024. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2416321121

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Restoring At-Risk Assyrian Cultural Heritage: Archaeologists Recover Remarkably Preserved Shrines from a Temple in Iraq

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Penn Museum -

PHILADELPHIA, December 20, 2024—At the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, a temple razed by fire around 612 BCE, has remarkably preserved shrines that were recovered by the Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists on a site excavation this year as part of the Penn Nimrud Project, one of several cultural heritage preservation and protection initiatives of Penn’s Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program (IHSP). These recent discoveries enhance our understanding of one of the world’s first empires while also highlighting archaeology’s integral role in cultural heritage restoration.

Penn Nimrud Project expands 19th-century excavations

Known as Kalhu by Assyrians and Calah in the Bible, Nimrud’s vast archaeological mounds first excavated in the 19th century, provide evidence confirming how ancient Mesopotamia contributed to human advancement. Assyria also represents a crucial part of Iraq’s cultural identity, which the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attempted to erase by destroying major Mesopotamian monuments between 2014 and 2017.Two of these sites at Nimrud were the Ninurta Temple and its Ziggurat (stepped temple tower) and the famed Northwest Palace built by King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE) who reigned over Nimrud, the newly appointed capital of the Neo-Assyrian state.

Despite previous excavations led by the English archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard and then by British archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, husband of renowned mystery author Agatha Christie, the temple remained poorly documented and predominantly unexplored until now.

Penn IHSP safeguards at-risk cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. By working collaboratively with government authorities, international experts, and local stakeholders, the Penn Nimrud Project, a part of IHSP, seeks to repair recent damage, reopen the site to tourism, and refine our understanding of Nimrud’s temples and Assyrian religious practices. All artifacts recovered from excavations remain in Iraq.

Findings at the temple

In its third season, project excavations unearthed two new shrines within the sprawling Ninurta Temple. Inside the larger shrine, the team found a monumental stone dais (a low platform for the statue of a god or goddess worshipped in the temple, measuring about 12 ft. by 9.5 ft., with a cuneiform inscription, presumably of King Ashurnasirpal II. The smaller shrine contained a dais severely damaged in antiquity. These artifacts provide valuable clues regarding Assyrian religious practices and the deities worshipped there for centuries.

Other noteworthy finds in the shrines were possible parts of statues of unknown deities, which would have once stood on the daises. Yet only fragments of these types of statues and their accouterments were found after invaders from Babylonia (southern and central Iraq) and Media (ancient western Iran) pillaged and burned the temple around 614-12 BCE, overthrowing the Assyrian Empire. Through careful examination, excavators hope to develop a detailed picture of the religious practices surrounding the state god Ninurta, the war god of the mighty Assyrians, and closely associated deities as the kingdom emerged as one of the world’s first empires. Despite the looting and destruction of the temple in antiquity, the discoveries reveal Ninurta’s central role in the state religion and the incredible wealth held by the temple.

“The burning and sudden collapse of the Ninurta Temple left it in a remarkable state of preservation. The team located preserved cedar wood brought to Nimrud from the Lebanon Mountains for the temple’s construction—exactly as it was recorded in the inscriptions by King Ashurnasirpal II, in which he describes building the temple precinct,” says Dr. Michael Danti, Program Director of the IHSP. “The condition and distribution of artifacts strongly suggest that the shrines and associated treasures were looted and intentionally damaged by the Babylonians and Medes before being set ablaze.”

According to Dr. Danti, the most intriguing find was a kudurru, a cuneiform-inscribed stone monument in the temple, which dates to 797 BCE and features symbols of important deities. It documents a royal decree granting the governorship of Hindanu, an area located on the Euphrates River at the Syria-Iraq border.

“The Assyrian king Adad-Nerari III (811-783 BCE) assigned this strategic region to a governor named Nergal-Eresh of Rasappa (located west of the Tigris and northwest from Nimrud in the Khabur River region),” Dr. Danti explains. “It strongly emphasizes that no one may refute Nergal-Eresh’s claim to his new territory. It closes with a long list of curses for anyone who breaks the agreement, damages the stela, or removes it from the temple.”

Researchers also found well-preserved clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions written in Assyrian (a dialect of Akkadian) that reveal details about the temple’s economic activities, such as silver loans and lists of assets, along with a note written in Aramaic—a language and script widely used during the later Assyrian Empire. Other objects recovered during the excavations include a stone bowl set into the brick floor of the shrine, likely used for pouring libations during religious ceremonies, the sculpted head of a griffon, fragments of glazed pottery and stone tablets, carved ivories, and jewelry. The wide range of object types, materials, and artistic styles reflect the burgeoning wealth of the Assyrian Empire and its vast military conquests and trade connections.

Preserving Assyria exhibition at the Penn Museum

Another site included in the Penn Nimrud Project is the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in the modern city of East Mosul, where the IHSP is helping to repair damage from terrorist attacks to the ancient fortifications of the Assyrian city. In support of the reconstruction effort, excavations at the Mashki Gate revealed detailed reliefs depicting military campaigns of King Sennacherib (705-681 BCE), which were 3D scanned by IHSP. Portions of their replicas will be the focus of an upcoming exhibition at the Penn Museum, Preserving Assyria, opening February 8, 2025.

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A closer look at the dais uncovered by Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists at Nimrud, Iraq (2024). Photo: Penn Museum

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The dais uncovered by Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists at Nimrud, Iraq (2024). Photo: Penn Museum

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The most intriguing find for archaeologists at Nimrud (2024) was a kudurru, a cuneiform-inscribed stone monument. It documents a royal decree granting the governorship of an area near the Euphrates River at the Syria-Iraq border. Photo: Penn Museum

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Cuneiform inscriptions can be seen on this Kudurru found by Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists at Nimrud, Iraq (2024). Photo: Penn Museum.

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Article Source: Penn Museum news release

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The University of Pennsylvania, Nimrud Archaeological Trust, and private sources funded the project.

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Water and gruel – not bread: Discovering the diet of early Neolithic farmers in Scandinavia

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Aarhus University -

Aarhus University—At a Neolithic settlement on the Danish island Funen dating back 5,500 years, archaeologists have discovered both grinding stones and grains from early cereals. However, new research* reveals that the inhabitants did not use the stones to grind the cereal grains. Instead of making bread, they likely prepared porridge or gruel from the grains.

A grinding stone, as the name suggests, is a stone with a sufficiently flat surface that allows grinding against it with another, smaller stone.

Archaeologists found fourteen of such stones when they excavated the remains of a settlement from the Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture at Frydenlund, on Strandby Mark southeast of Haarby on Funen (see fact box at the bottom of this text).

You can view 3D images of 11 different grindings stones from the Frydenlund site here (you can rotate and turn them with your mouse).

They also found over 5,000 charred grain kernels of naked barley, emmer wheat, and durum wheat, amongst others.

One might offhand assume that the inhabitants 5,500 years ago ground their cereals into flour and baked bread with it. That has indeed been the typical interpretation of grinding stones from that time.

But they didn’t.

An international research team from Denmark, Germany and Spain has now analyzed both the grains and the stones, concluding that the grinding stones were not used to grind cereals.

The researchers examined microscopic mineral plant remains (phytoliths) and starch grains in small cavities on the surfaces of the stones. Surprisingly, they did not find any evidence of grinding of cereals.

The researchers found only a few phytoliths on the stones, and the starch grains they identified came from wild plants instead of cereals.

“We have not identified the plants the starch grains originate from. We have merely ruled out the most obvious candidates – namely the cereals found at the settlement, which were not ground, as well as various collected species, including hazelnuts,” explains archaeobotanist, PhD Welmoed Out from Moesgaard Museum.

Together with senior researcher, Dr. Phil. Niels H. Andersen, also from Moesgaard Museum, she led the study recently published in the scientific journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.

What the grinding stones were used for remains open to interpretation, aside from the fact that they lack clear wear marks from the pushing motions used for grinding grain.

“The trough-shaped querns with traces of pushing movements emerged 500 years later. The grinding stones we studied here were struck with pestles made of stone, like crushing in a mortar. We also found such pestles at the site, resembling rounded, thick stone sausages. However, we have not analyzed them for phytoliths or starch,” explains Niels H. Andersen.

This is the first time a state-of-the-art combination of phytolith and starch analyses has been performed on grinding stones from the first farmers in Northern Europe. The results support a hypothesis that archaeobotanists and archaeologists elsewhere in Northern Europe also have proposed after discovering remains of grains cooked into porridge and gruel: that the first farmers did not live on water and bread but rather on water and gruel, alongside berries, nuts, roots, and meat.

And yes, they likely drank water. According to Niels H. Andersen, no definitive traces of beer brewing have been found in Denmark before the Bronze Age.

However, as the two researchers from Moesgaard Museum emphasize: “This study only involves one settlement. While it supports other findings from the Funnel Beaker Culture, we cannot rule out the possibility of different results emerging when this method is applied to finds from other excavations.”

Facts:

The Funnel Beaker Culture was an early farming culture in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe during the period ca. 4000–2800 BCE, marking the introduction of agriculture and cattle farming to Scandinavia. The name refers to the culture’s commonly found clay beakers with funnel-shaped necks.
The discovery on Southern Funen is the most extensive find of grinding stones and grains from the Funnel Beaker Culture in the entire region it encompassed.
The study was done in collaboration between researchers from Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus University in Denmark, Kiel University in Germany and the Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC) in Barcelona

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One of the 14 grinding stones that archeologists found while excavating a 5,500 years old settlement on the Danish island Funen. A new study reveals that the stones were not used to grind cereal grains. Niels H. Andersen, Moesgaard Museum

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Article Source: Aarhus University news release

*Plant use at Funnel Beaker sites: combined macro- and micro-remains analysis at the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund, Denmark (ca. 3600 BCE), Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 16-Dec-2024. 10.1007/s00334-024-01020-9

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