archaeology

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This Death, You Did Not Want
This Death, You Did Not Want
new study
May 16, 2020 11:30 AM CDT

This Death, You Did Not Want

Modern-day bullet, meet the medieval longbow

(Newser) - Rather be hit by an arrow than a bullet? A new study might make you think otherwise. Researchers at the University of Exeter have dug up human remains that confirm just how similar a medieval arrow was to a modern bullet, the Smithsonian reports. The study, published in Antiquaries Journal...

Discovery Alters Notions About Early Humans&#39; Travel
Discovery Alters Notions
About Early Humans' Travel
new study
May 11, 2020 12:02 PM CDT

Discovery Alters Notions About Early Humans' Travel

It appears they reached Europe earlier than thought, hung out with Neanderthals

(Newser) - Human bones from a Bulgarian cave suggest our species arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought and shared the continent longer than realized with Neanderthals, per the AP . Scientists found four bone fragments and a tooth that detailed radiocarbon and DNA tests show are from four Homo...

Ancient Stones Give Up Their Secrets
2M-Year-Old Stones
Baffled Experts—Until Now
new study
Apr 19, 2020 12:30 PM CDT

2M-Year-Old Stones Baffled Experts—Until Now

An international team analyzes stones from Qesem Cave in Israel

(Newser) - Ancient humans didn't exactly have kitchen supplies, but still had to eat—a fact that might help solve an old mystery. In a new paper , researchers say they can explain the small stone balls found in archaeological sites across Asia, Africa, and Europe dating back nearly two million years....

Scientists Found Teeth in Peru That Shouldn't Be There

Extinct monkeys in South America apparently arrived there by raft from Africa

(Newser) - Archaeologists in the Amazon found four small teeth that had no business being in South America. The teeth are from an extinct species of monkeys from the family of primates known as parapithecids—which once roamed in North Africa. In a new paper in Science , researchers lay out what they...

50K Years Ago, Neanderthals Were Making String

Find hints at other abilities

(Newser) - It looked like a white splotch on the underside of a Neanderthal stone tool. But a microscope showed it was a bunch of fibers twisted around each other. Further examination revealed it was the first direct evidence that Neanderthals could make string, and the oldest known direct evidence for string-making...

Ancient Ice Tells of a Murderous King&#39;s Struggles
Ancient Ice Tells
of a Murderous
King's Struggles
in case you missed it
Apr 4, 2020 11:15 AM CDT

Ancient Ice Tells of a Murderous King's Struggles

Lead pollution sheds light on British turmoil in 12th century

(Newser) - Scientists say they've found evidence of key moments in British medieval history, including the assassination of an archbishop, nearly 1,000 miles away in the Swiss Alps. There was no sword buried in the snow. Rather, scientists analyzed lead pollution in laser-carved slivers of ice, each representing a period...

Hidden in Plain View, an Ancient Sword

5K-year-old blade was initially labeled as medieval sword on display at monastery

(Newser) - A PhD student had a hunch that a monastery's sword, labeled as medieval, was actually much, much older. After two years of study, "it all came full circle," Italian archaeologist Vittoria Dall'Armellina, who's now completed her schooling at Venice's Ca' Foscari University, tells CNN...

Structure Made of Mammoth Bones Baffles Scientists
Structure Made of Mammoth
Bones Baffles Scientists
in case you missed it
Mar 22, 2020 6:42 AM CDT

Structure Made of Mammoth Bones Baffles Scientists

It was built 25K years ago in what is now Russia, and 'it does boggle my mind,' says researcher

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found plenty of structures made of mammoth bones across Eastern Europe over the years, but none quite like this one. Previously discovered ones were fairly small, suggesting they were used as dwellings. But this is not only older than the rest—figure about 25,000 years old—it'...

Ancient Earth May Have Been &#39;Water World&#39;
Ancient Earth May Have
Been 'Water World'
in case you missed it
Mar 7, 2020 10:29 AM CST

Ancient Earth May Have Been 'Water World'

Study suggests continents were nowhere to be found 3B years ago

(Newser) - Ready your Kevin Costner jokes : A new study suggests that ancient earth had no continents to speak of and was instead what scientists call a "water world," reports the Guardian . In this case, ancient refers to 3.2 billion years ago, and the study in Nature Geoscience is...

Treasures Abound on Canada's Legendary Wreck

HMS Erebus artifacts include a hairbrush, a lead stamp

(Newser) - When the flagship of a doomed 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage was discovered in Canada's Arctic in 2014, experts could hardly contain their glee at the thought of the artifacts lying in wait. They weren't disappointed. Some 350 items, including a 170-year-old wax seal boasting a...

Archaeologists May Have Found Rare 'Witch Bottle'

Could be a talisman used by Union troops in Virginia to ward off evil spirits

(Newser) - On the one hand, it might just be an old bottle that was used to store nails. But archaeologists who found it suspect something far more intriguing: They think Union soldiers used it as a "witch bottle" during the Civil War to fend off evil spirits, per a news...

3 Bodies Found During Alamo Renovations

Excavation work has been halted

(Newser) - Archaeologists have discovered three apparently long-forgotten bodies during a pre-renovation exploration of the Alamo, authorities say. Excavation work was halted and a tribal monitor was notified after the human remains were found in the Monks Burial Room and nave of the Alamo Church, NBC reports. "The remains encountered appear...

It Was Set to Be a Dump. Then, 'Largest Find of Its Kind'

Human-built pits in Mexico believed to be first known woolly mammoth traps

(Newser) - Humans were hunting woolly mammoths with traps some 15,000 years ago, according to a first-of-its-kind discovery. Archaeologists working the site of a planned garbage dump in Tultepec, Mexico, say they've found two pits used to capture the animals, as well as 824 bones from at least 14 mammoths—...

They Dug Up Tower of London Floor and Found Skeletons

They're the first bones from the Tower to have been analyzed

(Newser) - It's been almost 50 years since human remains were unearthed in the Tower of London, reports Live Science , which makes the recent discovery of two skeletons a noteworthy one—for more reasons than one. The Telegraph reports on the find: of a woman who died between the ages of...

20 Sealed Coffins Uncovered in Egypt

And nearby, evidence of funerary items produced on an 'industrial scale'

(Newser) - The colorful strokes, painted millennia ago, are still visible beneath a layer of dirt, which is partly why Egypt's antiquities ministry is celebrating the discovery of more than 20 ancient coffins as one of the "largest and most important" finds in the country in recent years. But the...

'Spanish Stonehenge' Reappears in 50-Year First

Dolmen of Guadalperal was last seen in full in 1963

(Newser) - For a limited time, you can feast your eyes on "Spanish Stonehenge"—which has been unseen in full in more than 50 years. The ancient monument officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal—a circle of 150 stones up to 6 feet tall on Spain's Peraleda de...

Scotland Is Seeking the Bones of a 300-Year-Old Witch

Lilias Adie died in 1704

(Newser) - Scotland has a single witch's grave. Only the bones that were placed there in 1704 aren't there anymore, and local officials are hoping to finally get them back. The Washington Post reports that Lilias Adie was arrested 315 years ago after she was accused of calling upon Satan...

As Far as Child Sacrifices Go, This Could Be the Biggest

227 bodies found in Peru

(Newser) - It's a grim and possibly record-setting find in Peru: what archaeologists say could be the biggest single mass child sacrifice ever found. The current body count is 227, and that number could grow as archaeologists continue to work the site, which is near the seaside town of Huanchaco in...

Pompeii Gives Up a 'Sorcerer's Treasure Trove'

So much for good-luck charms

(Newser) - There was perhaps no better place for good-luck charms than Pompeii circa AD79. Too bad they didn't quite work. Archaeologists combing the ancient Roman city discovered dozens of charms within a "sorcerer's treasure trove," encased in hardened volcanic material from Mount Vesuvius' eruption that year, per...

Cannonball Alters History of Waterloo

It suggests French army reached British field hospital before defeat

(Newser) - Rare human remains—specifically, amputated leg bones—have been discovered at the site of the 200-year-old battle that marked Napoleon's final defeat. Archaeologists were combing the site of farm buildings that were used as a British field hospital during the Battle of Waterloo in what is now Belgium when...

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