DNA testing the Dead Sea Scrolls
National Geographic gets physical clues about the parchment the Dead Sea Scrolls were written on – by DNA testing the fragmentary animal skins that these […]
archaeology
Oldest known cave paintings show modern human thoughts – as a story.
Scientific American marvels over paintings found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi – 44,000-year-old images of fantastic beast-men that bear signs of modern human ways […]
Neanderthal yarn proves math skills in prehistoric culture.
Ars Technica looks at the world’s oldest bit of string and find it tells a profound story about Neanderthal life: The 6.2mm (0.24 inch) long […]
There were a bunch of different humans hanging out in southern Africa
That’s before Homo sapiens came on the scene. Science News looks at new evidence that three different species of human ancestors were present in the […]
Yes, indigenous South Americans were actively managing the forest.
Scientific American looks at old trees to determine how so-called hunter-gatherers were actually actively “farming” the Brazil nuts and cocoa trees they relied on for […]
Ancient African genome offers migration clues for the first humans.
Nature shares DNA research on the remains of four children in what is now Cameroon, revealing clues about how they lived and where they came […]
Science Art: Pyramid of the Sun and the Moon (1825-1835), by Jean-Frédéric Maximilien de Waldeck
Click to embiggen A painting of Mayan pyramids by a mysterious man, described on Public Domain Review (where I found this image) as an “artist, […]
Learning from the ashes of Notre Dame
Nature takes a look at how the tragic fire at Notre Dame last year created a unique opportunity for researchers to study medieval construction: The […]
U.S. returns pre-Spanish copper coins to Mexico.
Mexico News Daily reports on a trove of 3,500 coins – long, copper strips used for exchange as early as 1200 CE – that U.S. […]
Tomb of the Warrior Women
Smithsonian Magazine looks into a tomb that appears to hold four Amazons – warrior women of the Scythians spanning three generations: Earlier this month, a […]
Reading the oldest story humans told… on a cave wall in Indonesia.
Nature looks at a comic book from 44,000 years ago that tells the story of a successful hunt – a story that appears to be […]
Egyptian mummies’ tattoos revealed: crosses, baboons and hieroglyphics
Smithsonian looks at tattoos – the tattoos of Egyptian mummies, obscured by the mummification resins but revealed by infrared light: Archaeologist Anne Austin of the […]
A 1,300-year-old rook?
Science News picks up a really old game with a shaped stone from the desert of Jordan that might well have been the oldest chess […]
An AI from space has discovered a new massive drawing on the Nazca Plain.
Science News reports on a computer algorithm that has analyzed satellite imagery to detect a previously unknown humanoid figure, sketched out centuries ago, among the […]
Easter Island statues made farms more fertile
Science News investigates the benefits of carving monumental heads and burying their bottom halves in the ground. It seems like they might have had a […]