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Categories: Anthropology: Cultures, Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published South Africa's desert-like interior may have been more inviting to our human ancestors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lining the Cape of South Africa and its southern coast are long chains of caves that nearly 200,000 years ago were surrounded by a lush landscape and plentiful food.
Published Human ancestors preferred mosaic landscapes and high ecosystem diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study finds that early human species adapted to mosaic landscapes and diverse food resources, which would have increased our ancestor's resilience to past shifts in climate.
Published Evidence of Ice Age human migrations from China to the Americas and Japan
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have used mitochondrial DNA to trace a female lineage from northern coastal China to the Americas. By integrating contemporary and ancient mitochondrial DNA, the team found evidence of at least two migrations: one during the last ice age, and one during the subsequent melting period. Around the same time as the second migration, another branch of the same lineage migrated to Japan, which could explain Paleolithic archeological similarities between the Americas, China, and Japan.
Published Nose shape gene inherited from Neanderthals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans inherited genetic material from Neanderthals that affects the shape of our noses, finds a new study.
Published Archaeologists map hidden NT landscape where first Australians lived more than 60,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have used sub-surface imaging and aerial surveys to see through floodplains in the Red Lily Lagoon area of West Arnhem Land in Australia. These ground-breaking methods showed how this important landscape in the Northern Territory was altered as sea levels rose about 8,000 years ago.
Published Research reveals longstanding cultural continuity at oldest occupied site in West Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Stone tools recovered from near the Senegalese coast extend occupation of the region back to 150 thousand years ago and are comparable to those seen across Africa at this time, but uniquely persist in the region until 10 thousand years ago.
Published Scientists recover an ancient woman's DNA from a 20,000-year-old pendant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artefact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artefact, they developed a new, nondestructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.
Published Searching for ancient bears in an Alaskan cave led to an important human discovery
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Genetic analysis links 3,000-year-old bone found in cave to modern Alaska Natives.
Published Long distance voyaging among the Pacific Islands
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of researchers has used geochemical fingerprinting to reconstruct long-distance voyages between central and western Pacific Islands during the last millennium A.D.
Published 2022 Tongan volcanic explosion was largest natural explosion in over a century, new study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The 2022 eruption of a submarine volcano in Tonga was more powerful than the largest U.S. nuclear explosion, according to a new study. The 15-megaton volcanic explosion from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, one of the largest natural explosions in more than a century, generated a mega-tsunami with waves up to 45-meters high (148 feet) along the coast of Tonga's Tofua Island and waves up to 17 meters (56 feet) on Tongatapu, the country's most populated island.
Published Study re-evaluates hazards and climate impacts of massive underwater volcanic eruptions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Material left on the seafloor by bronze-age underwater volcanic eruptions is helping researchers better understand the size, hazards and climate impact of their parent eruptions, according to new research.
Published Researchers use 21st century methods to record 2,000 years of ancient graffiti in Egypt
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers are learning more about ancient graffiti -- and their intriguing comparisons to modern graffiti -- as they produce a state-of-the-art 3D recording of the Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt.
Published Ancient DNA reveals Asian ancestry introduced to East Africa in early modern times
(via sciencedaily.com) The largest-yet analysis of ancient DNA in Africa, which includes the first ancient DNA recovered from members of the medieval Swahili civilization, has now broken the stalemate about the extent to which people from outside Africa contributed to Swahili culture and ancestry.
Published Giant volcanic 'chain' spills secrets on inner workings of volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Volcanic relics scattered throughout the Australian landscape are a map of the northward movement of the continent over a 'hotspot' inside the Earth, during the last 35 million years.
Published Ancient genomes reveal immunity adaptation in early farmers
(via sciencedaily.com) Research has revealed that diversity in genes coding for immunity may have facilitated adaptation to farming lifestyles in prehistoric periods.
Published Cyprus's copper deposits created one of the most important trade hubs in the Bronze Age
(via sciencedaily.com) The coveted metal copper and a sheltered location turned the Cypriot village of Hala Sultan Tekke into one of the most important trade hubs of the Late Bronze Age. Recent excavations confirm the importance of the Bronze Age city in the first period of international trade in the Mediterranean.
Published Indigenous Ashaninka DNA helps geneticists write new chapters of pre-colonial history in South America
(via sciencedaily.com) Geneticists have written new chapters in the reconstruction of pre-colonial Americas history after using DNA from the indigenous Ashaninka people from Amazonian Peru. They have discovered previously unexpected levels of genetic variation in this group and uncovered a strong hint that these people were involved in a South-to-North migration that led to the transition from an archaic to ceramic culture in the Caribbean islands.
Published Uncovering the ritual past of an ancient stone monument in Saudi Arabia
(via sciencedaily.com) A comprehensive analysis of an archaeological site in Saudi Arabia sheds new light on mustatils -- stone monuments from the Late Neolithic period thought to have been used for ritual purposes.
Published Lasers and chemistry reveal how ancient pottery was made -- and how an empire functioned
(via sciencedaily.com) Peru's first great empire, the Wari, stretched for more than a thousand miles over the Andes Mountains and along the coast from 600-1000 CE. The pottery they left behind gives archaeologists clues as to how the empire functioned. In a new study researchers showed that rather than using 'official' Wari pottery imported from the capital, potters across the empire were creating their own ceramics, decorated to emulate the traditional Wari style. To figure it out, the scientists analyzed the pottery's chemical make-up, with help from laser beams.
Published Surprising similarities in stone tools of early humans and monkeys
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have discovered artefacts produced by old world monkeys in Thailand that resemble stone tools, which historically have been identified as intentionally made by early hominins. Until now, sharp-edged stone tools were thought to represent the onset of intentional stone tool production, one of the defining and unique characteristics of hominin evolution. This new study challenges long held beliefs about the origins of intentional tool production in our own lineage.