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Categories: Anthropology: Early Humans, Archaeology: General

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Archaeology: General
Published

A 10,000-year-old infant burial provides insights into the use of baby carriers and family heirlooms in prehistory      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers argue that they have found evidence of the use of baby carriers 10,000 years ago at the Arma Veirana site in Liguria, Italy.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General
Published

In medieval Norway, high-class people had stronger bones      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In medieval Norway, high status individuals tended to be taller and to have stronger bones, possibly as a result of a favorable lifestyle, according to a new study.

Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems
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Protecting very old trees can help mitigate climate change      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Ancient trees -- those that are many hundreds, or even thousands, of years old -- play a vital role in biodiversity and ecosystem preservation by providing stability, strength, and protection to at-risk environments. A team of ecologists highlight the importance of preserving these monumental organisms and present a project initiative to ensure their protection and longevity.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General
Published

Meet the first Neanderthal family      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have managed to sequence multiple individuals from a remote Neanderthal community in Siberia. Among these thirteen individuals, the researchers identified multiple related individuals -- among these a father and his teenage daughter. The researchers were also able to use the thirteen genomes to provide a glimpse into the social organization of a Neanderthal community. They appear to have been a small group of close relatives, consisting of ten to twenty members, and communities were primarily connected through female migration.

Archaeology: General
Published

New analysis of obsidian blades reveals dynamic Neolithic social networks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An analysis of obsidian artifacts excavated during the 1960s at two prominent archaeological sites in southwestern Iran suggests that the networks Neolithic people formed in the region as they developed agriculture are larger and more complex than previously believed. The study has applied state-of-the-art analytical tools to a collection of 2,100 obsidian artifacts.

Archaeology: General Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published

Reign of Papua New Guinea Highland's megafauna lasted long after humans arrived      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A giant kangaroo that once roamed on four legs through remote forests in the Papua New Guinea Highlands may have survived as recently as 20,000 years ago -- long after large-bodied megafauna on mainland Australia went extinct, new research indicates. Palaeontologists, archaeologists and geoscientists, have used new techniques to re-examine megafauna bones from the rich Nombe Rock Shelter fossil site in Chimbu Province in a bid to better understand the intriguing natural history of PNG.

Archaeology: General
Published

Shrine discovered with rituals never seen to take place before in an Egyptian temple      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers recently published new findings from the excavations of the Berenike site, a Greco-Roman seaport in the Egyptian Eastern desert. The study results describes the excavation of a religious complex from the Late Roman Period (between the fourth and sixth centuries) with unprecedented discoveries linked to the presence of the Blemmyes, a nomadic people. Fifteen falcons, many of them headless and buried around a pedestal, point to a ritual performed by the Blemmyes people to their falcon god. The shrine, located at the Hellenistic-Roman seaport of Berenike, contains a curious inscription prohibiting the boiling of animal heads inside the shrine.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General
Published

Geneticists discover new wild goat subspecies via ancient DNA      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Geneticists have discovered a previously unknown lineage of wild goats over ten millennia old. The new goat type, discovered from genetic screening of bone remains and referred to as 'the Taurasian tur', likely survived the Last Glacial Maximum (the ice age), which stranded their ancestors in the high peaks of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey where their remains were found.

Anthropology: Early Humans
Published

A new route to evolution: How DNA from our mitochondria works its way into our genomes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have shown that in one in every 4,000 births, some of the genetic code from our mitochondria -- the 'batteries' that power our cells -- inserts itself into our DNA, revealing a surprising new insight into how humans evolve. Researchers show that mitochondrial DNA also appears in some cancer DNA, suggesting that it acts as a sticking plaster to try and repair damage to our genetic code.

Archaeology: General
Published

Upcycling in the past: Viking beadmakers' secrets revealed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Viking Age bead makers were more advanced than previously believed. A new interdisciplinary study shows that around year 700 AD, craftsmen in Ribe, Denmark, used surprisingly sophisticated and sustainable methods when giving old Roman glass mosaics new life as glass beads.

Archaeology: General
Published

New data reveals severe impact of European contact with Pacific islands      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Pacific island nations suffered severe depopulation from introduced diseases as a consequence of contact with European vessels, a new study shows. The research indicates population declines were a lot larger than previously thought and shows a big reassessment of the impact of globalization in the 19th century.

Archaeology: General Geoscience: Volcanoes
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Detailing a disastrous autumn day in ancient Italy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Plinian eruption of Mount Vesuvius around 4,000 years ago -- 2,000 years before the one that buried the Roman city of Pompeii -- left a remarkably intact glimpse into Early Bronze Age village life in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The village offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there, and the degree of preservation led the researchers to pinpoint the timing of the eruption, based on archaeobotanical record.

Anthropology: Early Humans
Published

Dead fish breathes new life into the evolutionary origin of fins and limbs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A trove of fossils in China, unearthed in rock dating back some 436 million years, have revealed for the first time that the mysterious galeaspids, a jawless freshwater fish, possessed paired fins.

Anthropology: Early Humans Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published

Revealing the genome of the common ancestor of all mammals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team has reconstructed the genome organization of the earliest common ancestor of all mammals. The reconstructed ancestral genome could help in understanding the evolution of mammals and in conservation of modern animals. The earliest mammal ancestor likely looked like the fossil animal 'Morganucodon' which lived about 200 million years ago.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General
Published

The neighbors of the caliph: Archaeologists uncover ancient mosaics on the shore of the Sea of Galilee      (via sciencedaily.com) 

With the help of geomagnetic surface surveys and subsequent hands-on digging, an excavation team has revealed new insights into the area in which the caliph's palace of Khirbat al-Minya was built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. According to these findings, there had already been a settlement occupied by Christian or Jewish inhabitants in the immediate vicinity long before the palace was built.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General
Published

Among ancient Mayas, cacao was not a food exclusive to the elite      (via sciencedaily.com) 

It was the money that grew on trees. Said to be a gift from the gods, cacao for the ancient Maya was considered sacred, used not only as currency, but in special ceremonies and religious rituals. It's the progenitor plant of chocolate, and notions of luxury are embedded in its lore.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans
Published

Key phases of human evolution coincide with flickers in eastern Africa's climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Interdisciplinary research in southern Ethiopia enabled the deciphering of eastern Africa's climatic heartbeat and shows how key phases of climate change influenced human evolution, dispersal and innovation.

Anthropology: Early Humans
Published

Exposing the evolutionary weak spots of the human genome      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Mutations can drastically help or hurt the odds of an organism surviving and reproducing. Researchers have created a computer program called ExtRaINSIGHT that tracks the history of harmful mutations throughout human evolution. They've discovered several regions of the genome are especially vulnerable to mutations, meaning any mutations there could lead to severe or lethal consequences.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General
Published

Scientists find evidence for food insecurity driving international conflict two thousand years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have identified climate-driven changes to food availability as a factor behind dramatic historical events that led the oasis city of Palmyra in Syria to its ultimate demise.

Archaeology: General
Published

Greek volcano mystery: Archaeologist narrows on date of Thera eruption      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Archaeologists hope to settle one of modern archaeology's longstanding disputes: the date of a volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini, traditionally known as Thera.