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Categories: Archaeology: General, Paleontology: Dinosaurs

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A new study on early human migration shows that semi-arid and desert zones of Central Asia may have served as key areas for the dispersal of hominins into Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene. Central Asia is positioned at a crossroads linking several zones important to hominin dispersal during this period, however much evidence from this region lacks context for dating and climate conditions, making it difficult to understand these dynamics.

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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.

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Ostrich-like dinosaurs called ornithomimosaurs grew to enormous sizes in ancient eastern North America, according to a new study.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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A process of desiccation and deflation explains why dinosaur 'mummies' aren't as exceptional as we might expect, according to a study.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Researchers have conducted a new analysis of the origins of 'bird-hipped' dinosaurs -- the group which includes iconic species such as Triceratops -- and found that they likely evolved from a group of animals known as silesaurs, which were first identified two decades ago.

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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.

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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.

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In the largest early-medieval population study to date, an interdisciplinary team consisting of geneticists and archaeologists analyzed over 400 individuals from ancient Britain, Ireland, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The results show in detail one of the largest population transformations in the post-Roman world.