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Categories: Archaeology: General, Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published Tudor era horse cemetery in Westminster revealed as likely resting place for elite imported animals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archaeological analysis of a near unique animal cemetery discovered in London nearly 30 years ago has revealed there was an international horse trading network, orchestrated by the elites of late medieval and Tudor England, which brought superior physical specimens to the UK for jousting and for use as status symbols.
Published Researchers name prehistoric amphibian ancestor discovered in Smithsonian collection after Kermit the Frog
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have uncovered the fossilized skull of a 270-million-year-old ancient amphibian ancestor in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The team of researchers described the fossil as a new species of proto-amphibian, which they named Kermitops gratus in honor of the iconic Muppet, Kermit the Frog.
Published Study reveals 'cozy domesticity' of prehistoric stilt-house dwellers in England's ancient marshland
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Detailed reports on thousands of artifacts pulled from 'Britain's Pompeii' reveals the surprisingly sophisticated domestic lives of Bronze Age Fen folk some 3,000 years ago -- from home interiors to recipes, clothing, kitchenware and pets.
Published New archive of ancient human brains challenges misconceptions of soft tissue preservation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has challenged previously held views that brain preservation in the archaeological record is extremely rare. The team compiled a new archive of preserved human brains, which highlighted that nervous tissues actually persist in much greater abundances than traditionally thought, assisted by conditions that prevent decay.
Published Alaska dinosaur tracks reveal a lush, wet environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A large find of dinosaur tracks and fossilized plants and tree stumps in far northwestern Alaska provides new information about the climate and movement of animals near the time when they began traveling between the Asian and North American continents roughly 100 million years ago.
Published Lost tombs and quarries rediscovered on British military base in Cyprus
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archaeologists rediscovers 46 sites at the Eastern Sovereign Base Area at Dhekelia, Cyprus. Archaeologists located sites from archive records, a number of which were thought to have been 'lost.' They uncovered evidence of quarries and tombs likely to span from the Bronze Age, Byzantine, Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Published Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.
Published Scientists ID burned bodies using technique used for extracting DNA from woolly mammoths, Neanderthals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A technique originally devised to extract DNA from woolly mammoths and other ancient archaeological specimens can be used to potentially identify badly burned human remains, according to research.
Published Slimming down a colossal fossil whale
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.
Published Climate change threatens thousands of archaeological sites in coastal Georgia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Thousands of historic and archaeological sites in Georgia are at risk from tropical storm surges, and that number will increase with climate change, according to a new study.
Published Experiment captures why pottery forms are culturally distinct
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Potters of different cultural backgrounds learn new types differently, producing cultural differences even in the absence of differential cultural evolution. The research has implications for how we evaluate the difference of archaeological artifacts across cultures.
Published Plant seed and fruit analysis from the biblical home of Goliath sheds unprecedented light on Philistine ritual practices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While many aspects of Philistine culture are well-documented, the specifics of Philistine religious practices and deities have long remained shrouded in mystery. A recent study contributes valuable new data to our understanding of the Philistine's ritual practices. The discovery of numerous plants in two temples unearthed at the site unraveled unprecedented insights into Philistine cultic rituals and beliefs -- their temple food ingredients, timing of ceremonies, and plants for temple decoration.
Published Killer instinct drove evolution of mammals' predatory ancestors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The evolutionary success of the first large predators on land was driven by their need to improve as killers, researchers suggest.
Published Biggest Holocene volcano eruption found by seabed survey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A detailed survey of the volcanic underwater deposits around the Kikai caldera in Japan clarified the deposition mechanisms as well as the event's magnitude. As a result, the research team found that the event 7,300 years ago was the largest volcanic eruption in the Holocene by far.
Published Panama Canal expansion rewrites history of world's most ecologically diverse bats
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a new study, paleontologists describe the oldest-known leaf-nosed bat fossils, which were found along the banks of the Panama Canal. They're also the oldest bat fossils from Central America, preserved 20-million years ago when Panama and the rest of North America were separated from southern landmass by a seaway at least 120 miles wide.
Published Ancient DNA reveals Down syndrome in past human societies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By analysing ancient DNA, an international team of researchers have uncovered cases of chromosomal disorders, including what could be the first case of Edwards syndrome ever identified from prehistoric remains.
Published Neolithic groups from the south of the Iberian Peninsula first settled permanently in San Fernando (Cadiz) 6,200 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study reveals that the first farmers and herdsmen settled in Andalusia collected and consumed shellfish throughout the year, especially in winter.
Published Anthropologists' research unveils early stone plaza in the Andes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Located at the Callacpuma archaeological site in the Cajamarca Basin of northern Peru, the plaza is built with large, vertically placed megalithic stones -- a construction method previously unseen in the Andes.
Published Some Pre-Roman humans were buried with dogs, horses and other animals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some people from an ancient community in what is now northern Italy were interred with animals and animal parts from species such as dogs, horses and pigs. The reasons remain mysterious, but might indicate an enduring companion relationship between these humans and animals, or religious sacrificial practices, according to a new study.
Published Archaeologists discover oldest known bead in the Americas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The bead found at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming's Converse County is about 12,940 years old and made of bone from a hare.