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First arrivals to Australia populated the continent very quickly
French and Australian scientists have modelled the evolving landscape of the ancient supercontinent Sahul to work out how quickly humans were able to populate the landmass that would eventually become...
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Mayan ballgames were played on blessed grounds
Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest evidence of ceremonial offerings on sportsgrounds by the ancient Maya in Mexico. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis shows that the courts built by the Mayans...
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Ancient Egyptian attempts to treat cancer seen in nearly 5,000-year-old skull
Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of ancient practices which might change our understanding of ancient Egyptian life. Two skulls, both thousands of years old, bear cut marks which could be...
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Diet and adaptability key to ancient migration to North America
By 14,000 years ago, humans had marched across modern-day Asia, into North America and to the southernmost part of South America. The key? Food. That, and the adaptability of our ancestors to the...
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Were dinosaur fossils the inspiration for the gryphon myth?
A new study challenges the theory that dinosaur fossils inspired the legend of the mythological creature, the gryphon. Gryphons are said to have the head and wings of a bird of prey and the body of a...
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Rare Sāmoan archaeological site gives insight to origins of social hierarchy
Ancient rock walls, high mounds and ditches discovered in Sāmoa point to the origins of social hierarchy in Polynesian society. A study published in the journal PLOS One links dramatic population...
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Largest reconstruction of Bronze Age Magan boat sets sail from Abu Dhabi
Magan boat during the sea trials off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Credit: Emily Harris © Zayed National Museum. An 18-metre-long vessel set sail earlier this month off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The boat is...
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“Screaming Woman”: Mummified in Egypt 3,500 years ago, she died in agony
The so-called “Screaming Woman”, a 3,500-year-old mummified corpse from Egypt, has been “virtually dissected” to reveal how she got the expression which became her name. “Screaming Woman” mummy....
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Bronze Age technology makes renewable energy shift cheaper
A technology that dates back thousands of years could dramatically reduce the need for batteries and other renewable energy storage technologies, according to US researchers. Firebricks are...
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How was Egypt’s oldest pyramid built? Experts reveal new theory
Nearly 5,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians revolutionised the way in which humans shape the world around them. A new paper published in the PLOS ONE journal explains that ancient Egyptians probably...
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Elite woman’s grave dates from before Genghis Khan’s Mongolian Empire
Scientists have made an unexpected discovery in a thousand-year-old abandoned fortress in Mongolia. Buried in the walls of the fortress is the grave of an elite woman who pre-dates the rise of the...
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Stonehenge’s 6-tonne Altar Stone was transported from Scotland
How was Stonehenge built in ancient Britain 5,000 years ago? New evidence suggests the Late Stone Age people who made the colossal structure would have to have used advanced transport methods to move...
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Hidden tomb found beneath one of the new Seven Wonders of the World
A secret tomb has been discovered underneath Al-Khazneh – the Treasury building at the World Heritage Site of the ancient city Petra in Jordan. The unexpected find includes the remains of 12...
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Norse saga confirmed by skeleton of man thrown from castle into a well
An 800-year-old Norse story about a military raid has been verified by analysis of ancient DNA. Sverris Saga is one of the Kings’ sagas – a series of Old Norse tales which tell the lives of Nordic...
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Signed and sealed: ancient artifacts delivered on written language
Archaeologists have identified the precursors of writing in the designs of ancient seals dating back about 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. Proto-cuneiform is one of the earliest written languages,...
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