A discovery made in the cave of La Garma (Cantabria, north of Spain) has shed new light on the hunting techniques used by our ancestors over 16,000 years ago. An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Marián Cueto from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has recently published a study detailing the discovery of a […]
Archaeology
“This has become the archaeologist’s grandiose task: to make dried-up wellsprings bubble forth again, to make the forgotten known again, the dead alive, and to cause to flow once more that historic stream in which we are all encompassed.” (C. W. Ceram. 1949. Gods, Graves and Scholars.)
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Megalithic Structures Are Not Mass Graves of Plague Victims from a Neolithic Outbreak
When we think of deadly pandemics, the plague often comes to mind, especially because of the devastation it caused during the Middle Ages. However, new research has revealed that the plague-causing bacterium, Yersinia pestis, has existed in Central and Northern Europe for more than 5,000 years. Scientists have wondered if this bacterium, even in its […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
How Much Did It Cost to Transport Goods in the Roman World? A Study Focused on Britain Reveals That Maritime Routes Were the Cheapest
A study recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science has analyzed the relative costs of transporting goods by different means in late Roman Britain, challenging some long-held notions about the economy of the Roman Empire. The research team, led by Rob Wiseman from the University of Cambridge, has developed a novel method for calculating […]
Posted inArchaeology
Quarters, Warehouses, Weapons, and a Bronze Sword of Ramesses II Discovered in the Fort That Protected Northern Egypt from the Sea Peoples
An Egyptian archaeological mission, led by Dr. Ahmed Said El-Kharadly of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has discovered a series of mudbrick architectural units, including military barracks for soldiers and storage rooms for weapons, food, and provisions from the New Kingdom era. These findings were made during ongoing excavations at the site of Tell Al-Abqain, […]
Posted inArchaeology
9 Patolli Boards, an Ancient Mesoamerican Game Played with Beans, Found in Mexico
During the archaeological rescue efforts led by the federal Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), nine patolli engravings were discovered along Section 7 of the Maya Train. These patollis, which are an ancient Mesoamerican game, were found on the free road to Chetumal, in a structure identified as T7-44279, […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
The Lost Shipyards of the Nordic Bronze Age, an Enigma Hidden in Plain Sight
The Nordic Bronze Age, marked by its iconic imagery of ships carved into rocks and metal objects scattered throughout Scandinavia, has always left an unsolved enigma for archaeologists: where were these ships built? Despite the abundance of ship representations in the region’s archaeology, direct evidence of prehistoric shipyards has been extremely scarce. Now a new […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
An ancient prehistoric bridge submerged in a cave in Mallorca reveals that humans arrived there 1,000 years earlier than previously thought
A recent study led by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of New Mexico has revealed that humans arrived on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca about 5,600 years ago. This finding, based on the dating of an ancient submerged bridge in a cave on the island, suggests […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
A Dagger from the Minoan Civilization of Crete Found in a Bronze Age Shipwreck
Under the direction of Professor Dr. Hakan Öniz, head of the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Akdeniz University, a team of archaeologists has made an extraordinary discovery: a bronze dagger with silver rivets, approximately 3,600 years old. This finding, made at underwater sites off the […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Researchers confirm that there really was a dockyard at Lothal, the commercial center of the Harappan civilization and the world’s oldest port
Lothal, located about 30 kilometers inland from the coast of the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat, India, was a prosperous port during the Harappan period of the Bronze Age (2600 BCE to 1900 BCE). This settlement is a key piece in the Harappan production and distribution network, connecting various centers along the Gulf and the […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
27 Silver Denarii Discovered on the Island of Pantelleria, Hidden in the Acropolis During a Pirate Attack in the Early 1st Century BC
On the Italian island of Pantelleria, located between southwestern Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, a team of archaeologists led by Thomas Schäfer from the University of Tübingen has discovered a “tesoretto” of 27 Roman silver coins during a campaign of cleaning, restoration, and excavation coverage in the Acropolis of Santa Teresa and San Marco. […]