In the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, between the Late Neolithic and the Copper Age, a series of ritual objects emerged that have fascinated archaeologists and historians for over a century: the engraved slate plaques. These artifacts, especially those classified as classic type, have been interpreted as genealogical records within the ancient communities of the […]
Stone Age Archaeology
By exploring caves, rock shelters, open-air camps, and later permanent settlements, Stone Age archaeologists gain valuable insights into how hunter-gatherer and early farming communities organized themselves and adapted to various environments and climate changes over thousands of years. The gradual developments from simple Oldowan stone tools to complex multilayered Upper Paleolithic sites reveal the cultural and technological progress of our earliest human ancestors.
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The Oldest Ochre Mine in the World Discovered in Southern Africa
An international team of scientists, led by researcher Brandi L. MacDonald from the University of Missouri, has confirmed the discovery of the oldest ochre mine in the world, located in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), a small country in southern Africa. Ochre, an iron-rich clay, has been used by humans for thousands of years as a pigment […]
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The Wheel Was Invented by Neolithic Miners Who Extracted Copper in the Carpathians 6,000 Years Ago
A recent study published by a multidisciplinary team of researchers aims to solve one of humanity’s oldest mysteries: the origin of the wheel. This invention, which revolutionized human development by changing the course of technological and social history, remains a subject of debate regarding where and how it was discovered. Using advanced computational mechanical analysis […]
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A House from 8,000 Years Ago Found in Serbia Belonged to the First Sedentary Farmers of Europe
Did the first agricultural societies in Europe live nomadically, or were they (seasonally) sedentary? How did sedentarism spread between Anatolia and Europe, and how did the first sedentary people influence agricultural techniques on our continent? An Austro-Serbian team of archaeologists, under the direction of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), discovered the remains of a […]
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A Hypogeum in Southern Spain Reveals a Possible Epidemic During the Neolithic 5,700 Years Ago
A recent study has revealed that the hypogeum cemetery of La Beleña, located in the province of Córdoba (southern Spain), is one of the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula, with remains dating back to around 3700 B.C. Radiocarbon analysis and Bayesian modeling, conducted by a team of researchers from several Spanish universities, have uncovered surprising […]
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DNA Analysis Reveals the Origin of the Japanese
A team of researchers has made an important step in understanding the origins of modern Japanese people. Scientists were able to extract DNA from a Yayoi-era skeleton found at the famous archaeological site of Doigahama in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, and conduct a complete analysis of its genome. This study has revealed that the current Japanese […]
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Neolithic Silos and 60 Elongated Structures of Unknown Function Found in Northeastern France
Located in northeastern France, in the Alsace region, the Pfulgriesheim site has been the subject of extensive archaeological research prior to being developed for a new urban area. This excavation, covering 5.5 hectares, has revealed a fascinating overlap of structures and remains dating from the Late Neolithic to the Early Middle Ages. Through these explorations, […]
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A new prehistoric culture found in a Spanish cave is the oldest evidence of Upper Paleolithic in the Iberian Peninsula
Archaeologists from the University of Valladolid have discovered in the Millán Cave, located in the northern Iberian Peninsula, in the Spanish province of Burgos, an Initial Upper Paleolithic lithic industry, which they have named “Arlanzian”, and which stands out as the oldest and southernmost of its kind in the peninsula. This industry, of uncertain origin, […]
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A 5000-Year-Old Paved Cellar Found in Denmark Reveals the Existence of Complex Underground Structures in Prehistory
A team of archaeologists led by Marie Brinch from the Lolland-Falster Museum has unearthed the remains of what appears to be a stone-paved cellar, meticulously constructed around 5000 years ago on the Danish island of Falster. This unprecedented discovery, made at the Nygårdsvej 3 archaeological site, not only reveals the existence of complex underground structures […]
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An ancient and unknown 5000-year-old agricultural civilization discovered in Morocco
A team of archaeologists has uncovered the remains of an ancient and previously unknown agricultural civilization in Morocco, dating back between 3400 and 2900 BCE. This discovery, reported in the journal Antiquity, shines light on a poorly understood period of North African prehistory and positions the region as a key player in early Mediterranean cultural […]
