New genetic research reveals that prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Western Europe had surprisingly intricate social relationships that went far beyond biological kinship. These late Stone Age foraging groups deliberately mixed with multiple outside communities, likely as an intentional tactic to avoid inbreeding. The novel findings come from a study published in the Proceedings of the National […]
Mesolithic
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Europe’s Oldest Megastructure Discovered: 12,000-year-old Wall Submerged in the Baltic Sea
In fall 2021, geologists made an unusual discovery in Mecklenburg Bight bay in Germany – a nearly kilometer-long row of stones on the seafloor. Located about 10 km from Rerik at a depth of 21 meters, the site contained approximately 1,500 stones arranged in such a regular pattern that a natural origin seemed unlikely. A […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
World’s oldest fortresses discovered in Siberia were built 8,000 years ago
An international team of archaeologists led by researchers from the Freie University of Berlin has made a pioneering discovery in a remote region of Siberia. They uncovered prehistoric fortified settlements that reveal hunters-gatherers in Siberia were building complex defensive structures around their villages as early as 8,000 years ago. This changes our understanding of early […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Analysis reveals the 9,000-year-old shaman of Bad Dürrenberg was the great-great-grandmother of the child buried with her
In 1934, construction work for the spa gardens in Bad Dürrenberg, Germany, uncovered a remarkable double burial from the Mesolithic period, around 7,000-6,800 BC. The burial contained an adult female and an infant, placed in an unusual arrangement that suggested the woman held an important spiritual role. Recent reanalysis of this important archaeological find has […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Humans Have Been Modifying Landscape with Fire for at Least 11,000 Years
The controlled use of fire to enhance productivity has been in practice for at least 11,000 years, much earlier than previously believed. This is demonstrated by a recent study led by the University of Barcelona, with the participation of researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA). The results, published in […]
Posted inArchaeology, Prehistory
Changes in Arrowheads May Show How Mesolithic Hunter-gatherers Responded to Climatic Changes
The development of new hunting projectiles by European hunter-gatherers during the Mesolithic may have been related to territoriality in a rapidly changing climate, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE by Philippe Crombé from the University of Ghent, Belgium. As a result of warming occurring at a rate of between 1.5 and […]
