Self-Motivation
David Goggins
Former Navy Seal
Career Development
Bryan Cranston
Actor
Critical Thinking
Liv Boeree
International Poker Champion
Emotional Intelligence
Amaryllis Fox
Former CIA Clandestine Operative
Management
Chris Hadfield
Retired Canadian Astronaut & Author
Learn
from the world's big
thinkers
Start Learningfrom the world's big
thinkers
Iron Age discoveries uncovered outside London, including a ‘murder’ victim
A man's skeleton, found facedown with his hands bound, was unearthed near an ancient ceremonial circle during a high speed rail excavation project.
04 August, 2020
Photo Credit: HS2
- A skeleton representing a man who was tossed face down into a ditch nearly 2,500 years ago with his hands bound in front of his hips was dug up during an excavation outside of London.
- The discovery was made during a high speed rail project that has been a bonanza for archaeology, as the area is home to more than 60 ancient sites along the planned route.
- An ornate grave of a high status individual from the Roman period and an ancient ceremonial circle were also discovered during the excavations.
<p>An ancient skeleton of a man dating back to the Iron Age was uncovered outside of London last month, and though archaeologists aren't certain what the cause of death was, clues point to a murder most foul. </p>
Foul Play?
<p>A skeleton representing a man who was tossed face down into a ditch nearly 2,500 years ago with his hands bound in front of his hips was dug up during a high speed rail excavation.</p><p>The positioning of the remains have led archaeologists to suspect that the man may have been a victim of an ancient murder or execution. Though any bindings have since decomposed, his hands were positioned together and pinned under his pelvis. There was also no sign of a grave or coffin. </p><p>"He seems to have had his hands tied, and he was face-down in the bottom of the ditch," <a href="https://www.livescience.com/iron-age-murder-victim-england.html" target="_blank">said archaeologist Rachel Wood</a>, who led the excavation. "There are not many ways that you end up that way."</p><p>Currently, archaeologists are examining the skeleton to uncover more information about the circumstances of the man's death. Fragments of pottery found in the ditch may offer some clues as to exactly when the man died. </p><p>"If he was struck across the head with a heavy object, you could find a mark of that on the back of the skull," Wood said to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/iron-age-murder-victim-england.html" target="_blank">Live Science</a>. "If he was stabbed, you could find blade marks on the ribs. So we're hoping to find something like that, to tell us how he died."</p>Other discoveries at Wellwick Farm
<p>The grim discovery was made at Wellwick Farm near Wendover. That is about 15 miles north-west of the outskirts of London, where <a href="https://www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/hs2-green-corridor/" target="_blank">a tunnel</a> is going to be built as part of a HS2 high-speed rail project due to open between London and several northern cities sometime after 2028. The infrastructure project has been something of a bonanza for archaeology as the area is home to more than 60 ancient sites along the planned route that are now being excavated before construction begins. </p><p>The farm sits less than a mile away from the ancient highway <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/texttechnologies/cgi-bin/stanfordnottingham/places/?icknield" target="_blank">Icknield Way</a> that runs along the tops of the Chiltern Hills. The route (now mostly trails) has been used since prehistoric times. Evidence at Wellwick Farm indicates that from the Neolithic to the Medieval eras, humans have occupied the region for more than 4,000 years, making it a rich area for archaeological finds. </p><p>Wood and her colleagues found some evidence of an ancient village occupied from the late Bronze Age (more than 3,000 years ago) until the Roman Empire's invasion of southern England about 2,000 years ago. At the site were the remains of animal pens, pits for disposing food, and a roundhouse — a standard British dwelling during the Bronze Age constructed with a circular plan made of stone or wood topped with a conical thatched roof.</p>Ceremonial burial site
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTk0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDgwNTIyMX0.I49n1-j8WVhKjIZS_wVWZissnk3W1583yYXB7qaGtN8/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C82%2C0%2C83&height=700" id="44da7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="46cfc8ca1c64fc404b32014542221275" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="top down view of coffin" />A high status burial in a lead-lined coffin dating back to Roman times.
Photo Credit: HS2
<p>While these ancient people moved away from Wellwick Farm before the Romans invaded, a large portion of the area was still used for ritual burials for high-status members of society, Wood told Live Science. The ceremonial burial site included a circular ditch (about 60 feet across) at the center, and was a bit of a distance away from the ditch where the (suspected) murder victim was uncovered. Additionally, archaeologists found an ornately detailed grave near the sacred burial site that dates back to the Roman period, hundreds of years later when the original Bronze Age burial site would have been overgrown.</p><p>The newer grave from the Roman period encapsulated an adult skeleton contained in a lead-lined coffin. It's likely that the outer coffin had been made of wood that rotted away. Since it was clearly an ornate burial, the occupant of the grave was probably a person of high status who could afford such a lavish burial. However, according to Wood, no treasures or tokens had been discovered. </p>Sacred timber circle
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTk0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NjkzNzQ4Mn0.TVZxpLMQgE7SvfBLJeP9LpOf_RMr57T7r2R-zmbmdr8/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C149%2C0%2C149&height=700" id="bd8b7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ee66520d470b26f5c055eaef0b95ec06" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="An aerial view of the sacred circular monument." />An aerial view of the sacred circular monument.
Photo Credit: HS2
<p>One of the most compelling archaeological discoveries at Wellwick Farm are the indications of a huge ceremonial circle once circumscribed by timber posts lying south of the Bronze Age burial site. Though the wooden posts have rotted away, signs of the post holes remain. It's thought to date from the Neolithic period to 5,000 years ago, according to Wood.</p><p>This circle would have had a diameter stretching 210 feet across and consisted of two rings of hundreds of posts. There would have been an entry gap to the south-west. Five posts in the very center of the circle aligned with that same gap, which, according to Wood, appeared to have been in the direction of the rising sun on the day of the midwinter solstice. </p><p>Similar Neolithic timber circles have been discovered around Great Britain, such as one near <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/stonehenge-sarsens" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> that is considered to date back to around the same time. </p>
Keep reading
Show less
Mexican cave contains signs of human visitors from 30,000 years ago
Archaeologists suggest this may have been the Americas' "oldest hotel."
24 July, 2020
Image source: Devlin A. Gandy/St. John's College, University of Cambridge
- Scientists have found ancient tools as well as plant and animal remains in a high-altitude cave.
- The site is dated to 30,000 years ago, pushing back estimates of the first humans to arrive in the Americas by 15,000 years.
- There is no sign these mysterious people remain in the modern gene pool.
<p>The stunning discoveries recently made in northern Mexico's Chiquihuite Cave raise more questions than they answer. Even so, they change the conversation: The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_culture" target="_blank">Clovis people</a> who arrived 15,000 years ago in the Western Hemisphere were not the first people here as previously believed. The 30,000-year-old tools and animal remains of Chiquihuite Cave belonged to someone else. We have no idea who, but they were gone for thousands of years by the time the Clovis culture began.</p><p>"For decades people have passionately debated when the first humans entered the Americas," says co-study lead DNA scientist Eske Willerslev of St. John's College, University of Cambridge. "Chiquihuite Cave will create a lot more debate as it is the first site that dates the arrival of people to the continent to around 30,000 years ago — 15,000 years earlier than previously thought."</p><p>The discovery is presented in a paper published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2509-0" target="_blank">Nature</a>. The project was led by <a href="https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/ardelean/" target="_blank">Ciprian Ardelean</a>, whose main affiliation is at the University of Zacatecas.</p>
A game-changing puzzle
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMTQxOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODc0MjIyNH0.EOi6PulBQXz7mSUfVVOVXlmFPWZfMVzlKjEngYMYNWo/img.jpg?width=980" id="67747" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="436fdbf2db7c960a56b6b22a969b5649" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="carved stone tool" />Image source: Ciprian Ardelean/St. John's College, University of Cambridge
<p>Inside the high-altitude cave some 9,000 feet above sea level, archaeologists found almost 2,000 stone tools. The scientists also found plant and animal remains at the site that radiocarbon dating identified as being from 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. One of the paper's first authors, geneticist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mikkel_Pedersen" target="_blank">Mikkel Winther Pedersen</a> of the University of Copenhagen, says, "We identified DNA from a wide range of animals including black bears, rodents, bats, voles and even kangaroo rats."</p><p>So, whose tools and animals were they? The researchers have no idea, since no human remains were found in the cave. This suggests the site was not a permanently occupied settlement, but instead a place that people used only periodically. "These early visitors didn't occupy the cave continuously," says Willerslev. "We think people spent part of the year there using it as a winter or summer shelter, or as a base to hunt during migration. This could be the Americas' oldest ever hotel."</p><p>Ardelean says that perhaps the most important thing is who they <em>don't</em> seem to have been, based on the style of tools that were found: the people of the Clovis culture. "We don't know who they were, where they came from or where they went. They are a complete enigma. We falsely assume that the indigenous populations in the Americas today are direct descendants from the earliest Americans, but now we do not think that is the case.</p>Winter lodgings?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMTQyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDk4MzUyMH0.PY6qDJJ4bQBZul6ilogXUnFKxVcl2e523mJ5agkEX0I/img.jpg?width=980" id="42ae4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4be1c18a7b4c9a7646bc637e82e91038" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Image source: Devlin A. Gandy/St. John's College, University of Cambridge
<p>The time to which the Chiquihuite Cave specimens date mean people were there during the Last Glacial Maximum — this was a time when continental ice sheets were at their maximum size, making northern Mexico seriously cold. Ardelean says, "There must have been horrible storms, hail, snow." Nonetheless, the archaeologist, who worked the site for 10 years and even spent months living in the cave, tells <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02190-y" target="_blank">Nature</a> that it's well-insulated and would have provided adequate shelter.</p>Exploring Chiquihuite Cave
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X18i8HEq3Lc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>While the excitement in archaeology typically derives from findings constructed bit-by-bit from the painstaking collection of artifacts, the excavation of the difficult-to-reach Chiquihuite Cave was an exceptionally charged experience. The cave is located in a region of Mexico controlled by drug cartels, and the safety of the scientists was by no means assured.</p><p>"It was an unforgettable experience," recalls Pedersen. "It is a very unsafe place to travel, so we were accompanied by Mexican police officers in armored cars to the foot of the mountain. We left before sunrise to climb up to the cave so that we weren't spotted."</p><p>Says Willerslev, "I will never forget being part of this research, it was an unbelievable experience. The implications of these findings are as important, if not more important, than the finding itself. This is only the start of the next chapter in the hotly debated early peopling of the Americas."</p>A migration-route deal-breaker
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxMTQyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzkwNjMzNX0.3bM2lAjKZc3dA_iMd2Yp57IXWi5xnRIhatcGLEpIfv4/img.jpg?width=980" id="a3d06" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c605c85f4878c794cf1d8770ecc3ea33" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="ice on plants" />Image source: Sarah Cervantes/Unsplash
<p>The first few pages of that next chapter may be a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02137-3" target="_blank">companion paper</a> published by two of the study's contributing authors — <a href="https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/people/lorena-becerra-valdivia" target="_blank">Lorena Becerra-Valdivia</a> of the University of New South Wales and<a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-tom-higham" target="_blank"> Thomas Higham</a> from the University of Oxford. It contains a statistical model of early human settlement of the hemisphere based on the Chiquihuite Cave and 41 other archaeological sites in North America, as well as Beringia, a region of eastern Siberia and western Alaska. Its authors also factored in historical climatic evidence and genetics. Their model presents a history in which humans were in North America far earlier than the previously accepted date of 15,000–16,000 years ago. That the model is based on sometimes ambiguous data from so many sites inevitably means that its conclusions are likely to be controversial, but it is in any event a worthwhile contribution to the discussion.</p><p>The model also supports the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_migration_(Americas)" target="_blank">Costal Migration Hypothesis</a> that visitors traveling the continent during the glacial maximum would have had to hug the coastlines to avoid the ice sheets atop inland areas.</p><p>So, whoever these early humans were, what happened to them? Geneticist <a href="https://reich.hms.harvard.edu" target="_blank">David Reich</a> of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts tell Nature, "There continues to be no convincing genetic evidence of a pre-15,000-years-ago human presence in the Americas." Ardelean, for one, is not dissuaded by this. He proposes that these early populations simply didn't survive long enough to contribute to the modern gene pool. He says, undeterred, "I definitely advocate for the idea of lost groups."</p><p>Ardelean concludes, "The peopling of the Americas is the last holy grail in modern archaeology. Unconventional sites need to be taken seriously, and we need to go out and intentionally look for them. This site doesn't solve anything, it just shows that these early sites exist. We are dealing with a handful of humans from thousands of years ago, so we cannot expect the signals to be very clear. We have literally dug deeper than anyone has done in the past."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
DNA shows Scythian warrior mummy was a 13-year-old girl
Thanks to modern technology, we can reexamine our assumptions about ancient warriors.
26 June, 2020
Dr. Vladimir Semyonov
- The 2600-year-old remains of a young Scythian warrior are now known to be female.
- The young warrior appears to have been around 13 years old when she died.
- The findings shed light on the Scythian culture.
<p>Throughout the literature of the ancient world, tales of great bands of warrior women captivated listeners' imaginations. From China to Greece, stories of their exploits filled hearts with fear and awe. Recently, historians have begun to accept that the Amazons were real, in a way; they were slightly embellished versions of Scythian warriors.</p><p> While we've known for some time that many of the warrior graves their culture left behind were the burial sites of women, modern DNA analysis allows us to review if every skeleton previously thought to be male really is. One such review of a mummy found in 1988 proves that one young warrior was actually a 13-year-old girl.</p>
Joan of Scythia?
<p>The 2600-year-old remains were discovered at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva in 1988 when the region was still part of the USSR. Contained in a tightly sealed coffin made of larch trunk, the remains were mummified and well preserved. One report states that <a href="https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/ancient-girl-amazon-warrior-no-older-than-13-is-confirmed-by-modern-scientific-techniques/" target="_blank">a wart on the child's face was still evident</a>. The coffin also contained a battle-ax, a quiver with arrows, a headdress, coat, and various bronze ornaments.</p><p>As the young warrior was presumed to be male, the researchers were surprised when they analyzed her genome and discovered the remains belonged to a young woman. Despite how common it is to see the remains of female warriors, this coffin did not contain items typically given to deceased women, such as beads or mirrors. <br> <br> Excavator Marina Kilunovskaya explained this to <a href="https://www.archaeology.org/news/8802-200617-scythian-mummy-genome" target="_blank">Archaeology.org</a>, "This discrepancy in the norms of the funeral rite received an unexpected explanation: firstly, the young man turned out to be a girl, and this young 'Amazon' had not yet reached the age of 14 years." <strong></strong></p><p>The research team will now attempt to get a more accurate dating of the remains and will use CT scans to try and learn precisely how this <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/new-dna-analysis-reveals-an-ancient-scythian-warrior-was-a-13-year-old-girl" target="_blank">young warrior died</a>. The various artifacts discovered in the coffin will also be analyzed for metal composition and preserved. </p>Who were the Scythians and why did they have little girls as warriors?
<p>The Scythians were the rulers of the Steppes from Ukraine to Xinjiang and the probable inventors of horseback riding. These nomadic warriors also had a reasonably egalitarian society for the ancient world. Many sources agree that cross-dressing was common in their culture, and some go so far as to suggest their <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=IR6yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA218&lpg=PA218&dq=Scythians+gender+fluid&source=bl&ots=jNeRBBfbo5&sig=ACfU3U1BcS8vFzFafib6erkEjiUXaOs_qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibnrSzm53qAhWbAp0JHbn1CtEQ6AEwDXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=Scythians%20gender%20fluid&f=false" target="_blank">idea of gender was fluid.</a></p><p>Across the steppes, women were trained to be warriors just as men were and could prove fearsome in battle. Skeletal remains proven to be female (about a fifth of all discovered remains) <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2020/05-06/fierce-amazons-more-than-myth-real/" target="_blank">often show the same battle injuries as males</a>. Burial sites with weapons and all the honors of a warrior are common for both sexes. Just last year, the gravesite of other <a href="https://www.archaeolog.ru/ru/expeditions/expeditions-2019/donskaya-arkheologicheskaya-ekspeditsiya" target="_blank">female warriors were found.</a> </p><p>They were known as a warlike people, and it is thought entire tribes participated in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYL5CLJ2prA" target="_blank">battles</a>. It was said that no nation could stand against them without outside help. However, they also made beautiful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art" target="_blank">art</a>, had an elaborate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_religion" target="_blank">religious system,</a> and were known for their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythians#Clothing" target="_blank">unique clothing.</a> They had no written language, but descriptions of their culture endure in the writings of their neighbors. </p><p>Even if the Amazons weren't quite real, they were based on an existing culture. As we learn more about how the Scythians lived and died, we're better able to contextualize the stories and myths they appear in. As with all archaeological discoveries, it also allows us to better understand where humanity has been, so we might make a better choice of where we're going. </p>
Keep reading
Show less
48,000-year-old bone arrowheads and jewelry discovered in Sri Lankan cave
Artifacts uncovered in southeast Asia offer clues on early complex human cultures.
23 June, 2020
Langley et al., 2020
- Archaeologists discovered a trove of bone tools used roughly 48,000 years ago in a Sri Lankan cave.
- Uncovered artifacts include the earliest known bow-and-arrow devices found out of Africa, weaving utensils, and decorative beads chiseled from the tips of marine snail shells.
- The findings underline the necessity of looking for early Homo sapien innovation in regions outside of the grasslands and coasts of Africa or Europe, where much of the research has been focused.
<p>A group of archaeologists have discovered a remarkable trove of bone tools used roughly 48,000 years ago in a Sri Lankan cave, according to new research published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/24/eaba3831" target="_blank">Science Advances</a>.</p>
New discoveries
<p>The study was led by Michelle Langley, an archaeologist at Australia's Griffith University, along with other researchers from Griffith, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), and the Sri Lankan Government's Department of Archaeology.</p><p>The scientists examined tools and artifacts used between 48,000 and 4,000 years ago that were discovered in the Fa-Hien Lena cave site located in Sri Lanka's southwest tropical forests, an area that has become one of the most important archaeological sites in South Asia since the 1980s. The assemblage of artifacts included 130 of the earliest known bone-arrow tips found out of Africa along with 29 utensils likely used to make clothing or bags. Also excavated were decorative beads chiseled from the tips of marine snail shells and the world's oldest known beads made of red ochre — an ancient pigment used for a variety of things from body paint to sunscreen.</p><p>Archaeologists believe that these tools correspond to four phases of ancient human habitation of the site. Using radiocarbon technology to date thirty items from the site, researchers were able to create a timeline detailing how the tools evolved to become more sophisticated over time.</p><p>"Most of these tools were made out of monkey bone, and many of them appear to have been carefully shaped into arrowheads," <a href="https://experts.griffith.edu.au/8914-michelle-langley" target="_blank">Langley</a> told Tim Vernimmen of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/06/tools-human-early-migration-rainforest-sri-lanka/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. "They are too small and light to have been spearheads, which need some weight to gain force, and too heavy and blunt to have been blow darts."</p><p>On close inspection, the size, forms and fractures found on many of the bone points led the researchers to believe that they were used as arrow tips for bow-and-arrow hunting to catch swift and nimble rainforest prey like monkeys and other tree-dwelling creatures. The arrow points increased in length over time for the purpose of hunting larger mammals like deer. If the researcher's conclusions are correct, this finding marks the earliest definitive proof of high-powered projectile hunting in a tropical rainforest environment.</p><p>Additionally, the team uncovered a range of other bone and tooth tools used for scraping and piercing. They were likely used for making nets and working animal skins or plant fibers in the tropical environment.</p><p>"Evidence for the construction of nets is extremely scarce in artifacts many thousands of years old, making this aspect of the Fa-Hien Lena assemblage a startling find," Langley said in <a href="https://news.griffith.edu.au/2020/06/15/discovery-of-oldest-bow-and-arrow-technology-outside-africa/" target="_blank">a Griffith University press release</a>. Because this wasn't a cold region, the authors opine that the clothing made with the assemblage of tools may have been used for protection from insect-borne diseases.</p><p>Other tools discovered at the site were identified as implements probably associated with freshwater fishing.</p>Out of Africa and into the rainforest
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMDExMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTQ3NjQ4N30.6JVTKeCHRhzvg5lejtnsxf-2y0n1pHAch0MrxJSre1Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="56032" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8a86a57e2bb25a4caa3d1777fbcd060b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="assortment of bone arrowheads and tools" />"Bone projectile points (A to H) and scrapers (I to K) from Fa-Hien Lena. (A and B) Geometric bipoints, with (B) coming from phase D context 146; (C and F) hilted bipoint, red arrows indicate cut notches; (D and E) hilted unipoints, red arrows and red circle indicate wear indicating fixed hafting; (G and H) symmetrical bipoints"
Langley et al., 2020
<p>Before the great migration out of Africa, smaller groups of humans began to leave the continent between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago eventually migrating into South Asia. These findings offer clues as to how our ancient ancestors adapted to diverse, precarious environments during their global expansion, such as the tropical rainforest. Though the early humans of South Asia likely didn't make their abode in the densely vegetated forest right away, opting instead for the coast, their decedents eventually would. And that move required some nifty new survival technology. </p><p>The researchers pointed out that their discoveries of these ancient tools underline the necessity of looking for early <em>Homo sapien</em> innovation in regions outside of the grasslands and coasts of Africa, or Europe where much of the research has been focused.</p><p>"[T]his traditional focus has meant that other parts of Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas have often been sidelined in discussions of the origins of material culture, such as novel projectile hunting methods or cultural innovations associated with our species," <a href="https://news.griffith.edu.au/2020/06/15/discovery-of-oldest-bow-and-arrow-technology-outside-africa/" target="_blank">said Patrick Roberts</a> from MPI-SHH. </p>Complex human societies
<p>The shell beads that the team found indicate that the ancient forest dwellers traded with the populations that stayed along the coast. The beads were rounded and pierced, suggesting that they were strung. Earlier dated beads (around 8,700 years old) were made from red ochre nodules. The ancient jewelry is gauged to be similar in age to other "social signaling" materials found in Eurasia and Southeast Asia, according to the authors, which was around 45,000 years ago. This highlights the importance of establishing social connections for these early people through trade and symbol. </p><p>"Together, these artifacts reveal a rich human culture in the tropics of South Asia which was creating and utilizing complex hunting and social technologies to not only survive, but thrive, in demanding rainforest environments," concluded study co-author Patrick Roberts, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Queensland.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
A buried ancient Roman city uncovered using radar technology
Ground-penetrating radar allows the non-invasive virtual excavation of Falerii Novi.
11 June, 2020
Image source: L. Verdonck/University of Cambridge
- Using ground-penetrating radar, layers of an ordinary field in Italy are pulled back to reveal a lost Roman town.
- Without disturbing a single artifact, an incredible level of detail is uncovered.
- The buried town, Falerii Novi, has been quietly awaiting discovery since it was abandoned at the start of medieval age.
<p>It doesn't look like much to the naked eye. It's basically an empty field, but if you caught it on the right days, you'd have seen a quad-wheel bike going back and forth while pulling an unremarkable-looking bit of not-really-farm gear. What's been going on there is the layer-by-layer discovery of an ancient Roman town, Falerii Novi. While archaeological finds like this are always interesting, this one is special: The long-buried city has been exposed without the removal of a speck of dirt.</p>
Technology and patience
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4NzE4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzQxMTY4MH0.DIOloya9PvQywFEed7II9NiUJzaCUv5aqslmE4bQTDo/img.jpg?width=980" id="f1a3f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="71904c4627c2cc05a5ef7ca3f904cdb4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="ground-penetrating radar equipment scanning the field" />Image source:Frank Vermeulen/University of Cambridge
<p>Falerii Novi was unearthed using <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926985118305846" target="_blank">ground-penetrating radar</a>, or GPR. With each pass across that field, the bike pulled a rolling frame outfitted with a GPR instrument that bounced radio waves off of whatever lay beneath it. The device took a reading every 12.5 centimeters, eventually imaging the entire 30.5-hectare area. Without disturbing a single ancient artifact, GPR generated a remarkably detailed look at the lost city, with its various different layers depicting changes that occurred over time.</p><p>In the end, the researchers were confronted with 28 billion GPR data points to be processed, an almost impossibly huge task. Each hectare takes about 20 hours to work through, and the team is currently developing automation techniques that will allow them to fully explore the data collected by the GPR.</p><p>Corresponding author of the study recently published in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/groundpenetrating-radar-survey-at-falerii-novi-a-new-approach-to-the-study-of-roman-cities/BE7B8E3AE55DB6E03225B01C54CDD09B#fndtn-information" target="_blank">Antiquity</a>, Martin Millett of Cambridge's Faculty of Classics, is <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/roman-city-rises" target="_blank">clearly excited</a> by the project:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>"The astonishing level of detail which we have achieved at Falerii Novi, and the surprising features that GPR has revealed, suggest that this type of survey could transform the way archaeologists investigate urban sites, as total entities."</em></p>Falerii Novi
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4NzIwNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODE4NjMxMH0.eVrydFSBZs3xLaAhgAA1XFnUeIaI6FGtmggJ4N519BI/img.jpg?width=980" id="263e2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6446619be28f954d75a17884b6af1690" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="A preliminary version of the Falerii Novi map" />A preliminary version of the Falerii Novi map
Image source: University of Cambridge
<p>Quite a bit was already known about the walled town of Falerii Novi. It was first occupied in 241 BC, and lasted until around 700 AD., the early days of the medieval period. It's located about 30 miles north of Rome. The town, which was about half the size of Pompeii, has been the subject of other scanning research before, but has never been so thoroughly revealed until now.<br></p>What's new/old?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4ODQxNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODQwNzE4NX0.L_sXdQqYN191hbSqBu3_DRmEKCoid5yf5v10Jw_gA-c/img.png?width=980" id="bd6e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9eee6cf0614e5eb43e0c7b8e7e3845c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Falerii Novi" />Image source: L. Verdonck/University of Cambridge
<p>The visible Falerii Novi contains a number of surprises.</p><p>In a broad sense, the town's layout appears less standardized than archaeologists would expect for an ancient Roman community, with a number of notable features.</p><p>There's the mysterious pair of large structures facing each other within a porticus duplex located at the town's northern gate at the upper edge of the image above. Experts have no idea what these buildings are, though they conjecture that they may have been some sort of massive monument overlooking the city's edge.</p><p>In addition, for a small city, the temple, market building and bath complex are unexpectedly elaborate.</p><p>GPR also revealed the existence of an intriguing network of pipes that may have been a large public bathing system featuring an open-air natatio, or pool. The pipes terminate at a large rectangular building and run not just along the town's streets, as might be expected, but also under its city blocks.</p>Looking forward
<p>With the Falerii Novi project serving as such a stunning reason to keep using this technology for archaeology, Millet envisions many more such projects: "It is exciting and now realistic to imagine GPR being used to survey a major city such as Miletus in Turkey, Nicopolis in Greece or Cyrene in Libya. We still have so much to learn about Roman urban life and this technology should open up unprecedented opportunities for decades to come."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
