In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper Paleolithic humans drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at least 42,000 years ago and figurative images — notably animals – from at least 37,000 years ago. Since their discovery 150 years ago, the purpose or meaning …
Read More »Hoard of Silver Coins from Maccabean Revolt Found in Israel
The hoard was in a wooden box and contained 15 silver tetradrachma coins from the reign of Antiochos IV Epiphanes, a Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire — which included Judea — from 175 BCE until 164 BCE. The 2,200-year-old silver tetradrachma coins found in Israel. Image credit: Shai …
Read More »15,700-Year-Old Projectile Points Found in Idaho
Archaeologists have unearthed an assemblage of 14 stemmed projectile points at the Cooper’s Ferry site, located on a terrace of the lower Salmon River of western Idaho, the United States. These stemmed points are several thousand years older than Clovis fluted points and are 2,300 years older than stemmed points …
Read More »320,000-Year-Old Cutmarked Bones Provide Evidence for Exploitation of Bear Skins
Researchers from the University of Tübingen and elsewhere have unearthed the cutmarked bones of cave bears at the Middle Pleistocene site of Schöningen in Lower Saxony, Germany. Bear skins have high insulating properties and might have played a role in the adaptations of Middle Pleistocene hominins, such as Homo heidelbergensis …
Read More »Pottery Vessels Reveal Connections between Prehistoric European Hunter-Gatherer Communities
Archaeologists have analyzed the remains of 1,226 pottery vessels from 156 hunter-gatherer sites across nine countries in Northern and Eastern Europe. Their findings suggest that pottery-making spread rapidly westwards from 5,900 BCE onwards and took only 300-400 years to advance over 3,000 km, equivalent to 250 km in a single …
Read More »Footprint of a Prehistoric Structure Uncovered Near Prague
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC—Radio Prague International reports that traces of an estimated 7,000-year-old circular structure measuring about 180 feet in diameter have been uncovered in Vinoř, an area on the outskirts of the city of Prague, by a team of researchers led by Miroslav Kraus. The well-preserved remains of the roundel …
Read More »Stone Age Humans Conducted Surgical Amputation 31,000 Years Ago
Archaeologists excavating Liang Tebo Cave on the Indonesian island of Borneo have discovered the skeletal remains of a young individual who had the distal third of their left lower leg surgically amputated, probably as a child, at least 31,000 years ago; the individual survived the procedure and lived for another 6-9 years, …
Read More »U.S. Repatriates Artifacts to Egypt
NEW YORK, NEW YORK—Ahram Online reports that six artifacts recovered from the Metropolitan Museum of Art were handed over to Egypt’s Consul General Howaida Essam Mohamed at a ceremony in New York following two investigations into trafficking networks and the illegal antiquities trade by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and …
Read More »1,000 Fathoms Down
The first few weeks of May 1836 were pleasant ones for the whaling brig Industry. Based in Westport, Massachusetts, the two-masted, 64-foot-long ship had been built in 1815 and launched the next year. Now, two decades into her career, Industry and her crew of 15 men had been out for …
Read More »Solar Orbiter Spacecraft Solves Magnetic Switchback Mystery
The Solar Orbiter mission has found compelling clues about where the Sun’s magnetic whips come from, as well as the mechanism that allows them to form. ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered compelling clues about the origin of ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered compelling and how they could aid …
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