Uncovering a 200-Year-Old Mysteries: New Research on Animal Evolution

The answer to the age-old topic of when the first creatures appeared on Earth has been eluding naturalists since Charles Darwin's time thanks to a study led by the University of Oxford. In the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, the findings were just recently published.

Reconstruction of the Ediacaran seafloor from the Nama Group, Namibia, showing early animal diversity. Credit: Oxford University Museum of Natural History / Mighty Fossils

Around 574 million years ago, the earliest fossilized animal remains were discovered. They appear as a sudden 'explosion' in Cambrian-era rocks (539 million to 485 million years ago), which seems to go against the generally slow rate of evolution. However, they are unable to explain why the earliest animals are absent from the fossil record. Many scientists, including Darwin himself, think that the earliest animals actually originated far before the Cambrian period.

In the early Neoproterozoic era (1,000 million years ago to 539 million years ago), according to the "molecular clock" technique, animals likely first appeared 800 million years ago. The time period when two or more living species last had a common ancestor can be ascertained using this method, which uses the rates at which genes accumulate mutations. Animal fossils have not been discovered, despite the fact that early Neoproterozoic rocks contain fossilized microbes like bacteria and protists.

Reconstruction of Charnia, a candidate for the first animal fossil from the Ediacaran Period as old as 574 million years ago. Credit: Oxford University Museum of Natural History / Mighty Fossils

Paleontologists were left with a conundrum: Does the molecular clock method overstate the time of animal origin? Or did animals exist in the early Neoproterozoic but were too soft and delicate to survive?

For this investigation, a group of scientists under the direction of Dr. Ross Anderson from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford performed the most extensive evaluation to date of the preservation conditions that would be anticipated to catch the earliest animal fossils.

Lead author Dr. Ross Anderson said: “The first animals presumably lacked mineral-based shells or skeletons, and would have required exceptional conditions to be fossilized. But certain Cambrian mudstone deposits demonstrate exceptional preservation, even of soft and fragile animal tissues. We reasoned that if these conditions, known as Burgess Shale-Type (BST) preservation, also occurred in Neoproterozoic rocks, then a lack of fossils would suggest a real absence of animals at that time.”

The research team compared the Cambrian mudstone deposits from almost 20 locations that preserved just mineral-based remnants (such as trilobites) with those that preserved BST fossils in order to better understand this. These techniques included infrared spectroscopy performed at Diamond Light Source, the UK's national synchrotron, as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction at the Departments of Earth Sciences and Materials at the University of Oxford.

According to the research, berthierine, an antibacterial clay, was notably concentrated in fossils with outstanding BST-type preservation. Around 90% of samples that contained at least 20% berthierine produced BST fossils.

Dickinsonia, one of the oldest animal fossils from the Ediacara Biota, Ediacaran Rawnsley Quartzite Formation, Australia. 560–550 million years old. Credit: Lidya Tarhan

An further antibacterial clay known as kaolinite appears to actively bond to decomposing tissues at an early stage, producing a protective halo during fossilization, according to microscale mineral mapping of BST fossils.

“The presence of these clays was the main predictor of whether rocks would harbor BST fossils” added Dr. Anderson. “This suggests that the clay particles act as an antibacterial barrier that prevents bacteria and other microorganisms from breaking down organic materials.”

The materials were then analyzed using these methods using a variety of fossil-rich Neoproterozoic mudstone layers. According to the research, the majority lacked the components required for BST preservation. However, three deposits in Canada's Nunavut, Russia's Siberia, and Norway's Svalbard exhibited compositions that were nearly identical to BST-rocks from the Cambrian era. The conditions were probably suitable for the preservation of animal fossils, however none of the samples from these three strata included any.

“Similarities in the distribution of clays with fossils in these exceptional Cambrian deposits and rare early Neoproterozoic samples suggest that, in both cases, clays were attached to decaying tissues and that conditions favorable to BST preservation were available in both time periods,” Dr. Anderson continued. Contrary to certain molecular clock estimations, this is the first “evidence for absence” and supports the idea that animals had not developed by the early Neoproterozoic epoch.

Image of one of the Tonian sites with BST preservation but no animal fossils from fieldwork. Svanbergfjellet Formation, De Geerbukta, Svalbard, Norway. Credit: Ross Anderson / University of Oxford

The study, in the opinion of the experts, points to the Svalbard formation's youngest estimated age of 789 million years as the earliest feasible age for the beginning of animals. The team will now look for deposits in the Neoproterozoic that are increasingly younger and have the right circumstances for BST preservation. By doing so, it will be possible to determine the age of rocks where creatures are missing from the fossil record for reasons other than the fact that they couldn't have been preserved as fossils. Additionally, they plan to conduct laboratory tests to look at the processes behind clay-organic interactions in BST preservation.

Dr. Anderson continued, “We are now able to understand the nature of the remarkable fossil record in a way that we have never been able to accomplish before by mapping the compositions of these rocks at the microscale. In the end, this might help us understand how the fossil record may be skewed towards retaining particular species and tissues, changing how we perceive biodiversity throughout various geological eras.”

Paleogeneticists examine an extended family that dates back 3,800 years to interpret Bronze Age family patterns

Scientists have always been captivated by the variety of family systems in prehistoric societies. The origins and genetic make-up of prehistoric family communities have recently been better understood thanks to research conducted by Mainz anthropologists and an international team of archaeologists.

A skeleton from the Nepluyevsky site. Credit: Svetlana Sharapova

The genomes of bones from an extended family from a Bronze Age necropolis in the Russian steppe have been examined by researchers Jens Blöcher and Joachim Burger from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). On the boundary between Europe and Asia, the 3,800-year-old Nepluyevsky burial mound was discovered few years ago.

The family and marriage ties in this society have now been analyzed using statistical genomics. The research was done in collaboration with archaeologists from Frankfurt am Main and Ekaterinburg, and it was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The graves of six brothers, their spouses, kids, and grandkids were located in the kurgan (burial mound) that was under investigation. With two spouses, one of which was from the eastern Asian steppe regions, the brother who was apparently the oldest produced eight children. The other brothers appeared to be monogamous with much fewer offspring and exhibited no symptoms of polygamy.

Incredible image of a prehistoric family

"The burial site provides a fascinating snapshot of a prehistoric family," explains Blöcher, lead author of the study. "It is remarkable that the first-born brother apparently had a higher status and thus greater chances of reproduction. The right of the male firstborn seems familiar to us, it is known from the Old Testament, for example, but also from the aristocracy in historical Europe."

Even more is revealed by the genetic data. Immigrants made up the bulk of the women buried in the kurgan. The buried brothers' sisters, meanwhile, relocated to new residences elsewhere. According to Burger, "female marriage mobility is a common pattern that makes sense from an economic and evolutionary perspective. While one sex stays local and ensures the continuity of the family line and property, the other marries in from the outside to prevent inbreeding."

Compared to men, prehistoric women had a higher level of genetic diversity

Therefore, the genomic diversity of the prehistoric women was larger than that of the men, according to the Mainz population geneticists. As a result, the ladies who married into the family were not linked to one another and came from a wider region. They accompanied their husbands into the grave in their new country. The authors draw the conclusion that Nepluyevsky had "patrilineality," or the transfer of regional customs through the male line, as well as "patrilocality," or the idea that a family's home is where the males live.

According to Svetlana Sharapova, an archaeologist from Ekaterinburg who is in charge of the excavation, "Archaeology shows that 3,800 years ago, the population in the southern Trans-Ural knew cattle breeding and metalworking and subsisted mainly on dairy and meat products. The state of health of the family buried here must have been very poor. The average life expectancy of the women was 28 years, that of the men 36 years."

In the most recent generation, the kurgan was almost exclusively used by newborns and young children. Furthermore, according to Sharapova, "it is possible that the inhabitants were decimated by disease or that the remaining population went elsewhere in search of a better life."

The presumed firstborn son has had numerous partners and children

"There is a global connection between different family systems and certain forms of life-style and economy," says Blöcher. "Nevertheless, human societies are characterized by a high degree of flexibility." He adds, "in Nepluyevsky, we find evidence of a pattern of inequality typical of pastoralists: multiple partners and many children for the putative firstborn son and no or monogamous relationships for most others."

The authors uncover more genomic proof suggesting groups with ancestries similar to those of Neplujevsky culture existed across the majority of the Eurasian steppe region. According to Burger, "It is quite possible that the local pattern we found is relevant to a much larger area." The validity of the "Neplujevsky" paradigm at other prehistoric sites in Eurasia will be the subject of further research.

Ancient DNA Shows Irish Are Not Celts; Scientists Say Irish Ancestors Came from Biblical Lands

There are more reasons than ever for people in Ireland to be curious about their ancestry. Ancient DNA evidence suggests that the Irish are not Celts, and it is extremely likely that their ancestors came from the Middle East, specifically from biblical regions.

Ancient Europe's history would not have been the same without the intriguing Celts. Irish people have long been thought to be closely linked to the Celts, although this hypothesis may not be accurate.

On Rathlin Island near Antrim, Bertie Currie discovered a sizable, flat stone buried beneath the ground in 2006. He was preparing the area to build a driveway for McCuaig's Bar at the time.

Currie looked more closely after noticing a sizable gap beneath the stone.

What Carrie found has the potential to dramatically rewrite ancient Irish history. "I shot the torch in and saw the gentleman, well, his skull and bones," Currie reportedly said to the Washington Post.

Finally, he discovered the remains of three people, and he immediately dialed the police.

Scientists in Ireland and Britain have now investigated the ancient relics, and their findings indicate that these individuals predate the Celts by about 1,000 years and are the forefathers of present Irish people, according to DNA evidence.

In essence, Irish DNA was there in Ireland long before the Celts arrived on the island.

“Radiocarbon dating at Currie's McCuaig's Bar found that the ancient bones date back to at least 2,000 BC, which is hundreds of years older than the oldest known Celtic artifacts anywhere in the world,” Irish Central reports.

According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the bones were very similar to those of modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh people.

“The DNA evidence based on those bones completely upends the traditional view,” stated Barry Cunliffe, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Oxford University.

This implies that the finding might fundamentally alter how Irish ancestry is perceived.

Almost 8 century old horse skull from a cult pit discovered during an archaeological dig in NC, Bulgaria

Near Ryahovets Fortress in Gorna Oryahovitsa (North-Central Bulgaria), an archaeological site with a cult pit and an animal skull that dates back roughly eight centuries was found. According to expedition leader Iliyan Petrakiev, the archaeologists discovered a 50 cm horse skull facing south in a ritualistic manner. This discovery follows those of a cow skull and another horse skull.

The three-year-old digs near Gorna Oryahovitsa are in an area where 13th-century ritual pits, a necropolis, and a neighborhood have all been discovered. The scientific theory that the region was occupied by a late nomadic population that was undergoing Christianization is supported, in Petrakiev's opinion, by this year's discoveries.

He claimed that the burials found are peculiar. The upper limbs of the deceased are in various attitudes that are not typical of Christian burial practices, and close by are ritual pits filled with animal remains. They are facing southwest-northeast.

One theory holds that the Kumans, a tribe that sided with the Bulgarian kings of the time in the late 12th and early 13th century, lived in the region. In order to support the notion, the discoveries will undergo additional analysis in addition to the archaeological one.

In order to maintain its integrity, restorer Rouen Hadzhinikolov of the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History pulled the horse skull from the hole. The discovery will be examined in the National Museum of Natural History and, if feasible, displayed at the Gorna Oryahovitsa History Museum.

Burnt house beams, another discovery from this year's excavation efforts at the location, are significant since a wood analysis can help date them.

Archaeology students from the University of Veliko Tarnovo are working on the excavation. Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality is providing funding in the amount of BGN 20,000.

Did researchers discover the fabled Jomsborg, a Viking city?

Does this evidence actually reveal a historical "medieval New York"? On a Baltic island, an archaeologist discovers evidence of "Jomesburg," a Viking metropolis. Skepticism persists despite the discovery of an old castle.

An archaeologist claims that the finding of historic stronghold ruins on a Polish island in the Baltic Sea provides proof that the Jomsborg Viking metropolis existed. These findings disprove a belief that has long been held to be false.

An observation tower on a Polish island in the Baltic Sea has rekindled the dispute over the existence and location of a possibly lost Viking city from the 10th century. A large portion of Viking history is literally and figuratively buried. However, an apparently straightforward construction project for an observation tower in a public park on Wolin Island turned some unexpected artifacts. According to the finder, these relics might point to the existence of a city from the tenth century.

Viking researchers are ecstatic as artifacts from Polish islands suggest the existence of a metropolis from the tenth century. The mysterious city of Jomsborg might at last be recorded in history.

Wojciech Filippowiak, an archaeologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences engaged in the study, describes it as "exciting." He told The New York Times, "It might answer a 500-year-old mystery: Where is Jomesburg.

Ancient Viking literature made reference to Jomsborg

The first written accounts of Jomsburg, a key aspect of Viking history, are from the 12th century. However, nobody is certain of where it is. Because of this ambiguity, some people came to think of Jomesborg as a collection of myths—a fantastical city that combined a castle and a thriving commercial center.

If confirmed, Jomsborg would have served as a trading hub for Slavs, Germans, and Vikings—groups with a long history in the area. The Volyn History Museum's director, Karolina Kokura, compares it to "the New York of the Middle Ages on the Baltic Sea."

This comparison would still be valid if Jomsborg had existed prior to its mention in early Viking texts. In those sources, a bustling town with a sizable population, a fortified military outpost, and a harbor for refueling Viking ships are all depicted.

It would be more than serendipitous if Filippowiak's finds turned out to be pieces of the original fortification. The park has been the subject of island-wide excavations in search of Viking history, but these efforts have not produced any firm conclusions. The discovery of such a crucial historical component might open the door to a plethora of fresh inquiry.

Additionally, it might spark heightened public interest. Should a historic Viking colony be proven, the persistent fascination of Viking civilisation might possibly boost tourism in the area.

In an interview with the New York Times, the mayor of Wolin, Eva Grybovska, said that "Vikings are captivating and garner enormous attention. Every corner here holds history".

She is so certain that displaying Viking items in a public park on a Baltic Sea island would pave a new way for drawing tourists—assuming, of course, that everything turns out to be authentic.

New information on the lives of slaves in ancient Pompeii is discovered by archaeologists

The culture ministry said on Sunday, August 13, 2023, that archaeologists had found a tiny bedroom in a Roman villa close to Pompeii that was probably certainly occupied by slaves, shedding information on their poor standing in the ancient world.

A small bedroom that was almost certainly used by slaves is pictured after it was discovered by archaeologists in a Roman villa near Pompeii.

The villa at Civita Giuliana, some 600 meters (2,000 feet) north of Pompeii's walls, which were destroyed by Mount Vesuvius' volcanic eruption over 2,000 years ago, is where the room was discovered.

The Director of Pompeii Archeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriege, explains in a video released by the ministry of culture that the room contained two beds, only one of which had a mattress, two small cabinets, and a number of amphorae and ceramic containers where the remains of two mice and a rat were discovered.

Over time, materials like furniture and textiles that were damaged by the horrific explosion of rock pieces, gas, and ash from Vesuvius disintegrated, leaving a gap in the rubble.

The shape and contours of the long-gone material, including the outline of a crumpled blanket left on the bed netting, are revealed when the hole is filled with plaster.

The Civita Giuliana villa underwent excavations in 1907–1908 and again starting in 2017, when police discovered that the site was being looted by unauthorized diggers.

'Extremely uncommon' Roman temple found during construction of a supermarket

Sarsina is a small, rural village of about 3,000 people located in Italy's Emilia Romagna region, straddling the virgin Apennine mountains and surrounded by breathtaking views and grazing sheep.

The discovery of significant temple ruins in the small town of Sarsini will improve our modern-day understanding of "how ancient Roman towns rose and fell across time," experts say.

There isn't much to do there today save hiking and bird watching, despite its storied past as a vital defense outpost for the Roman Empire and the birthplace of the renowned playwright Plautus.

Even while both locals and tourists agree that Sarsina's charm comes from its unhurried, rural way of life, the town's residents were eagerly anticipating the creation of a new grocery, fitness facility, and playground. But, at least not in the way that was initially intended, it was not to be.

That's because in December 2022, workers at the site on the outskirts of town discovered the remains of a first-century BC Roman temple known as a "capitolium."

A single massive edifice made of horizontal sandstone and marble slabs, measuring 577 square meters wide, which experts have recognized as the podium over which the columns and walls of an ancient temple were built, provided the first glimpse of the buried treasure in early July.

And what has emerged from the earth thus far might only be the tip of the iceberg.

The excavation site in Sarsini has yielded ruins on top of ruins, literally.

Lead archaeologist at the excavation site, Romina Pirraglia, told CNN that the team had found three distinct rooms that were probably devoted to the triad of gods Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. “The excavations are still underway… and we have already identified an older, deeper layer of ruins dating back to the 4th century BC, when the Umbrian people (an ancient Italic tribe who predated the Romans) lived in the area. The entire temple could be even larger than what we now see.”

The finding of a capitolium, the major temple of a significant Roman city and a center for trade, religious activity, and social contact, according to Pirraglia, adds support to the strategic role Sarsina played throughout the Roman Empire. The settlement was constructed on the banks of the Savio River, a vital canal that connected central and northern Roman cities, in a significant mountainous region near to the Tuscan border.

Local officials have been compelled to change their building plans as a result of the temple's discovery. Federica Gonzato is ardent about wanting to conserve the ruins and further explore its illustrious past. She is the supervisor of archaeology, fine arts, and landscape for the provinces of Ravenna, Rimini, and Forl-Cesena, which includes Sarsina.

“We will not tear it down to make room for modern structures, this must be very clear. Previous urban plans will be changed, we will find new construction sites for recreation and sports,” Gonzato highlighted. “The temple is an incredible finding that sheds light on how ancient Roman towns rose and fell across time.”

The discovery of the temple has afforded archaeologists "the opportunity to realize what unique relics and monuments may lie below ground” in Sarsina, said Romina Pirraglia.

The discovery is exceptional because of the temple's outstanding level of preservation. Gonzato continued, “The marvelous quality of the stones have been spared from sacks, enemy invasions and plunders across millennia thanks to the remote location of Sarsina, a quiet spot distant from larger cities. Temples such as this one (were) regularly plundered, exploited as quarries with stones and marble slabs taken away to be re-used to build new homes. But Sarsina’s capitolium podium structure is practically untouched, with its entrance staircase well-preserved, and this is extremely rare.”

Gonzato thinks the discovery will further study of ancient urban development and population. The temple's platform is merely one part of the site, though. The building appears to have been used again in the Middle Ages, according to Pirraglia. Along with medieval burials and hearths, an old water drainage system was discovered, showing that the area was probably inhabited or used for other social functions.

“This is the beauty of Italy: wherever you dig, some hidden treasure comes out of the ground. Wonders never cease to amaze us,” Gonzato added.

In Jerusalem, Archaeologists Discover Mysterious 2,800-Year-Old Channels

A network of enigmatic passageways that are about 2,800 years old and date to the reign of King Joash and Amaziah have been discovered by archaeologists working in Jerusalem.

According to a statement released by the IAA on Wednesday, the installations are the first of their sort to be found in Israel. The City of David archaeological site, which is thought by the majority of scholars to represent the location of the original settlement at Jerusalem, is located in the national park where the structures were discovered.

Although it is unknown exactly what the ancient Jerusalemites were producing there, the grooves carved into the bedrock were probably used to soak some kind of substance, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ancient structures are the first of their kind ever discovered in Israel, according to the country’s antiquity’s authority. Image Credit: IAA

No blood was discovered during forensic examination of the ducts, indicating that they were not utilized for animal killing. Additionally, it doesn't seem like the ducts were made to transport a lot of water.

The researchers claim they are only able to hypothesize on the structure's function because there is no known counterpart for such a structure in Israel. Their central location suggests that the item was associated with the economy of the Palace or Temple.

According to scholars, the buildings were in use throughout the time that the city's First Temple is believed to have existed.

Archaeologists excavating the channel installations found in Jerusalem. Image credit: IAA

In the City of David National Park, excavations by the IAA and Tel Aviv University have so far found two installations that are about 30 feet (10 meters) apart but may have been a single, larger facility.

Despite significant variations in the two channels' hewing and design, it is evident that they are relatively comparable, according to the IAA.

Two groups of knee-deep channels are spaced 10 meters apart. They are roughly 30 centimeters broad and 50 cm high, built of hewn rock. They don't appear to have been utilized for drainage or sewage disposal, and they aren't connected to any other water sources.

According to Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University's Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations Department, "the mystery only grew deeper when we found the second installation to the south."

“We looked at the installation and realized that we had stumbled on something unique, but since we had never seen a structure like this in Israel, we didn’t know how to interpret it,” Yiftah Shalev, a senior researcher at the IAA, stated. “Even its date was unclear.”

The installations stopped being used at the end of the 9th century B.C., during the reigns of the biblical Judean rulers Joash and Amaziah.

In the past, a big industrial and residential complex stood where the ducts are now. As a result, it's probable that the ducts were used for a range of purposes, including the production of food, textiles, and ceremonies related to religion.

Though a mystery, the discovery of the ducts is significant. It offers fresh perspectives on the historic city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The ducts are a unique find that is helping archaeologists learn more about Jerusalem's past.

Payment for restoration must be made by the villager who recorded himself demolishing a 4,500-year-old work of art

A villager who was caught on camera destroying an allegedly 4,500-year-old piece of art has been ordered to pay for its restoration.

Julian Baker, 52, filmed himself damaging the ancient monument (Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Two sizable sandstones with "cup marks" carved into their upper surfaces, belonging to the Bronze Age, are part of the buried monument at Eglwysilan Mountain near Caerphilly, South Wales. 52-year-old Julian Baker recorded himself digging up the structure and removing the rock art panel from its stone. At Newport Magistrates' Court, Baker, of Abertridwr, admitted intentionally exposing and harming the Bronze Age monument, which is said to have been in place since 2500 BC.

A representative of Welsh Government heritage organization Cadw remarked: “This damage is a serious incident at a rare class of prehistoric monument in Wales. Significant archaeological information has been lost forever, and although some evidence may remain, the significance and value of the part of the monument damaged has been significantly diminished.

We welcome the court's decision in this case…the custodial sentence and fine imposed reflect the seriousness of this offence. Our scheduled monuments and the archaeological structures, deposits and artefacts they contain are very fragile and vulnerable. They are a finite resource that are sensitive to change. Once damaged or destroyed, they and the archaeological data within have been lost forever and cannot be replaced. Heritage crime, particularly reckless damage, is a serious matter which can cause irreparable damage. We would like to thank our partners at Gwent Police for their assistance in this case, and we will continue to work closely with them through their Operation Heritage Cymru and Heritage Watch schemes to investigate and pursue offenders to preserve and protect Wales' historic environment for the benefit of this and future generations."

The Bronze Age monument is believed to date back more than 4,500 years ( Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

The rural crime unit of Gwent Police mentioned that "the defendant in this case damaged legally protected pre-historic rock art in Caerphilly, and was given a four month custodial sentence suspended for two years. They were also ordered to pay compensation of £4,400 for restoration. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Act protects the archaeological heritage of Wales, England, and Scotland - making damage to and metal detecting on scheduled monuments a criminal offence. A scheduled monument is an important archaeological site or historic building that is protected against unauthorised change."

A gold-threaded jaw was found on a Byzantine warrior, according to an archaeological research

According to a recent study, according to the journal Live Science, a Byzantine warrior who was beheaded when the Ottomans conquered his fort in the 14th century had a jaw interwoven with gold.

The warrior's lower jaw had previously been severely broken, but a skilled doctor had tied it back together with a wire that was probably made of gold until it healed, according to the study, which was directed by Anagnostis Agelarakis, an anthropology professor in the Department of History at Adelphi University in New York.

The surgeon who performed the jaw surgery appears to have followed the guidelines from the fifth century B.C., according to the article. Hippocrates, a Greek physician, wrote a book on jaw injuries about 1,800 years before the warrior sustained his wounds.

Study author Anagnostis Agelarakis stated, "The jaw was shattered into two pieces."

The nearly 650-year-old mended jaw is an amazing discovery because it reveals the precision with which "the medical professional was able to put the two major fragments of the jaw together."

The medical professional appears to have followed the advice laid out by the fifth-century B.C. The Greek physician Hippocrates, who wrote a treatise covering jaw injuries about 1,800 years before the warrior was wounded. Photo: Anagnostis P. Agelarakis

In Polystylon fort, an ancient site in Western Thrace, Greece, Agelarakis and his associates discovered the warrior's skull and lower jaw in 1991. In the 14th century, when the fighter was alive, the Ottomans were waging war against the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire. The warrior probably fought until the Ottomans overcame the fort at Polystylon, as evidenced by the fact that he was beheaded.

The Ottomans probably captured and beheaded the warrior as the fort collapsed; subsequently, an unidentified person stole the warrior's head and buried it, perhaps without "consent of the subjugators, given that the remainder of the body was not recovered," Agelarakis wrote in the report. At the Polystylon fort, a 5-year-old child was buried in the middle of a 20-plot cemetery, and the warrior's head was placed in his pre-existing tomb there. Agelarakis found a broken ceramic cup near the warrior's burial, maybe used to help excavate the space for his head.

Details of Bronze Age cremation remains are revealed through various testing methods

Researchers from Charles University in Prague and Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, along with members of a multidisciplinary team from various Austrian institutions, have discovered that it is possible to obtain detailed information about people who were cremated thousands of years ago. The team examined the bones of two Bronze Age persons found in an urn in their study, which was published on the open-access website PLOS ONE.

Cross section through Urn 2. Different colorations represent identified bone fragments based on the CT scans. Credit: Lukas Waltenberger, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Inhumation and cremation were the two main burial practices used during the Bronze Age, according to previous studies. In the former, a pit was typically dug for one or more people, whose remains were then deposited within, and the grave was then filled with earth, rock, or other material. In cremations, the bodies were burned, usually on a pyre. The bones were then typically placed in an urn and either stored or interred. It was extremely typical in both situations for additional stuff to be buried or burned beside the deceased person.

Due to the quantity of bone material, archaeologists have often found it to be a very simple undertaking to learn about inhumations. It has been more difficult to learn more about those who were cremated. The researchers used a fresh perspective in their latest endeavor and discovered that there is much more to be discovered from these remnants.

The group looked at two Bronze Age urns that were discovered in Austria in 2021. Both were thought to be the final resting place of a single person and neither had been disturbed. The researchers employed a number of methods and instruments to uncover more information about the people whose remains were kept in the urns.

Using the first technique, CT scans were performed on the urns to determine their contents and their location without disturbing them. The researchers then used conventional isotopic, geochemical, zooarchaeology, anthropology, and archaeobotanical testing procedures.

a) mid-sagittal section of Urn 1 with arbitrary excavation layers, b) MIP-projection of layer 80, c) photo of layer 80 during excavation, d) mid-sagittal section of Urn 2 with arbitrary layers, e) MIP-projection of layer 150, f) photo of layer 150 during excavation. The numbers represent identifiable structures in b) and c) or e) and f): 1) lumbar vertebra, 2) femoral head, 3) humerus diaphysis, 4) bronze wire and pendant, 5) cranial fragment, 6) humerus head, 7) bronze spirals, 8) bronze sheet, 9) cranial fragment, 10) tibial fragment. Scale length is 5 cm. Credit: PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289140

The discovery of bone fragments in both urns confirmed that, as predicted, each contained the remains of a single person. Both people were female, one between the ages of 9 and 15, the other in her early 20s. Both had resided in what is now St. Pölten for the majority, if not all, of their lives.

They were both wearing bronze jewelry and had been burned on a fire with meat from other animals. The younger daughter was also discovered to have a vitamin deficit, which suggests she was sick before she passed away. Additionally, both urns showed signs of plant matter that was probably utilized as a fire starter.

The method developed by the scientists might be applied to additional cremated human remains from the Bronze Age or from later eras to learn more about them.

The last member of the human genus almost vanished 900,000 years ago

Pre-humans may have lived in a population of only 1,280 people, according to a new technique for analyzing contemporary genetic data.

An unknown species of early human nearly died out around 900,000 years ago, according to genetic analysis. It might have been both the ancestor of Homo heidelbergensis and a species ancestral to our own.Credit: S. Entressangle/E. Daynes/Science Photo Library

According to a study, some 900,000 years ago, human ancestors in Africa were on the verge of extinction. The research, which was published in Science, implies that our predecessors' number was drastically reduced long before our species, Homo sapiens, developed. After being reduced to just 1,280 breeding individuals, the population did not grow again for another 117,000 years.

"About 98.7% of human ancestors were lost," says Haipeng Li, a population geneticist at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and one of the study's co-authors. According to him, there is a spotty fossil record in Africa and Eurasia from 950,000 to 650,000 years ago, and "the discovery of this bottleneck may explain the chronological gap."

A related perspective was written by archaeologist Nick Ashton of the British Museum in London. He says he was fascinated by the small population. “This would imply that it occupied a very localized area with good social cohesion for it to survive,” he says. “Of greater surprise is the estimated length of time that this small group survived. If this is correct, then one imagines that it would require a stable environment with sufficient resources and few stresses to the system.”

Modern DNA reveals clues

The scientists had to develop brand-new tools in order to make their finding. The researchers created a mechanism that allowed them to fill in the blanks concerning earlier human relatives. Genome sequencing advancements have increased scientists' understanding of population sizes for the time after modern humans arose. Such research was urgently required, according to Serena Tucci, an anthropologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “We still know very little about the population dynamics of early human ancestors for several reasons, including methodological limitations and difficulties in obtaining ancient DNA data from old Homo specimens,”

Through the use of their approach, the researchers were able to reconstruct ancient population dynamics using genetic information from living individuals. The team was able to more precisely investigate the finer branches of the tree and pinpoint major evolutionary events by building a complicated family tree of genes.

The method "put the spotlight on the period 800,000 to one million years ago — for which there is much unknown — in a way that hasn’t been done before," says Stanley Ambrose, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This time period was a component of the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, a period of abrupt climate change during which glacial cycles lengthened and intensified. This resulted in protracted droughts across Africa. According to Li, the climatic changes may have killed off the ancestors of modern humans and pushed the emergence of new human species. These might have eventually developed into the last common ancestor of contemporary humans and our extinct ancestors, the Denisovans and Neanderthals.

The number of pre-humans started to increase once more at 813,000 years ago. Ziqian Hao, a population geneticist at the Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences in Jinan and a co-author of the paper, says it is still unclear how our ancestors managed to survive and what enabled them to flourish once more. He claims, however, that the bottleneck is likely to have had a significant impact on human genetic variety, driving several significant aspects of modern humans, like brain size. He says that the genetic diversity may have been lost by up to two-thirds. “It represents a key period of time during the evolution of humans. So there are many important questions to be answered.”

Ashton desires more archeological and fossil evidence to support the researchers' conclusions. The authors “suggest that the bottleneck was a global crash in population”, he says, “but the number of archaeological sites outside Africa suggests that this is not the case. A regional bottleneck might be more likely.”

References

1. Hu, W. et al. Science 381, 979–984 (2023).

2. Ashton, N. & Stringer, C. Science 381, 947–948 (2023).

Researchers find weavings from an ancient Alutiiq settlement that date back 3,000 years

The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository's archaeologists have discovered pieces of woven grass relics that are thought to be 3,000 years old. The extraordinary artifacts were discovered on August 18, 2023, during excavations of an ancient sod home on Kodiak Island, Alaska's Karluk Lake, which were financed by Koniag. The remnants, which resemble sections of mats, are the earliest known examples of weaving in Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq. They were kept alive by an unusual set of circumstances. explained Patrick Saltonstall, curator of archaeology at the Alutiiq Museum.

Fragments of a ca. 3,000-year-old woven grass mat recovered from an ancestral Alutiiq house beside Karluk Lake.

“We were excavating a sod house beside Karluk Lake as part of a broader study to understand how Alutiiq people used Kodiak’s interior,” explained Saltonstall. “When we reached the floor, we discovered that the house had burned and collapsed. The walls of the structure, which were lined with wood, fell into the building and covered a portion of the floor. This sealed the floor quickly and limited burning. As we removed the remains of the walls, we were surprised and excited to find fragments of charred weaving. It looks like the house had grass mats on the floor. The pieces covered about a two-meter area at the back of the house, perhaps in an area for sleeping.”

Alutiiq weaving has a lengthy history, but it is challenging to record archaeologically because fiber items are delicate and infrequently survived. Grass and spruce root baskets up to 600 years old can be found in the large archaeological holdings of the Alutiiq Museum, but nothing older. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the weaving-producing house was roughly 3,000 years old. This conclusion is supported by the architectural design of the structure and the items discovered nearby.

“It is likely that our ancestors worked with plant fibers for millennia, from the time they arrived on Kodiak 7500 years ago,” said April Laktonen Counceller, executive director of the museum. “It makes sense. Plants are abundant and easily harvested, and they are excellent materials for making containers, mats, and other useful items. It’s just very hard to document this practice. This wonderful find extends our knowledge of Alutiiq weaving back an additional 2400 years.”

A closer look at the weaving remnants reveals that the warp, or long parallel strands of grass, was placed down first, followed by the weft, or perpendicular rows of twining, which were spaced approximately an inch apart. This method produced an open weave similar to that of vintage Alutiiq grass matting. The completed edge of a mat may be little pieces of more intricate braiding.

In order to carry the delicate woven remnants back to Kodiak and the Alutiiq Museum's laboratory, the field team gently removed them off the sod house's floor and placed them in a specially built box. Here, they will be kept, documented, and made available for research as a loan from Koniag, the study's sponsor and the local Alaska Native Corporation for the Kodiak Alutiiq people. The business owns the property where the excavation took place and has generously supported local archaeological research.

“Discoveries like these highlight our Alutiiq people’s innovation and resilience,” said Koniag President Shauna Hegna. “Koniag is humbled to partner with the Alutiiq Museum on critical projects like this.”

The non-profit Alutiiq Museum is devoted to preserving and disseminating the history and culture of the Alutiiq, an Alaska Native tribe. The museum is governed by members of Kodiak Alutiiq organizations and is supported through donations to charities, membership fees, grants, contracts, and sales.

Massive constructions have been found underground a Roman-era castle in Turkey by archaeologists

Turkey, which was originally a part of ancient Mesopotamia, has long been a haven for archaeologists. It is home to important structures that even precede Mesopotamia, including UNESCO World Heritage structures like Catalhoyuk, a proto-city that dates back around 9,000 years, and Gobekli Tepe, a Neolithic village said to be more than 10,000 years old with what may be the world's oldest seat of worship.

Ruins of housing believed to have been used by soldiers stationed at the garrison.

The footprint of pre-Roman activity in the region is now being moved farther east than was previously thought thanks to recent discoveries at sites in the southeast of the country, according to archaeologists.

The Roman Empire's military fortress at Zerzevan Castle is supplying what UNESCO refers to as "important information about the Roman soldiers, civilians' daily lives and the battles."

A local family visiting Zerzevan Castle archaeological site.

The Mithras Temple is still another option. The Mithras religion, commonly referred to as the "Mithras cult," is thought to have started in ancient Persia, and the temple, found in 2017, may be the best-preserved example of this type of temple anywhere in the globe, according to UNESCO.

Large, multistory structures have been discovered by archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar scans, although they have not yet been excavated. These are still underground and are uncovering reams of relics, some of which go all the way back to pre-Roman times.

Archaeologist Aytac Coskun claims that when he first saw the location, he knew he had to conduct excavations. The ancient church was constructed on a hill high above the temple.

Archaeologist Aytac Coskun, seen at ruins of an ancient church, says excavations in the area may continue for another three decades.

"I first came to Diyarbakir in 2005," recalls Coskun, "and when I saw this hill, I saw some pieces of artifacts, and I knew no excavation had been done before. So as soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be a dig because there must be something significant underneath."

During the conflict, 10,000 people may have found safety in underground residential areas

A tour of the site displays some of the recent discoveries made by him and his team, including an expansive rock altar, a subterranean church, and a water canal that extends for at least a few miles.

A member of the Zerzevan Castle excavation and restoration team looks into a microscope while studying a coin found at the archaeological site.

Coskun and his crew have discovered a number of artifacts, including a superbly preserved and elaborately painted bronze baptismal pail from the Roman era and a possible 3,000-year-old Assyrian stamp cut into rock.

"The digging we're doing inside the castle walls is 57,000 square meters [68,171 square yards]," he mentions. "It's a huge area. And outside of it...is (something) like 10 million square meters [3.86 square miles]."

A bronze baptismal bucket found at the Zerzevan Castle site, currently on display at the Archaeology Museum of Diyarbakir.

Coskun estimates that during periods of peace, 1,500 people—military and civilian—lived here. He asserts that it is likely that 10,000 residents of the neighborhood fled here during a time of conflict to find refuge.

That, he claims, might assist in explaining the huge underground living spaces. He claims that there are still 99 dwelling complexes below the surface in addition to the six that have already been discovered inside the castle walls.

An inscription seen at the entrance of the Mithras temple which remains undeciphered.

Coskun cites this as just one example of how this location may alter how people now view this region of the world and its archaeological and architectural past.

Ruins of the church seen from the south tower.

"It's totally open to new discoveries, that's for sure," he says. "We don't know what else we'll find. We've only dug around 10% of the area on the surface within the castle walls. And beyond the castle walls," he continues, "you see more living areas, the canal, a necropolis where the leading families buried their dead, and ceremonial areas. So, there will be more to come."

He estimates that excavations might go on for another 30 years.

The entrance to the Mithras temple seen from inside.

How did the Reconquista Actually Happen?

While many people are aware of Iberia’s religious history including the infamous Spanish Inquisitions, not so many are aware that neither Spain nor Portugal was always controlled by Christian Europeans. In fact, there was a period of almost 8 centuries that marked a tireless power struggle between the Christian Kingdoms and Muslim Caliphates.

A 5,300-year-old murder mystery

Get to know the story of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old glacier mummy who researchers discovered had been murdered.

In September 1991, two hikers discovered a corpse emerging from the ice. Researchers soon realized they were looking at the mummified body of a man who’d lived about 5,300 years ago, and theorized he got caught in bad weather and froze. However, a shocking discovery revealed his true cause of death and upended his story. So, how did he die? Albert Zink uncovers the truth about Özti the Iceman.

The last Pagans of the Roman Empire: Who were they?

In the video below we will be talking about the last pagans of the Roman Empire. Watch the video to find out more!

The Mystery of the Kingdom that Sank into the Ocean

In 1809, the Gough map at the Bodleian library in Oxford would reveal a bizarre secret: the existence of two small, mysterious islands off of the coast of Ceredigion in Wales.

What made these islands stand out, though, was the fact that they no longer existed. There were no islands in this portion of Ceredigion Bay, and according to the maps known to historians today, there hadn't been islands here since at least the 1600s.

To add even more fuel to this mystery, these islands appear to have existed precisely where a Welsh legend of a medieval kingdom that sank into the ocean took place.

What started as a question on the existence of two missing islands, developed into a mystery of whether or not this ancient story of a sunken kingdom was actually based in reality. In this video, we will examine whether this medieval mystery really took place in the history of Wales.

Great Pyramid Big Void

Announced to the world in 2017, the Great Pyramid Big Void is one of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the modern era, and on finding out some new information about it this week, it’s time to revisit the subject once again.

For decades many of us have wanted to know if there are any hidden chambers or passageways inside the Great Pyramid and although there are some clues in the stonework that still need investigating, as well as some anomalies recorded in geophysical surveys, a new, major inner structure has not been found inside the Great Pyramid since the 19th century.

But that was before the year 2016, because now, thanks to a state-of-the-art technique called muography, scientists from the ScanPyramids Project have discovered a Small Void and a Big Void have.

But since there discovery, we haven't heard a great deal, so what's happening? Do we know anything more? Well, the size and shape of the Big Void has been refined and in this video we'll reveal what the experts believe the Big Void could look like.

Archaeologists have uncovered a large Roman complex in a gravel pit in Switzerland

A team of archaeologists from the Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology have uncovered a large Roman complex during excavations in a gravel quarry near Cham-Oberwil, located in the canton of Zug, Switzerland.

The site is situated on an elevated position in the Äbnetwald region, where previous excavations have found evidence of settlements and graves from the Bronze Age and Iron Age periods.

Rescue excavations have been conducted in the quarry by the Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology since the 1990’s, with a recent study finding a series of large Roman buildings and rooms which belong to a complex that extends over an area of ​​at least 500 m2.