Ancient news stories

DNA from 360,000-year-old bone reveals oldest non-permafrost genome
23rd February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of an extinct cave bear using a 360,000-year-old bone—the oldest genome of any organism from a non-permafrost environment.

Moustache on Wimpole Estate statue linked to ‘1st Century trends’
22nd February 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

The 5cm (2in) figure of a Celtic deity was discovered at the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

Scientists Discover ‘Ingredients For Life’ in 3.5 Billion-Year-Old Rocks in Australia
22nd February 2021 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Earth

Researchers have discovered organic molecules trapped in incredibly ancient rock formations in Australia, revealing what they say is the first detailed evidence of early chemical ingredients that could have underpinned Earth’s primeval microbial life-forms.

When is a henge not a henge? When it’s Stonehenge
18th February 2021 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Humans

The standing stones at Avebury and the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney are henges, but it is generally agreed that Stonehenge is not. But why?

Million-year-old mammoth genomes shatter record for oldest ancient DNA
18th February 2021 | nature.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

Permafrost-preserved teeth, up to 1.6 million years old, identify a new kind of mammoth in Siberia.

Extinction of North America’s largest animals likely caused by ancient climate change
18th February 2021 | independent.co.uk | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Earlier studies have suggested that growing numbers of “big-game” hunting humans in the Americas some 14,000 years ago led to large mammals being wiped out.

Image from: Merikanto (Wiki Commons)

Most southerly evidence of Neanderthals revealed in cave in Palestine
17th February 2021 | nhm.ac.uk | Ancient, Humans

The fossilised tooth of a nine-year-old child found in Shuqba (or Shukbah) Cave is the most southerly evidence of Neanderthals ever discovered.

Scientists believe they have discovered where asteroid which wiped out dinosaurs came from
17th February 2021 news.sky.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

A “sungrazed” comet may be responsible for the extinction event around 66 million years ago.

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens used identical Nubian technology
15th February 2021 | eurekalert.org | Ancient, Humans

Long held in a private collection, the newly analysed tooth of an approximately 9-year-old Neanderthal child marks the hominin’s southernmost known range. Analysis of the associated archaeological assemblage suggests Neanderthals used Nubian Levallois technology, previously thought to be restricted to Homo sapiens.

What Happens When You Swap a Human Gene With a Neanderthal’s?
15th February 2021 | wired.com | Ancient, Humans, Tech

Now that we’ve gotten a look at the genomes of archaic humans, researchers are trying to determine whether our differences are due to genetics.

World’s oldest known beer factory may have been unearthed in Egypt
15th February 2021 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists have unearthed what could be the oldest known beer factory at one of the most prominent archaeological sites of ancient Egypt, a top antiquities official said on Saturday.

Stonehenge: Did the stone circle originally stand in Wales?
12th February 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

One of Britain’s biggest and oldest stone circles has been found in Wales – and could be the original building blocks of Stonehenge.

 

Modern human origins cannot be traced back to a single point in time
12th February 2021 | nhm.ac.uk | Ancient, Humans, Tech

Genetic and fossil records do not reveal a single point where modern humans originated, researchers have found.

Ancient Queensland fish ‘close living relative’ to humans, scientists believe
12th February 2021 | abc.net.au | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Researchers say the Australian lungfish, native to the Burnett and Mary Rivers, is the closest living fish relative to humans and other land dwellers.

Ancient hunter-gatherer seashell resonates after 17,000 years
11th February 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists have managed to get near-perfect notes out of a musical instrument that’s more than 17,000 years old.

Evidence St Kilda was inhabited 2,000 years ago
9th February 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

Scotland’s remote St Kilda archipelago was inhabited as long as 2,000 years ago, according to archaeologists

News stories covering history, archaeology, ancient Egypt, and mysteries of the past.