Ancient news stories

We Finally Know The True Age of These Huge, Mysterious Jars Scattered in Laos
27th February 2021 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

These surreal cauldron-like megaliths in Laos are known as the Plain of Jars, an archaeological relics whose original purpose is still shrouded in mystery, their significance long forgotten.

Researchers solve puzzle of water-to-land transition of vertebrates
27th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The water-to-land transition is a leap in the history of vertebrate evolution and one of the most important scientific issues in vertebrate evolution. Previous studies have shown that vertebrate landing occurred in bony fishes.

A 4.4 million-year-old skeleton could reveal how early humans began to walk upright
25th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Thomas Cody Prang, assistant professor of anthropology, and colleagues examined the skeletal remains of Ardipithecus ramidus (“Ardi”), dated to 4.4 million years old and found in Ethiopia. One of Ardi’s hands was exceptionally well-preserved.

‘Unique’ petrified tree up to 20m years old found intact in Lesbos
25th February 2021 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Earth

Discovery of 19.5-metre tree with roots, branches and leaves is unprecedented, say experts

First DNA extracted from modern, ancient and fossil tropical shells
24th February 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

In Wonderland, Alice drank a potion to shrink herself. In nature, some animal species shrink to escape the attention of human hunters, a process that takes from decades to millennia.

Gorgeous Egyptian Art From 4,600 Years Ago Reveals an Extinct Goose
24th February 2021 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Artwork that had adorned the walls of an Egyptian prince’s tomb for more than four millennia has been found to contain images of a bird completely unknown to modern science – until now.

Did Neanderthals Have the Capacity for Verbal Language?
23rd February 2021 gizmodo.com | Ancient, Humans

The Neanderthal of popular imagination is a hideous, ape-like being, lumbering around with his or her crude spear.

Australia’s oldest known rock art is a 17,000-year-old kangaroo
23rd February 2021 | newscientist.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

A life size kangaroo painted in red ochre around 17,300 years ago is Australia’s oldest known rock art. This indicates that the earliest style of rock art in Australia focused on animals, similar to the early cave art found in Indonesia and Europe.

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.

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