Humans news stories

Vast cemetery of Bronze Age burial mounds unearthed near Stonehenge
19th June 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists have discovered a vast cemetery of Bronze Age burial mounds, thought to be up to 4,400 years old, ahead of a building development less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Stonehenge.

How Indigenous rescuers turned to ayahuasca tea in search for children lost in Amazon jungle
19th June 2023 | abc.net.au | Earth, Humans

The weary Indigenous men gathered at their base camp, nestled among towering trees and dense vegetation that formed a disorienting sea of green. They had been searching for four lost Indigenous children believed to have survived a plane crash in the ancestral jungle in southern Colombia for more than a month.

Archaeologists discover rare evidence for early Homo sapiens in Britain
19th June 2023 | abdn.ac.uk | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists have discovered extremely rare evidence for early Homo sapiens in Britain. The finds of stone tools and animal bones, dating to the last Ice Age, were found during archaeological excavations at Pembroke Castle’s Wogan Cavern. Their excavations will continue this summer.

Ancient DNA points to Irish language’s 4,500-year-old roots
19th June 2023 | irishnews.com | Ancient, Humans

At the start of the week of the Summer Solstice, many will once again marvel at the magnificent structures built across Ireland thousands of years ago, including Newgrange in Co Meath. The structures were built by the descendants of the first peoples that landed on the island in what is believed to be two migratory waves from around 10,000 years ago.

New study highlights the struggle of preventing the placebo effect in psychedelic research
19th June 2023 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

Incorporating the psychedelic drug psilocybin into psychotherapy shows promise in the treatment of depression, according to new research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. But the study also highlights the difficulty of implementing effective blinding procedures to prevent expectancy effects when researching psychedelic substances.

Antidepressants may diminish psilocybin’s effects even after discontinuation
18th June 2023 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

A new study suggests that the use of certain antidepressants, specifically SSRIs and SNRIs, may weaken the acute subjective effects of psilocybin in some individuals. The findings, which appear in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, indicate that this dampening effect on psilocybin can last for a significant period of time even after stopping the antidepressant medication.

New Study shows Early Native Americans in Alaska were freshwater fishermen 13,000 years ago
16th June 2023 arkeonews.net | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

A team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers has discovered the earliest known evidence that Native Americans living in present-day central Alaska may have begun freshwater fishing around 13,000 years ago during the last ice age. See the study here.

Synthetic human embryos created in groundbreaking advance
16th June 2023 | theguardian.com | Humans, Tech, Weird

Scientists have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, in a groundbreaking advance that sidesteps the need for eggs or sperm.

Peru archaeology: Ancient mummy found under rubbish dump Published
16th June 2023 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists in Peru conducting a dig at the site of a rubbish dump in the capital Lima have found a mummy they think is around 3,000 years old.

 

Museum exhibit in Norway reveals new details on Neanderthals
16th June 2023 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

When the first Neanderthal skeleton was found in the Neandertal (Neander Valley) in Germany in 1856, scientists imagined the person to have been a dull-witted cave dweller. The German zoologist Ernst Haeckel went so far as to give this first individual the name Homo stupidus.

Indigenous knowledge is increasingly valued, but to fully respect it we need to decolonise science – here’s how
16th June 2023 theconversation.com | Ancient, Humans

We are witnessing a resurgence of Indigenous knowledge and growing acknowledgement of its scientific value worldwide…But progress has not been straightforward, with some scientists publicly questioning the scientific value of mātauranga.

3.2 million-year-old human ancestor ‘Lucy’ had massive leg muscles to stand up straight and climb trees
15th June 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Our 3.2 million-year-old ancestor “Lucy” could stand and walk upright just like modern humans do, new 3D muscle modeling reveals. The study was published Wednesday (June 14) in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Study: Paleo-Americans hunted mastodons, mammoths and other megafauna in eastern North America 13,000 years ago
15th June 2023 phys.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Just how implicated should humans be in the extinction of these ice-age animals? In a new study, forensic techniques more commonly used to identify blood on objects at crime scenes are used to investigate this question. Our study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Oldest Signs of Human Ancestors’ Trek to Australia Found in Laotian Cave
14th June 2023 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

In the bowels of a Laotian cave, illuminated by faint sunlight and bright lamps, scientists have unearthed the earliest known evidence of our human ancestors making their way through mainland Southeast Asia en route to Australia some 86,000 years ago…it could push back timelines of early human migration in an area by more than ten thousand years. See the study here.

Walls along River Nile reveal ancient form of hydraulic engineering
13th June 2023 phys.org | Ancient, Earth, Humans

An international team of researchers who discovered a vast network of stone walls along the River Nile in Egypt and Sudan say these massive “river groins” reveal an exceptionally long-lived form of hydraulic engineering in the Nile Valley, and shed light on connections between ancient Nubia and Egypt. See research here.

Psilocybin shows promise in OCD treatment — even without the psychedelic “trip”
13th June 2023 | psypost.org | Ancient, Humans

Blocking the subjective psychedelic effects of psilocybin does not appear to interfere with the substance’s ability to potentially help with obsessive behaviors, according to new research published in Translational Psychiatry.

News stories covering humans, psychology and health.