Genetic analysis of ancient massacre reveals instance of indiscriminate killing
History and ArcheoloryGenetic analysis provides clarity and also prompts further questions around an ancient massacre in Potočani, Croatia, in a study published March 10, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mario Novak from the Institute for Anthropological Research, Croatia, Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, Austria, David Reich from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, U.S.,…
Where are the foreigners of the first international age?
History and ArcheoloryThe Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean has long been considered by researchers to have been the ‘first international age,’ especially the period from 1600-1200 BC, when powerful empires from Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt set up large networks of subordinate client kingdoms in the Near East. These empires fought, traded, and corresponded with one another,…
Archaeologists find pre-Columbian mass grave in Peru
Archaeology Mystery of TombArchaeologists have found an ancient mass grave containing the remains of pre-Columbian men, women and children in the citadel of Chan Chan in northern Peru, a member of the team said Thursday. Chan Chan was a citadel of the Chimu culture, which flourished between the years 900 and 1450 on the north coast of Peru…
Geneticists’ new research on ancient Britain contains insights on language, ancestry, kinship, milk
Archaeology Mystery of TombNew research revealing a major migration to the island of Great Britain offers fresh insights into the languages spoken at the time, the ancestry of present-day England and Wales, and even ancient habits of dairy consumption. A photograph of the skeleton of one of the four individuals who we have sequenced who we think is…
Earliest evidence of ear surgery 5,300 years ago
History and ArcheoloryA team of several researchers from the University of Valladolid, in Spain and one from the Spanish National Research Council in Italy, has found evidence of the earliest ear surgery performed on a human being. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes their study of a human skull found at the…
Radiocarbon dating only works half the time. We may have found the solution
History and ArcheoloryDating is everything in archaeology. Exciting discoveries of ancient burial sites or jewelry might make headlines, but for scientists, this kind of discovery is only meaningful if we can tell how old the artifacts are. A new DNA method could help making it easier to date skeletons. Credit: Malinka333/Shutterstock So when chemist Willard Libby developed radiocarbon dating…
Scientific ‘detective work’ with South American mummies reveals they were brutally murdered
Archaeology Mystery of TombHow frequent was violence in prehistoric human societies? One way to measure this is to look for trauma in prehistoric human remains. For example, a recent review of pre-Columbian remains found evidence of trauma from violence in 21% of males. So far, most studies of this kind have focused on skulls and other parts of…
One of Ancient Egypt’s Most Influential Women, Queen Tiye
Archaeology Mystery of TombOne of Ancient Egypt’s Most Influential Women, Queen Tiye Tiye was queen, wife of Amenhotep III, of the 18th Dynasty, and one of the most charismatic women in ancient Egyptian history. Other spellings of her name: Tiy, Tiya, Tiyi, Teje, Ty… Unlike all her predecessors, the ” Great Royal Wives “, Tiye was not of…
Sensual fresco discovered in ancient Pompeii bedroom
History and ArcheoloryArchaeologists have found a fresco in an ancient Pompeii bedroom that depicts a sensual scene of the Roman god Jupiter, disguised as a swan, and a legendary queen of Sparta from Greek mythology. The fresco ”Leda e il cigno” (Leda and the swan) discovered last Friday in the Regio V archeological area in Pompeii, near…
Skeletons and a superbly preserved Viking boat are discovered in Sweden
Archaeology Mystery of TombIn Uppsala, Sweden, archeologists recently found two Viking Ьᴜгіаɩ ships, one of which was extremely preserved and holding the ruins of a dog, a man, and a horse. Archaeologists found two Ьᴜгіаɩ boats, one of them (shown here before excavation) was intact but the other was quite dаmаɡed. The archeologists think it was dаmаɡed when…