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History / Archeology - 05.01.2023
Ice Age markings show evidence of early writing dating back 20,000 years
Ice Age markings show evidence of early writing dating back 20,000 years
Ice Age drawings and markings found in caves show that prehistoric hunter-gathers used a form of early writing to communicate essential survival information at least 14,000 years earlier than previously thought, finds a study involving a UCL researcher. Archaeologists already knew that the markings - sequences of lines, dots and other shapes - conveyed information but did not know their meaning.

History / Archeology - Environment - 18.11.2022
Let them eat stew: University of Glasgow research sheds new light on foodways in the first cities
Let them eat stew: University of Glasgow research sheds new light on foodways in the first cities
The world's first urban state societies developed in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, some 5500 years ago. No other artefact type is more symbolic of this development than the so-called Beveled Rim Bowl (BRB), the first mass produced ceramic bowl. BRB function and what food(s) these bowls contained has been the subject of debate for over a century.

History / Archeology - Health - 03.11.2022
Five things science has told us about the mummy of Tutankhamun
Five things science has told us about the mummy of Tutankhamun
One hundred years ago, our understanding of ancient Egypt changed forever when the tomb of King Tutankhamun was found on November 4, 1922 in the Valley of Kings. Born around 1305 BC, Tutankhamun only ruled Egypt for about ten years. Yet his tomb was furnished with never-before-seen riches. Our fascination with mummies is understandable.

Paleontology - History / Archeology - 02.11.2022
Prehistoric reptile casts turn out to be copies of priceless fossil destroyed in WWII
Scientists find copies of lost fossil destroyed in WWII hiding in a US museum. The world's first complete skeleton of a prehistoric reptile brought to the attention of science was discovered a little over 200 years ago and named ' Proteosaurus '. Unfortunately, that fossil was destroyed in an air raid in May 1941, during WWII, with no copies thought to exist.

Environment - History / Archeology - 02.11.2022
Congo peatlands could release billions of tonnes of carbon
Congo peatlands could release billions of tonnes of carbon
The world's largest tropical peatland turned from being a major store of carbon to a source of carbon dioxide emissions as a result of climate change thousands of years ago, new research has revealed. Around the time that Stonehenge was built, 5,000 years ago, the climate of central Congo began to dry, leading to the peatlands emitting carbon dioxide.

Life Sciences - History / Archeology - 24.10.2022
UK's oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations
UK’s oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations
The first genetic data from Palaeolithic human individuals in the UK - the oldest human DNA obtained from the British Isles so far - indicates the presence of two distinct groups that migrated to Britain at the end of the last ice age, according to new research. Published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the new study by UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the Francis Crick Institute researchers reveals for the first time that the recolonisation of Britain consisted of at least two groups with distinct origins and cultures.

Environment - History / Archeology - 26.09.2022
Ancient footprints on UK beach record demise of a biodiversity hotspot
A team of archaeologists and geographers from The University of Manchester have discovered that hundreds of ancient animal and human footprints found on a beach in Merseyside record a major decline in large animal diversity in Ancient Britain. Their new research, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution , includes a new programme of radiocarbon dating which shows that the most species-rich footprint beds at Formby Point are much older than previously thought.

Environment - History / Archeology - 22.09.2022
Past climate of Cape Town revealed in study
New insights into the history of South Africa's climate have been revealed. In a project that spanned seven years, the Tracing History Trust, with support from Cardiff University and Wits University, has digitised and transcribed the Dutch East India Company's day registers which were written between 1652 to 1791.

History / Archeology - 06.09.2022
University of Warwick highlights the long struggle for scientific freedom in Ukraine
University of Warwick highlights the long struggle for scientific freedom in Ukraine
Historians show that Ukraine has been an important centre for scientific research over the past 150 years. Ukraine has also been at the heart of the struggle for scientific freedom. Understanding this history can help plan for the future of science in Ukraine. In a comment article in leading science journal, Nature , researchers at the University of Warwick highlight the long struggle for scientific freedom in Ukraine.

Health - History / Archeology - 19.08.2022
Medieval monks were 'riddled with worms'
Medieval monks were ’riddled with worms’
Research examining traces of parasites in the remains of medieval Cambridge residents suggests that local friars were almost twice as likely as ordinary working townspeople to have intestinal worms - despite monasteries of the period having far more sanitary facilities. One possibility is that the friars manured their vegetable gardens with human faeces Piers Mitchell A new analysis of remains from medieval Cambridge shows that local Augustinian friars were almost twice as likely as the city's general population to be infected by intestinal parasites.

Paleontology - History / Archeology - 18.08.2022
April the museum dinosaur still revealing new discoveries
April the museum dinosaur still revealing new discoveries
Recent research regarding a dinosaur nicknamed April which previously called Manchester Museum home has revealed rare new findings. Scientists made the discovery of gastroliths (stomach stones) inside the Tenontosaurus which is unusually rare. This represents the second oldest occurrence of gastroliths in an ornithopod dinosaur and the first to be identified in a more derived ornithopod.

History / Archeology - 10.08.2022
Prehistoric Brits used rare rock crystals to mark burial sites
Prehistoric Brits used rare rock crystals to mark burial sites
Distinctive and rare rock crystals were moved over long distances by Early Neolithic Brits and were used to mark their burial sites, according to groundbreaking new archaeological research. Evidence for the use of rock crystal - a rare type of perfectly transparent quartz which forms in large hexagonal gems - has occasionally been found at prehistoric sites in the British Isles, but little investigation has previously been done specifically into how the material was used and its potential significance.

History / Archeology - Life Sciences - 28.07.2022
Prehistoric roots of 'cold sore' virus traced through ancient herpes DNA
Prehistoric roots of ’cold sore’ virus traced through ancient herpes DNA
Ancient genomes from the herpes virus that commonly causes lip sores - and currently infects some 3.7 billion people globally - have been uncovered and sequenced for the first time by an international team involving UCL scientists.

History / Archeology - Environment - 27.07.2022
Archaeological features identified at Seaford Head site  
Archaeological features identified at Seaford Head site  
The hidden archaeological potential of nationally important heritage site Seaford Head has been uncovered through a project involving the UCL Institute of Archaeology. The pilot study involving researchers from Archaeology South-East (ASE), part of UCL Institute of Archaeology, aimed to investigate how an archaeological site at risk from climate change accelerated coastal erosion can be rapidly recorded and communicated to the public before it is lost.

Environment - History / Archeology - 27.06.2022
Ancient world adapted to climate change
A new study shows how the ancient world adapted to climate change A new study of the ancient world of Anatolia - now Turkey - shows how they adapted to climate change but offers a warning for today's climate emergency. The efforts of ancient populations to minimise the impacts of climate change were undermined during longer climate shifts when it is combined with other events such as pandemics, earthquakes and wars - findings the lead author says offer scary parallels to the modern day.

History / Archeology - 18.06.2022
New study suggests mystery still surrounds what happened to the bodies of Waterloo militaries
New study suggests mystery still surrounds what happened to the bodies of Waterloo militaries
Were the bones of fallen Battle of Waterloo soldiers sold as fertiliser? Thousands of soldiers died on the Belgium battlefield yet very few human remains have been found. Now a new study by the University of Glasgow's Professor Tony Pollard suggests it is the most probable outcome of such a bloodied affair, but the archaeologist says it isn't quite a situation of 'case closed'.

History / Archeology - Agronomy / Food Science - 06.06.2022
Chickens for life not just for dinner
Chickens were introduced to Britain, mainland Europe, and Northern Africa later than previously thought, and were primarily regarded as exotica not food, new research suggests. The study, led by Cardiff University and published in the journal Antiquity is one of two papers published today which together, transform our understanding of how humans' relationship with the popular poultry has evolved over time.

History / Archeology - 06.01.2022
Fossil research affected by significant colonial bias
The fossil record, which documents the history of life on Earth, is heavily biased by influences such as colonialism, history and global economics, argues a new study involving palaeontologists at the University of Birmingham and the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. The findings have significance across the field of palaeontology, but also for the ways in which researchers are able to use our knowledge of ancient fossil records to gain clearer, long term perspectives on Earth's biodiversity.

History / Archeology - Life Sciences - 22.11.2021
Justinianic Plague was nothing like flu and may have hit England before Constantinople | University of Cambridge
Justinianic Plague was nothing like flu and may have hit England before Constantinople | University of Cambridge
'Plague sceptics' are wrong to underestimate the devastating impact that bubonic plague had in the 6th- 8th centuries CE, argues a new study based on ancient texts and recent genetic discoveries. The same study suggests that bubonic plague may have reached England before its first recorded case in the Mediterranean via a currently unknown route, possibly involving the Baltic and Scandinavia.

History / Archeology - Life Sciences - 22.11.2021
Justinianic Plague was nothing like flu and may have struck England before it reached Constantinople, new study suggests | University of Cambridge
Justinianic Plague was nothing like flu and may have struck England before it reached Constantinople, new study suggests | University of Cambridge
'Plague sceptics' are wrong to underestimate the devastating impact that bubonic plague had in the 6th- 8th centuries CE, argues a new study based on ancient texts and recent genetic discoveries. The same study suggests that bubonic plague may have reached England before its first recorded case in the Mediterranean via a currently unknown route, possibly involving the Baltic and Scandinavia.