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History / Archeology - 11.09.2023

Archaeologists reveal largest palaeolithic cave art site in Eastern Iberia
Archaeologists have discovered a major Palaeolithic cave art site, arguably the most important found on the Eastern Iberian Coast in Europe. Over a hundred ancient paintings and engravings, thought to be at least 24,000 years old, have been found in a 500 metre-long cave in 'Cova Dones' or 'Cueva Dones' - a site located in Millares near Valencia in Spain.

History / Archeology - Environment - 06.09.2023

Complete Neolithic cursus on the Isle of Arran
Researchers discover complete Neolithic cursus on the Isle of Arran A leading team of researchers have discovered what is believed to be a complete Neolithic cursus set within a rich prehistoric landscape on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. A leading team of researchers have discovered what is believed to be a complete Neolithic cursus set within a rich prehistoric landscape on the Isle of Arran, Scotland.

Life Sciences - History / Archeology - 21.08.2023

Researchers extract ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick, revealing a time capsule of plant life
University of Oxford researchers have contributed to the first successful extraction of ancient DNA from a 2,900 year-old clay brick. The analysis, published today in Nature Scientific Reports , provides a fascinating insight into the diversity of plant species cultivated at that time and place, and could open the way to similar studies on clay material from different sites and time periods.

History / Archeology - 02.08.2023

What did the Romans do for us? Aqueducts and the art of Roman water management
While 21  century water companies struggle to maintain clean, fresh supplies, new research today from an international team led by Oxford geoarchaeologist Dr Güel Sürmelihindi , reveals that, some 2,000 years ago, Roman water engineers were keeping up a regular programme of managing and maintaining the ancient water systems.

History / Archeology - Environment - 06.07.2023

Giant stone artefacts found on rare Ice Age site in Kent
Researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain. The excavations, which took place in Kent and were commissioned in advance of development of the Maritime Academy School in Frindsbury, revealed prehistoric artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley.

History / Archeology - Environment - 13.06.2023

Walls along River Nile reveal ancient form of hydraulic engineering
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 groynes' reveal an exceptionally long-lived form of hydraulic engineering in the Nile Valley, and shed light on connections between ancient Nubia and Egypt.

History / Archeology - 09.06.2023

Trinity College prayer book belonged to Thomas Cromwell
The Hardouyn Hours, a jewelled fifteenth-century prayer book in Trinity College Library belonged to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII, new research has found. The most exciting Cromwell discovery in a generation - if not more. Tracy Borman Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer, recognised the bejewelled, silver gilt binding of Trinity's Book of Hours from the famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1532-3, which hangs in the Frick Collection in New York.

History / Archeology - Health - 26.05.2023

Early toilets reveal dysentery in Old Testament Jerusalem
Study of 2,500-year-old latrines from the biblical Kingdom of Judah shows the ancient faeces within contain Giardia - a parasite that can cause dysentery. Toilets with cesspits from this time are relatively rare and were usually made only for the elite Piers Mitchell A new analysis of ancient faeces taken from two Jerusalem latrines dating back to the biblical Kingdom of Judah has uncovered traces of a single-celled microorganism Giardia duodenalis - a common cause of debilitating diarrhoea in humans.

Environment - History / Archeology - 09.05.2023

Tooth enamel provides clues to hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Neanderthals
A study by an international team of researchers, led by the University of Southampton, has given an intriguing glimpse of the hunting habits and diets of Neanderthals and other humans living in western Europe. The scientists examined chemical properties locked inside tooth enamel to piece together how pre-historic people lived off the land around the Almonda Cave system, near Torres Novas in central Portugal almost 100 thousand years ago.

Environment - History / Archeology - 26.04.2023

Prolonged droughts likely spelled the end for Indus megacities
New research involving Cambridge University has found evidence - locked into an ancient stalagmite from a cave in the Himalayas - of a series of severe and lengthy droughts which may have upturned the Bronze Age Indus Civilization.

Life Sciences - History / Archeology - 30.03.2023

Ancient African empires’ impact on migration revealed by genetics
Traces of ancient empires that stretched across Africa remain in the DNA of people living on the continent, reveals a new genetics study led by UCL researchers. Published in Science Advances , the collaboration between UCL geneticists working alongside anthropologists, archaeologists, historians and linguists in Africa and beyond found evidence for when different peoples intermixed across the continent.

History / Archeology - 02.03.2023

Five discoveries that changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians created mummies
Centuries after the first golden coffins were taken to Europe, ancient Egyptian mummies still vividly capture people's imaginations. Perhaps we're awed by the grandeur of their rituals and tradition. But new discoveries keep challenging scientists' perception of these ancient rites. As a biomedical Egyptologist, I study mummies to learn about life in ancient populations.

History / Archeology - 06.02.2023

Mysterious skeleton revealed to be that of unusual Lady Anchoress of York Barbican
Analysis of a skeleton from the York Barbican Collection at the University of Sheffield has revealed a new and unique perspective on the life of a medieval anchoress The new study suggests the skeleton could belong to that of Lady Isabel German, who lived a life of solitude in York in the 15th Century New radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis of the bones has provided a new insight into the life of Lady German The collection and investigation

History / Archeology - 05.01.2023

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
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
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
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
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.