A new archaeology for the Anthropocene era
Indiana Jones and Lara Croft have a lot to answer for. Public perceptions of archaeology are often thoroughly outdated, and these characterisations do little to help. Archaeology as practiced today bears virtually no resemblance to the tomb raiding p.....»»
Newly discovered stone tools drag dawn of Greek archaeology back by a quarter-million years
Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors......»»
Neanderthal and human fire-making methods suggest different origins, shared intelligence
Professor Marlize Lombard, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, who has a research focus in stone age archaeology and Peter Gärdenfors, a professor of cognitive science at the University of Lund, Sweden, teamed up to investigate the cognitive i.....»»
Shell beads discovery sheds light on Stone Age seafaring
Stone Age humans may have made extended maritime voyages on the Caspian Sea, according to a new study published in the journal Open Archaeology......»»
Anthropocene "sixth mass extinction" event predicted to be worse than previously thought
A trio of macro-biologists and life scientists, two with Queen's University Belfast and the third with Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, has found that the modern "sixth mass extinction" event is going to be even worse than prior research has.....»»
Drobo, having stopped sales and support, reportedly files Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Company posted in January that it had "transitioned to a self-service model." We appreciate Lee Hutchinson's efforts toward situational archaeology in his initial Drobo FS review. Historians one day will know that, at a minimum,.....»»
“Smoke archaeology” reveals early humans were visiting Nerja Caves 41,000 years ago
Interdisciplinary study analyzed fossilized soot and charcoal from lighting sources. Enlarge / María Medina of the University of Cordoba working in the Navarro Cave, Malaga, Spain. (credit: University of Cordoba) For ov.....»»
Roman military camps in desert found by archaeologists using Google Earth
Three new Roman fortified camps have been identified across northern Arabia by a remote sensing survey by the University of Oxford's School of Archaeology. Their paper, published in the journal Antiquity, reports the discovery may be evidence of a pr.....»»
Archaeologist explains why we need to look underwater to understand our past
Traces of the past remain hidden in rivers, lakes and seas. But we rarely look underwater and, as they say, out of sight is out of mind. In his inaugural lecture Martijn Manders will explain why underwater archaeology is so important to understanding.....»»
Viking Age ceremonial burial shields found to be combat ready
Rolf Fabricius Warming from the Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies at Stockholm University in Sweden and founding director of the Society for Combat Archaeology is challenging previous interpretations of ceremonial shields found in a Vik.....»»
Archaeology shows how hunter-gatherers fit into southern Africa"s first city, 800 years ago
Where the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers meet, forming the modern border between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, lies a hill that hardly stands out from the rest. One could easily pass it without realizing its historical significance. It was on and a.....»»
Could a reinterpreted Marxism have solutions to our unprecedented environmental crisis?
In 2021, Kohei Saito's "Capital in the Anthropocene" became a publishing sensation in Japan, eventually selling more than half a million copies......»»
People of color largely underrepresented among authors published in the American Journal of Archaeology
A new demographic survey of authorship in the American Journal of Archaeology (AJA) reveals that people of color have been largely underrepresented among the scholars published in the journal......»»
Ancient artifacts reveal the "roots of Casas Grandes"
At an excavation site in northern Mexico, BYU archaeology students and professors recently discovered artifacts that have been buried for 1,000 years, including pottery sherds, hammer stones, maize kernels and—intriguing at a location 250 miles inl.....»»
Tree rings and strontium point researchers to the provenance of 400-year-old timber
Tree-ring analysis—so-called dendrochronological analysis—has been part of archaeology for many years and has made it possible for archaeologists to date old wooden objects with great precision. And in many cases, they have also been able to dete.....»»
Millet and sorghum cultivation may provide an answer to rising levels of aridity linked to climate change
A study by researchers from the UPF Culture, Archaeology and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group (CaSEs), recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, provides a global assessment of traditional small-scale farming practices for three of the worl.....»»
Lasers Are Mapping Scotland’s Mysterious Iron Age Passages
Digitized archaeology is making souterrains—subterranean passages in the Highlands—accessible in a way Indiana Jones could only dream of......»»
When Did the Anthropocene Actually Begin?
Scientists want to pinpoint the technology that marked when humanity became a “geological superpower.” On the short list: the H-bomb and the modern chicken......»»
Researchers unveil evolution of paleodiet at Neolithic Qujialing site
The sustainable development of agriculture has laid a solid foundation for the birth of human civilization and countries. Early agriculture has long been a focus of archaeology. China is the only country in the world with two independent agricultural.....»»
Interdisciplinary environmental history: How narratives of the past can meet the challenges of the Anthropocene
The stories historians tell about society and climate typically take one of two forms: stories in which societies experience catastrophic collapse due to climate change and stories in which societies show resilience, riding out climatic disasters due.....»»
World on fire: How do we adapt to a hotter planet?
Researchers around the globe agree: the Earth is getting warmer and warmer, extreme weather such as heat waves and long droughts increase the risk of wildfires. The group Wildfires in the Anthropocene at the Pufendorf Institute connects researchers f.....»»