All posts by Archaeology World Team

ASIA, SAUDI ARABIA, WORLD

Experts believe the 7,000-year-old circular stone structures were once houses, complete with doorways and roofs in Saudi Arabia

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Experts believe the 7,000-year-old circular stone structures were once houses, complete with doorways and roofs in Saudi Arabia

Archaeologists have excavated eight ancient “standing stone circles” in Saudi Arabia that they say were used as houses.

Eight of the 345 stone circles identified by aerial surveys in the Harrat ‘Uwayrid lava field in Saudi Arabia have been analyzed by researchers from the University of Western Australia and the University of Sydney, who suggest that the structures may have been roofed and served as dwellings.

These findings were published in the scientific journal “Levant” by a research team led by archaeologist Jane McMahon from the University of Sydney. The study examined 431 standing stone circles at various sites in Harrat Uwayrid in AlUla, with 52 undergoing field surveys and 11 being excavated.

This study, supervised by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), reveals that the region’s inhabitants were more stable and advanced than previously believed.

The circles date back around 7,000 years and have the remains of stone walls and at least one doorway.

An aerial view of some standing stone circles.

These dwellings consisted of vertically erected stone slabs with diameters ranging from four to eight meters. The outer circumference had two rows of stone slabs, likely used as foundations for wooden columns, possibly made of Acacia, supporting the roof.

A central slab within these stone circles supported a main wooden column. This architectural feature suggests a sophisticated understanding of weight distribution and structural support among the ancient inhabitants. Tools and animal remains found at these sites suggest that ceilings might have been made from animal skins.

During their excavations, the archaeologists discovered the remains of many stone tools made of basalt. In addition, excavations have unearthed tools linked to animal husbandry, including implements for wool shearing and sheep slaughter.

“These structures – which we think of more as shelters than ‘houses’ – were used for any and all activities. Inside, we found evidence of stone tool-making, cooking, and eating, as well as lost and broken tools used for processing animal hides,” said Jane McMahon from the University of Sydney.

The shelter foundations were formed by massive basalt blocks weighing up to a tonne each.

The team concluded that many, if not all, of the standing stone circles are also domestic structures based on the artifacts discovered within and the circles’ resemblance to ancient homes excavated in Jordan.

Also among the finds were a variety of seashells, all of which came from the Red Sea, which is located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) to the west. Other artifacts include sandstone and limestone ornaments and bracelets, as well as a piece of red sandstone chalk, possibly used for drawing.

Arrowheads discovered match types used in southern and eastern Jordan, indicating clear interaction between the regions.

McMahon highlighted that these early inhabitants were not merely shepherds but had sophisticated architecture, domesticated animals, ornaments, decorations, and various tools. The number and size of stone circles suggest a larger population than previously estimated.

Grindstones and mullers.

The research team included experts from King Saud University, local AlUla residents like Youssef Al-Balawi who provided ethnographic and cultural insights, and students from the University of Hail.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

A 4000-year-old Fabric Found in a Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert is the Oldest Dyed with Insect Dye

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A 4000-year-old Fabric Found in a Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert is the Oldest Dyed with Insect Dye

A 4000-year-old Fabric Found in a Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert is the Oldest Dyed with Insect Dye

Researchers discovered an ancient textile dyed with kermes (Kermes vermilio) in Israel’s Cave of Skulls that dates back to the Middle Bronze Age.

This textile, found in the Judean Desert and made of linen and wool dyed red, has been dated by direct radiocarbon to the Middle Bronze Age, specifically between 1954 and 1767 BC.

What makes this find unique is the use of red dye derived from the insect Kermes vermilioa luxurious and rare source of color in ancient times.

In a study of textiles discovered in the Cave of the Skulls in the Judean Desert, researchers conducted dye analyses using High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and identified a unique, red-dyed textile dyed with scaly insects.

This technique allowed for the detection of the dye’s presence and verified that the red dye originated from the scale insect Kermes vermilio, which parasitizes oak trees, particularly Quercus coccifera.

Despite being destructive, this method only needs a small sample, protecting the integrity of the antiquated object.

Textiles are rare items in the archaeological record due to their perishable nature and the rapid decomposition to which they are subject, making their preservation under special conditions, such as those in the caves of the Judean Desert, exceptionally valuable.

On the left larvae of kermes vermilio, in the center the analyzed tissue.

Detailed examination of this textile, despite its small size, enables researchers to trace the origin of the red color back to the insect species used, a significant discovery not only for its age but also for what it reveals about ancient civilizations’ knowledge and technology in the handling and application of natural dyes.

Given that using dyes made from scale insects, such as Kermes vermilio, was an expensive and labor-intensive process, it is possible that these textiles served as status and power symbols in prehistoric societies.

In addition to reflecting individual preferences, textile color was used in ancient societies as a nonverbal communication system about a person’s social and economic standing.

ASIA, JAPAN, WORLD

Japanese scientists ‘reawaken’ cells of a 28,000-Year-Old woolly mammoth

Japanese scientists ‘reawaken’ cells of a 28,000-Year-Old woolly mammoth

Japanese scientists 'reawaken' cells of a 28,000-Year-Old woolly mammoth

Her name is Yuka: an ancient woolly mammoth that last lived some 28,000 years ago, before becoming mummified in the frozen permafrost wastelands of northern Siberia.

But now that icy tomb is no longer the end of Yuka’s story.

The mammoth’s well-preserved remains were discovered in 2010, and scientists in Japan have now reawakened traces of biological activity in this long-extinct beast – by implanting Yuka’s cell nuclei into the egg cells of mice.

“This suggests that, despite the years that have passed, cell activity can still happen and parts of it can be recreated,” genetic engineer Kei Miyamoto from Kindai University told AFP.

In their experiment, the researchers extracted bone marrow and muscle tissue from Yuka’s remains, and inserted the least-damaged nucleus-like structures they could recover into living mouse oocytes (germ cells) in the lab.

Red and green dyed proteins around a mammoth cell nucleus (upper right) in a mouse oocyte (Kindai University)

In total, 88 of these nuclei structures were collected from 273.5 milligrams of mammoth tissue, and once some of these nuclei were injected into egg cells, a number of the modified cells demonstrated signs of cellular activity that precede cell division.

“In the reconstructed oocytes, the mammoth nuclei showed the spindle assembly, histone incorporation, and partial nuclear formation,” the authors explain in the new paper.

“However, the full activation of nuclei for cleavage was not confirmed.”

Despite the faintness of this limited biological activity, the fact anything could be observed at all is remarkable, and suggests that “cell nuclei are, at least partially, sustained even in over a 28,000 year period”, the researchers say.

Calling the accomplishment a “significant step toward bringing mammoths back from the dead”, Miyamoto acknowledges there is nonetheless a long way to go before the world can expect to see a Jurassic Park-style resurrection of this long-vanished species.

“Once we obtain cell nuclei that are kept in better condition, we can expect to advance the research to the stage of cell division,” Miyamoto told The Asahi Shimbun.

Less-damaged samples, the researchers suggest, could hypothetically enable the possibility of inducing further nuclear functions, such as DNA replication and transcription.

Another thing that is needed is better technology. Previous similar work in 2009 by members of the same research team didn’t get this far – which the scientists at least partially put down to “technological limitations at that time”, and the state of the frozen mammoth tissues used.

To that end, the researchers think their new research could provide a new “platform to evaluate the biological activities of nuclei in extinct animal species” – an incremental progression to perhaps one day, maybe, seeing Yuka’s kind roam again.

ASIA, INDONESIA, WORLD

51,000-year-old Indonesian cave painting may be the world’s oldest storytelling art

51,000-year-old Indonesian cave painting may be the world’s oldest storytelling art

51,000-year-old Indonesian cave painting may be the world's oldest storytelling art
The 51,200-year-old cave art in Leang Karampuang, Sulawesi, is the oldest narrative rock art ever discovered. The artwork depicts a human-like figure interacting with a warty pig.

A cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may be the oldest evidence of narrative art ever discovered, researchers say. The artwork, which depicts a human-like figure interacting with a warty pig, suggests people may have been using art as a way of telling stories for much longer than we thought. 

Archaeological evidence shows that Neanderthals began marking caves as early as 75,000 years ago, but these markings were typically non-figurative. Until a few years ago, the oldest known figurative cave painting was a 21,000-year-old rock art panel in Lascaux, France, showing a bird-headed human charging a bison. But in 2019, archaeologists unearthed hundreds of examples of rock art in caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst.

The rock art included a 15-foot-wide (4.5 meters) panel depicting human-like figures engaging with warty pigs (Sus celebensis) and anoas (Bubalus) — dwarf buffalos native to Sulawesi.

“Storytelling is a hugely important part of human evolution, and possibly even it helps to explain our success as a species. But finding evidence for it in art, especially very early cave art, is exceptionally rare,” Adam Brumm, co-author of the new study and an archaeologist at Griffith University in Australia, said at a news conference. 

The archaeologists previously dated the panel rock art and found it to be at least 43,900 years old, while the oldest image they found in the area was of a 45,500-year-old warty pig. 

Now, using a more sensitive dating technique, the archaeologists found that the rock art is at least 4,000 years older than previously thought, making it around 48,000 years old.

More strikingly, the archaeologists found a similar depiction of the human-like figure and warty pig at another cave in Leang Karampuang that was at least 51,200 years old, making it the oldest known narrative art. Their findings were published Wednesday (July 3) in the journal Nature. 

Archaeologists were intrigued by the narrative art’s depiction of a part-human, part-animal figure, or therianthrope. 

A panorama of the nearly 15-feet-wide (4.5 meters) panel in one of the caves.

“Archaeologists are very interested in depictions of therianthrope because it provides evidence for the ability to imagine the existence of a supernatural being, something that does not exist in real life,” Brumm said. 

Previously, the earliest evidence of a therianthrope was the 40,000-year-old ‘Lion Man’ sculpture unearthed in a cave in Germany. 

“These depictions from Indonesia are pushing back the dates back nearly 20,000 years earlier, which is groundbreaking, really,” said Derek Hodgson, an archaeologist and scientific advisor for INSCRIBE, a European-based project investigating the development of writing, who was not involved in the study.

The early evidence of a therianthrope is a sign of complex human cognition, Hodgson told Live Science. “You don’t find any of these Neanderthals or early pre-human archaic species producing complex figurative art.” 

A map of Indonesian Island of Sulawesi where the archaeologists conducted the study. The area inside the rectangle is the southwestern peninsula of Mares-Pangkep karst. The red boxes on the right show the location of the cave sites.

To more accurately date the narrative art, the researchers used a technique called laser ablation uranium-series imaging. 

Previously, the scientists dated the cave paintings by carbon-dating small samples of cave “popcorn” — calcite clusters that have accumulated over thousands of years. 

But in the new study, Brumm and his team used even smaller calcite samples — just 0.002 inches (44 microns) long. By taking much smaller samples, the archaeologists gain a higher resolution of the age distribution of the calcite on the cave walls. The technique also minimizes the damage made to the artwork.

“It really changes the way we do the dating on record, and it can be applied to other records as well,” study co-author Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a geochronologist at Southern Cross University in Australia, said at the news conference.  

A team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists excavate the caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst on the island of Sulawesi.

But not everyone agrees. Paul Pettitt, a paleolithic archaeologist at Durham University in the U.K. who was not involved in the study, said that to suggest the art is a narrative, the researchers had to “really make a leap of faith.” 

“The dating method is robust, but the team’s interpretations are certainly not,” he wrote in a statement emailed to Live Science. Looking at the images, it was unclear to him whether these paintings were isolated depictions that just happened to be next to each other. 

According to the authors, while the identity of the painters, most likely Homo sapiens, is a mystery, the lack of evidence for human occupations suggests that the cave might have been reserved for art-making. The cave is tucked away from the rest of the area at a higher elevation.

The interior of the Leang Karampuang cave wall in Sulawesi is filled with calcite clusters.

“It’s possible that people, these early humans, were only going up into these high-level caves to make this art,” study co-author Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist at Griffith University, said at the news conference. “Perhaps there was stories and rituals associated with the viewing of the art, we don’t know. But these seem to be special places in the landscape.”

The team is planning to survey and date more rock art in the area. 

Recently, Adhi Agus Oktaviana, the study’s lead author and archaeologist at the Center for Prehistory and Austronesian Studies (CPAS) in Indonesia, found a painting in another cave of three figures depicting a human, a half-human-half-bird and a bird figure. But the team has not analyzed the painting yet.

“It’s very likely that there is some more beautiful ones hidden somewhere that we don’t know,” Aubert said.  

NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

How popcorn was discovered nearly 7,000 years ago

How popcorn was discovered nearly 7,000 years ago

How popcorn was discovered nearly 7,000 years ago
Could a spill by the cook fire have been popcorn’s eureka moment?

You have to wonder how people originally figured out how to eat some foods that are beloved today. The cassava plant is toxic if not carefully processed through multiple steps. Yogurt is basically old milk that’s been around for a while and contaminated with bacteria. And who discovered that popcorn could be a toasty, tasty treat?

These kinds of food mysteries are pretty hard to solve. Archaeology depends on solid remains to figure out what happened in the past, especially for people who didn’t use any sort of writing. Unfortunately, most stuff people traditionally used made from wood, animal materials or cloth decays pretty quickly, and archaeologists like me never find it.

We have lots of evidence of hard stuff, such as pottery and stone tools, but softer things — such as leftovers from a meal — are much harder to find. Sometimes we get lucky, if softer stuff is found in very dry places that preserve it. Also, if stuff gets burned, it can last a very long time.

Corn’s ancestors

Luckily, corn — also called maize — has some hard parts, such as the kernel shell. They’re the bits at the bottom of the popcorn bowl that get caught in your teeth. And since you have to heat maize to make it edible, sometimes it got burned, and archaeologists find evidence that way. Most interesting of all, some plants, including maize, contain tiny, rock-like fragments called phytoliths that can last for thousands of years.

Scientists are pretty sure they know how old maize is. We know maize was probably first farmed by Native Americans in what is now Mexico. Early farmers there domesticated maize from a kind of grass called teosinte.

The ancestor of maize was a grass called teosinte.

Before farming, people would gather wild teosinte and eat the seeds, which contained a lot of starch, a carbohydrate like you’d find in bread or pasta. They would pick teosinte with the largest seeds and eventually started weeding and planting it. Over time, the wild plant developed into something like what we call maize today. You can tell maize from teosinte by its larger kernels.

There’s evidence of maize farming from dry caves in Mexico as early as 9,000 years ago. From there, maize farming spread throughout North and South America.

Popped corn, preserved food

Figuring out when people started making popcorn is harder. There are several types of maize, most of which will pop if heated, but one variety, actually called “popcorn,” makes the best popcorn.

Scientists have discovered phytoliths from Peru, as well as burned kernels, of this type of “poppable” maize from as early as 6,700 years ago.

Each popcorn kernel is a seed, ready to burst when heated.

You can imagine that popping maize kernels was first discovered by accident. Some maize probably fell into a cooking fire, and whoever was nearby figured out that this was a handy new way of preparing the food. Popped maize would last a long time and was easy to make.

Ancient popcorn was probably not much like the snack you might munch at the movie theater today. There was probably no salt and definitely no butter, since there were no cows to milk in the Americas yet. It probably wasn’t served hot and was likely pretty chewy compared with the version you’re used to today.

It’s impossible to know exactly why or how popcorn was invented, but I would guess it was a clever way to preserve the edible starch in corn by getting rid of the little bit of water inside each kernel that would make it more susceptible to spoiling. It’s the heated water in the kernel escaping as steam that makes popcorn pop.

The popped corn could then last a long time. What you may consider a tasty snack today probably started as a useful way of preserving and storing food.

EUROPE, PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Megalithic Temple Used by a ‘Water Cult’

Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Megalithic Temple Used by a ‘Water Cult’

Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Megalithic Temple Used by a 'Water Cult'
Archaeologists uncovered a 3000-year-old megalithic temple in Peru

Archaeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old megalithic temple in Peru that an ancient “water cult” used for fertility rituals.

The temple, found at the Huaca El Toro archaeological site, is located in modern-day Oyotún in the Zaña Valley of  northwestern Peru. It is the first megalithic temple, or one made from large stones, found in this valley, which sits between two rivers that join together and give rise to the Zaña River.

The ancient cult, whose members worshiped water, likely built the temple in an area where a new river rises as a kind of “territorial symbolism,” said Edgar Bracamonte, an archaeologist with the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru, who took part in the excavations.

“Water is the most important element to live, and in this time, water was so difficult to access without technology.” 

The temple dates back 3,000 years, to the Formative period, a stage of ancient American history that predates any major hydraulic works, Bracamonte said.

The temple’s location between the rivers and the presence of the surrounding “pocitos,” or small wells that the ancients used to predict rainy seasons, “show water’s importance to people of [the] Formative period,” he added.

The temple was surrounded with tiny wells or “pocitos” that the ancient people used to predict rainy seasons.

The temple was constructed using different sizes of large, carved rocks, which were moved to the area from mountains around 1.86 miles (3 kilometers) away.

The temple is thought to have been abandoned around 250 B.C. and then used as a burial ground by the Chumy people who, around 1300, reoccupied the site, Bracamonte said.

The team discovered 21 tombs in the temple; 20 belonged to the Chumy people and one belonged to an adult male buried during the Formative period.

During that period, bodies were oriented east to west and buried with a single offering. This adult male was buried with a ceramic bottle that had two spouts and a bridge handle, a style characteristic of the final Formative period, Bracamonte said.

The excavations also revealed that the temple was occupied in three stages — the first between 1500 B.C. and 800 B.C., when people built the structure’s foundations from cone-shaped clay; the second between 800 B.C. and 400 B.C., when the megalithic temple was built with influences from the pre-Inca civilization known as the Chavin; and the third between 400 B.C. and 100 B.C., when people added circular columns that were used to hold up the roof of the temple.

The excavations took place between September and November of this year, but the researchers are continuing to analyze their finds in the lab.

To build this site, ancient people had to move stones from mountains around 1.86 miles (3 kilometers) away.
SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

4,000-year-old Rock Art From A Previously Unknown Ancient Culture uncovered in Venezuela

4,000-year-old Rock Art From A Previously Unknown Ancient Culture uncovered in Venezuela

4,000-year-old Rock Art From A Previously Unknown Ancient Culture uncovered in Venezuela

An archaeological team in Venezuela has uncovered 20 ancient rock art sites in Canaima National Park in the southeastern part of the country, consisting of both pictograms and petroglyphs, estimated to be about 4,000 years old.

This discovery reveals a previously unknown culture, even though similar rock art has been found elsewhere in South America.

The newfound rock art, referred to as pictograms, was painted in red and featured geometric shapes such as dotted lines, rows of X’s, star-shaped patterns, and interconnected straight lines.

Additionally, there are simple depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people. Some images, known as petroglyphs, were incised into the rock and exhibit similar geometric designs.

These paintings resemble other rock art from South America, such as that from Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana, but they also show the rise of a unique cultural group that was previously unknown.

An archaeologist and researcher at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, José Miguel Pérez-Gómez told DailyMail.com that previous studies have found no signs of human activity in the region, suggesting the art was made by a previously unknown civilization.

One area where rock art sites were found in Venezuela was near Angel Falls, the tallest land waterfall on Earth.

The purpose behind this art remains unclear.

The various representations could be associated with topics like childbirth, illness, nature reviving, or ethical hunting. Just as churches have great meaning for people today, the sites where the rock art was made probably had great significance for the surrounding environment.

“It is almost impossible to get into the minds of people living so many [thousands of] years ago” lead researcher José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, told Live Science over email. He added that “definitely these signs had a ritual meaning.”

Ceramic and stone tool remains were also discovered at the 20 rock art sites, possibly used by the artists themselves. However, Pérez-Gómez says more research is needed to confirm this. He also stated that more rock art sites are likely to be discovered in Canaima National Park as research continues.

Rock art from Upuigma-tepui rock shelter in Canaima National Park, Venezuela.

Although it is not known precisely how old rock art is, similar rock art in Brazil has been dated to about 4,000 years ago, but Perez-Gomez believes the examples in Venezuela may be older.

The park might have been the original place where this unknown culture first developed, Perez-Gomez told Live Science, adding that they may have later dispersed to places as far away as the Amazon River, the Guianas, and even southern Colombia, which all feature rock art akin to the newly found sites in Venezuela.

The research was first presented at the “New Worlds New Ideas” prehistoric archaeological congress held in Valcamonica, Italy.

Some of the newly found rock art in Venezuela.
AUSTRIA, EUROPE, WORLD

1,500-Year-Old Christian Ivory Reliquary Box Discovered in Austria

1,500-Year-Old Christian Ivory Reliquary Box Discovered in Austria

1,500-Year-Old Christian Ivory Reliquary Box Discovered in Austria

Archaeologists have discovered an exceptional Christian ancient ivory reliquary  box in Austria that is thought to be around 1,500 years old.

Innsbruck archaeologists have been excavating in an old hilltop settlement in southern Austria since the summer of 2016. They made the incredible discovery of a Christian reliquary concealed in a previously unknown church two years ago. This reliquary contained an ancient ivory  box, richly decorated with Christian symbols.

The incredible artifact was discovered on August 4, 2022, in an early Christian church on the Burgbichl hill in Irschen, southern Austria, by a team headed by archaeologist Gerald Grabherr. A marble shrine measuring around 20 by 30 centimeters was hidden under the altar in the side chapel area.

The artifact in question is heavily fragmented, but researchers said the pieces once formed a type of round container known as a “pyx” that in this case was made of ivory and richly decorated with Christian motifs.

The shrine contained a heavily fragmented ivory “box” (pyx) richly decorated with Christian motifs – a reliquary that is normally taken away as the “holiest” part when a church is abandoned. In this case, however, it was left behind. It is the first such pyx to be found in an archaeological context in Austria.

The individual fragments of the ivory pyx found in a marble shrine laid out as a panorama.

“We know of around 40 ivory  boxes of this kind worldwide and, as far as I know, the last time one of these was found during excavations was around 100 years ago – the few pyxes that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or exhibited in museums,” explains the finder, Gerald Grabherr.

While the archaeologists initially assumed that the remains of a saint – i.e. a relic in the classic sense of the word – were also found in the marble  box, the layering of the fragments found in the shrine indicates that the ivory pyx was already broken in late antiquity and was buried in the altar.

“The pyx was presumably also seen as sacred and was treated as such because it was in contact with a relic. The archaeological and art-historical significance of the pyx cannot be denied,” emphasizes Gerald Grabherr.

At one end, the pyx shows a figure at the foot of a mountain – the man depicted is turning his gaze away and a hand rising out of the sky above him, placing something between the person’s arms.

 “This is the typical depiction of the handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man from the Old Testament,” says Gerald Grabherr.

This is followed by depictions of biblical figures. At the end, you can see a man on a chariot with two horses harnessed to it – and here, too, a hand coming out of the clouds pulls this figure up into heaven. “We assume that this is a depiction of the ascension of Christ, the fulfilment of the covenant with God.

The depiction of scenes from the Old Testament and their connection with scenes from  the New Testament New Testament is typical of late antiquity and thus fits in with our pyx; however, the depiction of the Ascension of Christ with a so-called biga, a two-horse chariot, is very special and previously unknown.”

Since its discovery, the 1,500-year-old ivory pyx has been conserved at the University of Innsbruck.

Ivory stored underground absorbs moisture, making it very soft and easily damaged. Uncontrolled drying can lead to shrinkage and cracks.

Ulrike Töchterle, head of the restoration workshop in Innsbruck, said, “The high humidity in the marble shrine meant there was a high risk of condensation and mold, so we had to ensure a careful and prolonged drying process.”

Over the past two years, the individual pieces of the ivory pyx have been conserved for  scientific analysis. The larger parts are deformed, so the pyx cannot be restored to its original state. However, researchers are working on a 3D reconstruction.