ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Footprints Reflect Ecosystem Change in Prehistoric England

Footprints Reflect Ecosystem Change in Prehistoric England

“It’s about 8,200 years old,” says Dr Alison Burns, pointing to a perfectly preserved human footprint pressed into ancient mud on Formby Beach. It is one of the hundreds of newly discovered ancient footprints here.

The sandy stretch of the northwest England coast is already known to be home to one of the largest collections of prehistoric animal tracks on Earth.

As well as adding to that collection, researchers found the oldest prints were formed much earlier than thought. The first date back almost 9,000 years and the youngest of the prints are medieval – about 1,000 years old.

These findings, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, tell the story of a coastal environment that transformed over thousands of years, as sea levels rapidly rose and humans settled permanently by the water.

The size and shape of the picture-perfect human footprint that Dr Burns has found suggest it belonged to a young man – perhaps a teenager. Strangely, this adolescent foot had the very distinct protrusion of a bunion on its little toe.

Researchers worked out that this human footprint was made more than 8,000 years ago

“It’s a tailor’s bunion,” Dr Burns explains. “They were habitually barefoot, so when they sat down, the little toe would have rubbed on the ground.”

The indentations, pressed into the mud as people and animals walked across stretches of tidal mud flat, were baked in the sun and buried for millennia.

“The oldest ones date to a time when the coastline was 30km away and the tidal muds here were teeming with animals – aurochs, herds of red deer, roe deer and also predators like wolves and lynx that are now extinct in the UK,” explains Prof Jamie Woodward from the University of Manchester.

He and Dr Burns, along with their colleagues, verified the ages of the tracks by carbon-dating seeds extracted from cores of this ancient, compressed mud.

Altogether there are 31 footprint beds, which point to a period of dramatic change in this ecosystem. “Up to about 6,000 years ago, there was a very diverse landscape with all those animals,” says Prof Woodward. “Then after about 5,500 years ago, we see lots of human footprints, some deer and dogs, but not much else.

“So what we’re seeing – through the footprints – is a landscape transforming with sea-level rise, and also with the arrival of agriculture that probably put a lot more pressure on this ecosystem.”

Dr Burns, who led the study, explains that as the sea erodes away layers of this ancient, compressed mud, it can reveal new layers of footprints. The deeper the layers, the earlier they were formed.

Footprints Reflect Ecosystem Change in Prehistoric England

Footsteps took thousands – even millions of years ago – have left tracks in many parts of the UK’s coastline, which scientists have been able to find, study and turn into a deeper understanding of our prehistory.

In May 2013, a storm exposed some indentations at Happisburgh in Norfolk, which researchers eventually confirmed to be 900,000-year-old human footprints. In 2015, Edinburgh University researchers found trackways on the Isle of Skye, left 170 million years ago by the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth.

But the Formby footprints are particularly fragile.

“They can be washed away within weeks of being exposed,” Dr Burns explains. “Some of them will be reburied and preserved for another few millennia – it’s all a part of this changing coastline.”

The coast at Formby is transforming particularly quickly – its famous dunes are in constant motion – rolling inland by an estimated 4m every year. At one spot on the expansive beach, you can see the remnants of the old visitor’s car park that’s now been rebuilt further inland.

“What’s amazing here is that we’ve tracked a major ecosystem change solely by looking at the footprint record – with no bones or fossils.

“That could paint a picture for the future of our coastal biodiversity hotspots,” adds Prof Woodward.

“Many of the biodiversity hotspots now are in coastal environments. And those environments are threatened by rapid sea-level rise now, so there are lessons we can learn about how habitats can become degraded and disconnected, which will affect the animals that can survive there.”

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Stone spheres could be from Ancient Greek board game

Stone spheres could be from Ancient Greek board game

Archaeologists from the University of Bristol have suggested that mysterious stone spheres found at various ancient settlements across the Aegean and Mediterranean could be playing pieces from one of the earliest ever board games.

There has been quite a lot of speculation around these spheres found at sites on Santorini, Crete, Cyprus, and other Greek Islands with theories around their use including being for some sort of sling stones, tossing balls, counting/record-keeping system or as counters/pawns.

Previous research by the same team from the University of Bristol indicated that there was variability in sphere size within specific clusters and collections of spheres.

Groups of spheres from Akrotiri.

Following on from this the team wanted to explore potential patterning within these sphere concentrations, to help give an insight into their potential use. 

The latest study published this week in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports by Drs Christianne Fernée and Konstantinos Trimmis from the University of Bristol’s Department of Anthropology and Archaeology examined common features on 700 stones – which range from around 4,500 to 3,600 years old – found at the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini.

The stones, which are smaller than golf balls, are in various colours and made from different materials. The analysis put the stones into two groups larger stones and smaller ones. In addition, in Akrotiri and in other settlements across the Aegean there are stone slabs with shallow cup marks where the spheres could have sat or been placed.

Dr Ferneé said: “The most important finding of the study is that the speres fit two major clusters (one of smaller and one of larger stones).

This supports the hypothesis that they were used as counters for a board game with the spheres most possibly have been collected to fit these clusters rather than a counting system for which you would expect more groupings.”

If these spheres are in-fact part of a boardgame, they will be one of the earliest examples, along with similar examples from the Levant and Egypt, such as the Egyptian Mehen and Senet.

Dr Trimmis added: “The social importance of the spheres, as indicated by the way they were deposited in specific cavities, further supports the idea of the spheres being part of a game that was played for social interaction. This gives a new insight into the social interaction in the Bronze Age Aegean.”

The next stage of the research is to apply a similar methodology to the slabs to see if there is clustering in the cup marks and trying to associate the spheres and slabs together. The team also hope to use artificial intelligence techniques to determine how the game was actually played.

EUROPE, SWEDEN, WORLD

Nobel Prize Awarded for Development of Paleogenomics

Nobel Prize Awarded for Development of Paleogenomics

Neanderthals were a separate species of human that populated Europe for hundreds of thousands of years until they went extinct 40,000 years ago

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has gone to Sweden’s Svante Paabo for his work on human evolution. The Prize committee said he achieved the seemingly impossible task of cracking the genetic code of one of our extinct relatives – Neanderthals.

He also performed the “sensational” feat of discovering the previously unknown relative – Denisovans.

His work helped explore our own evolutionary history and how humans spread around the planet.

The Swedish geneticist’s work gets to the heart of some of the most fundamental questions – where do we come from and what allowed us, Homo sapiens, to succeed while our relatives went extinct.

He was just off to pick his daughter up from a sleepover when he got the call saying he’d won. He told the BBC: “I was very surprised and overwhelmed, I had not expected this.”

In the 1990s, research on working out the human genetic code was taking place at pace. But that relied on fresh samples of pristine DNA.

Prof Paabo’s interest was in the old, degraded and contaminated genetic material from our ancestors. Many thought it was an impossible challenge. But he was, for the first time, able to sequence DNA from a 40,000-year-old piece of bone.

Those results showed that Neanderthals – who mostly lived in Europe and Western Asia – were distinct from both modern-day humans and chimpanzees.

His work focused on hominins – the group of modern humans that includes us, Homo sapiens, but also our extinct relatives.

“By revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human”, the Nobel committee said.

Further comparisons between Neanderthal DNA and humans from around the world showed their DNA was a closer match to humans coming from Europe or Asia.

This tells us that Homo sapiens had sex and children with Neanderthals after migrating out of Africa around 70,000 years ago.

And you can still see the legacy of that today. Between 1-4% of modern human DNA comes from our Neanderthal relatives and this even affects our body’s ability to respond to infection.

Cave finger

The next seismic contribution to human origins came in 2008. Scientists found a 40,000-year-old finger bone in the Denisova cave, in Siberia.

Prof Paabo was able to sequence a sample of DNA and the results showed it was a previously unknown hominin – known as Denisovans. And it turned out Homo sapiens bred with Denisovans too. In parts of South East Asia, up to 6% of people’s DNA is Denisovan.

Some of this genetic inheritance helps the body cope with low levels of oxygen, aids survival at high altitudes and is found in present-day Tibetans.

Prof Paabo only heard the news this morning when he was called by Thomas Perlmann, the secretary for the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine.

“He was overwhelmed, he was speechless. Very happy,” said Prof Perlmann.

Prof Paabo is seen as one of the founders of the scientific discipline of paleogenomics. He wins the 10m Swedish kronor (£800,000) prize. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Sune Bergstrom, who won the same Nobel Prize in 1982.

His work shows there were already two distinct groups of hominins (Neanderthals and Denisovans) living in Eurasia when Homo sapiens spread from Africa.

Analysis suggests these now extinct populations were small and relatively inbred and may not have been able to compete with rapidly expanding modern humans.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Byzantine gold coins hidden in a wall in the 7th century were uncovered by Israeli archaeologists

Byzantine gold coins hidden in a wall in the 7th century were uncovered by Israeli archaeologists

Byzantine gold coins hidden in a wall in the 7th century were uncovered by Israeli archaeologists

Archaeologists in Israel say 44 pure gold coins dating to the 7th Century have been found hidden in a wall at a nature reserve.

Weighing about 170g, the hoard found at the Hermon Stream (Banias) site was hidden during the Muslim conquest of the area in 635, experts estimated.

They said the coins shed light on the end of the Byzantine rule in the area.

The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which survived for more than 1,000 years.

“We can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property,” said Yoav Lerer, director of the excavation.

“In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate.”

Dr Gabriela Bijovsky says the coins help document the life of Emperor Heraclius’s family

Apart from the gold coins, the excavation – in a residential quarter of the ancient city – also uncovered the remains of buildings, water channels and pipes, bronze coins and much more, Israeli authorities said.

Dr Gabriela Bijovsky, a numismatic (currency) expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said some of the coins were of Emperor Phocas (602-610), but most were of his successor Heraclius.

Banias has a particular place in Christian tradition, being the site where Jesus is said to have told the apostle Peter, “on this rock, I will build my church”.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

7,000-year-old fish traps discovered in the Norwegian mountains

7,000-year-old fish traps discovered in the Norwegian mountains

7,000-year-old fish traps discovered in the Norwegian mountains
Freshwater biologist Trygve Hesthagen inspecting the fish traps. Fresh poles have been put in place to map out the construction.

Reidar Marstein was out walking in Jotunheimen this summer in June, some 850 metres above sea level when he saw something strange at the bottom of the mountain lake Tesse in Lom municipality.

The water in the lake is drained every summer in order to produce power. Hobby-archaeologist Marstein immediately realised that the short wooden poles he saw sticking up in the low water formed a pattern.

“I saw that they were placed in a particular system,” Marstein says to the Norwegian national broadcaster NRK (link in Norwegian).

The system of wooden poles were in fact Stone Age fish traps, the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo writes in a press release (link in Norwegian).

One of the poles has recently been established to be 7,000 years old, meaning it is dated to 5,000 years BC. This is the early Stone Age in a Norwegian context.

“The find is unique evidence of an ancient fishing tradition in the mountains!” the Museum writes in the press release.

A reconstruction of what the fish traps most likely would have looked like some 7000 years ago.

Three large fish traps

Together with freshwater biologist Trygve Hesthagen, Marstein managed to get a fair overview of the poles before the lake was again filled with water over the summer.

At least three trapping chambers with guiding fences have been identified at the bottom of the lake. The guiding fences have probably led the fish into the traps, after which the catch could be collected from a boat or by somebody wading out into the water.

The fish trapping constructions in Tesse are among the oldest of this type from Northern Europe.

The wood is well preserved, and the archaeologists hope to get detailed information about the exact age of the fish traps, how many years they were in use, how often they were repaired and during which time of the year such repair work was carried out.

This piece of wood has been dated to be 7000 years old. (Photo: Reidar Marstein)

Hunters, gatherers, and fishermen

This piece of wood has been dated to be 7000 years old.

Previous excavations around lake Tesse have found remains from the Stone Age all the way back to 7,000 years BC. It would have largely been the reindeer that drew hunters and gatherers to these mountains.

Traces of the reindeer hunting have been found en masse by the glacial archaeologists in the Secrets of the Ice programme who secure finds that melt out of glaciers in the mountains. The more the ice melts, the older the items they find – from the Bronze Age and recently also from the Stone Age.

“There have however been great insecurities around whether or not Stone Age people came to the mountains just to hunt and gather, or if they indeed were also catching trout,” the press release reads.

Well, now we know. They were definitely catching some trout.

Excavations in 2013 and 2014 revealed extensive Stone Age activity on the shores of the mountain lake Tesse, including from the time when the fish traps would have been in active use.

Excavations in 2013 and 2014 revealed extensive Stone Age activity on the shores of the mountain lake Tesse, including from the time when the fish traps would have been in active use. (Photo: Birgitte Bjørkli/KHM)

Full excavation next spring

During the summer, lake Tesse has again been filled with water. The fish traps are now around 2-4 metres below the water surface. Divers from the Norwegian Maritime Museum have recently secured more samples and measurements from the poles, and also covered up some parts of the construction.

“Examinations of these wooden poles can give us knowledge about the Stone Age which we otherwise just dream of when excavating a Stone Age settlement,” the archaeologists write excitedly in the press release.

“In a Norwegian and Scandinavian context, this is a remarkable find. It’s a gift,” archaeologist Axel Mjærum from the Museum of Cultural History says to NRK.

A complete excavation is planned for spring next year.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

5000-year-old Pyramid Structure Leads to Grisly Finds In Peru

5000-year-old Pyramid Structure Leads to Grisly Finds In Peru

5000-year-old Pyramid Structure Leads to Grisly Finds In Peru
A previously discovered pendant made by the Sechin culture. (Lombard Museum/CC BY 3.0) Right: The newly unearthed Peruvian pyramid was also made by the Sechin culture. (Andina)

In Peru, archaeologists have uncovered a mysterious pyramid structure in a massive archaeological complex. The pyramid may have been used for ceremonial purposes and could even have been the site of human sacrifices. It is hoped that this discovery will help researchers to better understand one of the first Andean civilizations.

The amazing discovery was made at the Sechin Archaeological Project, in the northern province of Casma in the Ancash region. This historic site dates back over 5000 years and it is believed to have been the centre of an enigmatic prehistoric society known as the Sechin culture.

Little is known about this culture, but it constructed some of the first monumental buildings in the Americas. Many experts believe that it even may be the first known civilization in the Andes.

Sechín Archaeological site (relief – head profile left).

A Sacrificial Pyramid-Structure?

Staff and experts from the Sechin Archaeological Project had been excavating the site when they made the discovery. The structure was buried deep in the ground. A team of specialists and workers had to dig 18 feet (5.49 meters) of earth and move large stones to uncover the pyramidical construction.

This structure consists of a series of steps that are made out of slabs and stones and are similar to a step-pyramid. It is an estimated 10 feet (3.05 meters) high and 15 feet (4.57 meters) wide.

The pyramid is believed to be approximately 5000 years old and is in good condition.

The newly found Peruvian pyramid consists of a series of steps.

According to Archaeology News Network, ‘the pyramid is located within the south-central part of the main building’. This massive structure was once believed to be the seat of government for the Sechin culture.

The researcher’s initial assessment is that the pyramid was used for ritual and possibly religious purposes. Archaeologist Monica Suarez, the coordinator at the Archaeological Project, stated “It served a ceremonial purpose, but we need to make further analysis.” Many cultures in the ancient Andes used similar buildings for rites and sacrifices. Living and Traveling in Peru reports that stepped pyramids were ‘aimed at attaining higher or elevated levels of spirituality.’

Skulls and a Dismembered Skeleton

There were a number of grisly discoveries made near the pyramid. For example, the archaeologists uncovered two human skulls, which after a preliminary study were determined to have belonged to an adult and a young child. At the side of the structure, they found a skeleton that appears to have been dismembered. This is evidence that a person may have had his or her limbs cut off while still alive or post-mortem.

The discovery of the skulls and skeletons ‘makes the theory of ceremonial practices gain traction,’ reports Andina. It is also possible that human sacrifices took place on the stepped structure. There was a long tradition of human sacrifices in the Andes until the coming of the Spanish.

Two skulls and a dismembered skeleton have been found. ( Andina)

However, researchers at the archaeological park believe that it is also possible ‘that the stepped, pyramid-shaped structure served as a ladder to get to a higher level,’ according to Andina. The nature of the stepped structure and its location may mean that it was used to access the centre of the ancient site. It may have allowed the inhabitants of the massive complex to approach the central building.

The Peruvian Pyramid Provides Insights into a Mysterious Culture

Andina quotes Suarez as saying, “There is an adobe wall at the top, with fingerprints of Sechin inhabitants visible in the mud.” It appears that when the mud bricks were still wet the workers deliberately left impressions with their fingers. These fingerprints can be viewed as workers signing their work.

Work will continue on the pyramidical construction and the remains found in its vicinity will be thoroughly studied. The pyramid-like structure can provide more information on the Sechin complex. More importantly, if it is proven to have been a ceremonial site, it can help researchers to better understand the mysterious people who lived here 5000 years ago.

Pendants made by the Sechin culture.
EUROPE, WORLD

Ancient Burial of a Young Girl Shows How We Carried Our Babies 10,000 Years Ago

Ancient Burial of a Young Girl Shows How We Carried Our Babies 10,000 Years Ago

Ancient Burial of a Young Girl Shows How We Carried Our Babies 10,000 Years Ago
Artistic reconstruction of the ancient infant burial.

A new look at an extremely rare infant burial in Europe suggests humans were carrying around their young in slings as far back as 10,000 years ago. The findings add weight to the idea that baby carriers were widely used in prehistoric times, although archaeological evidence of such cloth is not usually preserved in the fossil record.

Researchers discovered the grave in Italy’s Arma Veirana cave in 2017. In the years since the buried infant was dubbed “Neve”, and her teeth suggest she is the oldest female child interred in Europe.

Notably, Neve’s community laid her to rest with a large number of beads, suggesting she was well-loved and well-regarded.

Now, a fresh analysis of the grave’s contents and the child’s position suggests adults carried Neve during her short life, wrapped in a shell-adorned sling.

Nothing remains of the wrap today, but the shells surrounding Neve are perforated in such a way that indicates someone strung the shells together and sewed them on textile, fur, or hide.

A previous 2017 study of Neve’s beads estimated they took hours of work to fashion. Burying the ornaments would not have been a decision made lightly. These materials could have formed a sling, or they could have been a blanket or undergarment.

All three theories are legitimate, but researchers behind this latest analysis, led by Arizona State University anthropologist Claudine Gravel-Miguel, suspect the baby carrier option is more likely for a few reasons.

Because the infant’s legs are tucked up over the abdomen, disguising many of the shells, Gravel-Miguel and colleagues suspect these adornments were not meant as funerary ornaments, scattered on the top of a grave.

Instead, they were probably “part of a decorated garment or baby sling that was likely used during the infant’s life.”

Some of the shell beads are even curved around the child’s upper arm bone, possibly tracing the outline of the long-lost wrap.

Careful scanning of the shells themselves shows they are well-worn, and suggests they were used for much longer than this child’s short 40- to 50-day life.

“The results of the study suggest that the beads were worn by members of the infant’s community for a considerable period before they were sewn onto a sling, possibly used to keep the infant close to the parents while allowing their mobility, as seen in some modern forager groups,” the authors surmise.

An illustration of Neve’s burial, showing the infant wrapped in a shell-adorned sling

Other burial sites on the Italian peninsula rarely encompass more than 40 perforated shells a piece, and yet Neve is buried with more than 70 along with four perforated bivalve pendants, seemingly unique to this site.

The abundance of sea shells buried with Neve has allowed researchers to identify potential patterns of ornament use, in relation to the child’s posture.

Other recent studies on prehistoric infant burial sites have also found potential ornaments that look as though they were attached to fixed objects, like blankets or baby carriers. They are usually too large to have been worn by the children themselves, researchers suspect.

Ancient human ornaments on clothing are usually thought to communicate identity, gender, and status, but they could also be a form of spiritual protection.

A modern Indigenous community in the Amazon, for instance, uses decorations and ornaments as representations of parental care toward their offspring.

“The baby was then likely buried in this sling to avoid reusing the beads that had failed to protect her or simply to create a lasting connection between the deceased infant and her community,” the authors write.

In other modern forager populations, similar decorations are still sewn on baby carriers and slings to this day.

“Not surprisingly, in those societies, infants and children are always well adorned. Among the beads that are used to decorate and protect their bodies, the majority are ‘second-hand’ items, i.e., beads that have been donated by the parents, grandparents, and relatives as an act of care toward the child,” the authors of the new study write.

“This paper contributes truly original information on the archaeology of childcare,” says anthropologist Julien Riel-Salvatore from the University of Montreal.

“It bridges the science and art of archaeology to get to the ‘human’ element that drives the kind of research we do.”

The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

EUROPE, NORWAY, WORLD

The first of its kind? Mystery ax discovered off the coast of Arendal

The first of its kind? Mystery ax discovered off the coast of Arendal

The first of its kind? Mystery ax discovered off the coast of Arendal

Researchers have discovered a find that could be a first for Norwegian archaeology.

A hollow ax, which researchers believe dates from the Bronze Age, was discovered at a depth of 12 meters near Arendal.

The hollow ax, also known as the Celtic ax, was the main ax type of the Nordic Bronze Age (1800-500 BC). The hollow ax is attached to an angled wooden shaft, which is inserted into the opening at the end of the ax. This structure provides a functional ax and uses minimal precious metals.

“This is very exciting. We have no known shipwrecks from the Bronze Age, and if this find is dated to that time, it will be the first in the country,” archaeologist Frode Kvalø told Agderposten.

The holkøksen, also called “Celtic”, was the dominant type of ax during the Scandinavian Bronze Age (1800-500 BC).

This heavy bronze ax weighing 327 grams is described as “well preserved” and maybe the first prehistoric metal object found in Norwegian waters.

The ax was discovered during connection with cultural routine registration by the Norwegian Maritime Museum.

The ax was found outside Arendal.

Now, researchers are working to determine when and how the ax landed on the seabed. A theory called the ballast hypothesis is that the ax is part of a ship that is only a few hundred years old, which will still make it an important discovery in the sailing ship age.

However, the second and more exciting hypothesis is that the ax sank more than 3,000 years ago, and there was a ship passing through from southern Scandinavia, or a local ship sailing along the coast. vessel. If correct, this will make it the first known shipwreck site of the Norwegian Bronze Age.

“This could be front-page news, or it could be uninteresting, depending on what further research shows”, Sven Ahrens of the Norwegian Maritime Museum said.

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