ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Can 4.5 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Hold Secrets of Life on Earth?

Can 4.5 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Hold Secrets of Life on Earth?

Scientists are set to uncover the secrets of a rare meteorite and possibly the origins of oceans and life on Earth, thanks to Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funding.

Research carried out on the meteorite, which fell in the UK earlier this year, suggests that the space rock dates back to the beginning of the Solar System, 4.5 billion years ago.

The meteorite has now been officially classified, thanks in part to the STFC-funded studies on the sample.

The Winchcombe meteorite, aptly named after the Gloucestershire town where it landed, is an extremely rare type called a carbonaceous chondrite.

It is a stony meteorite, rich in water and organic matter, which has retained its chemistry from the formation of the solar system. Initial analyses showing Winchcombe to be a member of the CM (“Mighei-like”) group of carbonaceous chondrites have now been formally approved by the Meteoritical Society.

Winchcombe meteorite
An image of one of the fragments of the Winchcombe meteorite.

STFC provided an urgency grant in order to help fund the work of planetary scientists across the UK. The funding has enabled the Natural History Museum to invest in state-of-the-art curation facilities to preserve the meteorite, and also supported time-sensitive mineralogical and organic analyses in specialist laboratories at several leading UK institutions.

Dr. Ashley King, a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum, said: “We are grateful for the funding STFC has provided.

Winchcombe is the first meteorite fall to be recovered in the UK for 30 years and the first-ever carbonaceous chondrite to be recovered in our country. STFC’s funding is aiding us with this unique opportunity to discover the origins of water and life on Earth. Through the funding, we have been able to invest in state-of-the-art equipment that has contributed to our analysis and research into the Winchcombe meteorite.”

The meteorite was tracked using images and video footage from the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll), a collaboration between the UK’s meteor camera networks that includes the UK Fireball Network, which is funded by STFC. Fragments were then quickly located and recovered.

Since the discovery, UK scientists have been studying Winchcombe to understand its mineralogy and chemistry to learn about how the Solar System formed.

Dr. Luke Daly from the University of Glasgow and co-lead of the UK Fireball Network said: “Being able to investigate Winchcombe is a dream come true.

Many of us have spent our entire careers studying this type of rare meteorite. We are also involved in JAXA’s Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx missions, which aim to return pristine samples of carbonaceous asteroids to the Earth.

For a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite to fall in the UK, and for it to be recovered so quickly and have a known orbit, is a really special event and a fantastic opportunity for the UK planetary science community.”

Funding from STFC enabled scientists to quickly begin the search for signs of water and organics in Winchcombe before it could be contaminated by the terrestrial environment.

Dr. Queenie Chan from Royal Holloway, University of London added: “The team’s preliminary analyses confirm that Winchcombe contains a wide range of organic material! Studying the meteorite only weeks after the fall, before any significant terrestrial contamination, means that we really are peering back in time at the ingredients present at the birth of the solar system, and learning about how they came together to make planets like the Earth.”

A piece of the Winchcombe meteorite that was recovered during an organized search by the UK planetary science community is now on public display at London’s Natural History Museum. 

EUROPE, WORLD

25,000-year-old human genome recovered from cave soil in the Caucasus, western Georgia

25,000-year-old human genome recovered from cave soil in the Caucasus, western Georgia

Ancient dirt has provided DNA samples that revealed evidence of a previously unknown human species that resided in a Georgian cave more than 25,000 years ago.

A few genome sequences called SAT29 obtained from a single soil sample from the Satsurblia Cave in the Caucasus region in Georgia revealed a possibly unknown population that had inhabited the area.

25,000-year-old human genome recovered from cave soil in the Caucasus, western Georgia
The section of the Satsurblia Cave where the sample was collected.
The Satsurblia Cave, located in Tskaltubo municipality, village. Kumistavi area in Georgia, the United States.

The researchers used an innovative approach that “permits the identification of DNA in samples of environmental material by applying extensive sequencing and huge data analysis resources,” according to a press release about the discovery.

The technique has allowed the recovery of an environmental human genome from a layer of the cave that dates to before the Ice Age, about 25,000 years ago.

The Satsurblia Cave, formed in Sataphlia-Tskaltubo karst massif, was inhabited by people at different times in the Paleolithic Period.

Until that time, the oldest sequenced genome of a human individual from the cave was 10,000 years younger than the current one.

Further, “the analysis of the genetic material has revealed that the SAT29 human-environmental genome represents a human extinct lineage that contributed to the present day West-Eurasian populations,” the release states.

In order to confirm the results, the researchers compared the recovered genome and the genetic sequences from bone remnants from Upper Paleolithic Dzudzuana Cave in the same area, which provided clear evidence of genetic similarity.

In addition to the identified human genome, other mammal genomes which supposedly belonged to a wolf or a bison species were also recovered from the soil samples.

Gelabert et al. retrieved human and mammalian nuclear and mitochondrial environmental shotgun genomes from a 25,000-year-old sediment sample from Satsurblia Cave in Georgia.

The researchers used these sequences to reconstruct the wolf and bison populations in the Caucasus region and upgrade the collected knowledge of the population dynamics of these species.

The next project of the international research team will be to collect samples of ancient fauna and humans from the Satsurblia cave in order to determine their mutual interactions.

Through the extraction of DNA from soil samples, the scientists hope to reconstruct the evolution of past ecosystems and evaluate the effect of climate change on mammal populations.

The research was conducted by an international team led by professor Ron Pinhasi and Pere Gelabert with Susanna Sawyer of the University of Vienna in collaboration with Pontus Skoglund and Anders Bergström of the Francis Crick Institute in London.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Sunken Ship, Ancient Greek Graves Found at Underwater Ruins in Egypt

Sunken Ship, Ancient Greek Graves Found at Underwater Ruins in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) – Divers uncovered the unusual remnants of a military vessel in the ancient submerged city of Thônis-Heracleion – once Egypt’s greatest Mediterranean port – as well as a funerary complex indicating the presence of Greek merchants, the country said on Monday.

The city, which controlled the entrance to Egypt at the mouth of a western branch of the Nile, dominated the area for centuries before the foundation of Alexandria nearby by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.

Destroyed and sunk along with a wide area of the Nile delta by several earthquakes and tidal waves, Thônis-Heracleion was rediscovered in 2001 in Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, now Egypt’s second-largest city.

Sunken Ship, Ancient Greek Graves Found at Underwater Ruins in Egypt
Remains of an ancient military vessel were discovered off the coast of Alexandria.

The military vessel, discovered by an Egyptian-French mission led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), sank when the famed temple of Amun it was mooring next to collapsed in the second century BC.

A preliminary study shows the hull of the 25-metre flat-bottomed ship, with oars and a large sail, was built in the classical tradition and also had features of Ancient Egyptian construction, Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry said.

In another part of the city, the mission revealed the remains of a large Greek funerary area dating back to the first years of the 4th century BC, it said.

“This discovery beautifully illustrates the presence of the Greek merchants who lived in that city,” the ministry said, adding that the Greeks were allowed to settle there during the late Pharaonic dynasties.

“They built their own sanctuaries close to the huge temple of Amun. Those were destroyed, simultaneously and their remains are found mixed with those of the Egyptian temple.”

MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Olmec Civilization: Survivors of Atlantis?

Olmec Civilization: Survivors of Atlantis?

Are the Ancient Olmecs Survivors of Atlantis?

It is a theory that according to many, could explain the incredible technologies and skills of this enigmatic Ancient Civilization.

Even though the Olmec civilization is surrounded by numerous mysteries, researchers believe that all the classical cultures of Mesoamerica originated from this mysterious civilization. But where did this ancient civilization originate? And why is it that we know so little about one of the most influential ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica?

Olmec Head No. 3 from San Lorenzo-Tenochtitlán

Their stonemason skills were something noteworthy, achieving incredible constructions and monuments, like the giant Olmec heads, before the Aztecs, Mayas and other civilizations of the Americas. The question that has baffled archaeologists and other researchers are how?

From where did the ancient Olmecs obtain their knowledge and where do they come from?

Is it possible that as some researchers suggest, the Ancient Olmecs are the survivors of Ancient Atlantis?

Atlantis and the Olmecs

The Olmecs were a very advanced civilization that predates the Ancient Maya and Aztec empires. Their knowledge in geology allowed this mysterious ancient civilization to literally “terraform” certain regions. The San Lorenzo plateau is one of those examples. It is considered one of the most important architectural projects in ancient times.

The entire region was “modified” to the liking of the ancient Olmecs. This project involved the removal of tons of earth and rock that allowed the construction of giant terraces, walls and monuments, literally transforming their surroundings into a sacred area for their inhabitants.

The question that still remains is, how did ancient man achieve this… thousands of years ago? Is it possible that their advanced technology and knowledge originated on the last city-continent of Atlantis? And if so, are there any similarities between them?

What if the Ancient Atlanteans actually Migrated to Mesoamerica and ‘kickstarted’ some of the most incredible Ancient Civilizations on Earth: The Aztecs, Mayas and possibly even Incas?

If Atlantis did exist? How come that there is no evidence of this mythical “continent“, surely such a powerful ancient civilization would have left its mark worldwide, why is it that Plato is one of the few who mentioned Atlantis?

Basically, the tale about Atlantis did not exist until Plato wrote about it. But what if… Atlantis was destroyed but its people lived on… only that this time they were not called Atlanteans but Olmecs? No one can explain where the Olmecs came from, we know based on research where historians believe they originated from, but due to certain features, like the giant Heads which do not resemble natives from Central America, many believe that the Olmec civilizations actually originated from another place on Earth, a place that some call ancient Atlantis.

This ancient civilization achieved an incredible degree of development, totally incomprehensible if we consider that we know nothing of their origin nor their roots. They were a society that knew about animal domestication, and beekeeping before any other ancient civilization.

The Hematite Bar, possible evidence of advanced technology?
One of the most mysterious findings directly connected with the Ancient Olmec civilization is a 3.5 cm hematite bar that has caused mixed reactions among researchers. When placed on the water its axis points towards the north.

According to researchers from the University of Michigan, this device was a compass. This changes a lot in history since it would mean that the ancient Olmecs are the inventors of the compass and no the Chinese as previously thought. The device is believed to have been used to position their constructions facing north.

The Olmec Legacy

The ancient Olmecs left so much yet so little behind and just like many other great ancient civilizations, they too disappeared without a trace. In addition to the gigantic heads, the Olmecs have left other pieces of great artistic value, such as thrones, altars and human figures and no other culture in Mesoamerica attained perfection and the level of mastery of the Olmecs when it comes to sculpting.

The question is, how did this ancient civilization that was almost in the stone age, manage such perfection that engineers today cannot replicate?

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Rare Boundary Stone Uncovered in Rome

Rare Boundary Stone Uncovered in Rome

During excavations for a new sewage system, archaeologists unearthed a unique stone outlining the city borders of ancient Rome. It dates from the time of Emperor Claudius in 49 A.D. and was discovered by archaeologists.

Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi was on hand for the unveiling Friday of the pomerial stone, a huge slab of travertine that was used as a sacred, military and political perimeter marking the edge of the city proper with Rome’s outer territory.

It was found June 17 during excavations for a rerouted sewer under the recently restored mausoleum of Emperor Augustus, right off the central Via del Corso in Rome’s historic centre.

Photographers take pictures during the presentation to the press of an archaeological finding that emerged during the excavations at a Mausoleum in Rome, Friday, July 16, 2021. The monumental pomerial stone is dating back to Roman Emperor Claudio and was used to mark the ‘pomerium’ the sacred boundaries of the ‘Urbe’, the city of Rome, during the Roman empire.

In ancient Rome, the area of the pomerium was a consecrated piece of land along the city walls, where it was forbidden to farm, live or build and through which it was forbidden to enter with weapons.

At a press conference in the Ara Pacis museum near the mausoleum, Claudio Parisi Presicce, director of the Archaeological Museums of Rome, said the stone had both civic and symbolic meaning.

A detail of an archaeological finding that emerged during the excavations at a Mausoleum is pictured during its presentation to the press in Rome, Friday, July 16, 2021. The monumental pomerial stone is dating back to Roman Emperor Claudio and was used to mark the ‘pomerium’ the sacred boundaries of the ‘Urbe’, the city of Rome, during the Roman empire.

“The founding act of the city of Rome starts from the realization of this ’pomerium,‴ he said of the consecrated area. The stone features an inscription that allowed archaeologists to date it to Claudius and the expansion of the pomerium in 49 A.D., which established Rome’s new city limits.

Raggi noted that only 10 other stones of this kind had been discovered in Rome, the last one 100 years ago.

“Rome never ceases to amaze and always shows off its new treasures,” she said.

The stone will be on display at the Ara Pacis museum, the Richard Meier-designed home of a 1st-century altar until the Augustus museum opens.

ASIA, RUSSIA, WORLD

In a Siberian cave, a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal ‘Swiss Army Knife’ was discovered

In a Siberian cave, a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal ‘Swiss Army Knife’ was discovered

Experiment shows multi-purpose tool can still be used for butchering: it highlights the skills of these extinct early humans. This week has seen the revelation from an international study that Neanderthals twice invaded cold Siberia, around 120,000 and 60,000 years ago.

‘This thing for Neanderthals was like a Swiss Army knife for us now.’

Scientists have also unearthed the tools used by the early humans when they settled in the Altai Mountains. 

Professor Kseniya Kolobova, of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, suggested that the tool called by scientists ‘asymmetrical backed biface’ was the ancient equivalent of the famous modern Swiss Army knife.


It was a ‘multi-functional tool, which can cut whatever you like, (butcher) and process skin, or make other tools. Pictures: The Siberian Times

They were discovered among 90,000 stone artefacts at Chagyrskaya Cave.

‘This thing for Neanderthals was like a Swiss Army knife for us now,’ she said, holding the stone tool, which is made of chalcedonite

‘We have a blunt end, so it is convenient to hold.’

Retouchers were made of bones, which were used to sharpen stone tools. Picture: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of SBRAS

Remarkably, scientists show that it is still usable after 60,000 years. 

‘You can butcher for about an hour with this tool, as our experiment showed until it blunts…

‘Then they sharpened it again and again and again.’

Kseniya Kolobova shows how the bifacew could be used to make another tool.

It was a ‘multi-functional tool, which can cut whatever you like, (butcher) and process skin, or make other tools.

‘This is a Palaeolithic Swiss Army knife.’

Intriguing, too, is how small the world was in those times. 

Excavations site

Analysis of stone tools from Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains shows striking similarities to those found at Sesselfelsgrotte in Germany, some 5,000 kilometres away. 

‘If we put our bifaces next to Europeans we do not see any differences, except the raw materials,’ she said.

‘European tools were made of flint, ours of chalcedony and jasper. 

‘That is, they brought the tradition of making their tools through several thousand kilometres almost unchanged.’

The Neanderthals in their conquests of Siberia killed and ate bison to survive say, archaeologists.  Finds linked to these archaic humans show ‘the cognitive abilities of the Neanderthals were wider than previously thought, said the professor.

ASIA, RUSSIA, WORLD

Perfectly preserved lion cubs that died 44,000 years ago ‘after being abandoned by mum’ found in Siberia

Perfectly preserved lion cubs that died 44,000 years ago ‘after being abandoned by mum’ found in Siberia

‘Male siblings born 44,000 years ago’ found ten metres apart in Yakutia but the truth is rather different – amid hopes to bring species back to life. The pair of cubs were believed to be siblings both born 44,000 years ago. 

Some 26000 years ago Sparta’s mother either left her in the cave and went hunting, or was killed herself, leaving the tiny cub without food.

In fact, one of the famous extinct cave lions named Spartak has been found to be female, not male, and will need to be rechristened as Sparta. And she was born 18,000 years after the cub found next to her named Boris, it now emerges.

Complete restoration works on the baby cave lions, preserved superbly in the Siberian permafrost, reveals a sensational level of pelt and hair preservation. Some 26,000 years ago Sparta’s mother either left her in the cave and went hunting, or was killed herself, leaving the tiny cub without food. 

‘She starved to death. We wondered why she looked so skinny when she was found, and then tomography of her internal organs showed there was no fat,’ said scientist Dr Albert Protopopov, an expert in frozen remains from the woolly mammoth era.

‘It was the most extreme stage of starvation.’

‘She starved to death. We wondered why she looked so skinny when she was found, and then tomography of her internal organs showed there was no fat.’

Sparta was found in the Yakutia region in 2018 by the same mammoth bone hunter who discovered a bigger cave lion cub called Boris a year earlier. 

They were just ten metres apart. 

The first theory was that the cubs must have been from the same family – but now scientists know that the cubs are separated by 26,000 years.  Boris lived some 44,000 years ago and was aged between two to three weeks when he died.  Most likely his death came when his mother left him inside a cave, went hunting and the cave rock collapsed, burying the cub. 

‘We found visible traces of internal injuries which we believe could have been caused by a rock falling on him’, Protopopov said. The most important task of this complex research on the cave lion cubs is to restore their appearance. 

‘It is still an enigma, in that on hundreds of published drawings of cave lions they are depicted without manes. Yet we notice spots and stripes of pigmentation in that area… which are not seen in modern-day lions. So we are moving towards re-creating the way the cave lions looked.

‘Their living conditions were very different to modern lions in that cave lions lives in a much colder climate and we believe therefore had to look different. 

‘There was less prey in cold climate. 

‘If we understand this question about mane we might get an idea of their social hierarchy – for example, we don’t know if they created prides with alpha males and several females alike to modern lions.’

Boris, the older cub, has a severed tail.

Tests are underway on the lions to extract as much information as possible.  The cave lions were the largest predators after bears in ancient, and in the area where we find skulls of cave lions, there is only a handful of bear skulls.  Lions reigned in ancient Siberia because at the time it was savanna, bears needed more woods. 

‘Cave lion cubs are superbly preserved, you can even see their whiskers, and we are hoping to fetch a lot more information from them.’

The scientist predicted: ‘There is a very realistic chance to recreate cave lions and it would be a lot easier than to clone a woolly mammoth. 

‘Cave and modern lions separated only 300,000 years ago, in other words, they are different species of the same genus.

‘It means that we can take the DNA of the modern African lion and use it to recreate cave lions.

’It would be a lot easier than the mammoths.

‘But if we find methods to bring back woolly mammoths it would be a revolution and a payback by humans who helped extinguishing of so many species.’ 

Boris, the older cub, has a severed tail.

This led to speculation he was an ancient lynx, not a cave lion.

‘We were all worried by the lack of a tail on Boris,’ said Dr Protopopov.

‘But the man who found him explained that it got cut off when the cub was taken out of the permafrost.

‘I know it raised suspicion that the lion cub was in fact a lynx, but we know from the very first tests that this was clearly a cave lion cub.’

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Mystery as a fully-sealed bottle of liquid discovered between skeleton’s legs

Mystery as fully-sealed bottle of liquid discovered between skeleton’s legs

Experts at Hull’s largest-ever archaeological excavation believe they’ve made significant progress in unraveling the mystery of a bottle discovered between a skeleton’s legs. The unique blue-colored glass bottle marked ‘Hull Infirmary’ appears to have been placed in a grave at the former Trinity burial cemetery on purpose.

The glass bottle discovered at the Hull burial has the words “Hull infirmary” on it and contains a mysterious brown liquid.

The fully intact sealed bottle also contained an unknown brown liquid. It was discovered earlier this year as part of the major excavation at the site where burials took place between 1783 and 1861.

A 70-strong team of specialist archaeologists have been working there since last year as part of the nearby £355m A63 upgrade scheme on Castle Street in the city centre. They are examining around 1,500 exhumed skeletons.

The site is one of the largest post-medieval cemeteries to have ever been excavated in the north of England and the discovery of the bottle initially raised a few eyebrows.

Osteology supervisor Katie Dalmon explained: “It’s quite normal to find artefacts such as rings, coins, items of clothing and even tableware such as plates in a burial plot but this bottle was quite unusual.

“Not only was it apparently specifically placed between the person’s legs but it was also sealed and was nearly full of liquid.”

The ‘Hull Infirmary’ inscription on the side of the bottle was the first clue in what has become an ongoing piece of archaeological detective work.

The hospital was first established in temporary premises in 1782 – a year before the burial ground opened – and then moved to a purpose-built home in Prospect Street in 1784.

Katie added: “We now know a little bit more about the identity of the body – it’s a woman who was in her 60s at the time of death. We also know she was suffering from residual Ricketts and osteoporosis.

“She was also buried in the middle of a burial stack with the bottle. It was deliberately placed with the individual and was not part of any backfill.”

Tests have also been carried on the mysterious liquid in an effort to establish what it actually is with samples being sent to experts from Nottingham Trent University to carry out a high-tech analysis.

Katie said: “The tests have confirmed the presence of sodium, potassium and phosphorus and have also discounted any pharmaceutical materials being present.

“The results leave us with the likelihood that the liquid is probably urine but they also raise a whole series of other questions.

“What could this mean? Why was it placed there and, if it’s not the urine, what could it be?”

She said another theory being examined was that the liquid might have been a type of phosphate-based tonic drink.

pic 1: The bottle is just one of a plethora of archaeological remains discovered at the Hull burial ground. pic2: Huge tents have been set up as protection over the Hull burial ground excavation site. pic3: Archaeologists at work at the Hull burial ground, the location where the mystery bottle was found. pic4: An ornamental brooch found by archaeologists at the Castle Street excavation in Hull

“These were popular in the 19th century when they were advertised as a cure for various medical ailments, including tuberculosis.

“We can’t be exactly sure at the moment so we are carrying out more tests to try to get a definitive answer.”

The team from Oxford Archaeology is expected to spend several years studying all the finding findings from the burial ground. Work on the actual site is due to end next month when the remaining giant tents covering the excavation area will be removed.

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