Latest and Breaking Archaeology News

Carnegie Mellon hosting first conference to explore scientific use of gigapixel imagery
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Carnegie Mellon University) Scientists who are pioneering the use of gigapixel imagery will discuss how they are leveraging this new technology Nov. 11-13 at the first Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. The deadline for early conference registration is Sept. 13.

Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Emory University) A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The Emory University study finds that it's likely this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents.

Roots of the British come under new scrutiny
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Leicester) What constitutes "Britishness" is turning out to be more complicated than many people previously believed. An innovative multidisciplinary research program led by the University of Leicester is set to investigate its many dimensions and components.

Archaeological study shows human activity may have boosted shellfish size
31 August 2010, 4:00 am
(North Carolina State University) In a counter-intuitive finding, new research from North Carolina State University shows that a species of shellfish widely consumed in the Pacific over the past 3,000 years has actually increased in size, despite -- and possibly because of -- increased human activity in the area.

Impact hypothesis loses its sparkle
30 August 2010, 4:00 am
(Washington University in St. Louis) The warming that following the last ice age was interrupted by a cold snap that killed off megafauna such as the giant ground sloth and the woolly mammoth. Could this crisis have been caused by an asteroid impact or a comet breaking up in the atmosphere? Unfortunately the geological evidence for such a dramatic event has not stood up to scrutiny. In PNAS a group of scientists challenges the catastrophists last, best hope: shock-synthesized nanodiamonds.

First clear evidence of feasting in early humans
30 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Connecticut) Community feasting is one of the most universal and important social behaviors found among humans. Now, scientists have found the earliest clear evidence of organized feasting, from a burial site dated about 12,000 years ago. These remains represent the first archaeological verification that human feasting began before the advent of agriculture.

Feasts at a funeral
30 August 2010, 4:00 am
(National Science Foundation) A University of Connecticut (UConn) anthropologist says there is new evidence that nearly 12,000 years ago, feasts were used to celebrate burial of the dead, bringing about the world's first established communities.

Mayan pool in the rainforest
26 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Bonn) Archaeologists from the University of Bonn found a water reservoir the size of a soccer field, whose floor is lined with ceramic shards, in the Mexican rainforest. It seems that in combination with the limestone on top, the shards were supposed to seal the artificial lake. The system was built about 1,500 years ago. It is the first example of this design found for the Maya. It is not yet known whether the reservoir's entire floor is tiled.

What the locals ate 10,000 years ago
23 August 2010, 4:00 am
(Brigham Young University) BYU archaeologists find a Utah site occupied by humans 11,000 years ago.The researchers documented a variety of dishes the people dined on back then.Grind stones for milling small seeds appeared 10,000 years ago.

New ways to chart our maritime past
19 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Stavanger) Archaeology has a long-standing tradition in protecting areas on land. But there is little attention to cultural monuments at the sea-shore and under water. To help locating these artifacts, meteorologist Marianne Nitter has introduced the concept of "climate-space." Inspired by the term "landscape room," this concept enables archaeologist to convey and incorporate abstract meteorological phenomena into the field of archaeology.