Free Republic

During the last Ice Age, modern humans had ongoing encounters with more than one variety of now-extinct Pleistocene-era hominin.Those encounters, according to new research, not only resulted in interbreeding between homo sapiens and other types of archaic humans -- they may have helped some of the earliest arrivals in North America survive...The earliest arrival of anatomically modern humans in North America has been a subject of intense debate for several decades. Increasingly with time, discoveries by archaeologists have continued to push back the time scales on when those arrivals began, with initial estimates of early human dispersals into North America...

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have found chemical traces of betel nut chewing in 4,000-year-old teeth from a Bronze Age burial in Thailand -- the earliest direct evidence of psychoactive plant use in Southeast Asia.By analyzing hardened dental plaque, researchers uncovered compounds linked to betel nut, a stimulant that boosts alertness and euphoria...One common side effect of regular chewing is teeth stained a deep reddish-brown or black.However, the absence of these stains does not necessarily mean the habit was avoided. A recent investigation by an international team used a cutting-edge technique to study ancient dental plaque from Bronze Age Thailand,...

...archaeological evidence at one site called Madjedbebe in the far north of Australia's Northern Territory suggests the area may have been occupied much earlier -- at least 65,000 years ago.Archaeologists recovered human-made artifacts, including stone tools and ocher "crayons," from the Madjedbebe rock shelter and published their findings in a 2017 study. One difficulty in dating the artifacts, however, was the copious amount of sand on the floor of the rock shelter, which can move easily and cause artifacts to fall farther down, making them look older than they are.Although the research team took steps to counteract this issue and...

For centuries, its origins were shrouded in mystery. But a forgotten cemetery near Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan has revealed stunning new evidence. In this documentary-style deep dive, we explore how 800-year-old graves, ancient inscriptions, and cutting-edge DNA analysis led scientists to pinpoint the true birthplace of the plague that killed tens of millions across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Learn how a single strain of Yersinia pestis, preserved in the teeth of medieval plague victims, was identified as the ancestral source of the Black Death. Discover how trade routes, climate change, and human mobility allowed a microscopic killer to...

When the well-preserved body of the famous Ötzi the Iceman was recovered from the ice in the Austrian-Italian Alps in 1991, his remains provided archaeologists with a wealth of information about life in Europe more than 5,000 years ago. Surprisingly, sequencing of his genome indicated that he shared a very high proportion of his ancestry with early farmers who lived in Anatolia. Science News Today reports that a groundbreaking new study analyzed the DNA of 47 other individuals who lived alongside Ötzi in the Austrian Tyrol between 6400 and 1300 b.c. to determine if they shared genomic similarities. The research...

Aze.Media reports that a team of researchers from several Azerbaijani institutions unearthed a remarkable [3,800]-year-old tomb belonging to a high-status Bronze Age warrior. The archaeologists were investigating an area of Keshikchidagh State Historical and Cultural Reserve when they located the kurgan, or burial mound, which measured 90 feet in diameter and stood 6 feet high. When the archaeologists began excavating this feature, they revealed a large central interior chamber that was covered with 14 large stone blocks, each weighing approximately one ton. The tomb within this passage was divided into three sections: one containing the body and personal equipment, another...

Sir Thomas More's head could be exhumed 500 years after it was parboiled and put on a spike on London Bridge. St Dunstan's, an Anglican church in Canterbury, Kent, where the remains of Henry VIII's lord chancellor lie, has launched a bid to have them unearthed and placed in a shrine. More was beheaded at Tower Hill in 1535 after he refused to acknowledge the monarch as head of the church following Henry's break from Rome.

This week we pop across to the Mendips and explore the heart of Somerset with a rather unsettling Mystery. Deep in mining country a discovery was made, 20m below the surface, to this day we have yet to fully explain what happened here. The Most Unsettling MYSTERY, No one can Explain... | 14:25 Paul Whitewick | 191K subscribers | 12,833 views | July 13, 2025

Abstract: Ancient Egyptian society flourished for millennia, reaching its peak during the Dynastic Period (approximately 3150–30 bce). However, owing to poor DNA preservation, questions about regional interconnectivity over time have not been addressed because whole-genome sequencing has not yet been possible. Here we sequenced a 2× coverage whole genome from an adult male Egyptian excavated at Nuwayrat (Nuerat, نويرات). Radiocarbon dated to 2855–2570 cal. bce, he lived a few centuries after Egyptian unification, bridging the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. The body was interred in a ceramic pot within a rock-cut tomb1, potentially contributing to the DNA preservation. Most...

Helen Alderman was a young girl when she learned that her great-uncle was the Florida soldier executed on July 7, 1865, with three others who had conspired to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. On a sunny afternoon 129 years after Lewis Thornton Powell’s death, Alderman, 72, and about two dozen friends, family and historians gathered Saturday under the shade of six cypress trees at a Geneva community cemetery to bury a small mahogany box and close the story of the Florida farm boy who joined John Wilkes Booth in one of the most notorious acts in American history. “Never in my...

A new study reveals a long-isolated North African human lineage in the Central Sahara during the African humid period more than 7,000 years ago To the point DNA analysis from two naturally mummified individuals from Libya: More than 7,000 years ago, during the so-called African Humid Period (Green Sahara), a long isolated human lineage existed in North Africa. Limited gene flow: The genomes do not carry sub-Saharan African ancestry, suggesting that, contrary to previous interpretations, the Green Sahara was not a migration corridor between Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa. The spread of migratory herding in the Green Sahara probably occurred through...

Newgrange sits in Ireland's Boyne Valley, about 30 miles north of Dublin. Built around 3200 B.C., this massive stone monument features a long passage leading to a central chamber, all covered by a circular mound of earth and stones. For over 300 years, treasure hunters and antiquarians ransacked the site, making it nearly impossible to know exactly where artifacts originally came from.This historical looting creates a major problem for the "king" theory. The skull fragment NG10 was found during proper archaeological excavations in the 1960s, but researchers can't definitively say it was originally placed in the tomb's supposedly "prestigious" right-hand...

France 24 reports that archaeologists from the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus uncovered a tenth-century Viking cemetery at a construction site in Lisbjerg. The site contained as many as 30 graves, likely belonging to a noble family who lived on a nearby farm that was first discovered in the 1980s. Many of the burials still held objects such as coins, ceramics, and beads that attest to the family's high status. However, the most unusual find came from the grave of an elite woman who was buried with a rare wooden box. The exquisitely crafted, 12.5-inch square object contained a fine locking...

Walk in the footsteps of the Scythian Princes who lived in the 1st millennium AD. This mysterious people of intrepid horsemen has left a real archaeological desire. From the 1st millennium BC, the Scythians constituted a moving and formidable empire established in the vast Eurasian steppes. The only traces they left us are their graves: the kurgans. In April 1999, a Franco-Italian and Kazakh scientific team announced the exceptional discovery in Kazakhstan of a 2,400-year-old Scythian tomb. A true archaeological treasure, the contents of the tomb reveal, among other things, twelve horses entirely harnessed in gold, whose precious adornment testifies...

2500 Years ago, a dynasty of Celtic Princes founded the first towns in Northern Europe. They constructed harbours along rivers and traded goods with people from all over Europe. This film presents new insights into Celtic history and culture thanks to exclusive access to the Celtic Tomb in Lavau (France) and the exceptionally rich and well-preserved collection of objects found on the gravesite. The Enigma of the Celtic Tomb | 51:20 Best Documentary | 7.24M subscribers | 2,956,005 views | August 8, 2024 IMDb: The Enigma of the Celtic Tomb Original title: L'énigme de la tombe celte Episode aired June...

According to an announcement released by Hungary's Eötvös Loránd University, new research in the Carpathian Basin has pinpointed a major transformational period in the history of Central Europe. The study focused on eastern Hungary's Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom cemetery, which was used by two different cultures during two different time periods: the Füzesabony culture in the Middle Bronze Age and the Tumulus culture in the Late Bronze Age. Analysis of skeletal remains from the site indicates that there were major lifestyle changes in the region around 1500 b.c. One of the most dramatic changes was seen in dietary habits. During the Middle Bronze...

Science News Today reports that archaeologists excavating a Copper Age cemetery in western Iran recently noticed the unusual skull of a young woman among the burials. Her elongated and cone-shaped cranium clearly indicated that when she was younger, she had undergone some type of skull modification, a process that usually involves the binding of a child's head with cloth during their formative years. The report notes that for many cultures across the globe, from the Central American Maya to the Huns of Eurasia, cranial shaping was a symbol of beauty, status, or identity. In this case, the researchers believe, it...

When metal detectorists searching a field on northern Norway's Senja Island discovered two ancient metal brooches and human rib bones, they notified the authorities. Science Norway reports that an archaeological team from the Arctic University Museum of Norway was sent to investigate the site and learned that the two small pieces of jewelry belonged to an elaborate Viking Age burial dating to between a.d. 900 and 950. Given the presence of the oval brooches and other items such as spindle whorls and weaving tools that are typically only associated with women, experts believe the grave belongs to a high-ranking Viking...

A recent study published last year in the journal Cell has identified the ancient origins of a genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV, and how it first appeared in an individual who lived near the Black Sea between 6,700 and 9,000 years ago. Named CCR5 delta 32, the uncommon genetic variant disables a key immune protein used by a large majority of strains of the HIV virus to enter human cells and therefore "locks out" the virus in individuals who carry two copies of the mutation.HIV is a relatively new disease. It was only identified in the last century,...

Homo erectus, modern humans' archaic hominin relative, was the first human species to migrate out of Africa. One of the places they eventually settled was in Southeast Asia, as H. erectus fossils found on the island of Java date back 1.6 million years. Archaeologists working there recently gained new insight into the way these early humans lived, according to a statement released by Leiden University.Dredging operations in the Madura Strait recovered two fragments of 140,000-year-old H. erectus skull among the fossilized remains of 36 vertebrate species. This now-submerged region was once part of a landmass called Sundaland, which connected the...