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Ivory Package 1 (Natural History Museum Denmark) Credit: Mikkel Høegh A new genetic analysis of ivory artifacts from across Europe suggests that early Norse hunters ventured far into North American waters and likely interacted with indigenous North Americans as early as 985 CE, or over 500 years before Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas. The scientists behind the potential historical discovery’s genetic and isotopic analysis show that the ivory was harvested from the tusks of Walruses that lived in the North Atlantic waters off of present-day Canada. Their study also found that the long distances and extreme weather that Norse...

·What it is: A lifelike figurine of a Neolithic woman carved out of the ivory core of a mammoth tusk.·Where it was found: Inside the Grotte du Pape ("Pope's Cave") in Brassempouy, a village in France, in 1894.·When it was made: Approximately 23,000 years agoWhat it tells us about the past: Also known as "The Lady with the Hood," this prehistoric carving of a woman is prized for both its attention to detail and its realism, which can be seen in the crosshatched pattern used to create her headpiece and her distinct facial features, including her pupils, forehead, nose and...

A team of anthropologists at Université Bordeaux has found evidence of nine distinct cultures living in what is now Europe during the Gravettian period. In their study, reported in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the group analyzed personal adornments worn by people living in the region between 24,000 and 34,000 years ago...Prior research has shown that humans have been adorning themselves for thousands of years. In this new effort, the researchers looked at the types of adornments that were worn by people living in Europe during the Gravettian period—a time during the Paleolithic when a culture known as the Gravettian...

WASHINGTON (AP) — When archaeologists first discovered the 5,000-year-old ornate tomb in Spain, they assumed it was for a man. It held a rock crystal dagger, ivory tusks and other lavish items. But now they’ve determined the remains are those of a woman, and all it took was two teeth. The researchers used a new method of determining sex that analyzes tooth enamel. This technique, developed about five years ago, is more reliable than analyzing skeletal remains in poor condition, according to their study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. Most details about the life of the “Ivory Lady,”...

Throughout history, archaeologists have uncovered countless tools from early civilizations. The majority are made of stone, but a group of Spanish experts discovered incredible rock crystal weaponry. One of the most spectacular crystal daggers, dating back to at least 3,000 BC, demonstrates the extraordinary ability of the sculptor.The incredible find occurred at the Montelirio tholos, a megalithic tomb in southern Spain. This gigantic site, which spans 50 meters, is made up of massive slate slabs. The place was excavated between 2007 and 2010. Scholars from the University of Granada, Seville, and the Spanish Higher Council for Scientific Research published a...

In 2015, archaeologists working at a cave in southwestern Germany found an enigmatic perforated baton in a cave called Hohle Fels. It was a near-perfect match for an artifact found in 1983 in a cave down the road. Carved from single pieces of mammoth ivory, the Hohle Fels baton—roughly 20 centimeters long, about the length of a large paperback book—had multiple holes with spiraling grooves around the openings. Similar objects have been found elsewhere in Germany and in nearby France, often made from ivory or antler. They date from the last ice age, more than 35,000 years ago, a time...

Straight-tusked elephants were the largest land mammals of the Pleistocene epoch, present in Europe and western Asia between 800,000 and 100,000 years ago.These animals had a very wide head and extremely long tusks, and were roughly three times larger than that of living Asian elephants, twice that of African ones, and also much larger than woolly mammoths.Estimates of maximum shoulder height vary from 3 to 4.2 m (10-14 feet) and body mass from 4.5 to 13 tons for females and males, respectively."We have estimated that the meat and fat supplied by the body of an adult Palaeoloxodon antiquus bull would...

A 2,800-year-old ivory ornament has been discovered by archaeologists in northern Türkiye at the excavation site of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites, one of the most ancient Anatolian civilizations...In the 117th year of the excavations, a piece of art that can provide insight into Iron Age art was unearthed on the northwest-facing slope of the Great Fortress area of the ancient city.The piece, nearly 30 centimeters (1 foot) in length and 10 cm in width, features a sphinx, a lion, and two trees of life etched on an ivory surface.Speaking to Anadolu, excavation chief Schachner said the artifact was...

Analysis of hair combs made from deer antler has shed new light on the trade routes of Vikings - revealing connections between northern Scandinavia and the edges of continental Europe.Led by researchers from the University of York, the findings provide evidence of trade connections between the town of Hedeby (modern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), the largest urban settlement in Viking Age Europe, and upland Scandinavia, hundreds of kilometres to the north...Hedeby was a major centre of antler-working, with 288,000 antler finds recorded, most of which was waste material from the production of hair combs: a major urban craft in the Viking Age...The...

A GoFundMe has been launched to help make a divisive BLM activist hired by Dove as its 'fat pride' spokeswoman feel 'safe' and 'protected'. Zyahna Bryant's cousin Erica Chapman created the virtual begging bowl after Bryant was slammed online for ruining a white student's life over a remark the 22 year-old activist admits she may have 'misheard.' Chapman said she wants to make Bryant feel 'safe' and 'protected,' writing: 'My cousin Zyahna has passionately and courageously supported important social issues since she was 12 years old Sadly, in today's national climate with so many angry, violent and unpredictable people, being...

The long-lost 'body' of mysterious ice age animal carving was discovered in German cave, but archaeologists aren't sure if it's a cave lion or cave bear.Archaeologists in Germany have discovered the missing piece of an ice age carving deep in a cave. But the new addition of the ivory carving, originally thought to depict a horse, has actually complicated matters: Now, researchers aren't sure if it portrays a cave lion or a cave bear.Researchers previously found the head of the 35,000-year-old figurine in the cave Hohle Fels in the mountainous Swabian Jura region in the southern part of the country....

Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen have found an ancient fragment of ivory belonging to a 40,000 year old animal figurine. Both pieces were found in the Vogelherd Cave in southwestern Germany, which has yielded a number of remarkable works of art dating to the Ice Age. The mammoth ivory figurine depicting a lion was discovered during excavations in 1931. The new fragment makes up one side of the figurine's head, and the sculpture may be viewed at the Tübingen University Museum from 30 July. "The figurine depicts a lion," says Professor Nicholas Conard of Tübingen University's Institute of Prehistory...

Archeologists have discovered previously unknown fragments of a figurine known as the "Lion Man," and are piecing it back together. Could the 35,000-year-old statue actually represent a female shaman? ...Using a hand hoe and working in dim light, geologist Otto Völzing burrowed into the earth deep inside the Stadel cave in the Schwäbische Alb mountains of southwestern Germany. His finds were interesting to be sure, but nothing world-shaking: flints and the remnants of food eaten by prehistoric human beings. Suddenly he struck a hard object -- and splintered a small statuette. It was 1939 and Völzing didn't have much time....

Archaeologists have discovered fragments of one of the world's oldest sculptures, a lion-faced figurine estimated at 32,000 years old, from the dirt floor of a cave in southern Germany. The ivory figure, along with a tiny figurine known as the Venus of Hohle Fels, marks the foundation of human artistry. Both were created by a Stone Age European culture that historians call Aurignacian. The Aurignacians appear to have been the first modern humans, with handicrafts, social customs and beliefs. They hunted reindeer, woolly rhinoceros, mammoths and other animals. The Lion-Man sculpture, gradually re-assembled in workshops over decades after the fragments...

Lion man takes pride of place as oldest statue 30,000-year-old carving might be work of Neanderthals or modern humans. Intricate ivory carvings said to be the oldest known examples of figurative art have been uncovered in a cave in southwestern Germany. Researchers say that the finding could change our understanding of early man's imaginative endeavours. The artefacts - including a figurine depicting a Lowenmensch ('lion man') - have been carbon-dated to around 30,000 years ago, when some of the earliest known relatives of modern humans populated Europe. Discovered last year by a team led by US archaeologist Nicholas Conard of...

Enigmatic "ivory rings" found in dozens of Anglo-Saxon burials in England have long baffled archaeologists, who weren't sure of the rings' origin and which animal they came from — elephants, walruses or mammoths. But now, scientific techniques have revealed that these rings likely came from African elephants living about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) away, a new study finds.The finding indicates a trading network brought the objects from eastern Africa and across post-Roman Europe to England...The researchers analyzed one of seven so-called "bag rings" found in graves at an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery, dated to between the late fifth and early sixth...

The sale of ivory from the tusks and teeth of five more species will be banned under government plans. The import, export and dealing of elephant ivory was banned in the UK last year. The animals that could join the list are killer whales, hippos, walruses, narwhals, and sperm whales. The creatures are hunted and killed for their ivory which is often used in decorative carvings. The government plans to extend the Ivory Act 2018 to include them. People found to be breaking the law can be given unlimited fines or be jailed for five years. Parliament must vote on...

Archaeologists in Israel say they have found the first-known written sentence in Canaanite, an alphabet used by the long-ago inhabitants of the region and until now lost to time. The sentence—comprising 17 Canaanite characters, totaling seven words—was incised on an ivory comb carved from an elephant tusk. It says: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologists recently unearthed ivory plaques found in a luxurious Iron Age residence in Jerusalem, a first-of-its-kind discovery at the site, shedding light on the owner's wealth and social status.The ivory pieces were found in a building from around the eighth or seventh century B.C., the First Temple era, in the City of David...Sifting through the ruins in the building, likely burnt during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., diggers found around 1,500 ivory fragments, said Reli Avisar from Tel Aviv University, which excavated the site along with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)...The decorations consisted of frames with rosettes...

Curator Irving Finkel recounts a magical adventure with The Lewis Chessmen. Content warning: wizard's chess.Irving Finkel and the Chamber of Lewis Chessmen | Curator's Corner | S 2 Ep9September 24, 2017 | The British Museum<