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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,...

Among the most surprising finds is that the inhabitants of the earliest cities of the Bronze Age (3500–1200 b.c.) were enthusiastic pig eaters, and that even later Iron Age (1200–586 b.c.) residents of Jerusalem enjoyed the occasional pork feast. Yet despite a wealth of data and new techniques including ancient DNA analysis, archaeologists still wrestle with many porcine mysteries, including why the once plentiful animal gradually became scarce long before religious taboos were enacted...In the 1990s, at the site of Hallan Çemi in southeastern Anatolia, archaeologists unearthed 51,000 animal bones dating to about 10,000 b.c. Of these, boar bones made...

Welcome to the story of the Causewayed Enclosure [Windmill Hill, Avebury]. These are quite the monuments. But do we know what they were originally constructed for? Defensive, demarcation, meeting place... lets see if we can find out, as once again I find myself in a ditch. Britain's OLDEST Ancient Monument that Still Confuses us! | 13:17 Paul Whitewick | 177K subscribers | 10,178 views | June 1, 2025

Approximately 14,000 years ago, the unprecedented solar event—now judged to be the most powerful known to have occurred—marked Earth’s transition into the Holocene epoch, according to the findings of an international team of scientists. The team traces the event to around 12,350 BC using a new climate-chemistry model specifically designed to reconstruct ancient solar particle activity. This expands the known timeline for ancient solar storms and raises the bar on the upper boundaries of their intensity. Although the event in question was already known from past observations of radiocarbon spikes in ancient wood samples, its scale and magnitude remained unknown....

Archaeologists excavating the site of a future golf course were surprised to find evidence of a prehistoric village — including a rare chariot wheel dating back millennia. The excavation took place near Inverness, Scotland, at the site of the future Old Petty Championship Golf Course at Cabot Highlands. Experts working for Avon Archaeology Highland also found a Bronze Age cremation urn estimated to be 3,500 years old, along with flint tools and quern stones, which were used to grind grains. Remnants of at least 25 Neolithic-era wooden buildings were also uncovered at the site, according to the BBC. Archaeologists told...

A recent study has uncovered the existence of ancient lakes, rivers, and a massive water-formed valley beneath Arabia’s vast desert. ***************************************************************************** A recent study has uncovered a long-forgotten landscape hidden beneath the vast expanse of Arabia’s Empty Quarter—one of the driest and most desolate regions in the world today. The groundbreaking research, published in Communications Earth & Environment, reveals that the desert was once home to ancient lakes, rivers, and valleys, formed during periods of high rainfall between 11,000 and 5,500 years ago. This discovery sheds new light on the dramatic environmental shifts that occurred in the region during the...

Luxury and prestige objects have existed in all human societies, and the Neolithic was no exception. Among the most intriguing artifacts of this period are the obsidian mirrors, finely crafted pieces whose function remains a subject of debate. Recent archaeological studies have allowed researchers to reconstruct their manufacturing and distribution process in Southwest Asia, particularly in Central Anatolia, where findings at the Tepecik Çiftlik site suggest that it may have been the key center for the production of these unique objects.The mirrors, circular and highly polished, were not utilitarian tools but items with a strong symbolic component. Their rarity is...

...Flagstones was unearthed in the 1980s during the construction of the Dorchester bypass, where excavations revealed a circular ditch with a diameter of 100 meters, formed by intersecting pits and likely accompanied by an earthwork bank. Currently, half of the site is situated beneath the bypass, while the other half lies under Max Gate, the former residence of Thomas Hardy, which is now managed by the National Trust. Flagstones is recognized as a scheduled monument, with artifacts and excavation records housed at the Dorset Museum.Excavations uncovered at least four burials within the enclosure pits, including a cremated adult and three...

Excavations at Göbekli Tepe continue to yield findings. Researchers found living quarters of an ancient civilization, which disproved earlier theories that the site served solely as a ceremonial pilgrimage destination.Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic archaeological site situated in the Germuş mountains of southeastern Anatolia, close to the border of Syria... its construction occurring up to 15,000 years ago.The enormous T-shaped pillars at Göbekli Tepe, some reaching heights of up to 5.5 meters, are the oldest examples of monumental architecture discovered to date. These pillars were carved from flint at a time when metal tools were not yet used, demonstrating architectural skills.So...

The Neolithic period along the Mediterranean coastline represents a transformative chapter in human history: transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to a sedentary one, characterized by agriculture and livestock farming. Just as its name suggests, in the Early Cardial period -- around 5800 BCE -- the period is characterized by pottery decorated with impressions made using the serrated edges of Cardial shells. This 'cultural current,' believed to have originated in Anatolia, spread rapidly across the coasts of Greece, southern Italy, and eventually into southern France.The importance of the settlement at Cavalaire-sur-Mer is that it is the second known site of this...

Excavations at an ancient Iraqi site called Shakhi Kora have revealed new clues about the origins of the world's earliest governing institutions, according to research led by the University of Glasgow.The research published in the journal Antiquity today (Wednesday 4 December 2024) suggests these early governing institutions emerged partly from their ability to provide large-scale meals, potentially as payment for labour. However, the later abandonment of these centralised structures, without signs of violent overthrow or environmental stress, points to a deliberate rejection of centralised forms of organisation that likely involved increasing top-down control...Shakhi Kora is a Late Chalcolithic site in...

According to a Phys.org report, archaeologist Xingtao Wei of Zhengzhou University and his colleagues analyzed residues preserved on three 8,000-year-old pottery tripods recovered from Xielaozhuang, a site in northern China belonging to the Peiligang culture. The researchers were examining the pottery with scanning electron microscopy to study how alcohol was made when they detected the crusty residues. Additional testing with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and analysis of starch granules revealed that the residues contained compounds and minerals typically found in bone. They also detected traces of wild plants, including acorns and adlay millet. Wei and his colleagues suggest...

Archaeologists and climate scientists from the University of Copenhagen can now show that ritual sacrifices of sun stones coincided with a large volcanic eruption that made the sun disappear throughout Northern Europe. This image shows two so-called sun stones, which are small flat shale pieces with finely incised patterns and sun motifs. They are known only from the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Credit: National Museum of Denmark Volcanic eruptions shaped the destinies of ancient European societies, leading to dramatic cultural shifts and the emergence of sun worship practices among Neolithic communities. Archaeological findings, including the mysterious sun...

Archaeologists have dated the lakefront Neolithic (7000–3200 b.c.) settlement of Dispilio in northern Greece using a method that involves detecting evidence of bursts of cosmic radiation in ancient wood samples. In 2012, physicist Fusa Miyake first identified sudden spikes in the level of radioactive carbon-14 in tree rings that could be attributed to bombardment by cosmic rays at precisely known points in the past. A handful of these spikes, called Miyake Events, which allow wood samples to be dated to a single year, can be identified in tree rings dating back as far as 12,350 b.c.A team including University of...

The Caveman Diet, also known as the Paleo Diet, is a weight-loss craze where calorie-counters pick foods they think early humans may have eaten. For most followers, this means a meat-heavy diet. But a new study suggests that if you truly want to eat like a caveman, you should be steering clear of red meat. Contrary to popular belief, researchers from Bar-Ilan University say that early humans were not solely focused on animal protein. Instead, cavemen were mostly vegetarians whose diets featured plant-based foods including acorns, cereals, legumes, and aquatic plants. 'This discovery underscores the importance of plant foods in...

Not just metals, hierarchical societies and fortified settlements: a new food also influenced economic transformations in the Bronze Age around 3,500 years ago. This is evidenced by frequent archeological discoveries of remains of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), a cereal with small, roundish grains. A major study by the Collaborative Research Center 1266 at Kiel University (CAU) was published yesterday (13 August) in the journal Scientific Reports. It shows how common millet got onto the menu in Bronze Age Europe. Intensive trade and communication networks facilitated the incredibly rapid spread of this new crop originating from the Far East. "Wheat,...

A study team led by researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) says that a 7,000-year-old weapon kit consisting of two bowstrings believed to be the oldest ever found in Europe and a set of three wood arrows discovered in the Cave of Los Murciélagos in Albuñol, Granada, reveals an “unprecedented degree of precision and technical mastery” in their construction. When describing the complexity of the bowstrings, which were woven together from the tendons of three different animal species, Raquel Piqué, a researcher in the Department of Prehistory of the UAB and coordinator of the study, said that “this...

‘Focaccia’ seasoned with animal fat baked in an experimental replica husking tray. Credit: Sergio Taranto Late Neolithic communities in the Fertile Crescent baked large, seasoned breads using grooved husking trays. Analysis of archaeological remains highlights a six-century culinary tradition involving cereal processing and communal meals. A study led by researchers from the UAB and the University La Sapienza in Rome reveals that during the Late Neolithic, between 7000 and 5000 BCE, fully agricultural communities in the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East developed a complex culinary tradition. This tradition included baking large loaves of bread and “focaccias” with various...

Abstract===================================== The Armenians are a culturally isolated population who historically inhabited a region in the Near East bounded by the Mediterranean and Black seas and the Caucasus We find that Armenians form a distinctive cluster linking the Near East, Europe, and the Caucasus. We show that Armenian diversity can be explained by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3000 and ~2000 bce, a period characterized by major population migrations after the domestication of the horse, appearance of chariots, and the rise of advanced civilizations in the Near East. However, genetic signals of population mixture cease after ~1200 bce...

More than 100 perforated soft limestone pebbles uncovered at the early village site of Nahal Ein-Gev II, which is located near the Sea of Galilee, may have been used as spindle whorls to produce yarn or cord some 12,000 years ago, according to a Haaretz report. The village was inhabited by the Natufians, who lived in the southern Levant between 15,000 and 11,500 years ago. Talia Yashuv and Leore Grosman of Hebrew University explained that prior to the invention of the spindle whorl, fibers were twisted together manually in a long and laborious process. In contrast, using a spindle whorl...