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These prehistoric mines' ages were a "long-standing mystery," says David Pompeani, a geologist at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Previous research used archaeological remnants to evaluate when mine sites were active, but later mining at the same sites often obliterated ancient artifacts, Pompeani says. To work around this, he and his colleagues took a different approach: instead of artifacts, they looked for signs of mining preserved in the environment.For a recent study in Anthropocene, the researchers examined sediments from two small inland lakes near ancient mines on Lake Superior's isolated Isle Royale in Michigan. Such sediments are affected by...

About 8500 years ago, hunter-gatherers living beside Eagle Lake in Wisconsin hammered out a conical, 10-centimeter-long projectile point made of pure copper. The finely crafted point, used to hunt big game, highlights a New World technological triumph—and a puzzle. A new study of that artifact and other traces of prehistoric mining concludes that what is known as the Old Copper Culture emerged, then mysteriously faded, far earlier than once thought. The dates show that early Native Americans were among the first people in the world to mine metal and fashion it into tools. They also suggest a regional climate shift...

...Why do the Greek descendants of the Minoans share a gene in their DNA with the Chippewas and no one else on the planet? In November of 1896, near the town of Newberry, Michigan. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula two woodsmen clearing land on a farm uprooted a tree and discovered three statues, and a clay tablet. The tablet was 19 by 26 inches in size. 140 small squares were cut into the stone. In each square a letter or character. The University of Michigan and the Smithsonian Institution were notified. Both of these institutions, at the time refused to look...

The Shipping of Michigan Copper across the Atlantic in the Bronze Age (Isle Royale and Keweenaw Peninsula, c. 2400BC-1200 BC) Summary Recent scientific literature has come to the conclusion that the major source of the copper that swept through the European Bronze Age after 2500 BC is unknown. However, these studies claim that the 10 tons of copper oxhide ingots recovered from the late Bronze Age (1300 BC) Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Turkey was “extraordinarily pure” (more than 99.5% pure), and that it was not the product of smelting from ore. The oxhides are all brittle “blister copper”,...

Researchers reveal how prehistoric Native Americans of Cahokia made copper artifactsEVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University researchers ditched many of their high-tech tools and turned to large stones, fire and some old-fashioned elbow grease to recreate techniques used by Native American coppersmiths who lived more than 600 years ago. This prehistoric approach to metalworking was part of a metallurgical analysis of copper artifacts left behind by the Mississippians of the Cahokia Mounds, who lived in southeastern Illinois from 700 until 1400 A.D. The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in May. The researchers were able to identify how...

...As part of this work, during the first field season was... the excavation of 2 pyramids and a part of a ballgame court, as well as several human burials that reveal changes in funerary patterns of ancient dwellers... Archaeologist Peter Jimenez, co director of El Teul Archaeological Project[:] "Finding the rests of the oven to melt copper is very important because it is the earliest found in Mexico and was used during Early Post Classic period, between 900 and 1200 of the Common Age", added the researcher at his lecture "Advances of the archaeological rescue at El Teul". He described...

Author Gavin Menzies Is Determined to Prove That Minoans Discovered the New World 4,000 Years Ago It takes a brave soul to rewrite history by sailing against current thought. More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus "discovered" America, another seaman is doing just that, entering previously uncharted academic waters with claims that other "Europeans" -- the Minoans -- got there first, thousands of years earlier. Gavin Menzies, 72 years old, is drawing on his experience as a former British Royal Navy submarine commander to prove in a book he is writing that the Minoans were such supreme seafarers that they...

Wisconsin officials recently announced the discovery of a trove of ancient canoes in an underwater "parking lot" of sorts — including one that predates the Pyramids of Giza. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) announced this month that its experts have identified 14 canoes in Madison's Lake Mendota so far, six of which were found this spring. The WHS worked with the First Nations of Wisconsin during the research process, a release noted.

Popular Science reports that Peruvian authorities announced several new discoveries from the Caral civilization site of Vichama, including a one-of-a-kind statuette. The site was a major agricultural and fishing hub that was among the network of Caral urban centers that flourished around 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists have uncovered about 30 major structures, including public buildings, residential houses, and ceremonial plazas. One exceptional object that was recently uncovered was a 3,800-year-old clay figurine painted red and black that depicts two frogs conjoined at their hind legs. Scholars believe the amphibians played an important symbolic role in Caral culture, as they were...

According to a Live Science report, the name of a previously unknown Maya queen has been deciphered from an inscription discovered last year on a staircase at Cobá, an urban center on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula that was occupied from about 350 B.C. into the fourteenth century. Researchers from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) named the staircase Foundation Rock. Although its 123 hieroglyphic panels have been damaged by erosion, David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin and Octavio Esparza Olguín of the National Autonomous University of Mexico were able to match one of the Foundation Rock...

According to a statement released by the University of Exeter, traces of 76 stone chacus, or funnel-shaped traps, have been spotted in satellite images of northern Chile by Adrián Oyaneder of the University of Exeter. The dry-stone walls of the chacus stretch downhill for hundreds of yards, and end in pits surrounded by enclosures. Hunters would have driven vicuña into the traps and then collected them from the pits. Oyaneder noted that the trap builders sometimes employed natural features in the landscape as arms of their traps. He has also found evidence of settlements in satellite images of Chile's Western...

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ind. — Human remains discovered along a riverbank in Fayette County have been determined to be more than 4,200 years old, the local coroner announced Monday.

Chile mummies possibly done in by arsenic Thursday, November 24, 2005; Posted: 10:58 a.m. EST (15:58 GMT) SAN MIGUEL DE AZAPA, Chile (Reuters) -- Living in the harsh desert of northern Chile's Pacific coast more than 7,000 years ago, the Chinchorro fishing tribe mysteriously began mummifying dead babies -- removing internal organs, cleaning bones, stuffing and sewing up the skin, putting wigs and clay masks on them. The Chinchorro mummies are the oldest known artificially preserved dead, dating thousands of years before Egyptian mummies, and the life quest of the archeologists who study them is to discover why this early...

A new analysis of artwork left behind by the enigmatic inhabitants of the abandoned Mesoamerican city Teotihuacan suggests the colorful pictures and shapes may constitute a rudimentary language that ultimately evolved into the language of the Aztecs.If the team of researchers behind the discovery can successfully decipher the "lost language," they believe it could offer clues about the identity of Teotihuacan's builders and the reasons they abandoned the once thriving metropolis...Previous excavations and decades of research have determined that Teotihuacan was founded sometime around 100 AD. Researchers have also determined that the massive complex of buildings and roadways likely supported...

Despite being a staple food for millions of people worldwide, the genetic secrets of the sweet potato have long remained a mystery to scientists. That is, until now. New research has revealed the complexities behind the genetic makeup of these tubers, widely considered to be a superfood for their health benefits. What science reveals about them is surprising, revealing a previously unknown evolutionary history involving a “hybrid ancestry” behind the beloved vegetables. The research, led by Professor Zhangjun Fei at the Boyce Thompson Institute, was recently published in Nature Plants. The Hybrid Ancestry of Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes carry six...

A vast stone temple built 1,000 years ago by one of South America's most powerful civilizations has been uncovered in the Andes.Archaeologists discovered the temple, known as Palaspata, atop a ridge in the remote highlands southeast of Lake Titicaca, near the small community of Ocotavi in western Bolivia.The large structure was the craftsmanship of the Tiwanaku civilization, which left a mark on the world with impressive stone structures, advanced irrigation systems, and unique art and pottery before vanishing around 1000AD.Covering an area roughly the size of a city block, the site measures approximately 410 feet long by 476 feet wide.It...

The Kansas City Star reports that Peruvian authorities made a stunning new discovery at the site of Era de Pando in the Supe Valley. The region was home to the Caral culture, which is often considered the oldest city-building civilization in the Americas. Previous excavations at Era de Pando have unearthed four large and four small pyramid complexes, and at least 40 other buildings, including houses and temples, that date back at least 4,000 years. While working near one of the largest pyramids, archaeologists recently uncovered the ruins of a structure known as a "fire altar." The circular feature, which...

Join Dr. Donald Blakeslee on the excavations into Kansas' lost megasite of Etzanoa, a Great Plains archaeology site that is rewriting the understanding of indigenous societies. Etzanoa: The Lost Kansas Megasite | 11:10 Matt Gush | 1.91K subscribers | 342,995 views | March 30, 2024

Scientists were recently baffled by DNA evidence that revealed the existence of a genetically unknown group of early South American settlers. Archaeologists are continually adapting their models for how human populations spread from Asia through North America to South America, and this new research is bound to alter those theories once again. The Associated Press reports that the researchers analyzed ancient DNA from 21 individuals who lived in Colombia's Altiplano Cundiboyacense region thousands of years ago. Located near current-day Bogotá, this area was also close to the ancient land bridge connecting South and Central America, the route that early human...

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15. The items returned included funerary items that were taken illegally from tombs in northern Peru during the 1960s and ’70s. The return marks the second time New York officials have repatriated a group of works to Peru. Also among the returned objects is a copper mask believed to represent a fanged Moche deity Ai Apaec, which has historically been associated with protection. The mask, which dates to approximately 300 BCE, is believed to have been taken from...