How did early humans use sharpened rocks to bring down megafauna 13,000 years ago? Did they throw spears tipped with carefully crafted, razor-sharp rocks called Clovis points? Did they surround and jab mammoths and mastodons? Or did they scavenge wounded animals, using Clovis points as a versatile tool to harvest meat and bones for food and supplies?

UC Berkeley archaeologists say the answer might be none of the above.

Instead, researchers say humans may have braced the butt of their pointed spears against the ground and angled the weapon upward in a way that would impale a charging animal. The force would have driven the spear deeper into the predator's body, unleashing a more damaging blow than even the strongest prehistoric hunters would have been capable of on their own.

A large-scale study of fossil human teeth from Ice Age Europe shows that climate change significantly influenced the demography of prehistoric humans.

Using the largest dataset of human fossils from Ice Age Europe to date, an international research team shows how prehistoric hunter–gatherers coped with climate change in the period between 47,000 and 7,000 years ago.

Population sizes declined sharply during the coldest period, and in the West, Ice Age Europeans even faced extinction, according to the study published August 16 in the journal Science Advances.

Cooking is important — in fact, some researchers believe it's what allowed our human ancestors to unlock the extra calories needed to grow larger brains. So when was cooking invented?

The timing is uncertain, but evidence suggests people were cooking food at least 50,000 years ago and as early as 2 million years ago. This evidence comes from two fields: archaeology and biology.

One piece of archaeological evidence for cooking is cooked starch grains found in dental calculus, or hardened dental plaque. "People can find it in teeth that are 50,000 years old," said Richard Wrangham, a retired professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University and the author of "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" (Basic Books, 2009).

But earlier than that, the evidence is less clear. Generally, scientists look for evidence that people were controlling fire. But evidence of controlled fire isn't necessarily evidence of cooking; — people could have used that fire for heat or to make tools, for example.

'Since Inuvialuit ancestors arrived in the Mackenzie Delta around 800 years ago, beluga whales have been central to their livelihood and culture,' said archaeologist and co-senior author Professor Max Friesen from University of Toronto.

'However, little is known of the impact of centuries of sustained subsistence harvests on the beluga population'.

Integrating paleogenomics, genetic simulations, and stable isotope analysis of 45 zooarchaeological beluga remains, and comparing the findings with contemporary data from tissue samples provided by Inuvialuit hunters from their beluga subsistence hunts, the team characterised the effect of 700 years of subsistence harvests on beluga genetic diversity, population structuring, and foraging ecology.

An ancient DNA (aDNA) study at the 17th-century English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, has identified two of the town's earliest settlers, and revealed an unexpected family secret.

Founded in AD 1607, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Excavations at the site discovered human remains in the 1608–1616 church.

As such, it was thought that they were the bodies of some of the original colonists.

"These graves were purposely buried near the altar in the Church Chancel," says co-author of the research Dr. William Kelso, Emeritus Director of Archaeology at Jamestown Rediscovery. "This prominent location suggests the graves contained the remains of high-status individuals."

A company developing an industrial-scale solar panel array on Badger Mountain in Eastern Washington has paused permitting activities on the project amid concerns about impacts to Indigenous cultural sites.

The decision comes on the heels of an investigation by High Country News and ProPublica this year, which found that a land survey funded by the developer, Avangrid Renewables, had omitted more than a dozen sites of archaeological or cultural significance on the public parcel included in the project area. This survey is required by the state before it can permit the project so construction can begin.

In a June 27 letter to the state agency responsible for approving the project, Avangrid wrote that it will be pausing project planning for two to three months “while we re-evaluate public comments, including from our project landowners and affected tribal nations.”

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation have objected to the Badger Mountain solar project for years, according to tribal business councilmember Karen Condon. They officially registered their opposition in May 2023, citing the foods, medicines, archaeological heritage sites and other cultural resources found on the mountain. They were joined shortly after by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Both tribal nations have the right to access and use public lands in their ancestral territory, which includes the state-owned parcel on Badger Mountain.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/23469886

A 31 minute SciShow video on how lead ingots which were recovered from a Roman shipwreck enabled the CUORE experiment's search for neutrinoless double beta decay, and the challenges of ethically sourcing "low background material".

Has anyone set aside lead (and other materials) as a stockpile of low background material for future generations of physicists? Seems like something The Long Now Foundation might do.

Summary:

According to the video, a new study suggests that ancient Egyptians may have used hydraulic force to build the step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser. The pyramid is the oldest of the seven monumental pyramids in Egypt and was the largest structure at the time, with stones weighing more than 600 pounds. Researchers believe that a nearby structure may have functioned as a dam, and that water could have flowed into shafts inside the pyramid, raising a float that carried the stones like a water elevator. However, some experts are skeptical of this theory, as there is no evidence that the Egyptians had the technology to use water pressure in this way. More research is needed to determine if this theory is correct.

Early hominins known colloquially as "hobbits" may have been shorter than scientists thought, a new analysis of teeth and bones has revealed.

The 700,000-year-old fossilized remains belonged to Homo floresiensis, an extinct species of exceedingly small humans that once inhabited Flores, an island south of mainland Indonesia, according to a study published Tuesday (Aug. 6) in the journal Nature Communications.

The new research may shed light on when H. floresiensis first evolved its diminutive height.

"Acquiring a large body and large brain and becoming clever is not necessarily our destiny," lead author Yosuke Kaifu, a professor at the University Museum at the University of Tokyo, told Live Science in an email. "Depending on the natural environment, there were diverse ways of evolution not only for animals in general but also for humans."

Heyo!

I'm looking for some rock art. I've been familiarising myself bit by bit but I'd really appreciate being pointed to some sites by the following criteria (in order of importance):

• the best-preserved rock art, a la Lascaux & such (and/or the most striking--which is not quite the same thing! emphasis on the former since the latter is more subjective :))

• especially which depicts non-human life (other animals & so on) or part-humans (but the less anthropocentric the more it appeals to me)

• and especially anything from the neolithic or (bonus points!!) before! Paleolithic is my main interest, I'm not really interested in anything after literacy :)

Thank you SO much!! Any advice on specific sites or where/how to search under this criteria super appreciated!!

Summary

Here is a summary of the YouTube video 5 New Archeological Discoveries Of 2024 by Sideprojects: This video covers five archaeological discoveries made in 2024:

• The Apano Valley Sites in Ecuador: Archaeologists have discovered remnants of numerous ancient urban environments in the Amazon rainforest, home to an estimated population of 15,000 to 30,000 people. These settlements, dating back to between 2,500 BCE and 500 CE, feature distinctive mound-dweller designs and intricate agricultural systems. The cause of the abandonment of these sites remains a mystery, with possible explanations including volcanic activity, climate change, or conflict.
• The Lost Villa of Pliny the Elder: Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman villa in Poli, Italy, which they initially believed to be the lost villa of Pliny the Elder, a famous Roman philosopher and naturalist who perished in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. However, further investigation revealed that this was likely not the case, as there were many similar villas in the area.
• The Black Room in Pompeii: Archaeologists have discovered a lavishly decorated room in Pompeii, featuring black walls adorned with frescoes depicting scenes from Greek mythology. The room is believed to have been used for private parties and entertainment.
• The Breton War of Succession: This complex and confusing conflict involved a struggle for the Duchy of Brittany between two women named Joan, as well as their respective families and allies. The war lasted for several decades and had significant repercussions for the region.
• The Shadow of Vitré: This medieval castle in France was built by John IV, Duke of Brittany, in the late 14th century. The castle played a role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

These discoveries offer valuable insights into the lives and cultures of ancient civilizations, shedding light on their history, beliefs, and practices.

Archaeologists seeking to learn more about how Neanderthals prepared and cooked their food conducted a series of hands-on experiments with small fowl using flint flakes for butchering. They found that the flint flakes were surprisingly effective for butchering the birds, according to their new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology. They also concluded that roasting the birds damages the bones to such an extent that it's unlikely they would be preserved in the archaeological record.

Two male skeletons showed signs of severe fracture and trauma injuries.

Archaeologists have hotly debated the precise cause of death of those who perished in Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Did they die of asphyxiation, from the extreme heat, or from a combination of factors? A new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science examines the complicating effects of earthquakes that occurred just prior to and concurrently with the eruption. Of most interest was the discovery of two skeletons of people who likely died when their shelter collapsed around them, weakened by the seismic tremors.