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Genetic descent and heritage of the Etruscans deciphered

September 24, 2021

The Etruscan civilization, which flourished during the Iron Age in central Italy, has intrigued scholars for millennia. With remarkable metallurgical skills and a now-extinct, non-Indo-European language, the Etruscans stood out from their contemporary neighbors, leading to intense debate from the likes of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus on their geographical origins. Sleep and Death Carrying…

Archaeology, Europe, Genetics, Italy, Southern Europe, Ticker

Decoding human history with ancient DNA

September 24, 2021

This year is the 20th anniversary of sequencing the human genome. In honor of this event, a research team led by Prof. FU Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reviewed the most recent progress in the field of ancient DNA (aDNA), i.e., DNA obtained from…

Anthropology, Early Humans, Genetics, Human Evolution

Organic molecule remnants found in nuclei of ancient dinosaur cells

September 24, 2021

A team of scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature (STM) has isolated exquisitely preserved cartilage cells in a 125-million-year-old dinosaur from Northeast China that contain nuclei with remnants of organic molecules and chromatin. Photographs of three cartilage…

China, Dinosaurs, Fossils, Genetics, Palaeontology

Earliest evidence of human activity found in the Americas

September 23, 2021

Footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico provide the earliest unequivocal evidence of human activity in the Americas and offer insight into life over 23,000 years ago. Footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, providing the earliest evidence of human activity in the Americas [Credit: Cornell University] The footprints…

Archaeology, North America, Ticker, USA

Ancient DNA analysis sheds light on dark event in medieval Spain

September 23, 2021

An international research team led by the University of Huddersfield’s Archaeogenetics Research Group, including geneticists, archaeological scientists, and archaeologists, has published the genome sequence of a unique individual from Islamic medieval Spain — al-Andalus — the results of which have shed light on a brutal event that took place in medieval Spain. An international team…

Archaeology, Europe, Genetics, Southern Europe, Spain

Gas pipe workers find 800-year-old bodies in Peru

September 23, 2021

Peruvian workers laying gas pipes found the remains of eight people buried in a common tomb with food and musical instruments some 800 years ago, an archaeologist said Wednesday. Chilca funerary bundles, 13th century Peru [Credit: Jesus Bahamonde, AFP] The bodies of adults and children had been wrapped in plant material, with corn, dishes, and…

Americas, Archaeology, Peru, South America

Bizarre armoured spikes belong to oldest ankylosaur ever discovered

September 23, 2021

An unusual fossil showing a series of spikes fused to a rib has been revealed to be the remains of the oldest ankylosaur ever found and the first from the African continent. Spicomellus afer fossil showing a series of spikes fused to a rib [Credit: © Trustees of the Natural History Museum] The exciting discovery…

Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Blowing up medieval gunpowder recipes

September 22, 2021

First used for battle in China in about 900 A.D., gunpowder spread throughout Eurasia by the end of the 13th century, eventually revolutionizing warfare as a propellant in firearms and artillery. Meanwhile, master gunners tinkered with gunpowder formulas, trying to find the ideal concoction. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Omega have recreated medieval gunpowder recipes…

Archaeology, Chemistry, China, Europe

Shell beads found in Moroccan cave are at least 142,000 years old

September 22, 2021

The necklace, nametag, earrings or uniform you chose to put on this morning might say more than you realize about your social status, job or some other aspect of your identity. Anthropologists say humans have been doing this — finding ways to communicate about themselves without the fuss of conversation — for millennia. An international…

Archaeology, Early Humans, Morocco, North Africa

Island-hopping: Genetics reveal how humans settled remote Pacific

September 22, 2021

Easter Island’s famous megaliths have relatives on islands thousands of miles to the north and west — and so did the people who created them, according to a newly published study. Ahu Akivi Moais — stone statues of the Rapa Nui culture — are seen on Easter Island, some 3700kms off the Chilean coast in…

Archaeology, Easter Island, Genetics, Polynesia