Fair complexion, brown hair and brown, widely spaced eyes, a prominent chin, a petite figure, adorned with bronze and gold jewellery and a magnificent amber necklace: this is how the woman buried with luxurious equipment in Mikulovice near Pardubice looked like. An accurate and scientifically based reconstruction of her appearance was completed by anthropologist Eva…
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Archaeologists from the Rakovník Museum have announced a rare discovery from the Migration Period — a gold ring and clasp decorated with Czech garnets and almandines, which probably come from India or Sri Lanka. According to experts, the roughly 1500-year-old find is one of the most unique of its kind in Europe. Credit: Central Bohemia…
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Recent archaeogenetic studies have shown that human movements like migrations and expansions played a major role in driving the spread of cultures and genes in ancient Europe. However, it is only now with detailed regional studies and dense sampling that researchers start to better understand the magnitude, rate and social implications of these changes. In…
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Ancient DNA from Neanderthals and early modern humans has recently shown that the groups likely interbred somewhere in the Near East after modern humans left Africa some 50,000 years ago. As a result, all people outside Africa carry around 2% to 3% Neanderthal DNA. In modern human genomes, those Neanderthal DNA segments became increasingly shorter…
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Recent summer droughts in Europe are far more severe than anything in the past 2,100 years, according to a new study. Example of a polished cross-section of an oak from the Czech Republic[Credit: Ulf Buntgen] An international team, led by the University of Cambridge, studied the chemical fingerprints in European oak trees to reconstruct summer…
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Initial analysis of a burial ground in the Hradec Králové region from the late 5th century – a time of great migration of peoples – has confirmed the uniqueness of site, first discovered in 2019. Archaeologists say the tomb of one woman in particular has yielded a treasure trove of finds of great historical and…
At the Lany-Breclav site in the Czech Republic, they found an inscribed animal rib alongside pottery of the Prague type, associated with the Early Slavs. This unique find provides the earliest evidence of the use of a writing system among Slavs. The bone, however, is inscribed with Germanic runes and is therefore not written in…
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In the Early Bronze Age of Europe, ancient people used bronze objects as an early form of money, even going so far as to standardize the shape and weight of their currency, according to a study published in the open-access journal Ribs (Spangenbarren) [Credit: M.H.G. Kuijpers] Money is an important feature of modern human society….
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A man searching for mushrooms close to his home came across a 3,300-year-old sword from the Bronze Age. The rare item has excited archaeologists who say they plan to dig in the surrounding area. Bronze Age sword, hilt top left, right. Full sword and axe, bottom left [Credit: Ethnographic Museum of Jesenicko] Roman Novák was…
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Archaeologists from South Bohemia have just announced a unique discovery of some 800 silver coins dating back to the second half of 13th century. The coins, which are exceptionally well-preserved, were minted during the reign of King Premysl Otakar II. It is one of the largest discoveries of its kind in the Czech Republic. Archaeologists…
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