South East Asia - Archaeology News

1,700-year-old Korean genomes show genetic heterogeneity in Three Kingdoms period Gaya

June 21, 2022

An international team led by The University of Vienna and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with the National Museum of Korea has successfully sequenced and studied the whole genome of eight 1,700-year-old individuals dated to the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (approx. 57 BC-668 AD). The first published genomes from…

Archaeology, Asia, Forensics, Genetics, Korea, South East Asia

New evidence about when, where, and how chickens were domesticated

June 6, 2022

New research transforms our understanding of the circumstances and timing of the domestication of chickens, their spread across Asia into the west, and reveals the changing way in which they were perceived in societies over the past 3,500 years. Comparison of chicken tarsometatarsi from: A) Mogador (Becker 2013); B) modern broiler; C) Iron Age Weston Down…

Archaeology, Asia, South East Asia, Thailand, Zooarchaeology

Work on Angkor Wat’s central tower to be completed by Mar-Apr

January 8, 2022

Apsara National Authority (ANA) has confirmed that work to reinforce the structure of Angkor Wat temple’s central tower-like spire, or “prang” in Khmer, was expected to finish in March-April. Credit: Apsara National Authority ANA, the government body responsible for the conservation and management of Angkor Archaeological Park, emphasised in a statement that the intricately-carved spire,…

Archaeology, Asia, Cambodia, Heritage, South East Asia

Early modern humans from Southeast Asia adapted to a rainforest environment

October 14, 2021

Although there has been evidence of our species living in rainforest regions in Southeast Asia from at least 70,000 years ago, the poor preservation of organic material in these regions limits how much we know about their diet and ecological adaptations to these habitats. An international team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute…

Anthropology, Asia, Early Humans, Fossils, Human Evolution, Laos, South East Asia

UK returns five Khmer antiquities to Cambodia

September 30, 2021

At least five Cambodian artefacts handed over by the family of the late antique collector Douglas Latchford will be returned to Cambodia yesterday, Ministry of Culture and Fine arts said. A bronze male deity dated to the 11th century [Credit: Matthew Hollow/Royal Government of Cambodia] In a statement issued today, the ministry said “In this…

Archaeology, Asia, Cambodia, Heritage, South East Asia, UK

25,000-year-old human jawbone discovered in Indonesia is oldest human remains found in Wallacea

September 30, 2021

An international group of researchers published a study in the journal Homo sapien jawbone found on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia [Credit: Brumm et al., 2021] The individual to whom the jaw belonged was old and in poor dental health. All but the molars were missing and, although the others may have fallen out after…

Anthropology, Asia, Early Humans, Indonesia, South East Asia

What the fate of ancient cities can teach us about surviving climate change

September 27, 2021

Cities and their hinterlands must build resilience to survive climate stress; this is the grave warning emanating from a study of ancient civilisations and climate change. The 12th century CE temple of Preah Khan, one of hundreds of ritual and administrative spaces in the urban core of Angkor in modern Cambodia that were progressively abandoned…

Cambodia, Central America, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Guatemala, Mexico, Natural Heritage, South East Asia

3,000-year-old cave drawings found in Vietnam

September 18, 2021

Several prehistoric drawings that could date back to 3,000 years ago have been found at an ancient cave located in Quy Chau District in the central province of Nghe An. Ancient drawings found in Tham Chang Cave depict geometric patterns – concentric circles and spirals that are typical of the Iron Age [Credit: Dr Trinh…

Archaeology, Asia, South East Asia, Vietnam

More evidence unearthed of Silla-era human sacrifice

September 7, 2021

An archaeological dig by the Cultural Heritage Administration has found more human remains under the west walls of Wolseong in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, adding to evidence that human sacrifice was practiced in the Silla Kingdom. Adult female skeleton and earthenware pot found under west walls of Wolseong [Credit: Gyeongju National Research Institute…

Archaeology, Asia, Korea, South East Asia

DNA recovered from modern human buried 7,000 years ago on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

August 25, 2021

The oldest genome of a modern human from the Wallacea region — the islands between western Indonesia and Papua New Guinea — indicates a previously undescribed ancient human relationship. The international study was accomplished through close collaboration with several researchers and institutions from Indonesia. It was headed by Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institutes…

Archaeology, Asia, Early Humans, Genetics, Indonesia, South East Asia