Ancient Archeology

Scientists get hands dirty with research into medieval poop 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- October 10, 2020
Study seeks to compare microbiomes of our ancestors for clues to modern diseases

By David Aragorn
Archaeologists discover Iron Age massacre, frozen in time 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- October 1, 2020
Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an Iron Age massacre, frozen in time for thousands of years until excavation.

By David Aragorn
Scientists Sequence Y Chromosome DNA of Denisovans and Neanderthals 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 29, 2020
The genomes of our closest relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, have been sequenced and compared with that of modern humans. However, most archaic individuals with high-quality sequences available have been female. In new research, a team of geneticists from the United States, China and Europe has sequenced the paternally inherited Y chromosomes from three Neanderthals and two Denisovans; comparisons with archaic and modern human Y chromosomes indicated that, similar to the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the human and Neanderthal Y chromosomes were more closely related to each other compared with the Denisovan Y chromosome; this result supports the conclusion that interbreeding between early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals replaced the more ancient Denisovian-like Y chromosome and mitochondria in Neanderthals.

By David Aragorn
Meet ‘Jaws of Death,’ a 33-foot lizard that terrorized the seas 80 million years ago 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 26, 2020
Roughly 80 million years ago in the shallow inland sea that once split North America into eastern and western land masses, a fearsome 10-meter-long (33-foot-long) marine reptile with powerful jaws and tremendous bite-force was one of the apex predators.

By David Aragorn
Archaeology uncovers infectious disease spread 4,000 years ago 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 22, 2020
New bioarchaeology research from a University of Otago Ph.D. candidate has shown how infectious diseases may have spread 4000 years ago, while highlighting the dangers of letting such diseases run rife.

By David Aragorn
These 120,000-year-old footprints offer early evidence for humans in Arabia 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 18, 2020
One day about 120,000 years ago, a few humans wandered along the shore of an ancient lake in what is now the Nefud Desert in Saudi Arabia. They may have paused for a drink of fresh water or to track herds of elephants, wild asses, and camels that were trampling the mudflats. Within hours of passing through, the humans’ and animals’ footprints dried out and eventually fossilized.

By David Aragorn
DNA data shows not all Vikings were Scandinavian 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 17, 2020
In the public imagination, the Vikings were closely-related clans of Scandinavians who marauded their way across Europe, but new genetic analysis paints a more complicated picture.

By David Aragorn
Study casts doubt on ‘sky disk’ thought to be oldest representation of the heavens 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 15, 2020
One of Germany’s most famous ancient artifacts may not be what it seems, if a new study is to be believed.

By David Aragorn
When did we become fully human? What fossils and DNA tell us about the evolution of modern intelligence 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 12, 2020
When did something like us first appear on the planet? It turns out there’s remarkably little agreement on this question.

By David Aragorn
Archaeologists Just Sequenced Some of The Oldest Neanderthal DNA Found in Europe 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 12, 2020
For tens of thousands of years, a Neanderthal molar rested in a shallow grave on the floor of the Stajnia Cave in what is now Poland. For all that time, viable mitochondrial DNA remained locked inside – and now, finally, scientists are discovering its secrets.

By David Aragorn