EurekAlert! News by Subject: Archaeology - News by Subject: Archaeology

Archaeology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 7-Nov-2025 08:10 ET (7-Nov-2025 13:10 GMT/UTC)

18-Jun-2025

Before dispersing out of Africa, humans learned to thrive in diverse habitats

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Before the ‘Out of Africa’ migration that led humans into Eurasia and beyond, new research shows that humans expanded their niche to include African forests and deserts. The authors argue that human populations learning to adapt to new and challenging habitats was key to the long-term success of this dispersal.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Leverhulme Trust, European Research Council

18-Jun-2025

Ancient DNA reveals new clues about the incredible journey of dogs in the Americas

University of Oxford
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A major new study has traced the incredible journey of humankind’s best friend across the Americas, showing how dogs slowly spread southward alongside early farming societies - mirroring the rhythms of human migration, agriculture and cultural change.

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

17-Jun-2025

Australia’s oldest occupied Ice Age cave found at high elevation in Blue Mountains

University of Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University in collaboration with First Nations community members have unearthed 693 stone artefacts dating from the last Ice Age to the recent past. Found in an ancient Blue Mountains cave known as Dargan Shelter, this new evidence provides definitive proof of repeated occupation in this once frozen, high-altitude landscape. The research, funded by the Australian Museum Foundation, is published in Nature Human Behaviour today.

Journal: Nature Human Behaviour
Funder: Declaration: This research was funded by the Australian Museum Foundation. The authors declare no competing interests. Open access funding provided by the University of Sydney.

16-Jun-2025

ETSU fossil discovery reveals giant ancient salamander

East Tennessee State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

ETSU scientists uncovered Dynamognathus robertsoni, a massive fossil salamander that sheds new light on the evolution of Appalachian amphibians.

Journal: Historical Biology

12-Jun-2025

New theory suggests we’re all wired to preserve culture

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new paper published in the journal Psychological Review, Cory Cobb, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin, proposed a cultural continuity hypothesis stating that humans are universally motivated to retain and preserve key parts of their cultures across time and space.

Journal: Psychological Review

12-Jun-2025

Tiny fossils, big discoveries: Researchers reveal new clues about early ocean life

University of Missouri-Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Missouri study challenges assumptions about biodiversity near Earth’s first reef systems.

Journal: Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology

11-Jun-2025

Archaeology in the age of big data

Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), together with international partners, have developed a software called “AutArch”. It harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and big data to revisit old archaeological collections — and could thus revolutionize archaeological data analysis. The researchers published their results in the high-impact journal Journal of Archaeological Science on June 3, 2025. AutArch is available as open source software on GitHub and Zenodo.

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science