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

Archaeology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-May-2025 09:09 ET (15-May-2025 13:09 GMT/UTC)

Prehistoric bone tool ‘factory’ hints at early development of abstract reasoning in human ancestors

University College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The oldest collection of mass-produced prehistoric bone tools reveal that human ancestors were likely capable of more advanced abstract reasoning one million years earlier than thought, finds a new study involving researchers at UCL and CSIC- Spanish National Research Council.

Journal: Nature

Fossil eggshells from Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation include Cretaceous period eggs from 3 feathered bird-like dinosaurs, 2 herbivorous dinosaurs, and a crocodile-like species found for the first time outside Europe

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fossil eggshells from Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation include Cretaceous period eggs from 3 feathered bird-like dinosaurs, 2 herbivorous dinosaurs, and a crocodile-like species found for the first time outside Europe

Journal: PLOS One

Clues of advanced ancient technology found in the Philippines and Island Southeast Asia

Ateneo de Manila University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ancient seafarers in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste had a technological sophistication comparable to much later civilizations, with the capability for long-distance seafaring and open-ocean fishing. This research challenges the widely-held contention that technological progress during the Palaeolithic only emerged in Europe and Africa.

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

Describing previously unknown aspects of Copper Age ceremonial clothing

University of Seville
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study led by the University of Seville describes various unknown aspects of this clothing and its major significance based on the findings at the Tholos de Montelirio site (Seville, Spain).

Journal: Science Advances

Looking to the past to understand the impacts of human land use in South Asia

University of Pennsylvania
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international group of scholars, including archaeologists from the School of Arts & Sciences, synthesized archaeological evidence in South Asia from 12,000 and 6,000 years ago.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Past Global Changes, Swiss Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., European Research Council, International Union for Quaternary Research, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Evidence of cannibalism 18,000 years ago

University of Göttingen
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international research team including the University of Göttingen has gained new insights into the burial rituals of Late Ice Age societies in Central Europe. Signs of human remains from the Maszycka Cave in southern Poland being manipulated indicate systematic dissection of the deceased, as well as cannibalism. The research was published in Scientific Reports.

Journal: Scientific Reports

‘Altar tent’ discovery puts Islamic art at the heart of medieval Christianity

University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A 13^th-century fresco rediscovered in Ferrara, Italy, provides unique evidence of medieval churches using Islamic tents to conceal their high altars. The 700-year-old fresco is thought to be the only surviving image of its kind, offering precious evidence of a little-known Christian practice.

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