Latest Archaeology News - Israel and the Near East

Ancient Israelites Used Cannabis as Temple Offering

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 15 hours ago

The ancient Israelites used cannabis in their religious rituals, archaeologists were stunned to learn by analyzing charred residues on a 2,700-year-old altar unearthed in a desert shrine. Complete article The weed traces were found on one of the altars that once stood in the temple at Tel Arad, in Israel’s Negev desert. The cannabinoid substance was likely burned to deliberately get worshippers high on the drug’s psychoactive compounds, researchers have concluded.

Israeli boy discovers ancient Caanaite tablet during family trip in southern Israel

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 15 hours ago

A six-year-old Israeli boy discovered a 3,500-year-old tablet during a visit to the site of an archaeological site in the Negev desert. Imri Elya from Kibbutz Nirim found the artifact at Tel Jemmah, and turned it over to the National Treasures Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The 1.1-inch by 1.1-inch clay tablet is engraved with a depiction of a man wearing a skirt leading a naked captive whose hands are tied behind the back. The tablet seems to indicate ethnic differences between captor and captive; the captor’s hair is curled and his face is full, while the captiv... more »

 

Who were the Canaanites? New insight from 73 ancient genomes

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 day ago

\ SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: THIS IMAGE SHOWS A GENERAL VIEW OF THE TEL MEGIDDO SITE. view more CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE MEGIDDO EXPEDITION The people who lived in the area known as the Southern Levant--which is now recognized as Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon, and parts of Syria--during the Bronze Age (circa 3500-1150 BCE) are referred to in ancient biblical texts as the Canaanites. Now, researchers reporting in the journal *Cell* on May 28 have new insight into the Canaanites' history based on a new genome-wide analysis of ancient DNA collected... more »

Human mobility and Western Asia's early state-level societies

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 day ago

Archaeogenomic analysis of Anatolia, Northern Levant and the Southern Caucasus sheds light on population dynamics from the Neolithic to Bronze Age, as peoples transitioned from farming to pastoralist communities and early state-level societies MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: ABOVE: COPPER-SILVER DIADEM WITH TRANSCAUCASIAN CONNECTION FROM THE ROYAL TOMB IN ARSLANTEPE, EASTERN TURKEY. BELOW: MESOPOTAMIAN-RELATED POTTERY IN ARSLANTEPE (PALACE PERIOD) view more CREDIT: MISSIONE ARCHEOLOGICA ITALIANA NELL'ANATOLIA ORIENT... more »

4,000 years of contact, conflict & cultural change had little genetic impact in Near East

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 day ago

Only three periods had lasting effect on genetics of local people in Beirut WELLCOME TRUST SANGER INSTITUTE SHARE PRINT E-MAIL The Near East was a crossroad for the ancient world's greatest civilizations, and invasions over centuries caused enormous changes in cultures, religions and languages. However, a new study of the DNA of ancient skeletons spanning 4,000 years has revealed that most of these changes had no lasting effect on the genetics of the local population of Beirut. Whilst the invasions and conquests may have been revolutionary for the elite rulers, researchers at t... more »

Genomic analysis shows long-term genetic mixing in West Asia before world's first cities

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 day ago

International team provides some of the earliest genetic glimpses at the movement and interactions of populations in West Asia 8,500 years ago HARVARD UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: A PARTIAL MAP OF WEST ASIA, WHICH INCLUDES ANATOLIA (PRESENT-DAY TURKEY), THE NORTHERN LEVANT, AND THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS. AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF RESEARCHERS SHOWED POPULATIONS FROM ANATOLIA AND THE CAUCASUS... view more CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY OF THE MAX PLANCK-HARVARD RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE ARCHAEOSCIENCE OF THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN New research on one history's most importa... more »

Material and genetic resemblance in the Bronze Age Southern Levant

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 day ago

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: GENERAL OF MEGIDDO view more CREDIT: © DR ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY A team around Ron Pinhasi at the University of Vienna carried out a detailed analysis of ancient DNA of individuals from the Bronze Age Southern Levant known as 'Canaanites', to provide insights on the historical and demographic events that shaped the populations of that time and area. The scientists aimed at answering three basic questions: How genetically homogenous were the people from the Bronze Age Southern Levant, what were their... more »

Ear infections discovered in remains of humans living in levant 15,000 years ago

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 days ago

Tel Aviv University findings indicate that ear infections in the region peaked some 6,000 years ago due to high population density, poor hygiene and cold and rainy climate conditions AMERICAN FRIENDS OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL Researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered evidence of ear infections in the skull remains of humans living in the Levant some 15,000 years ago. "Our research seeks to determine the impact of our environment on illnesses in different periods," says lead author Dr. Hila May of the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at TAU's Sackl... more »

The emergence and spread of the house mouseover the last 20,000 years, from the Middle East to Europe 4,000 years ago

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

Like humans, the house mouse, or *Mus musculus* sp., is widespread throughout the world, making it the most invasive rodent species. An international study involving eight countries* and led by Thomas Cucchi of the 'Archaeozoology, Archaeobotany: Societies, Practices and Environments' laboratory (CNRS/Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle) reveals how human activities have favoured the emergence and spread of this animal over the last 20,000 years, from the Middle East to Europe 4,000 years ago. To reconstruct the history of the biological invasion of the house mouse, the researcher... more »

- A unique subterranean system hewn in the bedrock from the Second Temple period

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation have revealed new and impressive archaeological discoveries uncovered under the lobby of the Western Wall Tunnels - A unique subterranean system hewn in the bedrock from the Second Temple period discovered beneath an impressive 1400-year-old public building. According to the Archaeologists this is the first time such a system has been uncovered near the Western Wall. This system, the first of its kind uncovered in the area of the Western Wall Plaza and Tunnels, was exposed in excavations conducted by the Israel... more »

 

 

The World's "Earliest-Known Temple" Was Built 11,500 Years Ago With Geometry In Mind

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

Hunter-gatherers built colossal Göbekli Tepe 11,500 years ago in today's Turkey as a single structure of ritual significance, say Tel Aviv University researchers AMERICAN FRIENDS OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: GÖBEKLI TEPE, ENCLOSURE C. view more CREDIT: GIL HAKLAY/AFTAU. The sprawling 11,500-year-old stone Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, is the earliest known temple in human history and one of the most important discoveries of Neolithic research. Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority have... more »

Rare Coin from Bar-Kochba Revolt Discovered at the Foot of the Temple Mount

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

A rare coin from the from Bar-Kochba Revolt, the Jews’ revolt against the Roman Empire in 132-136 CE, was recently discovered by Israeli archeologists at the foot of the Temple Mount, north of the City of David. The rare bronze coin, discovered in the course of archaeological excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the William Davidson Archaeological Park, is decorated with a cluster of grapes and the inscription “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel,” and the reverse side features a palm tree and the inscription “Jerusalem.” This is the only coin from t... more »

Latest Archaeology News - Asia, Africa, Europe, Americas - also Neanderthals

 

Europe

Heightened interaction between neolithic migrants and hunter-gatherers in Western Europe

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 17 hours ago

Analyzing the first archaeogenetic data from the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Western Europe, a team of French and German researchers documents levels of admixture between expanding early Neolithic farmers and local hunter-gatherers seen nowhere els MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: THE BURIAL OF PENDIMOUN F2 (5480-5360 BC), WOMAN CARRYING ABOUT 55% OF HUNTER-GATHERER COMPONENT. view more CREDIT: HENRI DUDAY The Neolithic lifestyle, including farming, animal domestication and the development of new technologies,... more »

 

 

A well-preserved ancient Roman mosaic floor was found by archaeologists under a hillside vineyard in northern Italy

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 days ago

Officials in the township of Negrar, north of Verona, posted photos of the colorful and complex flooring after the discovery, noting that a Roman villa had been known to exist in the area, but scholars had searched in vain for its remnants for a century.

7,000 years of demographic history in France

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 days ago

A team led by scientists from the Institut Jacques Monod (CNRS/Université de Paris)* have shown that French prehistory was punctuated by two waves of migration: the first during the Neolithic period, about 6,300 years ago, the second during the Bronze Age, about 4,200 years ago. This study, published in PNAS on May 25, which looked at the genomes of 243 ancient individuals over 7,000 years, demonstrates how admixture between native hunter-gatherers and the first Anatolian Neolithic migrants, who brought with them a lifestyle based on agriculture, persists to this day in the genomes... more »

 

Exploring the origins of genetic divergence within the Italian population

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

Genetic adaptations of early Italian ancestors to environmental changes, such as those that occurred soon after the Last Glacial Maximum, may explain some of the genetic differences between northern and southern Italian populations today, according to a study published in *BMC Biology*. The research suggests that northern and southern Italian populations may have begun to diverge genetically as early as 19,000-12,000 years ago and constitutes the earliest known evidence of genetic divergence in Italy so far. A team of researchers at the University of Bologna sequenced the genomes of... more »

 

New research determines our species created earliest modern artifacts in Europe

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

Innovative tools and pendants previously thought to be possibly the work of Neanderthals NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: STONE ARTIFACTS FROM THE INITIAL UPPER PALEOLITHIC AT BACHO KIRO CAVE. 1-3, 5-7: POINTED BLADES AND FRAGMENTS FROM LAYER I; 4: SANDSTONE BEAD WITH MORPHOLOGY SIMILAR TO BONE BEADS; 8:... view more CREDIT: TSENKA TSANOVA, MPI-EVA LEIPZIG, LICENSE: CC-BY-SA 2.0 Blade-like tools and animal tooth pendants previously discovered in Europe, and once thought to possibly be the work of Neanderthals, are in fact the creation of Homo sapiens... more »

Doubt cast on impact of Justinianic plague

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

Many have claimed the Justinianic Plague (c. 541-750 CE) killed half of the population of Roman Empire. Now, historical research and mathematical modeling challenge the death rate and severity of this first plague pandemic. Researchers Lauren White, PhD and Lee Mordechai, PhD, of the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), examined the impacts of the Justinianic Plague with mathematical modeling. Using modern plague research as their basis, the two developed novel mathematical models to re-examine primary sources from the time of the Justin... more »

 

Asia

Initial Upper Paleolithic technology reached North China by ~41,000 years ago

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 days ago

Refined dating techniques provide method to discern spread of new culture across Asia PLOS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: SDG2 T3 STRATIGRAPHY. ON THE LEFT, THE SCHEMATIC COLUMN SUMMARIZES THE GENERAL SEDIMENT CHARACTERISTIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAIN DISTRIBUTION OF THE SITE STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE. ON THE RIGHT, THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND SCHEMATIC DRAWINGS...view more CREDIT: PENG ET AL, 2020 (PLOS ONE) CC BY A wave of new technology in the Late Paleolithic had reached North China by around 41,000 years ago, according to a study published May 27, 2020 in the open-access jo... more »

 

First ancient cultivated rice discovered in Central Asia

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: SATELLITE IMAGERY OF KHALCHAYAN AND SURFACE REMAINS WITHIN THE SITE. CREDIT: CHEN GUANHAN AND ZHOU XINYING, IVPP view more CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS Rice has always been the most important food in Asia and the world. About half of the population on earth use rice as their main food source. The origin, spread, evolution, and ecological adaptation of cultivated rice are still one of the most important issues which currently concerned by global archaeologists, biologists, and agricultural scientists. In recent years, ... more »

 

Ancient DNA unveils important missing piece of human history

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

New ancient genomic research reveals information about human history in China CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL IMAGE: SAMPLING A TOOTH IN THE IVPP CLEANROOM view more CREDIT: IVPP Newly released genomes from Neolithic East Asia have unveiled a missing piece of human prehistory, according to a study conducted by Prof. FU Qiaomei's team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The study, published in *Science* on May 14, reveals that population movement played a profound role in the ... more »

Global cooling event 4,200 years ago spurred rice's evolution, spread across Asia

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

Scientists use genomics, archeology, and climate data to reconstruct history of rice NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: A SIMPLIFIED MAP SHOWS THE SPREAD OF RICE INTO BOTH NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ASIA FOLLOWING A GLOBAL COOLING EVENT APPROXIMATELY 4,200 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT (YBP). view more CREDIT: RAFAL GUTAKER, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY A major global cooling event that occurred 4,200 years ago may have led to the evolution of new rice varieties and the spread of rice into both northern and southern Asia, an international team of researchers has found. Their... more »

Early humans in China innovated technology to adapt to climate change 1-million years ago

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: ECOLOGICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND STONE TOOL INFORMATION FROM 2.2 MILLION YEARS AGO TO THE PRESENT (THE LIGHT RED HORIZONTAL BAR SHOWS INCREASED CLIMATE VARIABILITY) (A) GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. (B) VEGETATION... view more CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS To assess the degree to which early stone tool using hominins modified their tool manufacturing behaviours in Eastern Asia, Shixia Yang and colleagues examined three well-known archaeological sites from the Nihewan Basin in North China. Stone tool comparisons between the archaeol... more »

 

Neanderthals

 

ADHD: genomic analysis in samples of Neanderthals and modern humans

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 days ago

A new evolutionary perspective UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: ACCORDING TO THE STUDY, SOME FEATURES LIKE HYPERACTIVITY OR IMPULSIVENESS COULD HAVE BEEN FAVOURABLY SELECTED FOR SURVIVAL IN ANCESTRAL ENVIRONMENTS DOMINATED BY A NOMAD LIFESTYLE. view more CREDIT: PAULA ESTELLER (CNAG-CRG / IBE, CSIC-UPF) The frequency of genetic variants associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has decreased progressively in the evolutionary human lineage from the Palaeolithic to nowadays, according to a study published in the journal *Scien... more »

 

Women with Neandertal gene give birth to more children

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 days ago

KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET SHARE PRINT E-MAIL One in three women in Europe inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neandertals - a gene variant associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and fewer miscarriages. This is according to a study published in *Molecular Biology and Evolution* by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. "The progesterone receptor is an example of how favourable genetic variants that were introduced into modern humans by mixing with Neandertals ... more »

Neandertals were choosy about making bone tools

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: EVIDENCE CONTINUES TO MOUNT THAT THE NEANDERTALS, WHO LIVED IN EUROPE AND ASIA UNTIL ABOUT 40,000 YEARS AGO, WERE MORE SOPHISTICATED PEOPLE THAN ONCE THOUGHT. A NEW STUDY FROM UC... view more CREDIT: NAOMI MARTISIUS, UC DAVIS Evidence continues to mount that the Neandertals, who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago, were more sophisticated people than once thought. A new study from UC Davis shows that Neandertals chose to use bones from specific animals to make a tool for specific purpose... more »

 

 

Africa

Early African Muslims had a halal -- and cosmopolitan diet -- discovery of thousands of ancient animal

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 days ago

Early Muslim communities in Africa ate a cosmopolitan diet as the region became a trading centre for luxury goods, the discovery of thousands of ancient animal bones has shown. Halal butchery practices became common when Islam spread through Ethiopia as vibrant communities developed because of the import and export of products around the Red Sea, and to Egypt, India, and the Arabian Peninsula, archaeologists have found. New excavations at three sites in the east of the country completed by the University of Exeter and the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultur... more »

Migration patterns reveal an Eden for ancient humans and animals

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: ANTELOPE IN SOUTH AFRICA view more CREDIT: N/A Pinnacle Point, a series of archaeological sites that overlook a now submerged section of South Africa's coastline and one of the world's most important localities for the study of modern human origins, was as much of an Eden for animals as it was for early humans. Jamie Hodgkins, PhD, assistant professor of anthropology at University of Colorado Denver, and her team drilled ancient herbivore teeth to find that many local animals stayed put in the ecologically ... more »

 

New study records dual hand use in early human relative

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 1 week ago

UNIVERSITY OF KENT SHARE PRINT E-MAIL Research by anthropologists at the University of Kent has identified hand use behaviour in fossil human relatives that is consistent with modern humans. The human lineage can be defined by a transition in hand use. Early human ancestors used their hands to move around in the trees, like living primates do today, whereas modern human hands have evolved to primarily perform precision grips. However, new research led by Dr Christopher Dunmore, Dr Matthew Skinner and Professor Tracy Kivell from Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation ... more »

Archaeology: Fossilized footprints suggest ancient humans divided labor

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS SHARE PRINT E-MAIL The largest collection of footprints from the human fossil record in Africa is described in *Scientific Reports* this week. The findings, which further our understanding of human life during the Late Pleistocene period (126,000 to 11,700 years ago), suggest a division of labour in ancient human communities. Kevin Hatala and colleagues uncovered 408 human footprints in Engare Sero, Tanzania after the site was discovered by members of a nearby Maasai community. The researchers dated the footprints to between 19,100 and 5,760 years ago. Based... more

 

Early humans thrived in this drowned South African landscape

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

Early humans lived in South African river valleys with deep, fertile soils filled with grasslands, floodplains, woodlands, and wetlands that abounded with hippos, zebras, antelopes, and many other animals, some extinct for millennia. In contrast to ice age environments elsewhere on Earth, it was a lush environment with a mild climate that disappeared under rising sea levels around 11,500 years ago. An interdisciplinary, international team of scientists has now brought this pleasant cradle of humankind back to life in a special collection of articles that reconstruct the paleoecology... more »

Chemical evidence of dairying by hunter-gatherers in Lesotho in the first millennium AD

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: VIEW FROM JUST NORTH OF LIKOAENG (SITE LOCATION INDICATED WITH AN ARROW), LOOKING DOWNSTREAM ALONG THE SENQU RIVER. THE LINE OF CLIFFS RUNNING MIDWAY THROUGH THE PHOTO FROM THE LEFT... view more CREDIT: PETER J. MITCHELL After analysing organic residues from ancient pots, a team of scientists led by the University of Bristol has uncovered new evidence of dairying by hunter-gatherers in the landlocked South African country of Lesotho in the mid-late first millennium AD. The study on organic residue analysis from Sout... more »

 

Americas

Beads made of boa bones identified in lesser Antilles

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

The first identifications of Boa on Martinique, Basse-Terre and La Désirade islands point to the snake's significance for pre-Columbian Amerindians MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: THE VERTEBRAE FOUND IN THIS STUDY ARE THE FIRST IDENTIFICATION OF BOA ON THESE ISLANDS. view more CREDIT: CORENTIN BOCHATON Today Boa snakes have a patchy distribution in the islands that form the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, but the constrictors are nearly absent from archaeological deposits in the region. Whether this scarcity is... more »

Cahokia's rise parallels onset of corn agriculture

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 2 weeks ago

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: CORN CULTIVATION BEGAN IN THE VICINITY OF THE CITY OF CAHOKIA BETWEEN A.D. 900 AND 1000, RESEARCHERS REPORT IN A NEW STUDY. ITS ARRIVAL MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ABRUPT... view more CREDIT: GRAPHIC BY DIANA YATES CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Corn cultivation spread from Mesoamerica to what is now the American Southwest by about 4000 B.C., but how and when the crop made it to other parts of North America is still a subject of debate. In a new study, scientists report that corn was not grown ... more »

The first large-scale genomic portrait of pre-Columbian Andean civilizations

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TEAM HAS CONDUCTED THE FIRST IN-DEPTH, WIDE-SCALE STUDY OF THE GENOMIC HISTORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS IN THE CENTRAL ANDES MOUNTAINS AND COAST BEFORE EUROPEAN CONTACT. THE ANALYSIS... view more CREDIT: MIGUEL ANGEL LÓPEZ At a glance: - Analysis yields first comprehensive genomic profile of ancient populations in central Andes - Findings emerge from DNA of 89 individuals who lived as long as 9,000 years ago, including some of the legendary ancient civilizations such as In... more »

Ancient DNA paints genetic portrait of Andes civilizations

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: IMAGE OF MACHU PICCHU FROM PIXABAYview more CREDIT: FROM PIXABAY An international team of researchers including the University of Adelaide, has completed the first large-scale study of DNA belonging to ancient humans of the central Andes in South America and found early genetic differences between groups of nearby regions, and surprising genetic continuity over thousands of years. In the study, published in the journal *Cell*, researchers analysed the DNA of 89 ancient humans who lived in the central Andes between ... more »

During tough times, ancient 'tourists' sought solace in Florida oyster feasts

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: OUT-OF-TOWNERS FLOCKED TO CEREMONIAL SITES ON FLORIDA'S GULF COAST FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO SOCIALIZE AND FEAST. CRYSTAL RIVER WAS HOME TO ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT SITES, WHICH FEATURED... view more CREDIT: THOMAS J. PLUCKHAHN GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- More than a thousand years ago, people from across the Southeast regularly traveled to a small island on Florida's Gulf Coast to bond over oysters, likely as a means of coping with climate change and social upheaval. Archaeologists' analysis of present-day... more »

 

Demographic expansion of several Amazonian archaeological cultures

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Archaeology News Report - 3 weeks ago

The study uses simulation techniques and shows that some cultural expansions from Amazonia during the late Holocene may have arisen from similar demographic processes to the Neolithic in Eurasia UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA - BARCELONA SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE EXPANSIONS OF SEVERAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA. view more CREDIT: UPF Expansions by groups of humans were common during prehistoric times, after the adoption of agriculture. Among other factors, this is due to population growth of farmers which was greater than of tha... more »

Ancient Israelites Used Cannabis as Temple Offering

The ancient Israelites used cannabis in their religious rituals, archaeologists were stunned to learn by analyzing charred residues on a 2,700-year-old altar unearthed in a desert shrine.

Complete article

The weed traces were found on one of the altars that once stood in the temple at Tel Arad, in Israel’s Negev desert. The cannabinoid substance was likely burned to deliberately get worshippers high on the drug’s psychoactive compounds, researchers have concluded.

Israeli boy discovers ancient Caanaite tablet during family trip in southern Israel

A six-year-old Israeli boy discovered a 3,500-year-old tablet during a visit to the site of an archaeological site in the Negev desert.

Imri Elya from Kibbutz Nirim found the artifact at Tel Jemmah, and turned it over to the National Treasures Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The 1.1-inch by 1.1-inch clay tablet is engraved with a depiction of a man wearing a skirt leading a naked captive whose hands are tied behind the back. The tablet seems to indicate ethnic differences between captor and captive; the captor’s hair is curled and his face is full, while the captive is thin and his face elongated.

It is the first such tablet ever found in Israel.

Researchers estimate that the artifact dates to between the 12th and 15th centuries BCE, a period during which the Egyptian empire ruled the area.

The tablet “opens a visual window to understanding the struggle for dominance in the south of the country during the Canaanite period,” archaeologists Saar Ganor, Itamar Weissbein and Oren Shmueli of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

Ancient Caananite tablet found at the Tel Jemmeh archeological site. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)

Heightened interaction between neolithic migrants and hunter-gatherers in Western Europe

Analyzing the first archaeogenetic data from the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Western Europe, a team of French and German researchers documents levels of admixture between expanding early Neolithic farmers and local hunter-gatherers seen nowhere els

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY

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IMAGE: THE BURIAL OF PENDIMOUN F2 (5480-5360 BC), WOMAN CARRYING ABOUT 55% OF HUNTER-GATHERER COMPONENT. view more 

CREDIT: HENRI DUDAY

The Neolithic lifestyle, including farming, animal domestication and the development of new technologies, emerged in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and contributed profoundly to the modern way of life. The Neolithic spread rapidly across Europe, mainly along the Danube valley and the Mediterranean coastline, reaching the Atlantic coast around 5000-4500 BCE. The existing archaeogenetic data from prehistoric European farmers indicates that the spread of farming is due to expanding populations of early farmers who mixed little, if at all, with indigenous hunter-gatherer groups. However, until now, no archaeogenetic data were available for France.

"France is where the two streams of the Neolithic expansion overlapped, so understanding how these groups interacted would fill in a big piece of the puzzle," says Wolfgang Haak, senior author of the study. "The data we're collecting suggests a more complex scenario than elsewhere in Europe, with more interaction between early farmers and hunter-gatherers."

These interactions seem to vary greatly from one region to another, attesting to a diverse cultural mosaic in early Neolithic Western Europe. In order to document the biological interactions during this transition period, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History teamed up with colleagues from the PACEA laboratory (1*) in Bordeaux, the CEPAM laboratory (2*), the RGMZ (3*), and other international partners (4*). The study, published in Science Advances, reports new genome-wide data for 101 prehistoric individuals from 12 archaeological sites in today's France and Germany, dating from 7000-3000 BCE

High levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry in early farmers from France

The new results showed evidence for a higher level of admixture, or the combination of genetic information from genetically distant populations, between early migrant farmers and local hunter-gatherers in France. The genetic mixture in this region is unprecedented in the rest of Europe for the early stages of the Neolithic expansion. The genetic contribution of hunter-gatherers is particularly high in the south of France, roughly 31% on average, compared with 3% in Central Europe or 13% in the Iberian Peninsula.

Intriguingly, in an individual from the Pendimoun site in Provence (5480-5360 BCE), the genetic contribution of local hunter-gatherers was as high as 55%. The team could show that the admixture in this individual occurred recently, about four generations before, shortly after the first Neolithic farmers settled on that part of the French coast. "These findings suggest continuous contacts between both groups for at least a century," says Maïté Rivollat, postdoc in the INTERACT project and lead author of the study.

Genetic evidence for the two routes of the Neolithic expansion

Leveraging the genetic substructure observed in European hunter-gatherers, the team was able to retrace the dynamics of admixture in various European regions. Neolithic farmers in central Europe carry a very small hunter-gatherer component, which had already been mixed in and brought in from southeastern Europe. This accounts for the rapid spread of Neolithic groups with a negligible amount of interaction with local hunter-gatherers. On the other hand, Neolithic farmers from west of the Rhine river (in France, Spain, Great Britain) carry a genetic component inherited from local Mesolithic groups, implying a process of late and local admixture.

The new data highlight the complexity and regional variability of biological and cultural interactions between farmer and hunter-gatherer communities during the Neolithic expansion. "This study shows that we can add a lot more detail with focused sampling and unravel the regional dynamics of the farmer-forager interactions," concludes Rivollat. "With the increasing amount of genetic data, we gain the much-needed resolution to investigate biological processes in the past and to understand their relations with observed cultural phenomena."

Who were the Canaanites? New insight from 73 ancient genomes

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IMAGE: THIS IMAGE SHOWS A GENERAL VIEW OF THE TEL MEGIDDO SITE. view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE MEGIDDO EXPEDITION

The people who lived in the area known as the Southern Levant--which is now recognized as Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon, and parts of Syria--during the Bronze Age (circa 3500-1150 BCE) are referred to in ancient biblical texts as the Canaanites. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell on May 28 have new insight into the Canaanites' history based on a new genome-wide analysis of ancient DNA collected from 73 individuals.

"Populations in the Southern Levant during the Bronze Age were not static," says Liran Carmel of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "Rather, we observe evidence for the movement of people over long periods of time from the northeast of the Ancient Near East, including modern Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, into the Southern Levant region.

"The Canaanites, albeit living in different city-states, were culturally and genetically similar," he adds. "In addition, this region has witnessed many later population movements, with people coming from the northeast, from the south, and from the northwest."

Carmel and colleagues came to these conclusions based on an analysis of 73 new ancient DNA samples representing mainly Middle-to-Late Bronze Age individuals from five archaeological sites across the Southern Levant. To these new data, the researchers added previously reported data from 20 individuals from four sites to generate a dataset of 93 individuals. The genomic analysis showed that the Canaanites do represent a clear group.

"Individuals from all sites are highly genetically similar, albeit with subtle differences, showing that the archaeologically and historically defined 'Canaanites' corresponds to a demographically coherent group," Carmel says.

The data suggest that the Canaanites descended from a mixture of earlier local Neolithic populations and populations related to Chalcolithic Iran and/or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The researchers documented a significant increase in the proportion of Iranian/Caucasus-related ancestry over time, which is supported by three individuals who are descendants of recent arrivals from the Caucasus.

"The strength of the migration from the northeast of the Ancient Near East, and the fact that this migration continued for many centuries, may help to explain why rulers of city-states in Canaan in the Late Bronze Age carry non-Semitic, Hurrian names," says Shai Carmi of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "There were strong and active connections between these regions through movements of people that help to understand the shared elements of culture."

The researchers also studied the relationship of the Canaanites to modern-day populations. While the direct contribution of the Canaanites to modern populations cannot be accurately quantified, the data suggest that a broader Near Eastern component, including populations from the Caucasus and the Zagros Mountains, likely account for more than 50 percent of the ancestry of many Arabic-speaking and Jewish groups living in the region today.

Carmel reports that they are now working to extend their sampling, both geographically and over time. "We wish to analyze Iron Age samples from different areas of the southern Levant," Carmel says. "This may shed light on the composition of the populations in the biblically mentioned kingdoms of the region, among them Israel, Judah, Ammon, and Moab."