Pre-Hispanic farmers built giant water system bottom-up, archaeologists reveal

 Communities living in Colombia thousands of years ago achieved an engineering wonder of the world based on cooperation among family groups without top-down government, a new study shows. Archaeologists argue that policymakers in Colombia should now adopt a similar strategy to solve the country’s current water management crisis.

The pre-Hispanic field systems of La Mojana in the Colombian Caribbean are so vast you can see them from a plane at high altitude. Their canals and raised fields – in use from the first centuries BC until the 11th century AD – cover an astonishing 500,000 hectares, roughly the same size as the Grand Canyon National Park, or three times the size of London.

It has traditionally been assumed that powerful rulers must have ordered and managed such an ambitious infrastructure project because of its complexity and the amount of work thought to be involved. In a study published today in Communications Sustainability, however, a University of Cambridge-led archaeological team argues that the work was most likely locally-led, cooperative, and much faster than previously assumed.  

The findings are important historically but also offer hope to Colombians today who are suffering from a water management crisis linked to climate change, intensive farming and policy failure.

“These field systems are so impressive that people have assumed they were achieved by hierarchical chiefdoms. Our data tells a very different story,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Jasmine Vieri, from the University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

“Our findings indicate that local communities were capable of building these systems in very short periods of time, and organising themselves rather than relying on a powerful external force.”

The societies responsible for these hydraulic systems in La Mojana were contemporary with the Maya, and with the broader Mesoamerican and Andean state-level societies, which culminated in the huge Aztec and Inca empires a few centuries later. The pre-Hispanic populations occupied an area where, the researchers point out, there is no evidence of state-level societies. It has been assumed – encouraged by evidence of elaborate gold work and ceramics – that they were hierarchical chiefdoms on their way to state formation. By contrast, the new findings support the idea that these people chose to organize themselves far more horizontally and were able to achieve great things.

Their raised field system managed huge quantities of water during heavy rains, gradually redirected it in drier months, buffering against both drought and floods. The network of canals redistributed water from permanent bodies of water around raised areas of housing. The system provided more fertile soils for cultivation in dry seasons and may have helped locals to trap fish.

Using satellite imagery, the researchers mapped a 500-hectare portion (roughly 700 football pitches) of Pre-Hispanic field systems in the municipality of San Macros, Sucre. They studied the infrastructure at an unprecedented level of detail, recording the dimensions and volume of 1,600 ridges and 63 housing platforms. They worked out that when first constructed the formations were around 1.4 metres high from the top of the ridge to the lowest point of the canal.

The international team – including researchers from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), and University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain –   then developed a new method to quantify the labour needed to build this system and considered the social and spatial organization most likely to have underpinned this work.

Dr Jasmine Vieri said: “We are confident that one of these canal-ridge systems could have been built in less than two months, around half of a dry season. That’s a far lower labour investment than has been previously assumed, and manageable through cooperation.”

The researchers factored in volumes of moved earth, as well as information about local geology, indigenous working practices, population density and available technology. Starting from an estimated population of 1,600 people in the study area, they based their calculations on a workforce of 800 people which, the researchers emphasise, represents a conservative estimate, given ethnographic evidence that men, women and probably children traditionally engage in subsistence farming.

Soils in the Colombian Caribbean are heavy clay which would have made the work harder and there were no metal shovels in the region in this period. The workers may have used wood tools but this remains unproven.

The study springs from Cambridge’s ERC-funded REVERSEACTION project, which investigates how technologies are sustained in stateless societies, and how collective action can achieve great things without coercion.

Professor Marcos Martinon-Torres, REVERSEACTION’s lead and senior author, said: “Arguments for centralised, top-down planning, unsupported by data, risk obscuring the agency of indigenous pre-Hispanic populations. Pre-Hispanic societies were inventive and cooperative, they worked with nature rather than trying to obstruct it. And we already know that recovering ancestral practices has positive societal impact today through local populations connecting with their heritage through technology.”

Evidence for the use of raised field systems in this region ends before the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century. It isn’t clear why they stopped being used but it has been suggested there was population movement from the lowlands towards mountainous areas.

The researchers argue that the pre-Hispanic sustainable solution to water management can be adopted by local populations without the need for state intervention. Instead of redistributing water flow, the Colombian government has often adopted the opposite strategy of attempting to block water flow to prevent flooding and adapt the land for agricultural and livestock activities based on models designed for non-flooding environments. But dykes have proven incapable of holding water back. Since 2021, the Caregato dyke has suffered multiple breaches, causing losses for local communities and ecosystem damage. At other times, the region suffers from severe droughts.

Study author Dr Fernando Montejo Gaitán, from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), said: “Policymakers have shown interest in these ancient systems, but lacked data. Our study is the first to show that these sustainable solutions can be organised locally and collectively. Local people may need resources from the state but not necessarily state intervention.”

The researchers have made their code open source to enable researchers to apply the same methods to data sets relating to other regions.

Reference

J. Vieri, F. Montejo Gaitán, M. Carrero-Pazos, M. Martinón-Torres, ‘Collective labour and sustainability of pre-Hispanic field systems in La Mojana’, Communications Sustainability (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s44458-026-00128-5

Rethinking the earliest stages of cereal domestication

 Around 11,000 years ago, Neolithic communities across southwest Asia began producing their own food by bringing wild cereals, legumes and fruit-bearing plants under cultivation. Over the following millennia, these practices transformed hunter-gatherer lifeways and eventually gave rise to farming societies in which domesticated cereal crops were central to subsistence, storage and the accumulation of surplus.

Wild cereals naturally possess a brittle, or shattering, rachis that allows mature seeds to disperse easily, promoting successful germination in the wild but making seed harvesting by people difficult. In comparison to later domestic cereals, wild cereals also have relatively small grains. Decades of archaeobotanical research have shown that systematic cultivation of cereal crops gradually selected for larger grains and a tough rachis that keeps seeds attached to the ear after ripening, making harvesting more efficient.

"Crop domestication was a highly variable and protracted process that unfolded across multiple regions of southwest Asia," said Dr Jade Whitlam (University of Oxford), who led the study. "Over the past decade, archaeobotanical research has revealed that domestication was preceded by a lengthy period of ‘pre-domestication cultivation’, which is thought to have created the conditions that favoured the evolution of key domestication traits”.

Previous studies have interpreted larger cereal grains and the appearance of plants that would later become weeds of cultivation at Early Neolithic sites as evidence that people were already tilling soils and that selection for domestication traits was already underway. Larger grains recovered from southern Levantine sites have therefore often been viewed as among the earliest indicators of domestication.

"At el-Hemmeh and Sharara, both barley and emmer wheat remained morphologically wild in the initial phases of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, with no evidence of domesticated non-shattering forms", said Dr Whitlam. "Yet grain size varied dramatically, ranging from typically wild-sized grains to grains that were comparable in size to domesticated cereals. At the same time, ecological analysis of weedy plant taxa associated with these cereals indicates they were growing in low disturbance environments, challenging the idea that larger grains were selected for through cultivation practices such as systematic tillage."

To investigate what was driving these differences, the team carried out stable carbon isotope analysis on the charred cereal grains. The stable carbon isotopic composition of cereal grains is strongly influenced by the moisture available to plants as they grow, allowing the team to infer their growing conditions.

“Interestingly, the barley grains that fall within the size range of domestic-sized grains show carbon isotope values indicating they grew under wetter conditions”, said Dr Pascal Flohr (University of Kiel and the University of Oxford), who has carried out extensive field-based experimental work in Jordan establishing the relationship between water stress and the carbon isotopic composition of cereals. “In contrast, the smaller‚ wild-sized grains have isotope values that indicate they grew under much drier conditions, revealing that water availability had a major influence on grain size”.

"Once we integrated the archaeobotanical, weed ecological and isotopic evidence, it became clear that environmental conditions provided a much better explanation for the observed variation in grain size than genetic selection under tillage," said Dr Whitlam. "Our findings show that developmental plasticity rather than genetic change accounts for initial increases in cereal grain size in the Early Holocene southern Levant. This suggests that genetic selection for larger grain size may have occurred later than previously thought, perhaps only after selection for the non-shattering rachis."

"This study demonstrates the value of bringing together long-term archaeological field projects with new analytical approaches. By integrating evidence from archaeobotany, stable isotopes and plant ecology, we can ask entirely new questions about how the transition to agriculture unfolded/. Taken together, these findings suggest that Early Neolithic plant management practices appear to have been part of the long history of hunter-gatherer niche construction rather than a radical new intention to domesticate.” says Professor Cheryl Makarewicz, senior author of the study and director of the excavations at el-Hemmeh and Sharara, the latter with her colleague Dr. Bill Finlayson (Oxford), also a co-author on this research.

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2535274123

1066 as a holy war against ‘followers of Satan’

 

Lost letter from the Pope casts 1066 as a holy war against ‘followers of Satan

A lost letter from the Pope could rewrite the story of 1066 – according to research from the University of East Anglia.

Excerpts from the letter are now held in the Vatican archives and they suggest that a power struggle in Rome helped shape the Norman Conquest.

Analysis shows that King Harold may have forfeited his crown long before the Battle of Hastings by backing the wrong side in a bitter struggle between two rival popes. And that the outcome of 1066 may have been shaped as much by political conflict in Rome as by events on the battlefield at Hastings.

The findings are published today by Yale University Press in a new book titled 'Harold: Warrior King', by UEA historian Prof Tom Licence.

They come as the British Museum prepares to open its blockbuster exhibition featuring the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the most famous surviving artefacts from the Norman Conquest.

A time of not one, but two popes

In the 1060s, Western Christendom was divided by a rift that saw two rival popes claiming authority. According to the new research, England's support for one faction may have helped persuade Pope Alexander II to back William of Normandy's invasion.

It suggests England's backing for one side of the dispute may have had far-reaching consequences.

Prof Tom Licence, Professor of Medieval History and Literature at UEA, said: "1066 was not simply decided on the battlefield at Hastings. The outcome may also have been shaped by decisions taken almost a thousand miles away in Rome."

For centuries, the Norman Conquest has largely been understood as a dynastic struggle sparked by the death of Edward the Confessor and rival claims to the English throne.

Now, Prof Licence argues that a contemporary letter from the Pope points to a muchwider political and religious struggle stretching across medieval Europe.

He said: "Harold's policy on the papacy may ultimately have played into the hands of his enemies, giving William's opportunistic invasion the legitimacy of a just war."

New evidence from the Vatican

The new findings centre on previously overlooked excerpts from a lost letter from the Pope preserved in a medieval canon law collection held in the Vatican.

“The Pope's whole register of letters is lost,” said Prof Licence. “But some survive as copies or excerpts. Two excerpts from this particular letter survive in collections of papal rescripts.”

Written by Pope Alexander II after William's accession, the letter reflects on England's relationship with the papacy before the conquest.

In one passage, Alexander claimed that England had been under the protection of St Peter until people “fired with the pride of their father Satan” led the English away from “the path of truth”.

“While historians have occasionally noted these remarks, they have generally treated them as unexplained references,” said Prof Licence.

“But they can only be fully understood in the context of a fierce dispute that divided Western Christendom during the early 1060s.

“In 1061, rival factions elected two competing popes, Alexander II and Bishop Cadalus of Parma, who became known as Honorius II.

“For several years the two popes and their supporters fought for control of Rome, with Honorius retaining powerful backing from the Holy Roman Empire and attracting support elsewhere in northern Europe.”

According to Prof Licence, the language used in Alexander's letter reflects the political and religious rhetoric employed against Honorius and his followers during the rift.

Rather than simply condemning Harold as an oath-breaker, Alexander appears to have been accusing England of abandoning his cause and siding with his rival.

Prof Licence said: “In the eyes of Pope Alexander's supporters, it was no longer simply a battle for a crown, but a struggle against those they regarded as followers of Satan."

Answering a long-standing historical puzzle

Prof Licence believes this shift likely occurred after Harold came to power in January 1066.

He said: "Historians have traditionally explained papal support for William through Harold's disputed claim to the throne and allegations of oath breaking.

“What this evidence suggests is that Pope Alexander II may have had political reasons of his own for backing the Norman invasion.

"If Harold had aligned England with Alexander's rivals, it would help explain why the pope was willing to support the overthrow of a crowned king. Viewed from Rome, the conquest was not simply a succession dispute but part of a wider struggle over the future of the Church in Europe."

Prof Licence argues that this interpretation helps answer a longstanding historical question - why would a pope support the violent overthrow of an anointed king?

Was the Norman Conquest decided in Rome, not Hastings?

Rather than simply backing William because of Harold's disputed claim to the throne, Pope Alexander II may have been motivated by a wider political struggle taking place across Europe.

According to Prof Licence's research, England's support for a rival papal faction could have influenced the pope's decision to support the Norman invasion.

The findings suggest the Norman Conquest was about more than a battle for the English crown. Instead, 1066 may have formed part of a much larger contest involving the papacy, the Holy Roman Empire and competing power blocs across medieval Europe.

Prof David Fergusson, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, said: “Tom Licence’s research on the European context of the Norman invasion offers us a fresh perspective on the wider political currents that contributed to the events of 1066.

“His account of the likely role of the papacy in legitimising William’s invasion illustrates the complex dynamics of the relationship between church and monarchy throughout the period. This is a significant contribution to our understanding of the role of the medieval Church in the wider history of Europe.”

Prof Rory Naismith, Professor of Early Medieval English History at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is indeed an important point. The Norman Conquest did not just involve the English and the Normans - it was tied to developments all over Europe.

“Rome in particular had long been central to England's religious identity, and to have brought out the Roman dimension of 1066 in this way is a significant contribution.

“Prof Licence shows what can be achieved when neglected sources are expertly brought out of the shadows,” he added.

Sugars may have helped fuel the evolution of the human brain: new research

Study suggests sugars played a bigger role in brain evolution than previously thought

Fruit, honey and other naturally sweet foods may have helped fuel the evolution of the human brain, according to new research from the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow.  

Published in Science, the study modelled the glucose needs of humans and their ancestors from four million years ago until recently, finding natural sugars may have supplied energy needed to support growing brains before the advent of cooking made starch-rich foods like tubers and grains easier to digest.  

“Raw starch does not release glucose, meaning early humans likely relied on naturally sweet foods long before grains became a regular part of the diet,” said lead author Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences. 

The findings offer a different perspective on the longstanding scientific view that meat consumption was a key driver of human evolution. They may also offer insight into why we often crave sweet food.  

“While animal foods were important, the brain’s need for glucose has largely received little attention from anthropologists,” Professor Brand-Miller said.  

Over a period of four million years, human brain size increased from around 300 grams in early hominins to about 1500 grams in modern humans. As brains grew, so did demand for glucose, which is required by other tissues including red blood cells, kidneys and reproductive organs.  

“The human brain is unusually large for our body size and requires substantial amounts of energy,” Professor Brand-Miller said.   

“Glucose is the brain’s primary energy source, and for much of human evolution, would have come from carbohydrates found in foods such as fruit and honey.” 

Modelling the nutritional demands of a growing brain 

The researchers developed a model spanning approximately four million years of human evolution to examine whether dietary carbohydrates could meet the increasing glucose demands of a growing brain. They calculated what they describe as “obligatory glucose demand” – the glucose required by the brain, red blood cells, kidneys and reproductive tissues including the foetus, placenta and mammary glands – and compared this with likely food sources available to our ancestors at different stages of evolution.  

The model included six evolutionary stages and assessed how changing proportions of animal and plant foods affected carbohydrate availability.  

The researchers combined evidence from food composition, metabolism, physiology, fossil isotope studies, dental morphology, archaeology, primate diets and genetics to estimate how humans met their glucose needs as brain size increased.  

This modelling suggests earliest hominins (such as ‘Lucy’, whose brain was the same size as a chimpanzee, Homo habilis and Homo erectus) were likely highly reliant on carbohydrate-rich foods, particularly fruit. Later, as the use of fire and cooking became more widespread, starches from underground food sources such as wild yams, water lily rhizomes and African potato contributed to glucose intake. 

According to Professor Brand-Miller, archaeological evidence suggests grains entered the human diet much later.  

“People often think of carbohydrates as breads and cereals, but for most of human evolution carbohydrates came from fruits, honey and underground plant foods,” she said.  

“The earliest evidence of seed grinding is 65,000 years ago, when we see the first evidence of grinding stones to make flour.” 

The importance of glucose during reproduction 

The study highlights nutritional demands during pregnancy and lactation. The researchers estimate reproductive females required substantially more glucose than other adults because of the needs of the foetus, placenta and milk production.  

“When we think about the foods that supported human evolution, we need to consider not only brain growth but also the nutritional requirements of pregnancy and raising children,” said Professor David Raubenheimer, co-author and Professor of Nutritional Ecology at the Charles Perkins Centre.  

“The foetus and placenta place additional demands on glucose, increasing the need for carbohydrate-rich foods. This helps us understand why pregnant women often crave fruit.” 

The findings may also help explain why sweet foods appeal to children.  

“Our desire for sweetness is instinctive,” said Professor Brand-Miller.  

“Children need more energy in the form of carbohydrate than adults because their brains are claiming as much as two thirds of their basal metabolic rate during development.” 

Incorporating natural sugars into our diet 

Professor Brand-Miller said the research offers insight into our longstanding preference for sweetness.  

“For most of evolution, fruit and honey were valuable sources of energy that helped meet the body’s glucose needs. 

“Sugars in nature are typically packaged within foods that also contain fibre, vitamins, minerals and other beneficial compounds.” 

The findings build on previous University of Sydney research showing honey is nature’s original antibiotic. 

“Honey is not ‘empty calories’ as we are often led to believe. For most of human evolution, honey was a highly valued food source that provided energy and other beneficial properties,” Professor Brand-Miller said.  

“Understanding the role of carbohydrates alongside meat, fat and protein provides a more complete picture of the human evolutionary journey. Our study suggests sugars and starches may have helped shape the development of the human brain and many of the traits that make us human.”  

What can modern humans make of these primordial findings? 

"The evidence suggests that carbohydrate-rich foods helped fuel the energy demands of our growing brains. Rather than fearing carbohydrates, people should focus on high-quality sources, including whole fruits, legumes and nutritious grains, and prioritise a range of carbohydrate foods as part of a healthy diet." 

Research  

Brand-Miller, Jennie, Hardy, Karen, Copeland, Les, et al., SWEET – sugars, diet and human evolution, Science (2026). 

DOI: 10.1126/science.aed8437 

More information, including a copy of the paper, can be found online at the Science press package at https://www.eurekalert.org/press/scipak/ 

Neandertal growth hormone receptor increases muscle mass in people today

 

To the point

• Two Neandertal-specific changes: The study identified two amino acid changes that are unique to the Neandertal growth hormone receptor.
• Increased receptor activity: When exposed to growth hormone, laboratory-grown cells carrying the Neandertal receptor grew 40 percent more than cells carrying the more common modern human version.
• Inherited through interbreeding: Modern humans acquired the Neandertal version through interbreeding with Neandertals around 47,000 years ago. Today, it is carried by up to 24 percent of people in some parts of South Asia.
• Increased weight and muscle mass in carriers: Adults who carry the Neandertal version have, on average, about 270 grams more muscle. They also tend to have slightly shorter tooth roots and subtle differences in the shape of the jaw.

Neandertals were generally more strongly built than most people living today. Their bones show signs of large muscles, and they had characteristic features such as prominent brow ridges and relatively short tooth roots.

Growth hormone helps shape the body by regulating the growth of muscles and bones. It is released by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain and travels through the bloodstream. To act on a cell, the hormone must bind to a receptor on its surface, which then passes the signal into the cell.

An international team led by Hugo Zeberg of Karolinska Institutet and Philipp Kanis of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found that the Neandertal version of this receptor has two changes that are not present in the version most common in modern humans.

Neandertal variant responds more strongly to growth hormone

The study shows that laboratory-grown cells with the Neandertal receptor responded more strongly to growth hormone. They grew 40 percent more than cells with the more common modern human receptor. The researchers linked most of this stronger response to one of the two Neandertal-specific changes.

Modern humans inherited this version of the receptor through interbreeding with Neandertals around 47,000 years ago. Today, it is particularly common in South and East Asia. Up to 24 percent of people in some South Asian populations carry it, compared with around 0.5 percent of Europeans.

“What struck me most was that two very different types of evidence told the same story,” says Philipp Kanis, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “Cells grown in the laboratory responded more strongly, while data from more than a million people showed signs of the same effect in the body. It is rare to see laboratory and population evidence fit together so clearly.”

Differences first become apparent after childhood

The difference appears to emerge only after childhood. The researchers examined body measurements from more than 6,000 children and found no link between the Neandertal version and growth up to the age of eleven. This suggests that its effects may become noticeable later, possibly around puberty, when growth hormone levels increase substantially. Among adults, people carrying the Neandertal version had, on average, around 270 grams more muscle mass.

“As someone who does CrossFit, I was delighted to find Neandertal genetics and muscle mass coming together in the same study,” says co-author Miriam Berreiter. “But even a Neandertal growth hormone receptor is no substitute for training.”

The Neandertal version was also linked to subtle differences in the skull and teeth. Carriers tended to have a slightly shorter rear section of the lower jaw and shorter tooth roots. Both features are closer to what was typical of Neandertals.

“It is fascinating that one genetic change inherited from Neandertals can still have an effect on the human body today,” says Hugo Zeberg, senior author of the study. “But this is only one of many genetic influences on growth and body shape. It cannot explain the Neandertal body type on its own, and it certainly does not determine a person’s overall appearance.”

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Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.025 

Unprecedented excavation of Roman-era pottery kilns in Burgenland

 

Two pottery kilns have already been unearthed in a field in the municipality of Hannersdorf; a further 100 kilns may still lie buried

Reports and Proceedings

University of Vienna

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Remains of a pottery kiln from Roman-period pottery production

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Credit: IKA_Burg_2026, photo L. Schlamp

A few years ago, the first ceramic finds came to light during construction work in the Burg district of the municipality of Hannersdorf. Geomagnetic surveys in subsequent years provided evidence of numerous kilns that are thought to lie hidden beneath the field. In a recent educational excavation led by Basema Hamarneh from the University of Vienna, archaeologists have now uncovered two pottery kilns. A further 100 kilns are thought to still lie buried – an unprecedented discovery of a local production centre for utilitarian pottery from the Roman period. The finds date from the mid-1st century to the mid-2nd century CE.

The fields north of Burger Badesee have long been known as the Asten archaeological site due to surface finds dating from the Roman Imperial period. In 2021, during construction work on the B56 Geschriebenstein Straße, situated to the east of the site, a large number of Roman pottery fragments and the remains of pottery kilns were discovered. In the years that followed, geomagnetic surveys revealed that numerous archaeological structures lie beneath the field: kilns, building foundations and levelled burial mounds. The current excavations are now intended to shed light on the actual scale and significance of the site – and the findings so far have exceeded expectations.

Within the first two weeks of work, the remains of two pottery kilns with working pits, as well as further pits believed to be clay extraction and waste pits, were documented just below the surface (at a depth of approx. 40 cm). The kilns and surrounding pits are filled with pottery. “Our finds suggest that this was a large pottery production site,” says excavation director Basema Hamarneh from the University of Vienna. The items produced included bowls, dishes, cups and storage vessels.

Finds preserved in their entirety provide fascinating insights into everyday production

The current excavation has already yielded a number of special finds. “There are a striking number of vessels preserved in their entirety, which is not often the case. In addition, there are many defective pieces – that is, items that failed during production. On the one hand, this suggests that production here took place on a large scale and was not merely for local consumption. And such defective pieces also give us fascinating insights into the production processes,” explains Hamarneh. The archaeologists have also found imported goods (such as ‘Terra Sigillata’), which further supports the theory of a large-scale production site.

It is also striking that there is no known consumer settlement in the immediate vicinity of the site. The nearest major Roman settlement is the Roman town of Savaria (Szombathely) in present-day Hungary, founded in the early first century and situated 16 km away as the crow flies. This also suggests that this was a supra-regional pottery production site.

Neolithic finds point to a particularly favourable location for production

The location of the find is unlikely to be a coincidence. Indeed, there are also Neolithic surface finds (pottery shards, remains of post-built longhouses) dating from the 6th millennium BCE. “This is therefore what is known as a multi-period site. The finds from the Neolithic and Roman periods are not directly related, but they show that the site was already inhabited millennia earlier and apparently offers very good conditions for production,” said Hamarneh.

Data from geomagnetic surveys have also shown that, some 1.5 km away, there are outliers of the well-known Hallstatt and Roman-period Schandorf burial mound field. “This is further evidence that the site was an important hub of human activity over thousands of years,” explains Hamarneh.

Burgenland was a driving force behind production and trade in Roman times

The excavations will continue until 7 August, with the team uncovering new finds every day. “Every find – from intact vessels and defective pottery to imported terra sigillata – helps to paint a clearer picture of a vibrant, widely connected Roman economic landscape in what is now Burgenland, and underlines once again that the region was far more than just a ‘peripheral province’ of the Empire; it was an active driving force behind production and trade,” says Hamarneh.

Ancient DNA reveals Ice Age humans preferred female mammoths

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Stockholm University

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Excavation in Langmannersdorf 2025. Photo: Marc Händel/Austrian Academy of Sciences.

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Credit: Marc Händel/Austrian Academy of Sciences

Analysing ancient DNA of over 500 mammoth bones, an international team of researchers found that Ice Age humans selectively targeted female woolly mammoths. The results of the study, published in Current Biology, show that in contrast to the sex ratio among naturally occurring woolly mammoth remains, large bone accumulations associated with ancient human activity are dominated by females.

“Whether these massive mammoth bone accumulations were formed naturally or by human hunting has been debated for decades”, says David Díez del Molino, Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and co-senior author of the study. “By comparing the genetic sex ratios of hundreds of mammoths from natural settings with those found in these archaeological contexts, we can now infer that human activity was the primary driver behind these bone accumulations.” 

Divergent sex ratios in different contexts
The team analysed genome data from 521 woolly mammoths across Eurasia and North America, including 448 individuals sequenced for the first time. Genetic sex inference revealed a striking contrast depending on where the remains were found. Mammoth remains recovered from dispersed, natural settings were mostly male (34 per cent female: 66 per cent male), consistent with the idea that solitary males were more likely to die in natural traps (for example sinkholes or landslides), thereby increasing the chance of long-term bone preservation. In contrast, mammoths from accumulation sites were predominantly female (70 per cent female: 30 per cent male). These results raised questions about how Ice Age hunter-gatherers interacted with mammoths.

“We know that Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers sometimes hunted mammoths directly, as evidenced by projectile points embedded in mammoth bones, and they may also have scavenged material from carcasses”, says Jarosław Wilczyński, archaeologist at the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

“While it is tempting to assume that hunters would have targeted females because they were smaller than adult males, the reality may have been more complex. If mammoths behaved like modern elephants, females living in matriarchal herds may have had group defences that would have made encounters with herds equally or even more risky. Another possibility is that female-led herds moved across the landscape in more predictable ways than solitary males, meaning Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers may simply have encountered them more frequently, whether for hunting or scavenging”, says Hannah M. Moots, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and lead author of the study.

Reconstructing Ice Age human-mammoth interactions
Mammoths were a vital resource for Ice Age human populations, providing meat, fat, hide and bones for building structures, and ivory for tools, art, and ornaments. The mammoth bone accumulations included in the study span eleven key Ice Age archaeological sites across Eurasia, dating to roughly 30,000–20,000 years ago. By combining 100 individuals from these human-associated site accumulations with 421 mammoths from natural depositional settings, the team analysed a large dataset of woolly mammoths across Eurasia and North America. This unprecedented scale provides a rare look at how ancient humans and woolly mammoths interacted across the Late Pleistocene.

“This research demonstrates the power of ancient DNA studies to answer long-standing archaeological questions”, says Love Dalén, Professor in Evolutionary Genomics at Stockholm University, co-senior author of the study. “By scaling up sample sizes, ancient DNA can go beyond evolutionary history to teach us about animal behaviour and human culture tens of thousands of years ago.”

A rare genetic discovery in an extinct species
The researchers identified one mammoth from Wrangel Island that was neither XX (biologically female) nor XY (biologically male). Instead, this individual had a different sex chromosome combination known as X0/XX mosaicism, where the individual has a single copy of the X chromosome in some cells, and two in others. In humans, this is known as Turner syndrome. This is the first time that this has been documented in an extinct species.

Article
“Palaeogenomic sex inference of mammoth remains sheds light on the anthropogenic nature of bone accumulations” Moots et al., Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.023.