Trafalgar necropolis reveals ongoing use, and possibly construction, in 2nd millennium BC
Caption
Graves goods Tomb I and II. A. Gold earring; B. Dark green barrel-shaped necklace bead, highly polished, biconical central perforation; C. Spherical silver bead; D. Cylindrical, planar, whitish-yellow necklace bead with irregular edge; E. Metallic arrow; F. Cylindrical silver bead; G. Copper earring; H. Ivory comb.
Credit
Vijande-Vila et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Iberian people continued using, and possibly building, massive necropolises well into the Bronze Age, according to a study published November 11, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Eduardo Vijande-Vila of the University of Cádiz, Spain and colleagues.
During the Bronze Age, Iberian cultures moved away from large, collective tombs in favor of smaller individual burials. But this transition was not uniform, with some regions resisting this cultural shift. In this study, Vijande-Vila and colleagues describe the necropolis of Trafalgar in the Strait of Gibraltar as one of the latest megalithic burial structures in the region.
The necropolis of Trafalgar includes two known tombs, each with multiple individuals buried together. Radiocarbon dating of sixteen of these individuals demonstrate that both tombs were in use between 1875-1625 BC, indicating that cultures of southern Spain continued the use of large, collective tombs well into the 2nd millennium BC, among the latest known Iberian cultures to do so.
It remains unclear when this necropolis was originally built, but due to the lack of older materials recovered at the site, the authors hypothesize that the structure might have originated only slightly earlier, during the early 2nd millennium BC. Additional dating methods will be needed to confirm this, but if true, this site would be among the latest known megalithic projects to be built in the region.
There may be further undiscovered tombs at this site and therefore deeper insights into the history of Iberian burial practices. However, with the strong winds and shifting sands of the site’s surroundings, the necropolis is in danger of being buried again beneath the dunes. Future research will require ongoing maintenance to preserve this site.
The authors add: “The Trafalgar megalithic necropolis has revealed a highly significant finding. During the Bronze Age, an entirely new funerary space was constructed in a landscape dominated by the sea. We propose this hypothesis based on the absence of archaeological evidence for earlier occupation in the surrounding area. Until now, the evidence available for this period has primarily pointed to the reuse of megalithic monuments built during the Copper Age. This discovery offers a new perspective on funerary practices during this period and would demonstrate that new monumental burial spaces continued to be constructed”
Citation: Vijande-Vila E, Becerra-Martín S, Morell-Rovira B, Díaz-Zorita Bonilla M, Molina-Piernas E, Muñoz-Muñoz A, et al. (2026) The last builders of megaliths in the South of the Iberian peninsula? The Bronze Age necropolis of Trafalgar (Barbate, Cádiz, Spain). PLoS One 21(11): e0359220. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359220
Natufian figurines depicting waterfowls, a bird of prey and a human-bird (woman-goose) interaction, modelled in clay 15,000 years ago (left) and 12,000 years ago (right), discovered at the sites of Eynan-Mallaha and Nahal Ein Gev II (Upper Jordan Valley).
Newly discovered artifacts are evidence of the earliest known example of a tradition of making clay figurines in the Middle East — and challenge long-held beliefs about when and how clay began to be used for symbolic purposes in the region, according to a study published November 11, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Laurent Davin from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and colleagues.
These artifacts, originally excavated from three sites in modern-day Israel, date back between about 15,000 and 11,500 years ago. Some appear to represent birds, mammals, and humans, and some show traces of orange or red coloring — such as one fragment that may have depicted the facial pattern of a mountain gazelle.
At the time, this region was inhabited by Natufian communities, a sedentary hunter-gatherer culture. While archaeologists have previously found figurines from the Natufian period, most have been made from bone or stone, and it has been believed that clay figurines only become common in this region alongside the agricultural revolution in the Neolithic age, beginning around 11,500 years ago.
But, the authors of this paper say, these new findings show that Natufian figures were more varied and complex than we once thought — and suggest that the seeds of the region’s Neolithic culture were sown well before the agricultural revolution.
Dr. Davin adds: “These discoveries change how we understand the beginnings of artistic expression in the first villages of humanity. Thousands of years before agriculture and pottery emerged, people were already using clay to create figures, as part of their beliefs and knowledge of the natural world. What is particularly fascinating is the evidence that children were involved in making these objects, suggesting that creativity and cultural knowledge were shared across generations.”
Citation: Davin L, Sindel M, Weinstein-Evron M, Yeshurun R, Kaufman D, Grosman L, et al. (2026) Modelling symbols among the first-sedentary communities: Emergence of clay figurines in Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia. PLoS One 21(11): e0360388. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360388
New study of 154 Natufian clay figurines reveals the earliest known clay figurative tradition in Southwest Asia, pushing the timeline back by up to 3,000 years and showing that both children and adults took part in creating symbolic objects.
The 15 Natufian figurines depicting gazelles (A-B), humans (C-D) and birds (E-O), modelled in clay between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago, discovered at the sites of Eynan-Mallaha (Upper Jordan Valley) and Hayonim Terrace (Lower Galilee).
Could tiny clay figurines hold the key to understanding how prehistoric communities passed down knowledge and traditions? A new study reveals that children and adults worked together to create miniature figures, with ancient fingerprints offering rare evidence of hands-on learning across generations. The discovery of 154 clay artifacts dating back as far as 15,000 years challenges the belief that sophisticated symbolic expression emerged during the end of the Paleolithic, suggesting that at that time they were far more artistically innovative than previously thought.
Long before the emergence of farming villages and the invention of pottery, people living in what is now Israel were already shaping clay into miniature figures of birds, animals and humans. A new study has uncovered evidence of a 15,000-year-old artistic tradition, challenging longstanding assumptions about when early societies began using clay for symbolic expression.
The research identified 154 clay figurative artifacts from three archaeological sites in Israel, including 15 recognizable figurines and 139 cylindrical fragments believed to have formed parts of figures. The findings provide the earliest evidence of an established clay figurine-making tradition in Southwest Asia, suggesting that artistic innovation and complex symbolic practices emerged well before the establishment of farming communities.
The artifacts were created by members of the Natufian culture, communities that lived in the region approximately 15,000 to 11,650 years ago. These communities were the first in Southwest Asia to establish permanent or semi-permanent settlements. Until now, researchers generally believed that the widespread use of clay for symbolic figures developed alongside agriculture during the Neolithic period.
The study was led by Dr. Laurent Davin, Prof. Leore Grosman and Prof. Anna Belfer-Cohen from Hebrew University in collaboration with Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron, Prof. Reuven Yeshurun, Prof. Daniel Kaufman of the University of Haifa, Dr. Marion Sindel and Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem and and Dr. François R. Valla from the CNRS and Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem.
"These discoveries change how we understand the beginnings of artistic expression in this region," said Davin. "Thousands of years before agriculture emerged, people were already using clay to create figures, as part of their beliefs and knowledge of the natural world. What is particularly fascinating is the evidence that children were involved in making these objects, suggesting that creativity and cultural knowledge were shared across generations."
Ancient Fingerprints Reveal Children at Work
One of the study's most remarkable findings concerns the people who created the figurines. Using microscopic analysis of fingerprints preserved in the clay, the researchers found evidence that both adults and children participated in shaping and decorating the objects. Some fingerprints belonged to children likely younger than ten, offering rare insight into childhood and learning in prehistoric societies.
On one human-shaped figurine, researchers identified two overlapping fingerprints, one left by a young adult or adult woman and another by a child who had not yet reached puberty. Their placement suggests that the object may have been passed between an older individual and a child during its creation, providing possible evidence of hands-on learning across generations.
The children's fingerprints were not simply accidental marks. Their placement indicates that children actively participated in shaping and even coloring the objects, suggesting that figurine-making may have helped transmit artistic skills and cultural knowledge.
Birds, Animals and the Beginnings of Storytelling
Among the 15 identifiable figurines, birds were the most common subject, accounting for 11 examples. The remaining figures included representations of a mammal, a gazelle and two human forms.
Some birds were represented through simple shapes, while others displayed carefully marked wings, tails and feathers. Several appear to depict ducks and geese, while others may represent birds of prey. Interestingly, certain figurines show birds with their heads tilted downward and turned to the left, a posture researchers suggest may represent courtship displays observed among ducks during the breeding season.
This raises the possibility that the figurines were more than decorative objects. They may have conveyed knowledge about animal behavior, seasonal changes and the natural world, potentially playing a role in storytelling and cultural traditions.
Researchers also discovered traces of red coloring on several figurines, including evidence of engobe, a technique involving the application of a thin layer of colored clay. One figurine, dated to 15,000 years ago, provides what the study identifies as the earliest known evidence of this coloring technique.
Rethinking the Origins of Human Artistic Expression
The discoveries were made at three Natufian sites: Eynan-Mallaha in the Upper Jordan Valley, Hayonim Terrace in the Galilee and el-Wad Terrace on Mount Carmel. Researchers examined previously overlooked clay fragments, identifying fingerprints, tool marks and traces of coloring that revealed deliberate artistic work.
Unlike carving figures from stone or bone, working with clay allowed people to gradually build, reshape and decorate their creations, representing an important technological and artistic development.
The findings challenge the longstanding view that major advances in symbolic expression emerged alongside agriculture. Instead, they suggest that early hunter-gatherer communities were already developing sophisticated artistic traditions in the first villages of humanity, sharing knowledge across generations and finding new ways to represent the world around them.
These tiny clay figures offer a rare glimpse into the creativity and everyday lives of some of the region's earliest settled communities, thousands of years before the agricultural revolution.
This study is part of a broader research project exploring the emergence of the symbolic use of clay in Southwest Asia. The project has already led to the discovery of the earliest known figurine depicting a human–animal interaction, found at Nahal Ein Gev II (PNAS), and the earliest known clay ornaments outside Europe (Science Advances).
Colorful patinated “old” flint items recovered from Qesem cave. These items were collected by the cave's inhabitants and brought to the cave from varied landscape localities outside of the cave. Most items were recycled and resharpened in a way that clearly preserves the original outline and patina cover of the original specimen.
Colorful stones, fossils, and ancient flint tools discovered at prehistoric sites in Israel are at the heart of a new study. The researchers hypothesize that such objects helped people remember places and events from their lives and may have influenced the evolution of autobiographical memory and our sense of self.
Most of us are familiar with the urge to pick up a seashell from the beach or keep a stone from a hiking trip. The object itself may be ordinary, but to the person who keeps it, it serves as a reminder of a particular moment, place, or person. Where did this behavior come from? Did early humans do the same? A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers suggests that this practice stretches back approximately half a million years, with important consequences for the evolution of memory.
The study was led by a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University: Dr. Yoav Ram of the School of Zoology. Wise Faculty of Life Science, Prof. Ran Barkai and Dr. Ella Assaf of the Department of Archaeology, Entin Faculty of Humanities, in collaboration with Prof. Liad Mudrik of the School of Psychological Sciences, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, and Dr. Bar Efrati of Oxford University. The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology.
The study combines archaeological findings with insights from evolutionary theory, psychology and neuroscience. Its authors point to objects that early humans collected, carried, and kept despite having no apparent practical purpose. They propose that these objects may have served as personal keepsakes, reminding their owners of a place they had visited or an experience they had had.
Several examples come from archaeological sites in Israel dating back hundreds of thousands of years. Small, colorful pebbles brought from various locations were found in Qesem Cave, although no practical use for them was identified. In the Sakhnin Valley, researchers discovered handaxes fashioned from pieces of flint containing fossils or unusual geological formations. In some of these tools, these distinctive features were preserved at the center of the stone, where they could be seen and touched. At Revadim, Jaljulia, and Qesem Cave, old flint tools were found that had been collected after their surfaces had changed with the passage of time. Some had been resharpened, but most of their original surfaces and traces of earlier workmanship were preserved. The researchers suggest that the tools’ aged appearance may itself have held value for those who kept them. In a sense, it told the object’s story.
The researchers posit that an object brought back from a particular place could have triggered a memory of a personal experience. Its appearance and texture may also have helped its owner distinguish between an event they had experienced firsthand and a story they had heard from others or imagined.
A keepsake is private and personal; it can be carried from place to place and shown to others. In this way, it may also have strengthened the credibility of a personal account. In human societies, remembering encounters, alliances, gifts, mutual obligations, and rights associated with particular places is highly important. Reliable personal memory can facilitate cooperation, help maintain relationships, and establish trust.
Over many generations, the researchers suggest, the use of keepsakes could increase evolutionary pressures on brain mechanisms responsible for determining the source and reliability of a memory. In this way, material culture and neurobiology influenced one another and contributed to the evolution of autobiographical memory—the ability to organize personal experiences into a continuous life story that underpins our sense of self.
Why might this practice have emerged during this particular period? Prof. Barkai suggests a possible connection to environmental changes: “The disappearance of large animals, particularly elephants, required early humans to develop new hunting methods and become familiar with hunting grounds inhabited by animals such as fallow deer and wild cattle. Objects taken from these places may have helped them maintain a personal connection with the places that would henceforth provide their livelihood.”
The authors emphasize that this is a hypothesis, rather than proof that every unusual stone was a keepsake. Nevertheless, the archaeological record shows that objects associated with memories have accompanied humans from half a million years ago to the present day, making it reasonable to assume that this behavior was likely imbued with meaning and affected human evolution.
Dr. Ram concludes: “When early humans brought a colorful stone or an old tool they had found in the landscape back to their cave, that object may have helped them remember a significant event or encounter for the rest of their lives. In this way, keepsakes may have become a kind of ‘external memory device,’ supporting the evolution of brain mechanisms responsible for autobiographical memory, which is so characteristic of us as humans and so important in shaping our identity.”
A century after the Taung Child permanently altered our view of human origins, a new study published in Nature dates the famous fossil to between 2.96 and 3.03 million years old. Led by Professor Gabriele Macho of the Archaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry (AMGC) research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the international research highlights that the human family tree in southern Africa was far more complex than previously assumed.
Discovered in South Africa in 1924, the Taung Child represents the original "type specimen" for Australopithecus africanus and provided the first concrete proof of human origins in Africa. However, because no definitive criteria were ever established to classify subsequent discoveries, the Taung Child remains the only fossil definitively linked to the species.
"For over 100 years, we assumed the Taung Child was just one of many similar fossils from the era," says Professor Gabriele Macho. "Our findings turn that on its head. The human family tree wasn't a neat, straight trunk—it was a chaotic, tangled bush driven by climate shifts."
By analyzing tooth structure along with brain and tooth development during growth, the international research team discovered that several adult fossils traditionally grouped under Australopithecus africanus do not match the Taung Child's developmental trajectory. Notably, key differences in brain development suggest multiple distinct hominin species lived alongside or consecutively in the Sterkfontein region.
Shifting Climates Drove Evolutionary Diversity
The team attributes these evolutionary variations to changing climate patterns. Millions of years ago, fluctuating wet and dry cycles repeatedly altered southern Africa's landscape. As hominins followed expanding and contracting habitats,isolated populations diverged, interbred, and adapted to new pathogens and predators. Located at a crucial boundary between tropical and temperate ecosystems, the region served as a dynamic zone where species repeatedly met and hybridized over millennia.
A Lush, Greener Ancient Landscape
Fossilized pollen reveals the Taung Child lived in a significantly wetter, forested environment than modern South Africa—evidenced by tree species now found hundreds of kilometers to the northeast. These findings challenge linear evolutionary models, pointing instead to a dynamic network where climate shifts continuously isolated and reunited populations.
A century after its discovery, the Taung Child continues to reshape our understanding of how diverse 3-million-year-old hominin populations eventually gave rise to our own genus, Homo.
To understand how societies might react to climate change, archaeologists look at social responses to extreme climate events in the past — and in some places, that included measures as drastic as human sacrifice. Mass ritual sacrifices along the desert coast of northern Peru have been linked to catastrophic flooding caused by El Niño, which made researchers wonder if such sacrifices were part of a rise in violence driven by resource scarcity. But a new survey of the Lambayeque Valley suggests that violence was extremely rare, even during periods of ecological upheaval.
“The main thing that jumped out at us was just how few cases of interpersonal violence we observed outside ritualized contexts,” said Dr Thomas Snyder of New York University, co-author of the article in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology. “This really highlights that widespread violence isn’t a predetermined response to climate change. As a society, we both get to and have to choose how we respond to our own climate crisis.”
“In Lambayeque there’s 6,000 years of creative adaptations to El Niño and longer-term changes in climate, and widespread violence wasn’t one of them,” said Dr Haagen Klaus of George Mason University, co-author. “Violence and social unraveling are not destined outcomes, ever.”
A vulnerable valley
The researchers examined the Lambayeque Valley Biohistory Project’s skeletal record, covering 30 sites and more than 3,000 years of the valley’s history. 1,633 individuals had relatively clear dates of death, allowing the scientists to put their lives in context with paleoclimatic modelling. The researchers tracked the incidence of cranial trauma (usually caused by violence) and postcranial trauma (usually accidental) over time, and compared it to contemporary changes in precipitation and water availability.
“The Lambayeque Valley was home to a sequence of creative, innovative, and resilient cultures,” said Klaus. “The people of ancient Lambayeque were probably very different from us. On the other hand, archaeological evidence shows that in so many ways they were mirrors of us — in how they lived their daily lives, interacted with their world, ran their economies, and confronted (and sometimes contributed to) environmental crises.”
The valley normally had very little rainfall, but it benefited from rivers and seas bursting with life. El Niño events killed off fish stocks and flooded the valley with torrential rain, throwing local food production systems into crisis.
“Leaders of the Moche and Sicán appear to have held power partly by their claims to be intercessors with the natural world,” explained Klaus. “Large-scale events of human sacrifice just before the collapse of the Moche and Sicán political systems appear like attempts at bringing the forces of nature back into balance by offering their most precious lives to the supernatural. It’s here where the most extensive evidence of violence is found in Lambayeque.”
“If these big ritual sacrifices were indicative of some underlying crisis, we hypothesized that these events might have been extending into people’s everyday experience of the world,” added Snyder.
No case to answer
But surprisingly, only 25 individuals (1.6% of the sample) showed evidence of violence and only 77 (5.1% of the sample) showed evidence of accidental trauma. There was no link between either violence or accidents and ecological instability. There was also no link between a person’s sex and violence.
This is very different to other sites in the Andes, where cranial trauma is much more common, especially during periods of climatic upheaval. It’s possible that Lambayeque Valley’s access to the sea helped alleviate resource scarcity, or that differing ways of organizing society intentionally reduced violence.
However, Snyder and Klaus point out that their results are estimates. They used proxies for accidents and violence, which could conceal some violence: not all wounds affect the skeleton. Additionally, they emphasize that their findings reflect long-term trends and might not capture short-term incidents.
“One of the challenges ended up being temporal resolution,” explained Snyder. “With an archaeological sample size this large, it just wouldn’t be feasible to radiocarbon date every individual. So we’re really looking at long-term associations — or their absence. In an ideal world I would like to radiocarbon date the entire sample, to see if any trends appear that we might have missed.”
“A lot of people think that archaeological research is interesting, but we really want to emphasize that it is also useful,” concluded Snyder. “As the saying goes, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. By looking to the past, we can answer questions about how people have dealt with similar crises to those we’re facing now and apply that knowledge to the present.”
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used psychoactive plants today. However, it is difficult to determine archaeologically how cannabis was used in prehistoric times. Plant parts such as flowers, leaves and resins are perishable and therefore rarely survive. It is known that cannabis served various purposes, such as the production of oil or fiber, and was not used solely as medicine or a drug.
An international research team led by Dr. Gino Caspari of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology has now combined various analytical methods in its investigation of a princely tomb in the South Siberian Republic of Tyva. The tomb belongs to high-ranking members of Scythian society, a horse-riding culture of the Eurasian steppe. A total of about 1,000 cannabis seeds were recovered from it. Six seeds were directly dated using the radiocarbon method. Together with other dating results,this indicates that the seeds were placed in the grave in the early eighth century B.C. “The seeds show that cannabis played an important role in the rituals surrounding the burial,” says Caspari, an archaeologist and the study’s lead author. The research team also examined preserved human hair from the central burial chamber. The analyses point to cannabis use. “This study is particularly insightful because it combines the analysis of plant remains with molecular traces in the human body,” says Caspari. The study has now been published in the journal Science.
Molecular traces in human hair
The seeds recovered from the grave likely stem from wild plants. It is not possible to determine from this whether they were specifically cultivated for their psychoactive properties. Their presence in a grave does not, in and of itself, prove the psychoactive use of cannabis. This became apparent only through the analysis of the hair: In several of the hair samples examined, the researchers found clear signals consistent with cannabinol (CBN). CBN is produced, among other things, by the oxidation of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most important intoxicating compound in cannabis. In addition, the team detected weak signals that, based on their mass, are consistent with THC. High-resolution mass spectrometry, among other methods, was used to analyze the hair samples.
According to the researchers, the hair analyses indicate cannabis use. However, they do not allow for a reliable determination of the amount consumed. Neither is it possible to determine with certainty how the active compounds entered the body—for example, through inhalation or ingestion. The analyses therefore do not confirm a specific method of consumption. Later archaeological sites in Central Asia have revealed chemical residues of cannabinoids in vessels and on heated stones, clearly indicating inhalation.
“The molecular traces in the hair and the cannabis seeds come from the same grave and suggest that cannabis was used for its intoxicating properties,” says Caspari, who conducts research at the Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Jena (Germany).
Cannabis in a ritual burial context
The research team situates the cannabis finds in a ritual burial context. “In this princely tomb, the burials were accompanied by extensive horse sacrifices and, most likely, human sacrifices as well,” says Gino Caspari. In a previous publication, the research team had discovered the remains of 18 horses that had once been arranged on the burial mound. In the meantime, several dozen additional horse sacrifices and scattered human bones have come to light.
Further investigation into the early use of cannabis
The findings provide what is currently the oldest directly dated archaeological evidence of the use of cannabis for its intoxicating properties. However, they do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the THC content of the plants from that time. Neither has it been possible so far to determine whether the plants were specifically selected or cultivated for higher levels of active compounds.
The research team is currently continuing the investigation. “We have already begun sequencing some of the plant samples,” says Gino Caspari. “DNA preservation is excellent in this case. This will help us learn more about the history of the domestication and spread of this crop soon.”
