-
A Primate Study Suggests the Roots of Language Date Back 40 Million Years
Language may feel like the sharpest line separating humans from the rest of the animal world. It carries myth, law, memory, and mathematics. Yet a 2020 study suggests that one of its most fundamental cognitive foundations long predates humanity itself. Published in Science Advances, the research — led by Professor Simon Townsend at the University…
-
Seabird Guano Fueled the Rise of the Chincha Kingdom, New Isotopic Study Reveals
Gold and silver often dominate narratives of ancient South American wealth. But new scientific research suggests that the real engine of power behind the Chincha Kingdom was far less glamorous: seabird droppings. A multidisciplinary study published in PLOS One presents compelling isotopic evidence that marine bird guano transformed Peru’s arid Pacific coast into an agricultural…
-
Could This Be Serbia’s Only Surviving Pre-Christian Slavic Idol?
In a museum collection in eastern Serbia stands a sandstone figure nearly as tall as a human being. Its face is spare, almost abstract. A rectangular cap crowns the head. One arm bends at the elbow, the other falls stiffly along the body. No inscription. No ornament. Just presence. The sculpture, measuring 171 centimeters in…
-
A Roman House Altar Unlike Any Other North of the Alps Unearthed in Cologne
For centuries, Cologne has lived above its Roman past. Now, beneath the Rathausplatz, that past has resurfaced in extraordinary form. Archaeologists working on the underground visitor route of the MiQua – LVR-Jewish Museum in the Archaeological Quarter Cologne have uncovered a remarkably well-preserved 2nd-century CE Roman house altar — a lararium described as unique north…
-
Roman Board Game Mystery Solved: AI Reveals 1,700-Year-Old Strategy Game in the Netherlands
For more than a century, a carved limestone slab from the Dutch city of Heerlen sat quietly in a museum collection. Now, artificial intelligence has revealed that it was not decoration. It was a game. Researchers have reconstructed the rules of an unknown Roman-period board game carved into stone nearly 1,700 years ago — and…
-
A Rare River Harbor Identified in Trabzon: One of Only Three Known Examples Worldwide
Beneath what was once a bustling market in northeastern Türkiye, archaeologists have uncovered something far older — and far rarer — than anyone expected. Excavations in the Pazarkapı district of Trabzon have revealed an ancient quay structure now identified as one of only three known river harbors in the world. The structure, linked to the…
-
Beneath Roman Farmland, a 1,700-Year-Old Episcopal Power Complex Emerges at Ostia Antica
Just centimeters below plowed earth on the outskirts of Rome, archaeologists have uncovered a discovery that quietly redraws the map of early Christian power: a monumental church complex and an opulent bishop’s palace dating to the fourth century. The excavation, led by the University of Bonn in cooperation with German and Italian institutions, is revealing…
-
5,300-Year-Old Bow Drill Found in Predynastic Grave Rewrites Early Egyptian Technology Timeline
A small copper object — just 63 millimetres long — has quietly forced archaeologists to rethink the technological abilities of early Egypt. Researchers from Newcastle University and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna have re-examined a century-old artefact from Upper Egypt and identified it as the earliest known rotary metal drill in ancient Egypt, dating…
-
1,500-Year-Old Anglo-Saxon Sword Near Canterbury Reveals Elite Power and European Ties
Archaeologists from the University of Central Lancashire have uncovered an exceptionally preserved sixth-century Anglo-Saxon sword in a cemetery in Kent. The weapon, buried around 1,500 years ago, is not just another grave good. It is a statement. Of authority. Of lineage. Of connection to a much larger European network. The discovery, led by Professor Duncan…