Tag: ancient history

Something Sparked a Technological Revolution in China 146,000 Years Ago—Archaeologists Have Now Linked It to a Mysterious Extinct Human Species

During the harsh conditions that prevailed in ice age China 146,000 years ago, a remarkable survival strategy was being developed by early humans—something that led to one of the region’s earliest technological revolutions.

In a series of recent discoveries at the Lingjing site in Northern China, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of sophisticated stone tools associated with Homo juluensis, an extinct human relative that inhabited parts of East Asia long ago, and which may even have interacted with ancestors of modern humans.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Human Evolution, have now revealed that stone crafting at the site began nearly 20,000 years earlier than previous estimates, placing these ancient toolmakers amid some of the harshest glacial period conditions, rather than the later warmer climate associated with past evaluations of the site.

The findings add to recent discoveries that have revealed surprising features about ancient archaic humans that thrived during this period, which include not only their unexpected size, but also their understanding of complex stone crafting techniques.

Creativity Driven by Cold

“People often imagine creativity as something that flourishes in good times,” said lead author Yuchao Zhao, the assistant curator of East Asian archaeology at Chicago’s Field Museum, in a statement. “Finding out that these stone tools were made during a harsh ice age tells a different story.

“Hard times can force us to adapt,” Zhao adds.

For more than a decade, archaeologists have undertaken excavations at Lingjing, where everything from animal remains to ancient tools has been uncovered.

Something else that the ancient human presence at this site has revealed is a surprisingly sophisticated ice age lithic industry, where the ancient humans who once thrived here employed a technologically complex manufacturing process for their time.

Evidence of this comes in the form of disc-shaped stone cores, which are deceptively simple in appearance. To craft them, their ancient makers had to carefully work them in ways that produced useful cutting flakes. Some of them were shaped evenly on both sides, while other examples reveal asymmetrical designs where one side served as a striking platform, and the other appears to have been prepared for controlled flake removal.

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These Curious Ancient Greek Artifacts Have Extraterrestrial Origins—Why They Vanished 3000 Years Ago Remains a Mystery

Deep within ancient chamber tombs where elite members of society in ancient Greece and Crete were once laid to rest, new evidence has emerged that these high-status individuals wore some out-of-this-world iron jewelry.

Among the most coveted jewelry worn in the Bronze Age Mediterranean world were rings that were likely made from extraterrestrial iron, according to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Researchers Matthieu Gounelle and Eleni Mantzourani used chemical analysis to examine more than 90 iron objects from the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, uncovered from 33 archaeological sites, revealing that about one-third of the artifacts were likely crafted using iron that fell from space.

Although iron harvested from ancient meteorites accounted for at least 10 of the rings the researchers examined, another three “might deserve further examination,” the study’s authors say, in new observations that indicate these ancient extraterrestrial adornments “may have been popular power symbols among prominent individuals” that included the Mycenaean and Minoan palatial elite.

Yet despite their apparent significance, the otherworldly fashion trend involving these otherworldly rings seems to have mysteriously vanished by the 12th century BCE, for reasons that remain unclear to researchers.

Using portable X-ray fluorescence, or XRF, to assess these rare artifacts in various museums where they are kept, most of the objects were found to contain very little nickel, if any at all. This is consistent with iron produced using smelting processes from the periods in question, which relied on terrestrial ores.

However, 13 of the objects possessed elevated levels of nickel, which hinted at the likelihood that some of these ancient rings had been crafted with metal originating in meteorites, which contain far more nickel than smelted varieties of iron do.

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Mysterious symbols spanning the globe hint at a lost civilization 38,000 years ago

For centuries, mainstream archaeologists have dismissed the idea that an advanced civilization existed long before modern times.

Now, an independent researcher claims he has uncovered ‘paradigm-shifting evidence of a lost civilization’ that hid a sophisticated code through geometry, symbolism, and monument design across the globe to preserve its knowledge ahead of catastrophic events.

Matthew LaCroix told Daily Mail the discovery, sparked by a recent find in Egypt, links symbols across continents and dates back 38,000 to 40,000 years.

According to LaCroix, this civilization tracked cosmic cycles, anticipated global disasters, and embedded teachings about human origins, the structure of the universe, and divine existence into monuments and sacred sites.

His investigation began after identifying recurring giant T-shapes, three-level indents, and step pyramids carved into ancient stones worldwide.

‘These specific symbols that are built in different size proportions, and the symbols are found in ancient stones around the world, are not supposed to exist; no cultures are supposed to have any cross-platform,’ LaCroix explained.

The symbols appear in locations ranging from Turkey’s Van region to South America and Cambodia.

According to LaCroix, the origin of this global system lies in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van region at a site known as Ionis.

He described it as the earliest source of the civilization’s symbols, architecture, and teachings, dating it to around 40,000 years old. He argues it preserves the original blueprint later carried to places such as Giza and Tiwanaku.

Recurring motifs, giant T-shapes, step pyramids, inverted pyramids, lions, and sacred geometry, appear at Ionis in their most concentrated form before repeating at distant sites worldwide, LaCroix added.

Nearby, the site of Kefkalesi provides one of the clearest examples of these symbols in stone.

The four-foot-by-four-foot basalt carving, known as the Kefkalesi relief, contains complex iconography that mirrors the symbols found at Ionis, Giza, and South American sites.

‘This relief became one of the most important artifacts for my research,’ LaCroix explained. ‘It connects Egypt back to this region and lets us back-engineer the global pattern.’

He pointed out repeating motifs: ‘Here are the T-shapes, repeating over and over. Here’s your step pyramid with three doors and the lion right here. These same elements appear repeatedly across sites worldwide.’

Regarding the lion, he added, ‘The lion is a guardian, and its placement helps explain the structure of the code.’

LaCroix said the relief solidified his interpretation of the symbols and accelerated his analysis of similar structures at the Sphinx Temple in Egypt.

Mainstream archaeologists, however, date known Lake Van sites to the Urartian period thousands of years ago and say there is no evidence supporting a pre-Ice Age global civilization, and no peer-reviewed research currently supports LaCroix’s proposed dating.

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Study: This Ancient Remedy May Outperform Modern Eye Drops

Long before artificial tears filled pharmacy shelves, people used honey to treat wounds, burns, and infections because of its strong antimicrobial and tissue-repair properties. Now, researchers in Madrid have brought that ancient remedy into modern ophthalmology, testing whether Manuka honey eye drops could outperform the standard treatment given to patients recovering from cataract surgery.1

Dry eye disease affects a large share of adults worldwide and an even greater proportion of older populations. Cataract surgery, despite its reputation for restoring crisp vision, frequently leaves patients with burning, gritty, watery eyes that struggle with reading, screens, and bright light. For a meaningful portion of patients, that discomfort lingers for months.

Standard care typically relies on lubricating drops, steroids, and anti-inflammatory medications. These add moisture but do little to repair the damaged ocular surface driving the irritation in the first place. That’s where Manuka honey appears to behave differently.

Rather than simply wetting the eye, it seems to address the underlying problem, calming inflammation, supporting tissue repair, and protecting vulnerable tissue from microbial stress all at once. The Spanish trial put that idea to a direct test, and the results were notable enough to help explain why this old folk remedy is suddenly drawing serious scientific attention.

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Ancient ‘lost world’ discovered off the US West coast rewrites story of first Americans who arrived 13,000 years ago

A remote ‘lost world’ off California‘s coast could rewrite the story of the first Americans. 

Hidden among the Channel Islands are 13,000-year-old human remains, ancient settlements and evidence suggesting some of the continent’s earliest inhabitants may have arrived by boat rather than crossing an inland ice corridor. 

If correct, the theory would overturn decades of conventional thinking that the first Americans crossed a land bridge from Siberia and traveled south through an ice-free corridor in western Canada. 

Instead, it suggests Ice Age humans reached North America thousands of years ago by following a coastal ‘kelp highway,’ using boats to move along the Pacific shoreline and settle places like the Channel Islands. 

The islands have also yielded the bones of pygmy mammoths and remarkably preserved archaeological sites that offer an unprecedented glimpse into Ice Age life.  Scientists have described the chain of islands as a place where ancient landscapes and human history have been frozen in time. 

Researchers said the evidence points to a forgotten maritime migration that could fundamentally change our understanding of America’s earliest people. And they believe many of the answers may still be waiting to be uncovered. 

The Channel Islands have been studied by scientists and archaeologists for more than a century, with some of their most important discoveries, including the remains of Arlington Springs Man, emerging during excavations in the mid-20th century. 

Now, a new documentary released on June 30 on the YouTube channel Timeline is bringing fresh attention to these discoveries and the mysteries that still lie beneath the islands and surrounding waters.

Not all archaeologists agree that the Channel Islands provide definitive proof of a maritime migration. 

While many researchers now accept that people were present in the Americas before the Clovis culture, experts continue to debate exactly when the first settlers arrived and whether they traveled by sea, by land, or through a combination of routes. 

The eight California Channel Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, stretching from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to south of Los Angeles.

Author Frederic Caire Chiles, who has a PhD in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara, said in the film: ‘They are the trace of a vanished world.’

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DNA study of nearly 200 Indigenous genomes reveals unknown Asian ‘ghost’ population contributed to American ancestry

Humans migrated to South America in three distinct waves over the course of thousands of years, a new large-scale analysis of Indigenous Americans’ DNA reveals. The investigation also found that genes related to fertility, metabolism and the immune response helped people adapt to their unique environment in the “final frontier” of human migration, the researchers said.

In a study published Wednesday (April 22) in the journal Nature, an international team of scientists detailed findings from the Indigenous American Genomic Diversity Project, which analyzed 128 genomes from people living in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru — an investigation that included 45 populations and 28 language families. The researchers’ goal was to better understand how and when people arrived on the continent and the factors that shaped these populations’ genetics.

“Until now, only two Amazonian Indigenous populations had been genetically characterized, and due to the particularity of their environment and their isolation, they were not very representative,” study first author Marcos Araújo Castro e Silva, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) and Pompeu Fabra University in Spain, said in a translated statement. The research team worked in collaboration with Indigenous communities to develop the study and integrate the findings into Indigenous history, study co-author Tábita Hünemeier, head of the Human Population Genomics Lab at IBE, said in the statement.

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Evidence Found in Ethiopia That Homo sapiens Cremated Their Dead 100,000 Years Ago, 60,000 Before the Oldest Known Record

The discovery, made at one of the best-preserved open-air sites of early Homo sapiens communities, includes bones burned at high temperatures alongside evidence of predation and sudden burial.

An international research team, which includes Ferhat Kaya, a researcher at the Academy of Finland at the University of Oulu, has discovered what could be the earliest evidence of human cremation. The findings were made in the Afar Rift in Ethiopia, a region recognized for hosting one of the best-preserved open-air archaeological concentrations corresponding to the earliest Homo sapiens communities.

Research in this area has been ongoing since 1981, and the new data offer a detailed view of how early humans lived, moved, and adapted to their environment 100,000 years ago.

Among the significant fossils found in the area are remains of Homo sapiens individuals, some of which show bones that had been exposed to high temperatures. This phenomenon, according to the researchers, could indicate the practice of cremation and, if confirmed, would represent the oldest known evidence of this funerary rite among humans.

However, the same bone remains also showed predator bite marks and signs of having undergone sudden burial, which adds a layer of complexity to interpreting the circumstances of their death and subsequent treatment.

The study published by the team emphasizes that local hydrological factors—particularly the flood cycles of the ancient Awash River—had a more decisive influence on the lives of these humans than global climate fluctuations. This conclusion is supported by the analysis of thousands of stone tools documented at the site, which indicate that human groups repeatedly returned to this area for short periods, taking advantage of a seasonal floodplain.

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Neanderthal ancestry may lower defenses against common DNA viruses in people today

Researchers have found surprising links that show that Neanderthal ancestry influences our immune system today in ways more nuanced than previously recognized. Their work is published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.

Viruses account for an estimated 10–20% of the global disease burden. Many DNA viruses can persist in the body for a lifetime, and virus load varies greatly even among people without symptoms. Throughout human history, they have posed persistent and rapidly evolving threats, placing strong adaptive pressure on our immune system.

Previous research has shown that many genetic variants involved in immunity bear the marks of these evolutionary battles—including signatures of natural selection and contributions from interbreeding with archaic humans.

While Neanderthal ancestry has previously been associated with beneficial effects in RNA virus defense, the new study highlights a contrasting trend for DNA viruses.

Because of past admixture with archaic humans, around 2% of the genome of present-day non-Africans is composed of Neanderthal DNA and an additional 2–4% of people in Oceania of Denisovan ancestry. These introgressed sequences have shaped many biological traits, including immunity. But their role in defenses against DNA viruses has remained largely unexplored.

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Scientists Found 71 Genetic Fingerprints of Human History. Not All of Them Make Sense.

Homo sapiens are one species. There are no subspecies of humans, and our last relatives in the genus Homo went extinct around 40,000 years ago. But what explains how similar we humans are to each other? And more importantly, what genetic variants make different human populations and individuals so unique?

Some of the things we inherit in our genes are completely random. This is known as genetic drift, a phenomenon that happens because some individuals leave behind more offspring than others do. Their genes are more likely to be spread throughout the population, but it’s not because natural selection decided that those genes necessarily offer any added benefits. In fact, it’s even possible that a few of those genes are detrimental. Genetic drift is part of evolution and something that defines the genetic fingerprint of a specific group, but it doesn’t work by promoting adaptations that will help our species in the future.

Genetic drift isn’t exclusive to humans, but a team of researchers from the Institute of Statistical Science in Taipei, Taiwan, created an algorithm to figure out how it affects the frequency of alleles in human populations. Alleles are alternative versions of a given gene that come about through mutations. The team accessed data from the 1,000 Genomes Project, a database of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are common genetic variations caused by a difference in a single nucleotide within a DNA sequence. The researchers then used their algorithm to analyze recurring patterns of alleles in populations from different continents, as well as in groups within those populations.

“At the global scale, genetic differences between subjects faithfully reflect the well-known history of human population migration and mixing,” they said in a study recently published in Scientific Reports. “In contrast, when examining the allele frequency patterns of individual loci, we discovered many minor yet non-negligible…evolutionary trajectories in the human genome.”

Out of 78 million SNPs, the researchers found 71 patterns that tell the ancient history of how allele frequencies ended up being arranged in particular ways among various groups. It was hardly surprising that over 90% of such variants occurred with more or less the same frequency no matter what continent the population was from. The locations of most allele frequency patterns are scattered throughout chromosomes and are usually found together in “hot spots.” These narrow segments of DNA are linked to gene functions and observable phenotypical (body) traits.

Then the team used what they called a local ancestry inference algorithm to look deep into chromosomes and determine what ancestral groups an individual is descended from. The results from this algorithm were then checked against data from 1,000 Genomes and Human Genome Population Diversity (HGPD) data. It turned out that most allele patterns observed were synonymous with simulations that highlight the randomness of genetic drift. But there were also minor differences that suggest drift isn’t the only evolutionary process influencing the genetic profile of an individual or population.

Many findings were consistent with the migration of human ancestors out of Africa and into Europe, East Asia, and South Asia. Allele frequencies in African populations were found to be distinct from those of Eurasians in 1.9 million locations on their DNA. The separation of African and East Asian populations from populations in Europe and South Asia was evidenced by variants in 570,000 locations. This reflects the known history of human migration, which has Eurasians as the first to break from their African ancestors and trek through Europe and East Asia. South Asian populations arose from admixture between groups from Central Asia and migrants who first traveled from West to East Asia before heading south.

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Stone Age humans built complex grass beds at Border Cave 200,000 years ago, study finds

Border Cave sits high in the Lebombo Mountains along the border of present-day South Africa and Eswatini. Archaeologists have excavated the rock shelter since the 1930s, though recent work has revealed unusual preservation of organic materials, including ancient grass bedding. Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand examined the deposits at a microscopic level and identified six different bedding microfacies, or microscopic sediment patterns linked to different types of bed construction and maintenance.

Only a few African Stone Age sites have produced bedding remains studied in such detail. Earlier microscopic work at Sibhudu Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter provided much of the current understanding of ancient bedding practices. The new study greatly expands the sample from Border Cave and shows a wider range of preserved bedding structures than previously known.

Some of the newly identified microfacies closely resemble bedding types from the other South African sites. Others appear unique to Border Cave. The differences include variations in ash content, the arrangement of plant remains, and signs of trampling or burning. Researchers suggest these patterns reflect differences in how people maintained their living spaces or the types of plants selected for bedding.

The study found repeated evidence that people often built beds on layers of ash. In many cases, bedding materials rested directly above ash deposits or mixed with ash-rich sediments. Researchers believe ash may have helped keep sleeping areas dry and warm while also discouraging insects. Earlier studies at Border Cave proposed a similar function.

The evidence does not always show whether people intentionally spread fresh ash before laying down bedding or reused ash already present on the cave floor. Some ash deposits appear thick and concentrated, while others form thinner scattered layers. Still, the repeated association between ash and bedding suggests this practice formed a regular part of cave life for thousands of years.

Microscopic analysis also revealed signs of repeated maintenance. Some bedding layers had been refreshed with new plant material, trampled by human activity, and partially burned several times. One especially well-preserved “grass mat” from younger deposits contained several overlapping layers of dried and charred plant remains. Researchers describe this as the first detailed microscopic study of such a preserved Stone Age grass mat.

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