Tag: ancient history

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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The Strait of Hormuz: A Constant in Iranian History

The strategic and spiritual resonance of the Strait of Hormuz is deeply woven into Iran’s identity. It represents a profound geographic constant in Iranian history. This narrow waterway has served as a central artery for Persian political and economic power, historical consciousness and culture across millennia.

Whether safeguarding Zoroastrian trade routes under the Sassanids, expelling European powers in the Safavid era, or commanding energy routes today, Iran’s geopolitical identity is fused with this narrow stretch of water.  It is a physical manifestation of sovereignty, insuring that the “Passage of the Palm Groves” and its divine namesake “Ahura Mazda” remains a focal point of global history.

Linguists and historians trace the etymology of “Hormuz” to “Ohrmazd,” the Middle Persian derivation of “Ahura Mazda” (the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism). To ancient Persian monarchs, this body of water was more than a trade route; it was an extension of the imperial cosmic divine order.

In the ancient dialect of southern Iran, the name is believed to have evolved from “Hur-Mogh.”  In the local tongue of Hormozgan, Hur means waterway and Mogh refers to palm trees.  For people who lived there for millennia, the strait was not a military chokepoint, it was simply, “The Passage of the Palm Groves.”

The Strait of Hormuz presents a profound historical paradox. Its name honors the Zoroastrian source of cosmic harmony, Ahura Mazda. Yet today, this narrow chokepoint whose foundational ethos, “humata, hukhta, and huvarshta” (good thoughts, good words, and good deeds), is now the epicenter of severe international geopolitical friction and trade instability.

Long before it became the jugular vein of the modern global economy, the Strait of Hormuz was the sacred and strategic maritime gateway to the Persian empire.

The Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, was the first imperial power to recognize the strait as a strategic artery to be owned.  Its name is tied to the Sassanian dynasty (224-651 CE), the last great pre-Islamic Persian empire and initiator of Zoroastrianism as a state religion.

During the Sassanian era, its Zoroastrian rulers expanded outward from the Iranian plateau to dominate both the northern and southern shores of the strait.

By commanding the entrance to the Persian Gulf by constructing forts and coastal infrastructure, these ancient kings secured their control over the lucrative maritime trade routes, linking Mesopotamia, the Indian subcontinent and the broader world.

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14,500-Year-Old Evidence of Human Presence in South America? Experts Fire Back at Controversial Study Challenging Age of Chile’s Monte Verde Site

Experts have responded sharply to a controversial study published earlier this year that sought to challenge the dating of archaeological features at Chile’s famous Monte Verde site.

Excavations that began at Monte Verde decades ago, led by archaeologist Tom Dillehay, established evidence of a human presence at the site as early as 14,500 years ago. The discovery was significant, as it marked the first unequivocal evidence of human presence in the Americas that predates the cultural manifestation known as Clovis, which had long been assumed to be the earliest human presence in the New World.

Those findings, supported by ongoing investigations Dillehay and his colleagues have conducted over the last several decades at Monte Verde, were challenged in March in a study led by archaeologist Todd Surovell, Ph.D., who, along with his colleagues, argued that a fresh analysis of features located near the Monte Verde site suggested it could be younger than previous estimates by as much as several thousand years.

Now Dillehay, who is currently the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Religion, and Culture at Vanderbilt University, and more than two dozen other experts in the archaeology of the early Americas have responded in a series of eLetters published in Science, which argue that Surovell and his colleagues’ findings are not strongly supported by existing evidence.

Pre-Clovis in Southern Chile

Following its discovery in 1976 and Dillehay’s subsequent excavations, Monte Verde has long been considered a cornerstone of early American archaeology. With its array of well-preserved artifacts that include stone tools, as well as wooden structures, botanical remains, and even a human footprint, radiocarbon dating has periodically been undertaken at the site, which consistently places its occupation at an estimated 14,500 years ago.

At the time these discoveries were made, Monte Verde became one of the earliest securely dated human settlements in the Americas. Not only that, it became one of the first major challenges to the then-dominant “Clovis First” paradigm, which insisted that evidence showed the earliest arrivals in North America occurred no earlier than around 13,000 years ago.

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Hall of Records theories explode as CIA doc mentioning ‘temple under Sphinx’ found

The location of an ancient library believed to lie beneath Egypt‘s Great Sphinx has long been one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries.

Now, a resurfaced CIA document from 1952 is reigniting speculation surrounding the legendary Hall of Records after a cryptic reference to a ‘temple under Sphinx’ was found inside a Cold War-era photographic inventory.

The Hall of Records legend has fascinated the public for nearly a century, with some claiming the mythical archive contains ancient texts, maps and evidence of a lost civilization that predated recorded history. 

The 10-page CIA file, dated November 20, 1952, is titled ‘Presentation Form for Graphic Material’ and appears to catalog 11 rolls of black-and-white photographic negatives taken between July and December 1950.

Rather than an intelligence briefing, the document appears to be a simple archival inventory. 

But believers say the phrase ‘Temple under Sphinx’ stands out because it is not a standard archaeological description commonly used today.

One X user posted: ‘So the CIA knows about the temple UNDER THE SPHINX. Still want to call BS on the Hall of Records?’

While no hidden temple has ever been confirmed beneath the Great Sphinx, archaeologists have long known about the ancient Sphinx Temple, a structure located directly in front of the monument on the Giza Plateau. 

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Ancient Settlement Older Than The Pyramids Discovered; Rewrites North American History

An ancient Indigenous settlement unearthed near Sturgeon Lake in Saskatchewan is challenging long-held views about early human presence in North America.

Dating to around 11,000 years ago and predating Egypt’s Great Pyramid by more than 6,000 years, according to the official timeline, the site provides evidence of long-term habitation rather than temporary camps.

Archaeologists working with Sturgeon Lake First Nation uncovered stone tools, fire pits, toolmaking materials, and remains of the extinct Bison antiquus. Charcoal layers point to controlled fire management, aligning with oral traditions. The findings suggest a sophisticated society with advanced hunting strategies, including buffalo jumps.

The site, known as Âsowanânihk (“a place to cross” in Cree), lies about five kilometres north of Prince Albert along the North Saskatchewan River. It was first spotted by avocational archaeologist Dave Rondeau through riverbank erosion exposing artifacts.

Rondeau said: “The moment I saw the layers of history peeking through the soil, I felt the weight of generations staring back at me. Now that the evidence has proven my first instincts, this site is shaking up everything we thought we knew and could change the narrative of early Indigenous civilizations in North America.”

Dr. Glenn Stuart of the University of Saskatchewan added: “This discovery challenges the outdated idea that early Indigenous peoples were solely nomadic. The evidence of long-term settlement and land stewardship suggests a deep-rooted presence. It also raises questions about the Bering Strait Theory, supporting oral histories that Indigenous communities have lived here for countless generations.”

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Scientists revive ancient 24,000-year-old ‘zombie worm’ from Arctic ice — then it reproduced

Scientists have successfully revived a 24,000-year-old microscopic organism from Siberian permafrost, offering new insight into how life can endure extreme conditions over vast stretches of time.

According to a study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers identified the organism as a rotifer — a tiny, multicellular animal often found in freshwater environments and known for its unusual durability.

The specimen had been frozen deep within Siberian permafrost since the Late Pleistocene, a period that ended roughly 11,700 years ago. Scientists say the surrounding ice-rich soil, known as the Yedoma formation, helped preserve the organism in a stable, frozen state for tens of thousands of years.

After carefully thawing the rotifer under controlled laboratory conditions, researchers observed that it resumed normal biological functions. The organism not only became active again but was also able to reproduce asexually, suggesting that its cellular structures remained intact despite the passage of millennia.

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56-Million-Year-Old Fossil Found in Germany May Be Oldest Known Cannabis Plant

A fossil discovered in Germany may be the oldest known cannabis-related plant ever identified, potentially pushing the timeline of the genus back by about 30 million years.

The fossilized leaf, dated to between 56 million and 48 million years ago, was found in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany and is now being highlighted as a possible early relative of modern marijuana. That would make it far older than previous estimates suggesting the Cannabis genus emerged around 20 million to 28 million years ago.

According to researchers, the fossil had actually been sitting in a museum collection for around 150 years after first being described in 1883. Only recently was it reexamined in detail, leading to renewed interest because of how closely it resembles today’s cannabis leaves. Researchers say the shape of the leaf and its vein pattern are both strikingly similar to modern marijuana plants.

Even so, the fossil is not believed to be the same as modern Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica. Instead, it appears to represent an extinct relative from much earlier in the plant’s evolutionary history. Researchers note that today’s marijuana varieties have been heavily shaped by human cultivation and selective breeding, likely over thousands of years.

The discovery is notable not just because of its age, but because of where it was found. For years, cannabis was widely believed to have originated in the Tibetan Plateau region of Asia. This fossil suggests the genus may have a far older and broader history than previously thought, and that its origin may not be tied only to high-altitude regions in Asia.

Researchers say they can’t determine whether the ancient plant contained THC because the fossil does not preserve the tiny structures where cannabinoids are produced.

Still, the fossil is offering one of the strongest signs yet that the history of marijuana may stretch back much further than once believed, while also opening the door to new questions about where the plant first emerged.

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