Tag: ancient history

Fossil evidence of photosynthesis gets a billion years older

It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that the most significant event on Earth was the evolution of photosynthesis. The ability to harvest energy from light freed life from the need to scavenge energy from its environment. With this new capability, life grew in complexity and invaded new environments, ultimately reshaping the Earth.

For such a pivotal event, we know remarkably little about it. Tracing the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere suggests photosynthesis evolved at least 2.4 billion years ago, although the rise in oxygen levels turns out to be impressively complicated. Tracing the variations of present-day genes places photosynthesis’ origin at about 3 billion years ago. That timing is similar to the origin of the photosynthetic cyanobacteria, which both continue to live independently and have been incorporated into plant cells as chloroplasts.

What we don’t have is clear evidence of photosynthetic cells of similar age. A few microfossils with similarities to cyanobacteria have been identified, but it’s impossible to determine whether they were making the proteins that power photosynthesis. Now, new fossils described by a team at the University of Liège push unambiguous evidence of photosynthesis back over a billion years to 1.7 billion years ago.

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Cerne Abbas Giant: Has the mystery of the chalk hill figure been solved?

A centuries-old mystery surrounding the origins of a chalk giant hill figure has been unravelled by academics from Oxford University.

New research indicates the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset was originally carved as an image of Hercules to mark a muster station for West Saxon armies.

Speculation has long surrounded the figure, with some believing it could date back to prehistoric times.

The academics said it was reinterpreted in the 11th Century by local monks.

In 2021, tests carried out for the National Trust, which owns the site, revealed the giant had been carved in the Anglo-Saxon period and was not prehistoric, or more recent, as previously thought.

Dr Helen Gittos and Dr Thomas Morcom have been building on the discovery to uncover why the giant was created in the first place.

They explained that Hercules was well known in the Middle Ages and there was a particular spike of interest in him during the 9th Century, at a time when the area was under attack by Vikings.

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Is the 10,000-Year-Old Yonaguni Monument a Man-Made Marvel or Nature’s Art?

Nestled along the southern coast of Yonaguni, Japan, are enigmatic submerged ruins that have captured the fascination of researchers and ignited fervent debates. Believed to date back approximately 10,000 years, the origin of the Yonaguni monument remains shrouded in mystery. Hotly debated among experts, some asserting that these formations are unmistakably man-made, while others, adopting a more conservative stance, attribute their creation to the forces of natural phenomena. This intriguing archaeological site continues to be a subject of exploration, sparking curiosity and speculation about its true origins.

The unique and awe-inspiring site was discovered in 1995 by a diver who strayed too far off the Okinawa shore and was dumb-struck when he stumbled upon the sunken arrangement of monolithic blocks “as if terraced into the side of a mountain”.  The structure sparked instant controversy and attracted crowds of diving archaeologists, media and curious hobbyists, none of whom were able to ascertain its identity.

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Ancient bricks baked when Nebuchadnezzar II was king absorbed a power surge in Earth’s magnetic field

Thousands of years ago, Earth’s magnetic field underwent a significant power surge over a part of the planet that included the ancient kingdom of Mesopotamia. People at the time probably never even noticed the fluctuation, but signs of the anomaly, including previously unknown details, were preserved in the mud bricks that they baked, new research has found.

When scientists recently examined bricks dating from the third to the first millennia BC in Mesopotamia — which encompassed present-day Iraq and parts of what is now Syria, Iran and Turkey — they detected magnetic signatures in those from the first millennium, indicating that the bricks were fired at a time when Earth’s magnetic field was unusually strong. Stamps on the bricks naming Mesopotamian kings enabled researchers to confirm the time range for the magnetic spike.

Their findings corresponded with a known magnetic surge called the “Levantine Iron Age geomagnetic Anomaly,” which took place between 1050 and 550 BC. It had previously been documented in artifacts from the Azores, Bulgaria and China using archaeomagnetic analysis — examining grains in pottery and ceramic archaeological objects for clues about Earth’s magnetic activity, scientists reported December 18 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“It is really exciting that ancient artifacts from Mesopotamia help to explain and record key events in Earth history such as fluctuations in the magnetic field,” said study coauthor Mark Altaweel, a professor of Near East archaeology and archaeological data science at the University College London’s Institute of Archaeology.

“It shows why preserving Mesopotamia’s ancient heritage is important for science and humanity more broadly,” Altaweel told CNN in an email.

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Rise of Archery in Andes Mountains Now Dated to 5,000 Years Ago

When did archery arise in the Americas? And what were the effects of this technology on society?

These questions have long been debated among anthropologists and archaeologists. But a study led by a University of California, Davis, anthropologist, published in Quaternary International is shining light on this mystery.

Focusing on the Lake Titicaca Basin in the Andes mountains, anthropologists found through analysis of 1,179 projectile points that the rise of archery technology dates to around 5,000 years ago. Previous research held that archery in the Andes emerged around 3,000 years ago.

The new research indicates that the adoption of bow-and-arrow technology coincided with both the expansion of exchange networks and the growing tendency for people to reside in villages.

“We think our paper is groundbreaking because it gives us a chance to see how society changed throughout the Andes throughout ancient times by presenting a huge number of artifacts from a vast area of South America,” said Luis Flores-Blanco, an anthropology doctoral student and corresponding author of the paper. “This is among the first instances in which Andean archaeologists have investigated social complexity through the quantitative analysis of stone tools.”

Researchers said increasing social complexity in the region is usually investigated through analysis of monumental architecture and ceramics rather than projectile points, which are historically linked to foraging communities.

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What Was the Purpose of a Roman Dodecahedron?

One of the significant advantages any historian of ancient Rome has is a wealth of written material that has survived from 2,000 years ago to help explain to us what the remains of the Roman Empire mean.

For instance, we know how the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum ended up buried under volcanic ash because Pliny the Younger wrote about Mount Vesuvius erupting in 79 AD and destroying the two settlements.

Likewise, we know that the giant concrete arches dot Italy and France today’s landscapes today because many Roman authors dedicated sections of their work to the discussion of the aqueducts.

Julius Sextus Frontinus, a Roman engineer, even wrote a book called On Aqueducts in the first century AD.

But occasionally, historians are stumped by something from Roman times because there is no obvious answer for what it is, and there is also no documentary material from the time that discusses it. Such is the case with the Roman dodecahedra.

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Medieval ‘curse tablet’ summoning Satan discovered at the bottom of a latrine in Germany

Archaeologists in Germany have discovered a rolled-up piece of lead that they think could be a medieval “curse tablet” that invokes “Beelzebub,” or Satan. 

Upon first glance, the researchers thought the “inconspicuous piece of metal” was simply scrap, since it was found at the bottom of a latrine at a construction site in Rostock, a city in northern Germany, according to a translated statement.

However, once they unfurled it, archaeologists realized that the 15th-century artifact contained a cryptic message etched in Gothic minuscule that was barely visible to the naked eye. It read, “sathanas taleke belzebuk hinrik berith.” Researchers deciphered the text as a curse that was directed toward a woman named Taleke and a man named Hinrik (Heinrich) and summoned Beelzebub (another name for Satan) and Berith (a demonic spirit).

While researchers may never know who these people were, they did offer some ideas for the reasoning behind the bad blood.

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From Peas to Prosperity: Researchers Discover the Diet that Shaped the Oldest Cities

You are what you eat! A team of researchers from Kiel University has delved into the nutritional aspects of Trypillia mega-sites in the forest steppe northwest of the Black Sea—today the territory of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. These mega-sites emerged approximately 6,000-years ago and were the largest settlements globally during this period, covering areas of up to 320 hectares. The Neolithic settlements during this period had farmers cultivating a diet of primarily beans, grains and peas, the research shows.

The study is part of the latest investigations into Trypillia societies, which boasted populations of around 15,000 people. They’re regarded as the oldest ‘cities’ in Europe, predating even the urbanization of Mesopotamia.

The research and study is led by the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1266 at Kiel University (CAU), was published in Proceedings of Natural Academy of Sciences. It was spearheaded by archaeologist Professor Johannes Müller, in collaboration with researchers from Ukraine and Moldova.

The food supply system supporting these settlements has been a source of numerous inquiries among researchers. Previously, it was understood that many small Neolithic settlements relied on subsistence farming for sustenance.

“The provisioning of the residents of the mega-sites was based on extremely sophisticated food and pasture management,” says Kiel paleoecologist Dr. Frank Schlütz, one of the authors of the study.

The modern tales of Popeye, the sailor, and his legendary strength derived from spinach are well-known to almost everyone. However, modern science has revealed that the nutritional value of spinach was overestimated. In stark contrast, peas emerge as a highly beneficial component of human nutrition due to their rich protein content. Surprisingly, the significance of peas has been greatly undervalued by scientific understanding, according to a press release by Kiel University.

Isotopic analysis provides a valuable tool for understanding the practices of maintaining domestic animals, the fertilization methods employed in cultivating crops, and the role played by plants and animals in the dietary habits of ancient societies thousands of years ago.

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SCIENTISTS ANALYZING ANCIENT SCYTHIAN ARTIFACTS HAVE MADE A GRUESOME DISCOVERY

Anthropologists studying a collection of ancient Scythian artifacts retrieved during excavations at sites in Ukraine have made a gruesome discovery, according to newly published research.

The multi-institutional team reports that two samples of the ancient Scythian artifacts in question, consisting of small bits of leather, were determined to be made from human skin. The findings, reported in PLOS ONE, confirm ancient accounts of the practices of Scythian warriors, namely those of the Greek historian Herodotus.

Largely a nomadic group who resided in the region now recognized as the Pontic-Caspian steppe between around 700 BCE and 300 BCE, the Scythians remain somewhat mysterious, despite the accounts left to history by Herodotus of their ferociousness in battle.

In The Persian Wars (book IV), the famed “Father of History” presents us with a grizzly account of the behavior of Scythian warriors regarding their fallen enemies.

“Many make themselves cloaks, like the sheepskins of our peasants,” Herodotus wrote, describing how Scythian warriors “make of the skin, which is stripped off with the nails hanging to it, a covering for their quivers.”

“Some even flay the entire body of their enemy, and, stretching it upon a frame, carry it about with them wherever they ride,” Herodotus explains. “Such are the Scythian customs with respect to scalps and skins.”

In their analysis, researchers Luise Ørsted Brandt, Meaghan Mackie, Marina Daragan, Matthew J. Collins, and Margarita Gleba sought evidence for the claims Herodotus made about the Scythians.

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Study of Ancient Teeth Shows Single Native American Migration from Asia

The analysis of human teeth recovered during archaeological excavations has remained a standard means of investigating ancient migration patterns for the last five decades. In fact, this tried-and-true methodology has produced some important new results that shed light on the Native American migration from Asia to the Americas at least 16,000 years ago.

According to newly published research appearing in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, those ancestors left eastern Asia in one gigantic mass movement of people. This Native American migration created a genetic (and dental) unity between different Native American groups that is a reflection of their common roots in that single mass migration.

Dental Anthropology Unlocks Secrets of Native American Migration

Amazingly, dental anthropologists have been able to discover many details about human migration from studying variations in the shapes of human teeth. The teeth in question often originate from individuals who lived in a bygone era, their sole legacy now confined to skeletal remnants left behind to be analyzed by scientists.

But dental anthropologists also study the teeth of modern humans, which helps them determine how teeth have evolved over the course of thousands of years. In the course of their work, these professionals make comparisons between modern and ancient teeth in order to detect ancestral connections between the old teeth and the new (and naturally between the people who possessed those teeth).

For the purposes of this latest analysis, an international team of dental anthropologists from Europe and the United States obtained access to a web-based application/database known as rASUDAS, which allows researchers to identify the ancestry of an unidentified person based on their tooth crown and root traits.

While this forensic application can be used to identify commonalities between the teeth of ancient and modern individuals, and therefore identify ancestry of the modern person, in this case it was used to identify the ancestry of prehistoric people whose teeth had been recovered from archaeological sites in different regions of the world.

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