Tag: archaeology

Cave discovery could rewrite 1,000 years of Mediterranean history

Evidence discovered in a cave on Malta indicates hunter-gatherers visited the picturesque Mediterranean island long before they began farming on mainland Europe. If true, the 8,500-year-old archeological site appears to contradict commonly held assumptions about societal development among the continent’s last Mesolithic communities. Researchers published their findings on April 9 in Nature, and argue that as much as a millennium’s worth of Maltese prehistory may warrant reevaluation.

The trajectory of paleohistorical societies often goes something like this: first farming, then the open ocean. That’s because, generally speaking, the tools and techniques needed to craft seafaring technology such as sails only arrived after the invention of farming tools. Because of this, most archeologists long believed Mediterranean islands like Malta were some of the last wildernesses to encounter humans.

However, a cave site known as Latnija in Malta’s northern Mellieħa region is forcing experts to consider alternative historical narratives. There, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Malta have uncovered evidence indicating a human presence on the island at least 8,500 years ago—roughly 1,000 years before the first known farmers arrived. More specifically, Latnija contained stone tools and hearth fragments, as well as cooked food waste. Some of this food even came from animals believed to have already died out on the island.

Keep reading

Ancient Hunting Tools Unearthed in Texas Cave

Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable collection of prehistoric hunting equipment in a remote cave near Marfa, Texas. Dating back approximately 6,500 years, the assemblage includes fragments of an atlatl (spear-throwing device), a curved wooden object resembling a boomerang, and multiple darts tipped with stone and wood. Discovered alongside remnants of a small fire and preserved fecal matter, these artifacts offer a rare window into the lives of North America’s early inhabitants. Researchers from Sul Ross State University and the University of Kansas suggest this may be one of the oldest near-intact sets of organic and stone tools ever found on the continent.

The discovery site, known as the San Esteban Rockshelter, appears to have served as a temporary shelter for ancient hunters. Evidence suggests that early humans used the cave to assess and repair damaged gear. ‘This wasn’t just a campsite—it functioned as a toolkit maintenance station,’” explained Dr. Bryon Schroeder, lead researcher at Sul Ross State University. “They’d discard broken items here while preparing for their next hunt.” Among the finds were wooden tips that may have delivered toxins to prey, highlighting sophisticated hunting techniques. The team theorizes that nomadic groups traversing the arid landscape periodically used the shelter to regroup and re-equip.

Keep reading

Hidden tomb discovered by scientists investigating vast city beneath Giza pyramid

A ‘sarcophagus’ hidden more than 600 feet below the surface in Egypt is the latest discovery from the team that uncovered a ‘vast city’ beneath the Giza pyramids.

Italian researchers told DailyMail.com that they identified an unknown chamber under the Tomb of Osiris, which is believed to be a symbolic burial site dedicated to the Egyptian god of the afterlife.

Last week, the team announced the discovery of wells and chambers more than 2,000 feet below the Khafre Pyramid. If confirmed, these findings could rewrite human history.

Many independent experts have called the claims ‘outlandish,’ noting that using radar pulses to create images deep below the structure lacks scientific basis.

An image produced by the technology revealed the known levels within the Tomb of Osiris, descending 114 feet below the surface, along with a vertical shaft followed by three distinct steps.

It also detected a previously unknown structure, which ‘appears to reach an empty chamber’ 656 feet below the surface.

‘There is also a sarcophagus (?), which remains surrounded by running water,’ said the team.

However, Professor Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver who specializes in archaeology and was not involved in the study, said the technology cannot penetrate to such depths.

‘Maybe 30 or 40 feet, depending on the wavelength they’re using. But they’re not even telling us that. All of this is very speculative,’ he added

Keep reading

Archaeologists Claim They Have Found a ‘Vast Underground City’ Underneath Egypt’s Giza Pyramids

Archaeologists believe they have uncovered evidence of a massive underground city lying beneath Egypt’s famous Giza pyramids.

Researchers from Italy and Scotland used advanced radar technology to produce detailed images from deep below the surface, revealing possible hidden structures 10 times the size of the pyramids themselves.

The report highlights eight distinct vertical, cylinder-shaped formations stretching over 2,100 feet beneath the pyramids, along with a series of additional unidentified structures located another 4,000 feet further down.

However, some experts remain skeptical of the claim, insisting that such a feat would be structurally impossible.

Mail Online reported:

Professor Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver who focuses on archaeology, told DailyMail.com that it is not possible for the technology to penetrate that deeply into the ground, making the idea of an underground city ‘a huge exaggeration.’

Professor Conyers said it is conceivable there are small structures, such as shafts and chambers, beneath the pyramids that existed before they were built because the site was ‘special to ancient people.’

He highlighted how ‘the Mayans and other people in ancient Mesoamerica often built pyramids on top of the entrances of caves or caverns that had ceremonial meaning to them.’

The work by Corrado Malanga, from Italy’s University of Pisa, and Filippo Biondi with the University of Strathclyde in Scotland has only been released during an in-person  briefing in Italy this week and is yet to be published in a scientific journal, where it would need to be analyzed by independent experts.

Keep reading

Oldest Rock Art: 200,000-Year-Old Carvings Found on Stone in Marbella, Spain

Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in Marbella, Spain, unearthing a stone with ancient engravings on its face that could rewrite the history of prehistoric art. The find suggests that early humans may have been engaging in symbolic expression far earlier than previously believed, as this ancient rock art may predate the previous oldest samples in Europe by more than 100,000 years.

The stone was discovered at the Coto Correa site in the Las Chapas neighborhood of Marbella, which is located in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Researchers currently estimate that the engravings are more than 200,000 years old, a timeframe that places them deep within the Lower Paleolithic era. The maker of the engravings would have been part of an early wave of human migrants to leave Africa and move into Europe, with much larger waves destined to duplicate this journey later on.

If these estimates are confirmed, this could be one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in Spain’s history, as it will literally require the rewriting of textbooks and other official resources that discuss the development of art as a form of human self-expression.

Keep reading

2,700-Year-Old Meteorite Jewelry Unearthed in Poland Reveals Ancient Connection to the Cosmos

New research has revealed early Iron Age artifacts recovered from ancient Polish burial sites include metal pieces forged from rare extraterrestrial iron.

Culturally, this use may have contributed to a shift in how the value of this otherworldly or off-world material was perceived between the Bronze and Iron Ages, the new findings suggest.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, a team of Polish and French scientists analyzed artifacts from the Częstochowa-Raków and Częstochowa-Mirów burial sites, revealing incredible insights into our past. The discovery connects the cosmos and our ancient ancestors to craftsmanship skills they were previously unknown to possess.  

“During the Bronze Age, the price of iron was about ten times that of gold; in the early Iron Age, it sank drastically to less than copper,” study lead Dr. Albert Jambon notes.

Jambon and his colleagues think the random placement of meteoric iron in graves suggests there were no social or age restrictions on who was able to wear it. 

The study was mainly focused on understanding the origin of iron smelting. “The point of my research is to find out who, when, and where the iron smelting was discovered,” Jambon said. ‘To that end, we need to analyze archaeological irons and check whether they are meteoritic or smelted.”

Although only a modest amount of the material was found, the new findings still represent one of the largest collections recovered from a single archaeological site outside of Egypt. The discovery included 26 iron artifacts, an ankle ring, three bracelets, and a pin—all showing traces of nickel in the iron. Researchers believe this indicates the presence of meteoritic iron, offering a fascinating glimpse into ancient human connections with the cosmos.

Keep reading

Huge Ancient Inca Underground Labyrinth Discovered Beneath Cusco, Starting At Sun Temple

After centuries of rumor and speculation, archaeologists have finally confirmed the existence of a colossal underground tunnel system beneath the Peruvian city of Cusco. Built by the ancient Inca, the labyrinth – or Chincana – radiates outwards from the Temple of the Sun, extending for more than a mile towards a fortress on the edge of the city.

The discovery was announced at a press conference during which researchers explained how they located the subterranean passages in three stages. The first of these involved studying historical texts from the 16th to 18th centuries in search of references to the Chincana and its whereabouts.

Among the most enlightening accounts was one written by an anonymous Spanish Jesuit in 1594, who explained that the main tunnel ran beneath the bishop’s houses behind Cusco Cathedral. The same text indicated that the passageway began at the Temple of the Sun – or Coricancha – and ended at the citadel of Sacsahuaman, some 1.75 kilometers (1.1 miles) away.

Keep reading

Archaeologists Found 115,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Where They Shouldn’t Be

A uniquely preserved prehistoric mudhole could hold the oldest-ever human footprints on the Arabian Peninsula, scientists say. The seven footprints, found amidst a clutter of hundreds of prehistoric animal prints, are estimated to be 115,000 years old.

Many fossil and artifact windfalls have come from situations like this special lakebed in northern Saudi Arabia. Archaeologists uncovered the site, deep in the Nefud Desert at a location nicknamed “the trace” in Arabic, in 2017, after time and weather wiped the overlying sediment away. It’s easy to imagine that a muddy lakebed was a high-traffic area in the Arabian Peninsula over 100,000 years ago.

When populations move on, these prints are left behind until they’re covered over. In the far, far older Burgess Shale event, some of the oldest organisms ever found were preserved intact because they likely fell into a mudslide and were killed instantly. An entire armored nodosaur was found in unprecedentedly good shape because it was encased in mud and in the cold of the ocean floor. If there were a finder’s fee for incredible archaeology, a lot of it would be paid to mud.

In their paper, the scientists actually examine why that ancient mud was so special at all:

“An experimental study of modern human footprints in mud flats found that fine details were lost within 2 days and prints were rendered unrecognizable within four, and similar observations have been made for other non-hominin mammal tracks.”

That means their special, tiny batch of preserved footprints were made in unique conditions that also form a kind of “fingerprint” for pinning them all to the same timeframe. From there, scientists started to look at who made the footprints. Homo sapiens weren’t the only upright humanoid primate in the game, but the evidence, the scientists say, suggests we were the ones traipsing through the drying lakebed:

“Seven hominin footprints were confidently identified, and given the fossil and archeological evidence for the spread of H. sapiens into the Levant and Arabia during [the era 130,000 to 80,000 years ago] and absence of Homo neanderthalensis from the Levant at that time, we argue that H. sapiens was responsible for the tracks at Alathar. In addition, the size of the Alathar footprints is more consistent with those of early H. sapiens than H. neanderthalensis.”

The lake that forms Alathar today was likely part of a prehistoric highway that drew all the large animals in the area, forming a corridor dotted by freshwater rest areas that living things could travel on as they migrated with the weather or the changing climate. In this case, scientists found very little of the other factors that accompany prehistoric human travel, like knife or tool marks on animal bones indicating hunting.

Keep reading

The real-life Raiders of the Lost Ark: How Hitler collected thousands of mystical tomes and ordered archaeological digs to discover fabled ‘divine’ civilisation

In the eighty years since the Second World War, few topics have been as carefully and as closely studied by popular historians as the rise of the Nazi Party.

Adolf Hitler preyed on prejudices and exploited the fears of ordinary people to assume power and force through his fascistic vision for Europe.

Fascism and the crude origins of ‘race science’ have been broken down to better understand, and avoid, their conditions.

But less well understood is how the party traces its beginnings to esoteric, cultish traditions – and how they, in turn, would come to guide the Nazis towards expensive digs around the world in search of evidence of a lost Aryan race of superhumans, once supposedly imbued with the gift of psychic powers.While Nazi engagement with the occult has largely been a footnote of history, reserved for quick allusions in the Indiana Jones films and cartoonish video games, research shows the Nazis did, in fact, lean into ‘magic’ and sponsor huge efforts to reclaim a fabled ancient folk history.

The Nazis harnessed distrust in science and ‘truth’ to rally voters and undermine traditional authorities.

But their willingness to hinge vital war operations on blind faith in tarot readers, death rays and astrology, collecting thousands of mystical tomes and financing excavations in pursuit of a lost ‘divine’ civilisation, suggests they may have also let superstition play a key role in the forming of the Third Reich.

Keep reading

Bronze Age British Ate Their Enemies According to Gruesome Discovery

A study of early Bronze Age bones in Britain has revealed a shockingly violent and barbaric end for dozens of unfortunate individuals.

The remains, excavated from the Charterhouse Warren site in southwest England, show evidence of close quarters blunt force trauma, dismemberment, and cannibalism, all of which took place before the bodies were thrown down a 15-meter (49-foot) shaft.

It’s evidence of “a level and scale of violence that is unprecedented in British prehistory,” according to the international team of researchers behind the study – and raises plenty of questions about what actually went on here.

“We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons dating to the Neolithic period in Britain than the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual,” says archaeologist Rick Schulting, from the University of Oxford in the UK.

“It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected.”

The team studied more than 3,000 bone fragments in total, making up the skeletons of at least 37 individuals. It’s thought the bones are all from one single violent event, dated somewhere between 2210 and 2010 BCE.

Together with skulls showing cracks and holes, the researchers also found signs of cuts and breaks made at the time of death – with those cuts in particular suggesting that some body parts made have been eaten by the killers.

These are not bodies that were treated with respect and carefully laid out in graves. Chemical analysis suggests these were all local people rather than outsiders, while there’s little evidence that these people were involved in a fight – pointing to them being caught by surprise in some kind of horrible massacre.

Plenty of cattle bones can be found at the same site, which suggests these victims weren’t executed out of a desperate need for food. The researchers think eating the flesh of the dead may have been a way to ‘other’ them – to dehumanize and treat them like animals.

Keep reading