Archaeology

Archaeology

China’s Fermented Past: Pottery yields signs of oldest known wine

Analyses of ancient pottery have yielded evidence the people living in northern China 9,000 years ago concocted a fermented, winelike drink from rice, honey, and fruit.

Archaeology

Pompeii’s burial not its first disaster

Recent excavations reveal that the city of Pompeii, famed for its burial by an eruption of Italy's Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, experienced several devastating landslides in the centuries preceding its demise.

Archaeology

Original Microbrews

Pots, vats, and other artifacts unearthed on three continents are giving archaeologists new clues about ancient cultures' beer-brewing practices.

Archaeology

Seeds of agriculture move back in time

Excavations in Israel indicate that people began to eat large quantities of wild grass seeds and wild cereal grains by around 23,000 years ago, which pushes back by 10,000 years the estimated shift to a plant-rich diet.

Archaeology

Mexican murals store magnetic data

Tiny magnetic particles in the pigments of some Mexican murals recorded the direction of Earth's magnetic field when the paint dried.

Archaeology

Rat DNA points to Pacific migrations

An analysis of mitochondrial DNA from Pacific rats supports a theory that ancestors of today's Polynesians migrated from Southeast Asia to a string of South Pacific islands in at least two separate dispersals.

Archaeology

Guatemalan sites yield Maya insights

Excavations at three archaeological sites in Guatemala have provided new insights into both the early and late stages of ancient Maya civilization.

Archaeology

Stone Age Combustion: Fire use proposed at ancient Israeli site

A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports.

Archaeology

Israeli cave yields Stone Age kills

A recently discovered Israeli cave has yielded some of the earliest known evidence of hunting by humans or our evolutionary ancestors, from around 300,000 to 200,000 years ago.

Archaeology

Cat’s Cradle? New find pushes back origin of tamed felines

Archaeological finds on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus indicate that people domesticated cats by about 9,500 years ago, long before cat taming achieved prominence in ancient Egypt.

Archaeology

Laser scanners map rock art

Researchers have developed a way to use laser-based surveying equipment to quickly and easily create detailed images of ancient rock art.

Archaeology

Reconstructing ancient drinking habits

A new technique involving the analysis of residue from pottery jars can discern the color of wine consumed by ancient Egyptians.