Archaeology

Archaeology

Farmers took fast track in settling Europe

A review of radiocarbon evidence indicates that farming groups colonized southern Europe over no more than 100 to 200 years, beginning around 7,400 years ago.

Archaeology

Ancestors who came in from the cold

Researchers found the remains of a 36,000-year-old human occupation in the Russian Arctic, which represents the earliest evidence of a human presence that far north.

Archaeology

Neandertals used tools with versatility

Microscopic data from artifacts found at two Ukrainian sites indicate that Neandertals used stone tools in flexible ways that allowed them to maintain a broad diet for nearly 50,000 years.

Archaeology

Stone Age folk in Asia adapted to extremes

Preliminary evidence indicates that people occupied the harsh, high-altitude environment of Asia's Tibetan Plateau in the late Stone Age, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago.

Archaeology

Ancient ash flow brought sudden death

Analysis of the excavation in Herculaneum of the victims of the A.D. 79 eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius indicates that when the initial ash flow swept through the city, it arrived so quickly that some residents didn't even have time to flinch.

Archaeology

Maize domestication grows older in Mexico

Maize cultivation existed in southern Mexico at least 6,300 years ago, according to a recent radiocarbon analysis of two maize cobs unearthed in a cave nearly 40 years ago.

Archaeology

Massive Fishery Resurfaces in Amazon

Native groups in an Amazonian region of Bolivia built a large-scale fishery and other earthworks at least 300 years ago, before the Spanish conquest.

Archaeology

Early farmers crop up in Jordan

An ancient site discovered in southern Jordan dating back more than 9,000 years may help to illuminate the origins of farming in the Middle East.

Archaeology

Agriculture’s roots go tropical

Tropical-forest dwellers in Central America may have cultivated manioc and other root crops as many as 7,000 years ago.

Archaeology

Stone Age statuettes don disputed apparel

A report describing woven caps, skirts, belts, and other apparel on Venus figurines from the Stone Age draws some critical responses.

Archaeology

Maya palace suddenly expands

Archaeologists find a sprawling palace and other surprises at a 1,300-year-old Maya site in Guatemala.

Archaeology

Ancient Site Holds Cannibalism Clues

An 800-year-old Anasazi site in Colorado yields contested evidence of cannibalism.