A magazine devoted to ancient history.

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society, in partnership with Native Nations in Wisconsin, is excited to share new details from the active archaeological site where two submerged dugout canoes, approximately 1,200 and 3,000 years old, were previously identified. The site drew international attention after divers successfully recovered the dugout canoes in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and today the site remains a source of intrigue for historians and residents as the significance of the discovery expands.

One of archaeology's most hotly debated topics, the arrival of humans in the Americas, has received an added impetus. New evidence emerged from Parsons Island

The Neolithic site of Dispilio, Northern Greece, is a pile-dwelling site with 900+ piles excavated. Here, the authors use the 5259 BC Miyake event to date the juniper tree-ring chronology constructed from these piles to 5140 BC, making it the first Neolithic site in the region to be absolutely calendar dated.

Snippet: HERVs are “non-coding” sequences comprising of genetic material that originated from the infection of germ cells with ancient retroviruses during evolution, which now constitute approximately 8% of the human genome7,8,9. After the initial infections took place, these sequences inserted in the genome and multiplied themselves using a ‘copy-and-paste’ mechanism known as retrotransposition. At present, there is no evidence that these elements are currently retrotransposing, and studies suggest the majority of HERV insertions occurred over ~1.2 million years ago10,11. Instead, they have been hypothesised to regulate neighbouring genes, as most HERV sequences comprise of solitary viral promoters known as long terminal repeats (LTRs)9,12. However, many sequences additionally contain remnants of viral genes (e.g., gag, pol, env) that may encode additional biological functions, other than just regulating gene expression locally. For example, HERVs from the families W and FRD encoding env play a fundamental role in cellular fusion during the formation of the placenta and are now annotated as the syncytin-1 and syncytin-2 genes, respectively13. Critically, 14,968 HERV transcriptional units comprising of ancient viral genes flanked by LTRs have been annotated in the reference genome, from across 60 HERV families14. Although HERVs have been implicated in major psychiatric conditions15,16,17,18,19,20, most studies precede the comprehensive genomic annotation of these sequences. These studies also relied on methods that aggregate family-level expression data, such as Western blotting, reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), or microarrays, and most also analysed very small sample sizes, meaning they were underpowered for the investigation of complex polygenic traits1. Finally, by employing case-control study designs, they were more likely to capture expression changes elicited by environmental factors associated with a psychiatric diagnosis, such as smoking or treatment21.

Here, we use a TWAS approach that considers neurological HERV expression estimated to precise genomic locations, to identify expression signatures associated with psychiatric conditions, while circumventing the limitations more prevalent in traditional case-control studies. Due to the inclusion of global HERV expression, or the ‘retrotranscriptome’, in this analysis, we call this approach a ‘retrotranscriptome-wide association study’ (rTWAS). We identify extensive HERV expression and regulation in the adult cortex, including in association with genetic risk for psychiatric disorders. We also detect co-expression networks linking the expression of canonical genes with HERVs, allowing us to broadly infer the function some specific HERVs may play in neurobiology. This work provides a rationale for exploring neurological HERV expression in complex neuropsychiatric traits.

For the first time, dynamic modelling of terrain at the University of Sydney has helped us better understand how humans first travelled across the combined continent of Sahul - Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania - between 35,000 and 70,000 years ago.

Abstract: The transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture stands as one of the most important dietary revolutions in human history. Yet, due to a scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Pleistocene sites, little is known about the dietary practices of pre-agricultural human groups. Here we present the isotopic evidence of pronounced plant reliance among Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers from North Africa (15,000–13,000 cal BP), predating the advent of agriculture by several millennia. Employing a comprehensive multi-isotopic approach, we conducted zinc (δ66Zn) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analysis on dental enamel, bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis on dentin and bone collagen, and single amino acid analysis on human and faunal remains from Taforalt (Morocco). Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers. This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups. It also raises intriguing questions surrounding the absence of agricultural development in North Africa during the early Holocene. This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions.

Abstract: Teotihuacan was one of the thriving cultures in the Mesoamerica pre-Hispanic times, located in the Central Valley of Mexico. The city-state was a dominant centre point during the Classic period and its influence affected other contemporaneous cultures. Around the year 550 CE, a continuous decrease in urban population and selective building destruction was noted, accompanied by widespread fire. The layout of the city is identified by an avenue that articulates the political-administrative and religious centres, with such significant and impressive buildings as the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of Feathered Serpent. A systematic analysis of building damage in the pyramids reveals several Earthquake Archaeological Effects, (EAEs) potentially related to seismic loading. A damage pattern compatible with a strong ground shaking was also identified in the west staircase of the Old Temple of the Feathered Serpent, in the first rows of the west staircase of the Adosada platform (New Temple), and in the Pyramid of the Sun. In total, five ancient earthquakes have been determined from the damage, dated from the Tzacualli cultural period (1–100 CE), to the Xolalpan – Metepec period (450–550 CE). Unfortunately, this methodology does not determine the earthquake source. Therefore, we consider the possibility that repetitive megathrust earthquakes (Mw > 8.5) from the Middle American Trench (Pacific coast) could be responsible for the spatial pattern of the building damage. This proposal does not conflict with other existing theories for the Teotihuacan abrupt collapse, considering that the sudden overlapping of natural disasters like earthquakes could increase internal warfare (uprising), and civil unrest.

Abstract: For the past four decades, the ‘Secondary Products Revolution’ model, i.e., the exploitation of animal resources that do not involve killing the animal, such as the production of milk and wool and the use of animals for physical labour has been the object of heated discussion between Neolithic scholars. According to this model, the use of animal strength arrived relatively late in Europe—during the socio-economic changes of the Late Neolithic in the 4th millennium BCE. Plough marks are the most convincing direct evidence of the use of animal traction. However, few are preserved making them relatively rare throughout Europe and dating them is difficult and often imprecise. Recent research at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Valais, Switzerland has revealed the presence of the oldest known plough marks in Europe, dating from the beginning of the 5th millennium BCE. They bear witness to the use of animal traction quite soon after the establishment of an agro-pastoral economy in the Alpine region. This is corroborated by recent archaeozoological studies and suggests that this important innovation could already be part of the Neolithic package introduced into Europe during the 6th millennium BCE.

Abstract: Mutually beneficial partnerships between genomics researchers and North American Indigenous Nations are rare yet becoming more common. Here, we present one such partnership that provides insight into the peopling of the Americas and furnishes another line of evidence that can be used to further treaty and Indigenous rights. We show that the genomics of sampled individuals from the Blackfoot Confederacy belong to a previously undescribed ancient lineage that diverged from other genomic lineages in the Americas in Late Pleistocene times. Using multiple complementary forms of knowledge, we provide a scenario for Blackfoot population history that fits with oral tradition and provides a plausible model for the evolutionary process of the peopling of the Americas.

snippet “ The settlement unearthed at Cap d'Erquy comprises approximately twenty circular dwellings strategically positioned around a central plaza. Based on archaeological assessments, it is estimated that this village was inhabited by a Gallic community between the 8th and 5th centuries B.C.

"This is an exceptional discovery that allows us to better understand the daily life of the Gauls during the Early Iron Age,” explains Jean-Yves Peskebrel, an archaeologist at INRAE.”

Original press release (French)

Significance

“Structures from the Stone Age can provide unique insights into Late Glacial and Mesolithic cultures around the Baltic Sea. Such structures, however, usually did not survive within the densely populated Central European subcontinent. Here, we explore a Stone Age megastructure, that has preserved under water in the Western Baltic Sea. It was likely constructed by hunter–gatherer groups more than 10000 y ago and ultimately drowned during the Littorina transgression at 8500 y B.P. Since then, it remained hidden at the seafloor, leading to a pristine preservation that will inspire research on the lifestyle and territorial development in the larger area.”

Abstract: “Placing the origin of an undeciphered script in time is crucial to understanding the invention of writing in human history. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, developed a script, now engraved on fewer than 30 wooden objects, which is still undeciphered. Its origins are also obscure. Central to this issue is whether the script was invented before European travelers reached the island in the eighteenth century AD. Hence direct radiocarbon dating of the wood plays a fundamental role. Until now, only two tablets were directly dated, placing them in the nineteenth c. AD, which does not solve the question of independent invention. Here we radiocarbon-dated four Rongorongo tablets preserved in Rome, Italy. One specimen yielded a unique and secure mid-fifteenth c. date, while the others fall within the nineteenth c. AD. Our results suggest that the use of the script could be placed to a horizon that predates the arrival of external influence.”

Link to research study is open access in US (maybe other places)

Abstract: “The Middle Jurassic was a critical time in pterosaur evolution, witnessing the appearance of major morphological innovations that underpinned successive radiations by rhamphorhynchids, basally branching monofenestratans, and pterodactyloids. Frustratingly, this interval is particularly sparsely sampled, with a record consisting almost exclusively of isolated fragmentary remains. Here, we describe new material from the Bathonian-aged Kilmaluag Formation of Skye, Scotland, which helps close this gap. Ceoptera evansae (gen. et sp. nov.) is based on a three-dimensionally preserved partial skeleton, which represents one of the only associated Middle Jurassic pterosaurs. Ceoptera is among the first pterosaurs to be fully digitally prepared, and µCT scanning reveals multiple elements of the skeleton that remain fully embedded within the matrix and otherwise inaccessible. It is diagnosed by unique features of the pectoral and pelvic girdle. The inclusion of this new Middle Jurassic pterosaur in a novel phylogenetic analysis of pterosaur interrelationships provides additional support for the existence of the controversial clade Darwinoptera, adding to our knowledge of pterosaur diversity and evolution.“

“Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a few generations, according to a new study. The results, which are contrary to prevailing opinion, are based on DNA analysis of skeletons and teeth found in what is now Denmark.”

Link to research article (Nature): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06862-3

Abstract: Current models of early human subsistence economies suggest a focus on large mammal hunting. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examine human bone stable isotope chemistry of 24 individuals from the early Holocene sites of Wilamaya Patjxa (9.0–8.7 cal. ka) and Soro Mik’aya Patjxa (8.0–6.5 cal. ka) located at 3800 meters above sea level on the Andean Altiplano, Peru. Contrary to expectation, Bayesian mixing models based on the isotope chemistry reveal that plants dominated the diet, comprising 70–95% of the average diet. Paleoethnobotanical data further show that tubers may have been the most prominent subsistence resource. These findings update our understanding of earliest forager economies and the pathway to agricultural economies in the Andean highlands. The findings furthermore suggest that the initial subsistence economies of early human populations adapting to new landscapes may have been more plant oriented than current models suggest.

Snippet: “A 2,000-year-old knife with a runic inscription has been found near Odense on the island of Funen. The five engraved runes on the knife are the oldest ever discovered in Denmark…

“We rarely find runes that are as old as on this knife, and it is a unique opportunity to learn more about Denmark's earliest written language and, thus, also about the language that was actually spoken in the Iron Age.”

Abstract “In 1688 two sculptural fragments, a head of bearded man and a head of an unbearded youth, arrived in Copenhagen, sent from Athens as a gift to King Christian 5. They were placed in the Royal Kunstkammer, their provenance given as the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Almost a hundred and fifty years later, in the early 1820’s they were noticed and studied by two scholars independently visiting the Kunstkammer. However, both concluded that the two heads belonged to one of the metopes decorating the south side of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens, showing fighting between Greeks and the mythical Centaurs, part man and part horse. In the 1830’s another sculptural fragment, a horse’s hoof, obtained through the German archaeologist and state antiquary of Greece, Ludwig Ross, reached Copenhagen. It was forwarded by the Danish consul to Athens, C.T. Falbe, as a gift to King Christian 8. The inventory reads: ‘… was found on the Acropolis near the Parthenon temple and is supposed to belong to one the Centaurs on the metopes.’ The present paper focuses solely on the head of the Centaur.A brown stain was noticed on the Parthenon marbles as early as 1830 by the British Museum and has ever since eluded a deeper understanding of its genesis despite many investigations and attempts of analyses. A quite similar brown stain can be observed on the Centaur’s head in Copenhagen as well.The present study reports analyses by LA-ICP-MS, SEM–EDX, µXRD, GC–MS, and LC–MS-MS, as well as optical microscopy of five small samples sequestered in 1999 from the Centaur head curated by the National Museum of Denmark. Our analyses show that the brown stain consists of two consecutively added surficial layers of the calcium oxalate minerals whewellite and weddellite. Despite a thorough search using proteomics, we have found no viable organic precursor material for the oxalates. Our results do not solve the mystery of the formation of the brown stain, but they do further qualify the structure and characterization of the brown stain.”

A source: https://www.tiktok.com/@flaviusstilicho/video/7314797203736890656

Abstract:“Innovations in horse equipment during the early Middle Ages provided advantages to societies from the steppes, reshaping the social landscape of Eurasia. Comparatively little is known about the precise origin of these crucial advances, although the available evidence points to early adoption in East Asia. The authors present new archaeological discoveries from western and northern Mongolia, dating to the fourth and fifth centuries AD, including a wooden frame saddle with horse hide components from Urd Ulaan Uneet and an iron stirrup from Khukh Nuur. Together, these finds suggest that Mongolian groups were early adopters of stirrups and saddles, facilitating the expansion of nomadic hegemony across Eurasia and shaping the conduct of medieval mounted warfare.“

Snippet: “Built by hunters-gatherers in Siberia around 8,000 years ago, archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest fortress. Known as The Amnya I and II fortress, historians claim this structure will greatly assist them in understanding how complex hunter-gatherer societies evolved in the Mesolithic period.

Surrounded by sand on a bank of the Amnya River, sediment, soil, and debris analysis of a study recently published in Antiquity have determined that the defensive site was burned to the ground several times. Furthermore, the discovery of arrowheads in the outer ditch speaks of violent conflict in the region, as groups of hunter-gatherers battled for control of the most abundant fishing spots.“

Link to journal article: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.164

What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants. That’s according to a study published in Science Advances, co-authored by Don Baker, a professor in McGill University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

The research team delved into volcanic eruptions of the Deccan Traps—a vast and rugged plateau in Western India formed by molten lava. Erupting a staggering one million cubic kilometres of rock, it may have played a key role in cooling the global climate around 65 million years ago. The work took researchers around the world, from hammering out rocks in the Deccan Traps to analyzing the samples in England and Sweden. A new season?: ‘Volcanic winters’ In the lab, the scientists estimated how much sulfur and fluorine was injected into the atmosphere by massive volcanic eruptions in the 200,000 years before the dinosaur extinction.

Remarkably, they found the sulfur release could have triggered a global drop in temperature around the world—a phenomenon known as a volcanic winter. “Our research demonstrates that climatic conditions were almost certainly unstable, with repeated volcanic winters that could have lasted decades, prior to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This instability would have made life difficult for all plants and animals and set the stage for the dinosaur extinction event. Thus our work helps explain this significant extinction event that led to the rise of mammals and the evolution of our species,” said Prof. Don Baker.

Research article: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8284

Significance

We have recently learned that around 125,000 years ago, hunting of straight-tusked elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene, was part of the Neanderthal behavioral repertoire, for several dozens of generations. This knowledge is based on data from one lake-side location in northern Europe only, and hence possibly of limited value for our knowledge of the Neanderthal niche. This new study presents data from two other, contemporaneous sites on the North European plain, demonstrating that elephant exploitation was a widespread phenomenon there. The sheer quantities of food generated by the butchering activities, aimed at extensive exploitation of the carcasses, suggest that Neanderthals had some form of food preservation and/or at least temporarily operated in larger groups than commonly acknowledged.

Abstract

Neanderthals hunted and butchered straight-tusked elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene, in a lake landscape on the North European plain, 125,000 years ago, as recently shown by a study of the Last Interglacial elephant assemblage from Neumark-Nord (Germany). With evidence for a remarkable focus on adult males and on their extended utilization, the data from this location are thus far without parallel in the archaeological record. Given their relevance for our knowledge of the Neanderthal niche, we investigated whether the Neumark-Nord subsistence practices were more than a local phenomenon, possibly determined by local characteristics. Analyzing elephant remains from two other Last Interglacial archaeological sites on the North European plain, Gröbern and Taubach, we identified in both assemblages similar butchering patterns as at Neumark-Nord, demonstrating that extended elephant exploitation was a widespread Neanderthal practice during the (early part of the) Last Interglacial. The substantial efforts needed to process these animals, weighing up to 13 metric tons, and the large amounts of food generated suggest that Neanderthals either had ways of storing vast amounts of meat and fat and/or temporarily aggregated in larger groups than commonly acknowledged. The data do not allow us to rule out one of the two explanations, and furthermore both factors, short-term larger group sizes as well as some form of food preservation, may have played a role. What the data do show is that exploitation of large straight-tusked elephants was a widespread and recurring phenomenon amongst Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain.

Snippet: "We have reviewed the archival material from the original excavations and undertaken further test excavations to confirm some of the findings. We argue that the site of Tainiaro was most likely, although not certainly, a large Stone Age cemetery of the fifth millennium BC.

If correct, it would be among the largest such sites to date to this period known in northern Europe. We have interpreted as many as 44 of the pits excavated at the site as burials and, since only one-fifth of the site's area has been excavated, the total number could be more than 200.

The site is unusual in other ways too, not least because of the range of activities attested and its location in the northern subarctic, further north than any other known large cemetery of this date. Many questions about Tainiaro remain unanswered.

For the time being, however, the notion that a large cemetery seems to have existed near the Arctic Circle should cause us to reconsider our impressions of the north and its peripheral place in world prehistory," the research team concluded in their study published in Antiquity.”

Journal article: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.160

Snippet “ The research team led by the Nagoya University Museum and Graduate School of Environmental Studies in Japan believe Paleolithic humans understood which rocks were appropriate for making tools and, therefore, intentionally searched for them. According to their hypothesis, Paleolithic humans intentionally searched for flint that was translucent and smooth, as it could be easily broken off the rock face and shaped into sharp edges.

The group used a Schmidt Hammer and a Rockwell Hardness Device to test the mechanical properties of the rocks. The Schmidt Hammer measures the elastic behavior of a material after the hammer strikes it, which tells researchers its rebound hardness. The Rockwell hardness device presses a diamond indenter on the rock surface to test its strength.

At first, as Suga and Kadowaki expected, fine-grained flint was found to require less force to fracture than medium-grained flint. This would have made the fine-grained flint more attractive in producing small stone tools. Indeed, many stone tools from the Early Upper Paleolithic (40,000 to 30,000 years ago) contain fine-grained flint.

However, an earlier study by the same team found that during the Late Middle Paleolithic and the Initial Upper Paleolithic (70,000 to 40,000 years ago), medium-grained flint was more commonly used in stone tools than fine-grained flint. But if fine-grained flint was so easy to use, why did our ancestors not make all their tools from it?

On further investigation, the researchers found that much of the fine-grained flint in the area suffered from abundant internal fractures caused by geological activities, which would have made it unsuitable for large stone tools, such as Levallois products and robust blades. Therefore, it seems that Paleolithic humans selected the medium-grained flint for large tools, even though it was a tough material to modify into tools, as it was more likely to last longer.

This offers a fascinating insight into our ancestors' behavior, as they selected flint based on many factors other than just how easy it was to fracture and could discern the most suitable rock to use to make stone tools.

Suga is enthusiastic about the findings, which suggest the complexity of our ancestors' behavior. "This study illustrates that the Paleolithic humans changed their choice of raw material to suit their stone tool morphologies and production techniques," he said.”

Journal article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-023-00164-w

Full text (but there are some more pics if you click in): “Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new study.

Numerous fossil sites in southern Africa preserve distinctive three-toed footprints that have been named Trisauropodiscus. For many years, researchers have debated what animals might have left these tracks, as well as precisely how many different species (technically called ichnospecies) of Trisauropodiscus there are.

A new study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Miengah Abrahams and Emese M. Bordy of the University of Cape Town, South Africa

reassessed the fossil record of these footprints, examining physical fossil traces alongside published materials documenting Trisauropodiscus at four sites in Lesotho dating to the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic Periods. The authors also provided a detailed field-based description of footprints from an 80-meter-long tracksite in Maphutseng.

They identified two distinct morphologies among Trisauropodiscus footprints, the first of which is similar to certain non-bird dinosaur tracks, and the second of which is very similar in size and proportions to the footprints of birds.

These tracks aren't a direct match for any fossil animals known from this region and time period. The most ancient of these footprints, at over 210 million years old, are 60 million years older than the earliest known body fossils of true birds.

It's possible that these tracks were produced by early dinosaurs, and potentially even early members of a near-bird lineage, but the authors note that there could also have been other reptiles, cousins of dinosaurs, that convergently evolved bird-like feet. Whoever the trackmakers are, these footprints establish the origin of bird-like feet at least as early as the Late Triassic Period.

The authors add, "Trisauropodiscus tracks are known from numerous southern African sites dating back to approximately 215 million years ago. The shape of the tracks is consistent with modern and more recent fossil bird tracks, but it is likely a dinosaur with a bird-like foot produced Trisauropodiscus."

The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE“

Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293021