An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland....
Archaeologists in Japan have unearthed a massive stash of about 100,000 coins in Maebashi, a city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Tokyo....
For years, scientists have debated whether humans or the climate have caused the population of large mammals to decline dramatically over the past several thousand years. A new study from Aarhus University confirms that climate cannot be the explanation....
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....
The development of the earliest cities in Mesopotamia and the Middle East led to a substantial increase in violence between inhabitants. Laws, centralized administration, trade and culture then caused the ratio of violent deaths to fall back again in the Early and Middle Bronze Age (3,300 to 1,500 BCE). This is the conclusion of...
Cannibalism was common in northwest Europe between 14,000 and 19,000 years ago, when a population of prehistoric people known as the Magdalenians used it in their rituals to dispose of the dead, a new study finds....
The puzzling depiction of a vicious predator — either a dragon or a snake — devouring a frog on an early medieval belt buckle from the Czech Republic may be a symbol from an unknown pagan cult, archaeologists say....
Archaeologists in Spain have discovered evidence that ancient people defleshed and dismembered corpses around 6,000 years ago. But these aren’t clues to an ancient murder: Instead, the bone injuries are more likely related to funerary practices that occurred just after death....
There’s “no convincing scientific evidence” behind the extraordinary claims that the ancient human relative Homo naledi deliberately buried their dead and engraved rocks deep in a South African cave around 300,000 years ago, a group of archaeologists argues in a new commentary....
A research group led by the Nagoya University Museum and Graduate School of Environmental Studies in Japan has clarified differences in the physical characteristics of rocks used by early humans during the Paleolithic. They found that humans selected rock for a variety of reasons and not just because of how easy it was to break...
Last summer, archaeologists from Gothenburg University and Kiel University excavated a dolmen, a stone burial chamber, in Tiarp near Falköping in Sweden. The archaeologists judge that the grave has remained untouched since the Stone Age. First analysis results now confirm that the grave in Tiarp is one of the oldest stone...
A metal detectorist in Poland has found five Bronze Age axes buried in a forest. Archaeologists suggest that the artifacts may have been used to either chop wood or for cult purposes....
Scientists in Sudan have discovered a tattoo with references to Jesus Christ on a 1,300-year-old body excavated in a cemetery near a medieval monastery....
More than 500,000 years ago, our human ancestors used large, stone tools known as “Acheulean handaxes,” to cut meat and wood, and dig for tubers. Often made from flint, these prehistoric oval and pear-shaped tools are flaked on both sides and have a pointed end....
A Roman-era necropolis that likely holds the remains of the upper crust has been discovered in central Italy, and it contains nearly 60 graves replete with gold jewelry and the remains of leather footwear, pottery and other precious goods....
Archaeologists in Ukraine have discovered a 1,000-year-old cemetery whose dead were buried with weapons, jewelry and, curiously, buckets around some of their feet....
Archaeologists in Greece have unearthed part of one of the largest hydraulic projects from the ancient world: an aqueduct that the Roman emperor Hadrian built to supply water to the city of Corinth....
Tens of thousands of years ago, prehistoric humans in Europe adorned themselves with such a wide variety of beads that researchers have classified nine distinct cultural groups across the continent based on their location and distinctive styles....
‘Amazing’: Queensland mum uses electric car to ‘save’ son’s life with dialysis during power outage (www.theguardian.com)
An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland....
US accused of sending fake Roman mosaics back to Lebanon (www.theguardian.com)
Authorities in New York have been accused by leading academics in France and Britain of repatriating fake Roman artefacts to Lebanon....
Hoard of 100,000 centuries-old coins discovered in Japan (www.livescience.com)
Archaeologists in Japan have unearthed a massive stash of about 100,000 coins in Maebashi, a city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Tokyo....
Copper Age woman survived two skull surgeries up to 4,500 years ago (www.livescience.com)
Thousands of years ago, a woman underwent two surgeries to her head — and survived both procedures, her skull reveals....
Earthquake reveals giant Aztec snakehead beneath Mexico City university (www.livescience.com)
An earthquake last year revealed a big surprise beneath a law school in modern-day Mexico City: a giant, colorful snakehead from the Aztec Empire....
People, not the climate, found to have caused the decline of the giant mammals (phys.org)
For years, scientists have debated whether humans or the climate have caused the population of large mammals to decline dramatically over the past several thousand years. A new study from Aarhus University confirms that climate cannot be the explanation....
Medieval 'curse tablet' summoning Satan discovered at the bottom of a latrine in Germany (www.livescience.com)
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....
Research finds dramatic increase in cranial traumas as the first cities were being built, suggesting a rise in violence (phys.org)
The development of the earliest cities in Mesopotamia and the Middle East led to a substantial increase in violence between inhabitants. Laws, centralized administration, trade and culture then caused the ratio of violent deaths to fall back again in the Early and Middle Bronze Age (3,300 to 1,500 BCE). This is the conclusion of...
Cannibalism was a common funerary rite in northwest Europe near end of last ice age (www.livescience.com)
Cannibalism was common in northwest Europe between 14,000 and 19,000 years ago, when a population of prehistoric people known as the Magdalenians used it in their rituals to dispose of the dead, a new study finds....
Medieval belt buckle of 'dragon' eating frog discovered in Czech Republic may be from unknown pagan cult (www.livescience.com)
The puzzling depiction of a vicious predator — either a dragon or a snake — devouring a frog on an early medieval belt buckle from the Czech Republic may be a symbol from an unknown pagan cult, archaeologists say....
Egypt pyramid renovation sparks debate (phys.org)
People buried at 'mega' stone tombs in Spain were defleshed and their bones fractured after death (www.livescience.com)
Archaeologists in Spain have discovered evidence that ancient people defleshed and dismembered corpses around 6,000 years ago. But these aren’t clues to an ancient murder: Instead, the bone injuries are more likely related to funerary practices that occurred just after death....
Ancient Egyptian cemetery holds rare 'Book of the Dead' papyrus and mummies (www.livescience.com)
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 3,500-year-old cemetery that contains a “Book of the Dead” papyrus....
'No scientific evidence' that ancient human relative buried dead and carved art as portrayed in Netflix documentary, researchers argue (www.livescience.com)
There’s “no convincing scientific evidence” behind the extraordinary claims that the ancient human relative Homo naledi deliberately buried their dead and engraved rocks deep in a South African cave around 300,000 years ago, a group of archaeologists argues in a new commentary....
Paleolithic humans may have understood the properties of rocks for making stone tools (phys.org)
A research group led by the Nagoya University Museum and Graduate School of Environmental Studies in Japan has clarified differences in the physical characteristics of rocks used by early humans during the Paleolithic. They found that humans selected rock for a variety of reasons and not just because of how easy it was to break...
Excavated dolmen in Sweden one of the oldest in Scandinavia (phys.org)
Last summer, archaeologists from Gothenburg University and Kiel University excavated a dolmen, a stone burial chamber, in Tiarp near Falköping in Sweden. The archaeologists judge that the grave has remained untouched since the Stone Age. First analysis results now confirm that the grave in Tiarp is one of the oldest stone...
3,500-year-old axes potentially used for 'cult practice' discovered in Polish forest (www.livescience.com)
A metal detectorist in Poland has found five Bronze Age axes buried in a forest. Archaeologists suggest that the artifacts may have been used to either chop wood or for cult purposes....
Cold war satellite images reveal hundreds of unknown Roman forts (www.theguardian.com)
Cold war satellite images reveal hundreds of unknown Roman forts...
'Christ' tattoo discovered on 1,300-year-old body in Sudan (www.livescience.com)
Scientists in Sudan have discovered a tattoo with references to Jesus Christ on a 1,300-year-old body excavated in a cemetery near a medieval monastery....
A 15th century French painting depicts an ancient stone tool (phys.org)
More than 500,000 years ago, our human ancestors used large, stone tools known as “Acheulean handaxes,” to cut meat and wood, and dig for tubers. Often made from flint, these prehistoric oval and pear-shaped tools are flaked on both sides and have a pointed end....
Ancient Roman necropolis holding more than 60 skeletons and luxury goods discovered in central Italy (www.livescience.com)
A Roman-era necropolis that likely holds the remains of the upper crust has been discovered in central Italy, and it contains nearly 60 graves replete with gold jewelry and the remains of leather footwear, pottery and other precious goods....
1,000-year-old cemetery with dead wearing dramatic rings on their necks and buckets on their feet found in Ukraine (www.livescience.com)
Archaeologists in Ukraine have discovered a 1,000-year-old cemetery whose dead were buried with weapons, jewelry and, curiously, buckets around some of their feet....
Engraving on 2,000-year-old knife thought to be oldest runes in Denmark (www.theguardian.com)
Inscription on knife discovered by archaeologist in grave on island of Funen spells hirila, which means ‘little sword’...
Part of Hadrian's 1,800-year-old aqueduct and rare Greek coins unearthed near Corinth (www.livescience.com)
Archaeologists in Greece have unearthed part of one of the largest hydraulic projects from the ancient world: an aqueduct that the Roman emperor Hadrian built to supply water to the city of Corinth....
Prehistoric jewelry reveals 9 distinct cultures across Stone Age Europe (www.livescience.com)
Tens of thousands of years ago, prehistoric humans in Europe adorned themselves with such a wide variety of beads that researchers have classified nine distinct cultural groups across the continent based on their location and distinctive styles....