Ancient Civilizations News -- ScienceDaily

Ancient Civilizations News

August 20, 2016

Pre-Hispanic Mexicans Bred and Managed Rabbits

Tree-Rings Could Reset Dates from Ancient World

Rare Frescoes from the Roman Period

Evidence of Legendary Chinese Flood

Latest Headlines

updated 11:30am EDT

High-Tech Imaging Reveals Precolonial Mexican Manuscript Hidden from View for 500 Years

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonization of the Americas. The newly ... read more

Sensational Grave Find in Cypriote Bronze Age City

Aug. 9, 2016 — An archaeological expedition has discovered one of the richest graves from the Late Bronze Age ever found on the island of Cyprus. The grave and its offering pit, located ... read more

New Insights on Great Lakes Pre-European Monuments

Aug. 9, 2016 — Merging an innovative modeling technique with old-fashioned sleuthing, researchers have shed new light on the mystery of pre-European archaeological monument sites in Michigan, even though 80 percent ... read more

Whales' Ultrasonic Hearing Has Surprisingly Ancient History, Fossilized Ear Shows

Aug. 4, 2016 — All living toothed whales rely upon echoes of their own calls to navigate and hunt underwater, a skill that works best in ... read more

DNA Analyses Reveal Genetic Identities of World's First Farmers

July 25, 2016 — Conducting the first large-scale, genome-wide analyses of ancient human remains from the Near East, an international team of scientists has illuminated the genetic identities ... read more

Historic Find: A Statue of an Egyptian Official at Tel-Hazor in Israel

July 25, 2016 — In a historic find, a large fragment of an Egyptian statue measuring 45 X 40 centimeters, made of lime-stone, was discovered in the course of the current season of ... read more

Bronze Age Barrow and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery

July 21, 2016 — A new project has investigated how different generations have re-used ancient sacred places. Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have recently excavated a Bronze ... read more

Ancient Feces Provides Earliest Evidence of Infectious Disease Being Carried on Silk Road

July 21, 2016 — Intestinal parasites as well as goods were carried by travelers on the iconic route, say researchers examining an ... read more

Cave Discoveries Shed New Light on Native and European Religious Encounters in the Americas

July 19, 2016 — Archeologists have discovered remarkable evidence which shows how the first generations of Europeans to arrive in the ... read more

Prehistoric Genomes from the World's First Farmers in the Zagros Mountains Reveal Different Neolithic Ancestry for Europeans and South Asians

July 14, 2016 — Populations in the ancient Fertile Crescent are the ancestors of modern day South Asians but not of Europeans, new research ... read more

Latest Videos

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Mysterious Amulet Messages Discovered in Serbia

Shackled Remains at Ancient Greek Site Tell Tale of Intrigue

Rare Roman Mosaic Is Uncovered in Cyprus's Larnaca

Archaeologists in Israel Race to Find Ancient Scrolls

More Ancient Civilizations News

August 20, 2016

Summaries
Headlines

Solving the Mesopotamia Timeline Puzzle With Tree-Rings and Radiocarbon Research

July 19, 2016 — Tree-ring dating and radiocarbon research has established an absolute timeline for the archaeological, historical and environmental record in Mesopotamia from the early second millennium ... read more

23 Ancient Shipwrecks Discovered Off Greece

July 14, 2016 — An expedition to the Fourni archipelago in Greece has found 23 new shipwrecks dating from around 1,000 BC to the 19th century ... read more

Terrified Insect Escapes a Permanent Tomb -- 50 Million Years Ago

July 14, 2016 — Thousands of insects, plants and other life forms have been found trapped in ancient amber deposits, but a new discovery shows a rarity of a different type -- the one that got away. This insect ... read more

Archeology: Rare Discovery of Late Roman Official Buried in Leicester

July 7, 2016 — Archaeologists have recently excavated a Late Roman cemetery at Western Road in Leicester's West End. Amongst the 83 skeletons recorded by the team, one burial is proving to be very ... read more

Researchers Find Highland East Asian Origin for Prehistoric Himalayan Populations

June 20, 2016 — Researchers have conducted the first ancient DNA investigation of the Himalayan arc, generating genomic data for eight individuals ranging in time from the earliest known human settlements to the ... read more

Ancient DNA Shows Perfect Storm Felled Ice Age Giants

June 17, 2016 — Giant Ice Age species including elephant-sized sloths and powerful sabre-toothed cats that once roamed the windswept plains of Patagonia, southern South America, were finally felled by a perfect ... read more

Single Strain of Plague Bacteria Sparked Multiple Historical and Modern Pandemics

June 8, 2016 — A single entry of the plague bacterium into Europe was responsible for the Black Plague of the mid-14th century. This same strain sparked recurrent outbreaks on the continent over the following four ... read more

Old World Metals Traded on Alaska Coast Hundreds of Years Before Contact With Europeans

June 8, 2016 — Two leaded bronze artifacts found in northwestern Alaska are the first evidence that metal from Asia reached prehistoric North America prior to contact with Europeans, according to new ... read more

Researchers Map 6,000 Years of Urban Settlements

June 7, 2016 — A new provides the first spatially explicit dataset of the location and size of urban settlements worldwide over the past 6,000 years, offering clarity on long-term historical urbanization trends and ... read more

Research Proves Aboriginal Australians Were First Inhabitants

June 6, 2016 — Researchers have found evidence that demonstrates Aboriginal people were the first to inhabit Australia.The work refutes an earlier landmark study that claimed to recover DNA sequences from the ... read more

'Pristine' Landscapes Haven't Existed for Thousands of Years Due to Human Activity

June 6, 2016 — 'Pristine' landscapes simply do not exist anywhere in the world today and, in most cases, have not existed for at least several thousand years. An exhaustive review of archaeological data ... read more

Underwater 'Lost City' Found to Be Geological Formation

June 2, 2016 — New research reveals how an underwater 'lost city' has been found to be a geological formation.The ancient underwater remains of what was thought to be a long lost Greek city, found close ... read more

Ancient Wari Empire Likely Did Not Cause Large Shifts in Population Genetic Diversity

June 1, 2016 — The imperial dominance of the ancient Wari Empire at the Huaca Pucllana site in Lima, Peru, was likely not achieved through population replacement, according to a new ... read more

Remains of Rice and Mung Beans Help Solve a Madagascan Mystery

May 30, 2016 — Researchers have helped discover why the inhabitants of Madagascar speak Malagasy, a language otherwise unique to Southeast Asia and the Pacific -- a region located at least 6,000 km away. An ... read more

High Altitude Archaeology: Prehistoric Paintings Revealed

May 25, 2016 — Archaeologists have undertaken pioneering scans of the highest prehistoric paintings of animals in ... read more

Ancient DNA Study Finds Phoenician from Carthage Had European Ancestry

May 25, 2016 — A research team has sequenced the first complete mitochondrial genome of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician dubbed the 'Young Man of Byrsa' or 'Ariche.' This is the first ancient DNA to ... read more

New Research Maps in Unique Detail the Devastation of the Black Death on Medieval England

May 23, 2016 — An innovative new archaeological study has revealed in detail for the first time how individual towns, villages and hamlets across swathes of medieval England were decimated by the Black ... read more

Burial Sites Show How Nubians, Egyptians Integrated Communities Thousands of Years Ago

May 18, 2016 — New bioarchaeological evidence shows that Nubians and Egyptians integrated into a community, and even married, in ancient Sudan, according to new research from an ... read more

Lead Pollution Reveals the Ancient History of Naples

May 16, 2016 — Almost two thousand years after the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, certain periods of the history of Naples have just been reconstructed. Until now, historians and ... read more

Cosmic Dust Reveals Earth's Ancient Atmosphere

May 11, 2016 — Using the oldest fossil micrometeorites -- space dust -- ever found, new research has made a surprising discovery about the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere 2.7 billion years ... read more

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Solving the mesopotamia timeline puzzle with tree-rings and radiocarbon research

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Archeology: Rare discovery of Late Roman official buried in Leicester

Monday, June 20, 2016

Researchers find Highland East Asian origin for prehistoric Himalayan populations

Friday, June 17, 2016

Ancient DNA shows perfect storm felled Ice Age giants

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Researchers map 6,000 years of urban settlements

Monday, June 6, 2016

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Underwater 'lost city' found to be geological formation

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Ancient Wari Empire likely did not cause large shifts in population genetic diversity

Monday, May 30, 2016

Remains of rice and mung beans help solve a Madagascan mystery

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Monday, May 23, 2016

New research maps in unique detail the devastation of the Black Death on medieval England

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Burial sites show how Nubians, Egyptians integrated communities thousands of years ago

Monday, May 16, 2016

Lead pollution reveals the ancient history of Naples

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Monday, May 2, 2016

The genetic history of Ice Age Europe

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Ancient glass-glued walls studied for nuke waste solutions

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Ancient DNA reveals evolution of giant bears in the Americas

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Headdress reconstruction throws light on hunter-gatherer rituals

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Handwriting analysis provides clues for dating of old testament texts

Monday, April 11, 2016

Roman Imperial leaders had wine empire away from the battlefield, study suggests

Friday, April 8, 2016

How an ancient civilization conserved water

Monday, April 4, 2016

Microbiologists unmask the Hannibal route enigma

Friday, April 1, 2016

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Indonesian 'Hobbits' may have died out sooner than thought

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Monday, March 28, 2016

An ancient killer: Ancestral malarial organisms traced to age of dinosaurs

Friday, March 25, 2016

Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Archaeologists create 3D interactive digital reconstruction of King Richard III’s grave found under a car park

Thursday, March 3, 2016

For the first time in excavations of ancient Near Eastern sites: Winery found in Canaanite palace

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Mystery on the marsh: Newly discovered Anglo-Saxon island is one of the most important archaeological finds in decades

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Evidence of early medieval Muslim graves found in France

Monday, February 22, 2016

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Prehistoric village found in the Jordan Valley links old and new stone ages

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Ancient genomes reveal that the English are one-third Anglo-Saxon

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Plague may have persisted in Europe during 300-year period, including 'Black Death'

Friday, January 8, 2016

Roman toilets gave no clear health benefit, and Romanization actually spread parasites

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Archaeological discovery yields surprising revelations about Europe's oldest city

Monday, December 28, 2015

Scientists sequence first ancient Irish human genomes

Monday, December 21, 2015

Religion and politics led to social tension and conflict, then and now

Friday, December 18, 2015

Excavations uncover unique Hebrew inscription showing existence of a Jewish village at Kursi

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Ancient Egyptians described Algol's eclipses

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Archaeologists unearth new evidence of Roman, medieval Leicester

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Ancient trade routes between Bronze Age Iran and Mesopotamia uncovered

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Impression of King Hezekiah's royal seal discovered in excavations in Jerusalem

Monday, November 23, 2015

How the introduction of farming changed the human genome

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Early farmers exploited beehive products at least 8,500 years ago

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Twenty-two ancient shipwrecks discovered in small Greek archipelago

Monday, November 9, 2015

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Snail trails lead to climate-driven cultural shift in ancient Morocco

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Monday, November 2, 2015

Invaluable ancient Syrian mosaic discovered

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Beyond the temples, ancient bones reveal the lives of the Mayan working class

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

3D models provide a credible stimulus to current archaeological thought, practice

Monday, October 26, 2015

Rare warrior tomb filled with Bronze Age wealth and weapons discovered

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Evidence of Ice Age ‘economic migrants’ in Europe to be unearthed

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Ancient genome from Africa sequenced for the first time

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tiny ancient fossil from Spain shows birds flew over the heads of dinosaurs

Monday, September 21, 2015

Earliest evidence of ancient North American salmon fishing verified

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Archaeologists discover 'Roman Village' in Gernsheim

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Unlocking secrets of how fossils form

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Neolithic skeleton reveals early history of rickets

Monday, September 7, 2015

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Greedy kestrel provides first proof of bird breeding in ancient Egypt

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

3D printing revives bronze-age music

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Scientists reveal New Zealand's prehistoric wildlife sanctuaries

Friday, August 28, 2015

Philistines introduced sycamore, cumin and opium poppy into Israel during the Iron Age

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Unusual use of blue pigment found in ancient mummy portraits

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Meteorite impacts can create DNA building blocks

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Prehistoric carnivore dubbed 'scarface' discovered in Zambia

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Competition from cats drove extinction of many species of ancient dogs

Monday, August 3, 2015

Archaeologists uncover entrance gate, fortification of ancient city

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Genome analysis pins down arrival and spread of first Americans

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Volcanic rocks resembling Roman concrete explain record uplift in Italian caldera

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

South Africans used milk-based paint 49,000 years ago

Friday, June 26, 2015

Bronze Age humans' diet and arrival of new crops in Iberian Peninsula

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Kennewick Man closely related to Native Americans, geneticists say