Archeology

Archaeologists have discovered what they claim to be the oldest example of figurative art made by human hands. An ochre painting of pigs, found on a cave wall in Indonesia, has been dated to be at least 45,500 years old.

Chromium is used to make tool steel or stainless steel, and it’s thought to have been invented around the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeologists have now discovered that Persians were mixing chromium into steel way back in the 11th century.

It’s generally believed that the Clovis people were the first humans to inhabit the Americas, as long as 15,000 years ago. But now archaeologists have found evidence in a cave in Mexico that suggests humans visited as early as 30,000 years ago.

A new study is demonstrating how ancient animal DNA, extracted from Dead Sea Scroll parchments, can help with piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of disparate fragments of the ancient manuscripts found in the Judean desert.

Bronze Age swords make for impressive museum displays, but how were they used? To find the answer, scientists teamed up with history enthusiasts to combine laboratory studies with staged experimental fights using replica weapons.

If you were studying the diet of ancient humans, it certainly wouldn't help if you got their preserved feces confused with those of their dogs. A new analytical system known as coproID is designed to keep that from happening.

Over 10,000 years ago ancient human settlers began the construction of around 4,700 artificial forest islands in ancient Amazonia to farm savanna land, according to the results of a newly published paper.

Scientists have recreated the “voice” of a 3,000 year-old mummy by scanning the shape of his vocal tract, 3D printing a replica of it, then hooking it up to an electronic larynx. The resulting sound is a single vowel that's quite eerie.

Scientists have uncovered what may have been the “last stand” of Homo erectus. Previously thought to have disappeared about 300,000 years ago, Homo erectus could have survived in Indonesia until as recently as 108,000 years ago.

Archaeologists in Ecuador have made a fascinating and grisly discovery. In a burial mound dating back 2,100 years, the scientists found signs of a ritual never seen before – two babies buried wearing “helmets” made of the skulls of other children.

The skeletal remains of some 14 woolly mammoths have been discovered in Mexico. More than 800 mammoth bones were distributed in two round pits – apparently traps used to house the mammoths. The remains were found north of Mexico City.

Combining studies of genetics, geology and climate history, scientists from Australia and South Africa say they’ve identified what could be called the “homeland” of modern humans – a vast, ancient wetland system in southern Africa.