Stone Pages Archaeo News: April 2011 Archives

April 2011 index:

6 April 2011: Rising seas made China's ancient mariners; At a time when rice farming dominated in other regions, the inundation of the Fuzhou Basin in southeastern China starting about 9,000 years ago led to the creation of a...
: Prehistoric tombs discovered in Vietnam; Tombs of the Sa Huynh culture - flourished in Vietnam between 1000 BCE and 200 CE - have been dug up in Tre village in Tay Tra district, in the...
: Ancient human remains found in Iowa; Human remains that could be 7,000 years old have been found by sewer construction workers on the southeast side of Des Moines (Iowa, USA). The remains were discovered in January...
9 April 2011: Did the Neanderthals disappear by chance?; The popular theory has it that humans soon displaced Neanderthals thanks to their superior skills and adaptations. But mathematicians Armando Neves at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo...
: The causes of the Bronze Age 'recession' in Britain; A large gap in prehistory could signal that Britain underwent an economic downturn between around 800 BCE and 500 BCE where experts still struggle to explain what happened, where bronze...
: Remnants of nomadic society uncovered in New Mexico; An archaeology team has uncovered north of Deming (New Mexico, USA) a number of tools and a structure believed to have been used by an ancient nomadic hunter/gatherer society. "For...
: 7,500-year-old settlement unearthed in Germany; Archaeologists say they have discovered Saxony's oldest settlement while digging in a farmer's field in the eastern German state. Archaeologist Harald Staeuble said the three houses are around 7,500-year-old and...
10 April 2011: New study sheds light on East Asia's Stone Age tool scarcity; The long-held theory that early human ancestors in East Asia crafted their tools from bamboo and wood is much more complicated than originally conceived, according to a new study. An...
: Four dolmens discovered in central India; Archaeologists of the Deccan college post-graduate and research institute have found four dolmens of the Megalithic Age (Third century BCE) or the Iron Age at the Shankarpur village, about 150...
11 April 2011: Earliest evidence for magic mushroom use in Europe; A prehistoric painting in a cave near the town of Villar del Humo, in the province of Cuenca in east-central Spain, may depict fungi with hallucinogenic properties, suggesting that Europeans...
: Scientists trace violent death of Iron Age man; An Iron Age man whose skull and brain was unearthed during excavations at the University of York was the victim of a gruesome ritual killing, according to new research. Fractures...
: Wiltshire museum gets funds for new Bronze Age galleries; The Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has been awarded £58,200 from the Heritage Fund Lottery to work on plans to create new Bronze Age galleries. As the galleries project will...
: Sarsen Trail & Neolithic Marathon 2011; Next May 1st, 2011 you can take part to the Sarsen Trail and Neolithic Marathon: a multi-terrain running, walking and mountain biking event, taking you through the Vale of Pewsey,...
13 April 2011: South America's oldest textiles are 12,000 year old; Textiles and rope fragments found in a Peruvian cave have been dated to around 12,000 years ago, making them the oldest textiles ever found in South America, according to a...
20 April 2011: Archaeolink Prehistory Park: can it be saved?; The future of a prehistory park hangs in the balance unless further urgent funding can be found. Known as 'Archaeolink', the park is located at Oyne in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and...
: Earliest European writing discovered in Greece; What is thought to be the earliest European example of clay tablet writing has been found in Greece. The tablet fragment, measuring 2.5cm by 4cm, is believed to date from...
: 'Gay caveman' is not gay and is not a caveman; Claims of discovering a 'gay caveman' might well be exaggerated. Excavations on the outskirts of Prague, in the Czech Republic, have uncovered skeletons dating back to 2,500 to 2,800 BCE....
21 April 2011: Evidence of a selective massacre at a hill fort in England; Archaeologists have found evidence of a massacre linked to Iron Age warfare at a hill fort in Derbyshire (England). For the first time in the UK, scientists have found carelessly-buried...
: Dutch megalithic tomb damaged by fire; The ancient burial chamber or hunebed on the Groningerweg in Diever in Drenthe (Netherlands) has been damaged by fire, with the heat causing one of the massive stones to crack...
: Ancient settlements unearthed in Scotland; Evidence of Bronze and Iron Age settlements have been found on the site of the proposed new Inverness Campus (Highland, Scotland). The remains of timber-built roundhouses and crop marks have...
22 April 2011: Another missing link in human evolution?; Skeletons of Australopithecus sediba display a unusual mix of modern and primitive traits - sharing more features with early Homo specimens than any other known Australopithecus species, according to Darryl...
: Bear DNA clue to age of Chauvet cave art; Exploring a gorge in south-east France in 1994 for prehistoric artefacts, Jean-Marie Chauvet, squeezing through a narrow passage, found himself in a hidden cavern, the walls of which were covered...
: Evolution of human 'super-brain'; John Hoffecker - a researcher at University of Colorado, Boulder (USA) - says there is abundant fossil and archaeological evidence for the evolution of a human 'super-brain' - or collective...
24 April 2011: Traces of unknown ancient kingdom found in China; Traces of a previously unknown kingdom dating back to 1046 BCE, probably from the Xizhou dynasty, have been unearthed in north China, archaeologists said. Engraving on bronze wares found in...
: New fragments of a 32,000-year-old figurine found; In 1939 archaeologists discovered fragments that may be parts of one of the world's oldest sculptures, a lion-faced figurine estimated at 32,000 years old, from a cave in southern Germany....
: Evidence of ancient brain surgery in Tibetan encyclopedia; Brain surgery was practiced by doctors at least 2,900 years ago, a specialist on Tibetan culture and literature said after four decades of research on the Tibetan Tripitaka, an ancient...
26 April 2011: Neolithic artifacts unearthed in northern India; A team of archaeologists is excavating a Neolithic site in a small village in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh (northern India). "During excavation work being carried out in Puccakot village,...
: Prehistoric humans and cave bears may have competed for shelter; Research shows cave bears lived in the same spaces coveted by prehistoric humans up to 32,000 years ago. The new study on cave bears, which has been accepted for publication...
29 April 2011: Tender for Ggantija works published; The tender for the construction, finishing and landscaping works to enhancing the visitor experience at the Ggantija Heritage Park has been published by Heritage Malta. The park is to service...
: Ancient artifacts unearthed in Taiwan; Archeologists recently found artifacts and pottery parts that are identified as belonging to the Niaosung culture (1400-550 BCE) during an excavation near a public cemetery in Tainan City's Jiali District...
: Hillfort test of Iron Age communication in Wales; An experiment has shed light on how Iron Age people communicated from their hilltop homes 2,500 years ago. About 200 volunteers stood on the summit of 10 hillforts in north...
: Protection plan for Bru na Boinne meets opposition; Landowners in the general area of Brú na Bóinne - that includes the well-known sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth - were having continuing problems with the status of their...