The Cross Heads

Studies pin down exactly when humans and Neanderthals swapped DNA

In a second study, Arev Sümer (also of the Max Planck Institute) and her colleagues found something very similar in the genomes of people who lived 49,500 to 41,000 years ago in what’s now the area around Ranis, Germany. The Ranis population, based on how their genomes compare to other ancient and modern people, seem […]

December 12, 2024 | ancient DNA, ancient genomics, ancient people did stuff, anthropology, Archaeology, Neanderthals, out of africa, Science | No comments

Paleolithic deep-cave compound likely used for rituals

Archaeologists excavating a paleolithic cave site in Galilee, Israel, have found evidence that a deep-cave compound at the site may have been used for ritualistic gatherings, according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). That evidence includes the presence of a symbolically carved boulder in a prominent […]

December 9, 2024 | acoustics, anthropology, Archaeology, Science | No comments

Dog domestication happened many times, but most didn’t pan out

The story that data reveals is complicated—but somehow very human. Until about 13,600 years ago, any wolf living in what is now Alaska would have lived on the usual wolf diet: rabbits, moose, and a whole range of other land animals. But starting around 13,600 years ago, the nitrogen isotopes locked in ancient wolves’ bones […]

December 4, 2024 | Archaeology, dog domestication, Dogs, indigenous North America, isotope analysis, nitrogen isotopes, Science | No comments

Ancient fish-trapping network supported the rise of Maya civilization

Harrison-Buck and her colleagues calculated that at its peak, the system could have produced enough fish each year to feed around 15,000 people. That’s based on modern estimates of how many kilograms of fish people eat every year, combined with measurements of how many kilograms of fish people in Zambia harvest with similar traps. Of […]

November 22, 2024 | aerial archaeology, ancient people did stuff, Archaeology, fisheries, indigenous americans, Maya, Pre-Columbian civilizations, Science | No comments

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