What fueled humans’ big brains? Controversial paper proposes new hypothesis (Live Science 12/03/21)
As the largest animals on the landscape disappeared, the scientists propose, human brains had to grow to enable the hunting of smaller, swifter prey.
She Was Buried With a Silver Crown. Was She the One Who Held Power? (The New York Times 03/11/21)
A tomb unearthed in Spain has prompted archaeologists to reconsider assumptions about women’s power in Bronze Age European societies.
Shivering in the Pleistocene (CENIEH 11/03/21)
CENIEH researchers have used a thermoregulation model that simulates heat loss to show that humans in Middle Pleistocene Europe could adapt to harsh environmental conditions without making use of fire.
Prehistoric women were successful big-game hunters, challenging beliefs about ancient gender roles (Phys.org 11/03/21)
Archeological evidence from Peru has revealed that some ancient big-game hunters were in fact women, challenging what science writer James Gorman wrote was “one of the most widely held tenets about ancient hunters and gatherers -that males hunted and females gathered.”
‘Blinged out’ female ruler may be evidence of powerful women during Bronze Age (Science 10/3/21)
A new analysis of a richly adorned female ruler buried in a Bronze Age palace suggests women could also occupy the throne.
Genetic analysis of ancient massacre reveals instance of indiscriminate killing (Phys.org 10/3/21)
Genetic analysis provides clarity and also prompts further questions around an ancient massacre in Potočani, Croatia, in a study published March 10, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mario Novak from the Institute for Anthropological Research, Croatia, Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, Austria, David Reich from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, U.S.,…
Humans evolved to be the water-saving ape (Eurekalert 05/03/21)
New study suggests humans evolved to run on less water than our closest primate relatives.
Neanderthals Vanished From Europe Thousands of Years Earlier Than We Thought (Science Alert 09/03/21)
Neanderthal fossils from a cave in Belgium believed to belong to the last survivors of their species ever discovered in Europe are thousands of years older than once thought, a new study said Monday.
The human footprints of Ojo Guareña (Phys.org 08/3/21)
The CENIEH has participated in the study of the prints of bare feet found at the Sala y Galerías de las Huellas site in the Ojo Guareña Karst Complex (Burgos), which are the marks left in a soft floor sediment of an exploration by a small group of people between 4600 and 4200 years ago.
Lunch Break Science #22| Naomi Cleghorn
Lunch Break Science is a weekly online series featuring short lectures or interviews with Leakey Foundation scientists Lunch Break Science #22| Naomi Cleghorn Meet Leakey Foundation grantee Naomi Cleghorn and learn about the archaeology of Knysna Cave in South Africa.
Neanderthal and early modern human stone tool culture co-existed for over 100,000 years (phys.org 01/03/21)
The Acheulean was estimated to have died out around 200,000 years ago but the new findings suggest it may have persisted for much longer, creating over 100,000 years of overlap with more advanced technologies produced by Neanderthals and early modern humans.
Archaeologists Reveal Roman Ceremonial Chariot (Heritage Daily 27/17/21)
Archaeologists from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Torre Annunziata have announced the discovery of an intact Roman Ceremonial Chariot excavated near the Roman city of Pompeii.
