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☆ New aspects of mummified Egyptians revealed by scans at Chicago’s Field Museum
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Researchers at the Field Museum scan a mummified individual displayed in the "Inside Ancient Egypt" exhibition. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul remained inside the body after death, so embalmers mummified bodies to preserve the spirit for the afterlife, according to Field Museum scientists. A Field Museum researcher analyzes composite scans of a mummified child. On display at the New York World’s Fair for two years, he then returned to the Field Museum after getting lost in the luggage and being sent to San Francisco. “One of the big things for these ancient Egyptian individuals is how you continue to live after death.

Persons: JP Brown, Morgan Clark, ”, Stacy Drake, Horus, Imsety, Hapy, Qebehsenuef, Brown, “, you’ve, Lady Chenet, Drake, ” Brown, They’ll, Lady, embalmers, ” Drake, we’re, Bella Koscal Organizations: CNN —, Chicago’s Field, Field Museum, ”, . Field, Field, Museum Locations: Egypt, Chicago, New York City, York, San Francisco

☆ Pompeii: Ancient DNA rewrites the stories of people buried by volcanic eruption
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Ancient DNA has revealed surprises about the identities of some people who perished in the ancient Roman town of Pompeii after a volcanic eruption, overturning misconceptions about their genetic relationships, ancestry and sex. Ash and volcanic rock called pumice then covered Pompeii and its residents, preserving scenes of the victims of the city’s destruction like an eerie time capsule. While the Greeks, Etruscans and Samnites attempted to conquer it, Pompeii became a Roman colony, the study authors noted. In 2015, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii began efforts to restore 86 of the 104 casts originally made by Fiorelli. Together, park scientists and the study authors are working on a larger project to better understand the genetic diversity present in Pompeii during the Roman Empire.

Persons: Giuseppe Fiorelli, ”, David Reich, restorers, David Caramelli, Massimo Osanna, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Valeria Amoretti, ” Caramelli, Reich, Steven Tuck, Tuck, ” Tuck, Caitie Barrett, Barrett, Homer’s “, Bacchus, Alissa Mittnik, “, ” Barrett, Michael Anderson, Anderson, ” Anderson Organizations: CNN, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, University of Florence, Villa, Miami University in, Cornell University, Max Planck Institute, Evolutionary Anthropology, Harvard, San Francisco State University Locations: Pompeii, Naples, what’s, Italy’s Campania, Roman, Italy, Miami University in Ohio, archaeogenetics, Britain, North Africa, Alexandria, Egypt, Bay

☆ Lost Maya city discovered in Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-02 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Scientists called Campeche an archaeological “blank spot” in the Maya Lowlands, an area spanning what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, and which the Maya inhabited from about 1000 BC to AD 1500. Like other large capital cities from Maya sites, Valeriana had a reservoir, a ball court, temple pyramids and a broad road connecting enclosed plazas. In total, the researchers identified 6,764 structures in Valeriana and in other rural and urban settlements of varying sizes. In the north, Maya sites such as Chichén Itzá are highly visible. Morales-Aguilar’s work on Maya settlements in Guatemala aligns closely with the new findings, he told CNN in an email.

Persons: Valeriana, “, you’re, ”, Luke Auld, Thomas, ” Auld, Marcello Canuto, ” Canuto, Carlos Morales, Aguilar, Morales, ” Morales, Tomás Gallareta Cervera, ” Gallareta Cervera, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Nature Conservancy, Tulane University, University of Texas, Kenyon College, “, Scientific Locations: Mexican, Campeche, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Valeriana, Thomas Campeche, Tulane’s, Austin, Ohio

Brown University suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine after the group led a rally protesting the university's decision not to divest its endowment from certain companies that support Israel. Chapter members were told of the suspension on Oct. 24, the group said, nearly a week after their Oct. 18 protest. Brown Divest Coalition first led a series of protests in April calling for the university’s governing board to divest. While university officials did review a student proposal outlining why the board should divest from 10 companies, it ultimately decided not to do so. The university’s governing body voted against the proposal on Oct. 8, with students organizing a protest in response on Oct. 18.

Persons: Lane Turner, Gazans, ”, Brown, “, ” Brown Organizations: Brown University, Justice, Israel, Haffenreffer Museum, Anthropology, Boston Globe, Getty, Brown, Zionist, Coalition, Temple University, Tufts University, Rutgers University, American University, University of Vermont . Harvard University Locations: Palestine, Providence, R.I, ”

☆ Skeletal remains of ‘Well-man’ linked to centuries-old Norse text
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-25 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Researchers have connected the identity of skeletal remains found in a well at Norway’s Sverresborg castle to a passage in a centuries-old Norse text. The text is rich in detail, including full names, locations, battles and military strategy as well as Sverre’s speeches. For the latest study, Martin and his colleagues wanted to bring together historical, archaeological and genetic context for Well-man’s remains. Excavations in 2014 and 2016 unearthed more of Well-man's remains, including his skull. Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage ResearchA surprising portrait of Well-manAn initial radiocarbon dating analysis helped the research team confirm that Well-man’s remains were about 900 years old, which aligns with the timeline in the Sverris saga.

Persons: King Sverre Sigurdsson, —, It’s, ”, Michael D, Martin, they’re, King Sverre, King Sigurd Munn, Sverre, Munn, “, Dr, Martin Ellegaard, Agnar Helgason, King Sverre’s, ” Martin, ” Ellegaard, Maja Krzewińska, Krzewińska, ” Krzewińska, he’s Organizations: CNN —, Cell Press, Norwegian University of Science, Technology’s University Museum, Roman Catholic Church, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage, Technology, Palaeogenetics Locations: Norway, Trondheim, Europe, Bergen, Sverresborg, what’s, “, Stockholm, Sweden

☆ Lost for centuries, Silk Road cities are revealed by drone technology
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Hannah Peart | Hannah Peart Is An Intern In The Nbc News London Bureau. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Traversed centuries ago by camel-back traders, two long-lost medieval cities that once thrived along the ancient Silk Road have been uncovered by drones sent searching for their secrets. This groundbreaking research in southeastern Uzbekistan could shift our understanding of the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes that spanned from China to the Mediterranean. But the new research shows the Silk Road network was larger than previously predicted. Although many large urban centers have been discovered in Central Asia, the vast majority of archaeologically documented cities are in lowland riparian settings. The research indicates the two cities produced iron or steel to sell, as well as providing fuel for Silk Road travelers, with the region being surrounded by dense juniper forests.

Persons: Michael Frachetti, Louis, Farhod Maksudov, Frachetti, Tim Williams, ” Organizations: Washington University, Uzbekistan’s National Center of Archaeology, NBC News, University College London Locations: Central Asia, Uzbekistan, China, St, Tashbulak, England, Tugunbulak

☆ Origins of humanity’s love of carbs revealed, new study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The origin of modern humans’ long-standing love affair with carbs may predate our existence as a species, according to a new study. The study revealed these genes duplicated long before the advent of agriculture. Without amylase, humans would not be able to digest foods such as potatoes, pasta, rice or bread. The research also revealed duplication of the AMY1 gene existed in the genomes of Neanderthals and Denisovans, an extinct hominin first discovered in 2010 about whom relatively little is known. “This study’s genomic sleuthing is helping to finally time stamp some of those major milestones, and it is revealing tantalizing clues about humanity’s long love affair with starch.”

Persons: ”, Feyza Yilmaz, —, sapiens, AMY1, Taylor Hermes, wasn’t, ” Hermes, “, Christina Warinner, John L, Loeb, Warinner Organizations: CNN, The Jackson Laboratory, University of Buffalo, Jackson Laboratory, University of Arkansas, Social Sciences, Harvard University Locations: Farmington , Connecticut, New York

☆ Cannibalized remains from Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition identified
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Archaeologists have identified the cannibalized remains of a senior officer who perished during an ill-fated 19th century Arctic expedition, offering insight into its lost crew’s tragic and grisly final days. The remains identified as Fitzjames’ in the new study, published September 24 in the Journal of Archaeological Science, were among them. The remains of James Fitzjames, a senior officer who took part in Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Northwest Passage, showed signs of having been cannibalized, a new study said. However, unlike Fitzjames’ remains, Gregory’s bones did not display any cut marks suggestive of cannibalism. Canada’s national parks service and the Inuit communities found the final resting place of the HMS Erebus in 2014 and the HMS Terror in 2016.

Persons: James Fitzjames, Sir John Franklin, Franklin, Fitzjames, ”, Doug Stenton, King William Island, Anne Keenleyside, Claire Warrior, Sir John Franklin's, Stenton, Nigel Gambier, “, ” Gambier, Gambier, Stephen Fratpietro, Erebus, John Gregory, Franklin’s, Dan Simmons ’ Organizations: CNN —, Royal Navy, University of Waterloo, Archaeological Science, British, National Maritime Museum, Alamy, Victory, Nunavut Department of Culture and Heritage, CNN, Franklin’s, Lakehead University, Expedition, Maritime, telltale Locations: America, England, Canada, Canada’s Nunavut, London, Sir, Victory, Thunder Bay , Ontario, Willam

☆ DNA reveals surprises trapped in teeth of ‘Tsavo man-eater’ lions
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Thomas Gnoske, a collections manager at the museum, first spotted thousands of hairs trapped within the lions’ teeth when he examined their skulls in the 1990s. “Our analysis showed that the historic Tsavo lions preyed on giraffe, human, oryx, waterbuck, wildebeest, and zebra, and we also identified hairs that originated from lions. The Tsavo lions were maneless, like this adult male lion. The combined efforts opened a treasure trove of data about the lions’ prey as well as about the predators themselves. “It suggests that the Tsavo lions may have either traveled farther than previously believed, or that wildebeest were present in the Tsavo region during that time,” de Flamingh said.

Persons: John Henry Patterson, Patterson, Thomas Gnoske, ”, Alida de Flamingh, Gnoske, Julian Kerbis Peterhans, Kerbis Peterhans, David Sewell, Kerbis, Nduhiu, de Flamingh, Ripan, Andrew Wasike, Flamingh, ” de Flamingh, “ Patterson, John Warburton, Lee, Aditya Dicky Singh, Malhi, Love Dalén, Dalén, wasn’t, ” Gnoske Organizations: CNN, Uganda Railway, Chicago’s Field, Field Museum, University of Illinois, Field, The, Roosevelt University, Alamy, National Museums of, University of Nairobi, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Stockholm University, “ Locations: Kenya, Uganda, University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign, Chicago, Samburu, National Museums of Kenya, Tsavo, Cape, Africa

☆ DNA from 3,600-year-old cheese sequenced by scientists
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A decade after the dairy discovery on strikingly intact remains mummified by the Taklamakan Desert’s arid conditions, scientists have extracted and sequenced DNA from the 3,600-year-old cheese, the oldest in the archaeological record. Fu is director of the ancient DNA laboratory at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The researchers recovered animal and microbe DNA from the kefir cheese discovered on the Tarim Basin mummies. Fu and her colleagues also sequenced the bacterial genes in the ancient kefir cheese, revealing insights into how probiotic bacteria evolved over the past 3,600 years. “Ancient DNA analysis, especially on microbes, is fraught with technical problems, mostly stemming from contamination by modern bacteria,” he added.

Persons: ”, Christina Warinner, John L, Loeb, Warinner wasn’t, Qiaomei Fu, Fu, Yang, it’s, Taylor Hermes, ” Hermes, Pichia kudriavzevii, kefir, we’ve, ” Fu, Hermes, Warinner, William Taylor, Taylor, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, Cell, Social Sciences, Harvard University, Vertebrate Paleontology, University of Arkansas, University of Colorado, school’s Locations: what’s, China, ”, Beijing, Tarim, China’s Xinjiang, Asia, Russia, Tibet, United States, Japan, Caucasus, Anatolia, University of Colorado Boulder

☆ Eldest-Daughter Syndrome Is Real; Big Sisters Do More, Studies Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

But there may be more of a science to eldest daughters than meets the eye. When a mother needed help, biology caused her eldest daughter to step up and mature faster to provide that help. Most striking of all, maternal distress was not found to speed up adrenal puberty in sons or younger daughters. "I have a closer relationship with her, to this day, than I do with many of my other older siblings," he said. His wife grew up as part of a similarly large brood — and her eldest sister had a similar experience.

Persons: Lisa Doucet, Albert didn't, Doucet, Albert, I'm, " Doucet, babysitters, they'd, Molly Fox, Fox, Pamela Jakiela, aren't, isn't, Jonathan Westover, Mary Poppins —, Westover, We're, —, Lenette Azzi, Lessing, Jakiela Organizations: University of California, Fox, Center for Global Development, Williams College, University of Essex, Child, Utah Valley University, Boston University, Child Welfare League of America Locations: Rhode Island, Providence, TikTok, Los Angeles, Kenya, Utah

☆ DNA analysis of Jamestown burials reveals governor’s family scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Recently, DNA analysis of two skeletons from unmarked graves in a Jamestown church revealed that both people were related to West. That connection led researchers to documents proving that one of the men — Captain William West — was illegitimate, born to Thomas West’s spinster aunt, Elizabeth. An X-ray scan (left) of the spangled military sash fringed in silver (right) found in the grave of Captain William West. Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation (Preservation Virginia)Unmarked burials in colonial JamestownResearchers found four unmarked graves at Jamestown in 2014, in an Anglican church that the colonists used from about 1608 to 1616. MPI/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesWhile there wasn’t enough DNA to show immediate family ties, Wenman and Captain West both shared the haplogroup H10e.

Persons: Thomas West, Captain William West —, Thomas West’s, Elizabeth, Captain West, James Fort, ”, Christine Lee, Lee, Captain William West, Sir Ferdinando Wenman, —, Kari Bruwelheid, ” Bruwelheid, Éadaoin Harney, William West’s, ’, Ferdinando Wenman’s, ” Harney, West’s, Mary Blount, West “, West, Governor Thomas West, Ferdinando Wenman, Michael Lavin, ” Lavin, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Jamestown Rediscovery, Preservation, University of Mississippi, spangled, Jamestown, Smithsonian National Museum of, Harvard University, MPI, Governor, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, Scientific Locations: Jamestown , Virginia, Jamestown, England, Preservation Virginia, Wenman, West, Washington ,, North America

☆ A doll, old letters and house keys: How displaced Palestinians are holding onto identity
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Billy Stockwell | Sana Noor Haq | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“I cried for my area, my house, and everything around me,” Al-Hasanat told CNN in June. Several Palestinians told CNN they could take only their most significant personal items on long and hazardous journeys of displacement. Israeli strikes destroyed several of the university’s buildings in the early days of the war, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Students told CNN days spent on campus have been replaced by repeated displacement and bloodshed. Courtesy Raghad Ezzat HamoudaWith no end to the war in sight, other Palestinians told CNN they have held onto their house keys as a reminder of home.

Persons: Ahmed Al, Hasanat, Al, ” Al, “ Ayten, Dad, ’, ‘, ’ ”, Khan Younis, Ahmad Salem, “, ” Ahmed Al, Fadi Adwan, WAFA, ”, Haya Ismail, Refaat Alareer, Ismail, Dina, Dr, ” Ismail, Fadi, Rochelle Davis, –, Adwan, Ezzat Hamouda, Hamouda, Tamam –, Raghad Ezzat, Scott Webster, Israel, Davis, Samah, Ayten Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Bloomberg, Getty Images Israel, Hamas, Ministry of Health, Islamic, of Gaza, UN, Ministry of Education, Higher, Students, Georgetown University, “, Palestine, IDF, Government Media Office, Museum of, Palestinian, University of Sydney, Amnesty, Getty, Shifa, UNICEF, Government Media, Palestinian Ministry of Health, West Bank Locations: Gaza, Al, Mughraqa, Palestine, Israel, Palestinian, Rafah, Gaza City, Deir Al, Beit Lahia, Ramallah

☆ Paleolithic tool reveals when clothing as a form of self-expression may have gotten its start
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The circumstances surrounding eyed needles raised a number of questions. How do you alter your appearance for social purposes? “We don’t need to have eyed needles to manufacture clothing,” he said. This evidence would support the theory that eyed needles played a role in decoration, without ruling out their use for tailoring. “Our study shows that eyed needles are a marker for this change in the function of clothing, from thermal to social necessity,” he added.

Persons: ”, Ian Gilligan, Gilligan, ” Gilligan, “, Mariana Ariza, they’re, ” It’s, Liza Foley, Foley, Nowell, ” Nowell Organizations: CNN, University of Sydney, Ghent University, Royal Museums of Art, Lansdowne, University of Victoria Locations: Siberia, Europe, East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, Eurasia, Moscow, Brussels, Belgium, Canada

☆ Satellite imagery may provide missing puzzle piece in Easter Island saga
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Hundreds of monumental stone heads dot the coastline of the remote Pacific island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. Terry HuntThe rock gardens had covered up to 21.1 square kilometers (8.1 square miles) and could have sustained up to 17,000 people, previous research suggested. Archaeologists have identified the remains of rock gardens on which islanders would have grown sweet potatoes and other crops. “This finding was the result of integrating new remotely sensed data, data not available when we did our original study.” He wasn’t involved in the new research. In fact, when Europeans first make contact with Rapa Nui people, they only report seeing maybe 3,000 or 4,000 people and report that people were in good spirits,” Davis said.

Persons: Jared Diamond, ”, Dylan Davis, Davis, School’s Lamont, Terry Hunt, ” Davis, Rapa, ” Ladefoged, wasn’t, Christopher Stevenson, ” Stevenson, Carl Lipo, What’s Organizations: CNN, Columbia, Observatory, New Zealand’s University of Auckland, School of, Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University Locations: Rapa Nui, Rapa, Chile, Pitcairn, Washington

☆ San José: Colombia launches expedition to explore 300-year-old Spanish shipwreck filled with sunken treasure
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Heather Chen | Michael Rios | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The images will then be used to build an inventory of the archaeological discoveries on the seabed. But it has also sparked a multi-billion dollar legal battle. Colombia maintains that it first discovered the San José in 2015 with help from international scientists. SSA has launched a legal battle against the Colombian government in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, claiming it is entitled to approximately $10 billion – half the estimated value of the shipwreck’s treasure. The loss of the San José and its cargo was said to have caused financial hardships to merchants throughout Europe and the New World, according to reports released by SSA.

Persons: –, Juan David Correa Organizations: CNN, Colombian Institute of Anthropology, Wednesday, San, San Jose Galleon, SSA Locations: Colombia, Spanish, Caribbean, Cartegena, Colombian, Potosi , Peru, Panama, Cartagena, San Jose, José, Europe

☆ Gold earring found in burned Iron Age village may reveal ‘moment in time,’ archaeologists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The inferno consumed the wooden structure, situated in an Iron Age settlement, killing six animals penned in the stable. The presence of a horse in the stable suggested that these people were wealthier than some of their neighbors, Olesti Vila said. The site provides important insights into the daily lives of Iberian Iron Age populations in the Pyrenees at this pivotal time in history, Arnold said in an email. During the Iron Age, when people lived in wooden homes heated by fires, buildings often accidentally burned. “This is also an indication of some kind of conflict or some kind of violent aggression,” Olesti Vila said.

Persons: Oriol Olesti Vila, Baltarga, Francesc Riart, Olesti Vila, “, weren’t, ”, Bettina Arnold, Arnold, ” Arnold, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Autonomous University of Barcelona, University of Wisconsin -, Scientific Locations: Iberia, Spain, Tossal, Baltarga, Iron, Hannibal, Roman Republic, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Pyrenees, “, Europe

☆ India election 2024: The indelible ink behind the world’s biggest election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Dhruv Tikekar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Election Commission uses indelible ink, or “voter ink”, to prevent fraud or duplicate votes. Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty ImagesMore than 960 million people are eligible to vote in India’s election, the world’s biggest. “Indelible ink serves no other purpose,” said Irfan. The company now supplies indelible ink to more than 35 countries, including to Ghana beginning in the late 1970s. However, Ghana’s election commission recently announced it would phase out the use of indelible ink, opting for biometric verification methods instead.

Persons: CNN CNN —, ”, K Mohammed Irfan, Manish Swarup, Deepika Padukone, Sujit Jaiswal, Irfan, “, Ornit Shani, Shani, ” Shani, Prakash Singh, MVPL, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, Mukulika Banerjee, Rakesh Nair, Banerjee, haven’t, ‘ I’ve Organizations: CNN CNN, CNN, Getty, Universal, Bloomberg, London School of Economics, Reuters “ Locations: Neemrana, India, Mumbai, AFP, Mysuru, Karnataka, Chennai, Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, Mysore, Ghana, West Bengal

☆ 18 ancient Egyptian human skulls are being auctioned for $250 each, in a grim sale of colonial spoils
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewA British auction house has been criticized after listing 18 human skulls from ancient Egypt. But experts have raised objections, and have asked for a review of laws around the sale of human remains. This latest episode offers a window into the strange trade in human remains, which is legal in many places worldwide. The shrunken head problemVan Broekhoven has had to grapple with the issue of handling human remains in museum collections. The Pitt Rivers Museum has a collection of shrunken heads — some human — along with other human remains, which were taken off display in 2020.

Persons: —, Dan Hicks, Hicks, Augustus Henry Lane Fox, Pitt Rivers, Semley Auctioneers, Laura Van Broekhoven, Van Broekhoven, there's Organizations: Service, Business, Pitt Rivers Museum, Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, Oxford University Locations: Egypt, Thebes, Benin, Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt, Indonesian

☆ Stone Age Paleo diet was not rich in meat, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —What did people in the Stone Age eat before the advent of farming around 10,000 years ago? Scientists analyzed chemical signatures preserved in bones and teeth belonging to at least seven different Iberomaurusians and found that plants, not meat, were their primary source of dietary protein. The evidence suggested that the Iberomaurusians consumed “fermentable starchy plants” such as wild cereals or acorns, according to the study. The work undermines the idea that a Stone Age diet was meat heavy — a rigid assumption perpetuated by present-day dietary trends like the Paleo diet. The transition to agriculture was a complex process that occurred at different times and proceeded at different rates, in different ways with different foods, in different places, Pobiner said.

Persons: Heiko Temming, ”, Zineb Moubtahij, Max Planck, Klervia Jaouen, ” Jaouen, Iberomaurusians, ” Moubtahij, —, Briana Pobiner, wasn’t, Jaouen, Pobiner, “ Organizations: CNN, Géosciences Environnement, Max Planck Institute, Stone, Smithsonian National Museum of Locations: what’s, Morocco, Cave, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, France, Leipzig, Germany, Taforalt, Peru, Levant

☆ Burned remains of Maya royalty marked the rise of a new leader, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The bones offer a rare glimpse of intentional corpse destruction in Maya culture to commemorate dramatic political change. Typically, Maya societies kept royal remains in accessible spaces where visitors could perform offerings. “Halperin is one of our most gifted field workers,” said Houston, who studies ancient Maya culture but was not involved in the research. Around the start of the ninth century when the remains were burned, carved Maya records described the deeds of a new ruler called Papmalil. Ritual desecration of royal remains by fire wasn’t unknown in Maya culture.

Persons: adornments, Christina T, Halperin, ” Halperin, “, —, . Halperin, Dr, Stephen Houston, “ Halperin, ”, Houston, ” —, ’, there’s, ” Houston Organizations: CNN, University of Montréal, telltale, Brown University Locations: Guatemala, Providence , Rhode Island, Guatemala City

☆ Ancient carved drawings found next to dinosaur footprints in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Prehistoric humans in Brazil carved drawings in the rock next to dinosaur footprints, suggesting that they may have found them meaningful or interesting, a new study has found. A dashed line indicates petroglyphs made by indigenous people, while a continuous line shows theropod dinosaur footprints. “I think rock art creation was embedded in some sort of ritual context: people gathering and creating something, perhaps utilizing some psychotropics. I think they were interested in what the footprints represent, and I suppose they identified them as footprints. “This was the case in various parts of the world where rock art was practiced, and it is very clearly visible, among others, in the North American Southwest/U.S.

Persons: ”, Leonardo Troiano, We’ll, ” Troiano, Australia —, Troiano, Radosław, ” Palonka, Leonardo Troiano Jan Simek, Simek, Adrienne Mayor, ’ Simek Organizations: CNN, Institute of National Historic, Heritage, Jagiellonian University, Southwest, University of Tennessee, Stanford University Locations: Brazil, Paraíba, Brasilia, Australia, Serrote, United States, Poland, Kraków, U.S, Knoxville

☆ George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Another key component was DNA from a living descendant of Samuel Washington. Samuel Washington, George Washington's younger brother, was buried in an unmarked grave at the cemetery at his Harewood estate (an interior view is pictured above) near Charles Town, West Virginia. Fortunately for the authors of the new study, “DNA analysis has come a long way since the early 2000s,” Cavagnino said. Further details came from 95,000 SNPs, an enormous volume of data targeting autosomal DNA (DNA that isn’t attached to sex chromosomes). “The search for Samuel Washington’s grave is no longer underway,” Marshall said.

Persons: George Washington’s, Samuel, Samuel Washington, ”, Charla Marshall, George, Courtney L, George Washington, Cavagnino, George Washington's, Harewood, Frances Benjamin Johnson, Samuel Washington’s, ” Cavagnino, Lucinda “ Lucy ” Payne, George Steptoe Washington Jr, Samuel Walter Washington, Dr, Lucy Payne, Connie J, Mulligan, —, ” Mulligan, “, that’s, — “, Augustine Washington, ” Marshall, Marshall, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, US Department of Defense DNA, West Virginia . Records, US Armed Forces DNA, Library, Zion Episcopal Church, Genomics, University of Florida, Scientific Locations: Washington, Harewood, Charles Town, West Virginia, Mount Vernon , Virginia, Zion

☆ Why don’t humans have tails?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

One of those led to shorter tails; the more of that protein the genes produced, the shorter the tails. A tail as old as timeFor modern humans, tails are a distant genetic memory. While Alu’s role “seems to be a very important one,” other genetic factors likely contributed to the permanent disappearance of our primate ancestors’ tails,” Xia said. In their experiments, the researchers found that when mice were genetically engineered for tail loss, some developed neural tube deformities that resembled spina bifida in humans. “Maybe the reason why we have this condition in humans is because of this trade-off that our ancestors made 25 million years ago to lose their tails,” Yanai said.

Persons: —, Alu, AluY, Bo Xia, ” Xia, ”, Xia, Itai Yanai, ” Yanai, “, Bo, Yanai, TBXT’s, Liza Shapiro, ” Shapiro, africanus, Shapiro, spina, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Gene, Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard University, Institute for Systems Genetics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, University of Texas, Scientific Locations: Austin, Kenya

☆ Mysterious Pattern in a Cave Is Oldest Rock Art Found in Patagonia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Becky Ferreira | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the stark inland desert of Patagonia in Argentina, there is a remote cave decorated with nearly 900 paintings of human figures, animals and abstract designs. Until recently, archaeologists had assumed that the rock art at this site, known as Cueva Huenul 1, was created within the past few thousand years. Cave artists continued to draw the same comb design in black pigment for thousands of years, an era when other human activity was virtually absent at the site. The cave art provides a rare glimpse of a culture that may have relied on this design to communicate valuable insights across generations during a period of climactic shifts. These early inhabitants thrived at Cueva Huenul 1 for generations, leaving signs of habitation.

Persons: Cueva Huenul, ”, Guadalupe Romero Villanueva, CONICET Organizations: Argentine, National Institute of Anthropology, Cueva Huenul Locations: Patagonia, Argentina, Buenos Aires, South America, Cueva

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