Previous efforts to link Palaeolithic cultural records to specific populations through DNA analysis have focused on materials from archaeological floor deposits such as bones, sediments, and artefacts. In this study, we explore whether rock art, a spatially distinct expression of human activity, can also preserve DNA traces from its creators. We analyse DNA preservation in pigment samples collected in and around 24 rock art panels from 11 caves across Spain and Portugal, including simple marks (from nine sites), hand stencils (Maltravieso Cave, Extremadura, Spain), and figurative paintings (Cave of Altamira, Cantabria, Spain). We recover traces of ancient human mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, unaccompanied by faunal DNA, from a pigmented calcite crust at Escoural Cave (Portugal), as well as from an unpigmented cave wall sample from the same site. The absence of faunal DNA in both samples suggests direct DNA deposition through human contact. In contrast, three additional unpigmented samples, from Escoural and Covarón Cave (Asturias, Spain), yielded mixtures of human and faunal DNA, suggesting indirect deposition. Although our results do not conclusively link ancient human DNA preservation to the generation of cave art, we show that traces of human DNA can persist on cave walls for thousands of years.
New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)
Tracing the earliest evidence of burning in archaeological contexts is essential for understanding the emergence of fire use—an innovation that underpinned critical behavioral and biological developments in the genus Homo. However, identifying unambiguous traces of early fire use remains challenging. To enhance detection of incipient burning in early occupation layers, we introduce a rapid, non-invasive protocol based on bone luminescence properties, validated through comparison with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using these methods, we provide evidence for fire use in two Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), extending the chronology of one of the world’s earliest paleo-fire records. This combined approach improves the resolution with which early fire use can be identified and opens new avenues for investigating the emergence of pyrotechnology in deep time.
Makapansgat pebble
The Makapansgat pebble or Makapansgat cobble is a carved jasper pebble with clear markings of a crude rendition of a human face, in fact at least two possible faces. The stone's chemical makeup prevents natural weathering effects to render both blastomic metapmorphis and shape erosion at the time of formation, even if all surfaces were polished naturally afterwards which indicates the requirement for foreign biological intervention. Some scholars argue that it is the oldest known manuport, though it should be noted that original interpretations of the stone were taken from the perspective that no "man-like creature" could have been intelligent or expressed art because they were not white.Raymond A. Dart, the original discoverer of the pebble, was later credited with providing the scientific racism that formed the basis for Apartheid.
The Spanish village that wants outdoor chats to be granted World Heritage status
Algar in southern Spain is seeking UNESCO recognition for ‘charlas al fresco’ in a bid to revive the declining tradition
Governance Archaeology: Research as Ancestry
Abstract. This essay presents the idea of governance archaeology, an approach to learning from the past to inform the politics of the future. By reporting on a prototype historical database, we outline a strategy for co-producing a global commons of collective governance practices that can inspire institutional learning and experimentation, particularly in the face of rapid technological change and vexing global crises. Embedded in our approach is an orientation of ancestry whereby practitioners cultivate relationships of accountability and responsibility to the legacies they learn from, recognizing the harm from past patterns of exploitation. By taking seriously a wide range of historical governance practices, particularly those outside the Western canon, governance archaeology seeks to expand the options available for the design of more moral political economies.
Anthropeum
A daily game that challenges our understanding of human cultures. Ten objects. 5,000 years of human history. Guess where and when each artifact was made. See how you rank.
Egyptian blue is the oldest artificially produced pigment known to Man. It was in use since about 3100 BC in ancient Egypt, India, Greece and Rome.
Egyptian blue is the oldest artificially produced pigment known to Man. It was in use since about 3100 BC in ancient Egypt, India, Greece and Rome.
Chronology and ecology of early islanders in the Philippines: The Mindoro Archaeology Project
The investigation and excavation of caves and rockshelters located at the southern end of Occidental Mindoro produced significant artefacts, data, and information related to the initial arrival and colonization of the Philippine archipelago by anatomically modern humans. The sites provided several indications for the increasing adaptation to maritime environments and delivered evidence for their behavioural and technological complexity. Mindoro lies along a direct route to reach the main islands of the Philippines coming from the Asian mainland via Borneo and Palawan. Since 2010, surveys conducted in the karstic regions of Ilin Island and Sta. Teresa, Magsaysay have mapped and explored over 40 caves and rockshelters. Particularly the sites of Bubog 1, Bubog 2, Cansubong 2 Cave, and Bilat Cave, have delivered cultural and biological materials that chronicle human habitation and adaptation to maritime and coastal environments over a period of 35–40,000 years. Early islanders in the region intensively foraged for molluscs and other marine invertebrates along the coast, employed different techniques to catch a variety of reef and pelagic fish as well as terrestrial animals, and were embedded in maritime networks with access to transfer routes, through which technology, information, and ideologies were disseminated over long distances and across Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and possibly also reaching the Southeast Asian mainland. The results of the archaeological research in Mindoro contribute to our understanding of the processes of human island adaptation, complement ongoing research on the peopling of Southeast Asia, and enhance current knowledge of prehistoric subsistence strategies across the region.
Termite Ecology in the First Two Decades of the 21st Century: A Review of Reviews
Termite ecology came of age in 1978 with the seminal review of Wood and Sands which by considering the quantitative contributions made by termites to the carbon cycle at the landscape level concluded that they were major players in tropical ecosystems. Subsequent field work in the succeeding two decades was summarised in 2000 by Bignell and Eggleton, the most recent review which attempted to cover the entire topic in detail, which included 188 listed references and has been extensively cited for almost 20 years. Subsequent summaries more narrowly defined or in some cases more superficial are listed in the bibliography. In this overview, the main and subsidiary headings in Bignell and Eggleton are revisited and reclassified in the light of 186 selected articles added to the relevant literature since 2000, and some earlier work. While the literature on termite ecology remains buoyant, it has declined relative to publications on other aspects of termite biology. Overall, the thesis that termites have a major impact on, and are major indicators of soil health and landscape integrity in the tropics and sub-tropics is maintained, but the drivers of local diversity, abundance and biomass remain complex, with many biographical, edaphic and optimum sampling issues not completely resolved. The large increase in diversity and abundance data from Neotropical biomes can also be noted.
The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter
How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosperHumans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations.Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory.Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.
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Links between the discovery of primates and anatomical comparisons with humans, the chain of being, our place in nature, and racism
- For more than a millennium humans knew more about the internal anatomy of a single monkey species than about that of their own bodies, because Galen used monkeys to infer human anatomy, in line wit...
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Professional genealogical tools for Obsidian. Interactive family charts, geographic maps, PDF reports, GEDCOM/Gramps import-export, evidence tracking, and fictional calendar support. Built for gene...
Ancient lost city discovered beneath Egypt's desert
A remarkably well preserved 1,600-year-old city complete with a church, watchtowers and bustling streets has been unearthed beneath Egypt's Western Desert.
