Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 24, 2024

Archaeology, the science of unearthing and interpreting humanity’s ancient past, is entering a transformative era. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Faculty of Arts have unveiled an innovative approach, combining Mixed Reality (MR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies with excavation practices.

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Anthropology.net

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Recent groundbreaking research in Antiquity 1 has revolutionized the understanding of ancient Maya civilization. Utilizing cutting-edge lidar technology, researchers from Tulane University and Northern Arizona University have uncovered more than 6,500 structures hidden beneath the dense forests of Campeche, Mexico.

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Anthropology.net

APRIL 30, 2025

For decades, they were thought to be remnants of an earlier, Ice Age aesthetic, part of a vast visual tradition called the Irregular Infill Animal Period (IIAP). This recognition emerged from the Kimberley Visions project, a sweeping survey of over 1,100 archaeological sites across the Drysdale and King George River catchments.

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Anthropology.net

DECEMBER 19, 2024

But recent archaeological findings reveal that even domestic livestock were transformed to project power and control. Credit: Journal of Archaeological Science (2024). ” How Horn Modification Was Achieved Using advanced analysis, the researchers determined that the horn deformations were not natural. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106104

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Anthropology for Beginners

DECEMBER 20, 2023

style='mso-element:field-begin'> TOC o "1-4" h z u Archaeology of power and identity: the political use of the discipline. style='mso-element:field-begin'> TOC o "1-4" h z u Archaeology of power and identity: the political use of the discipline.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 14, 2025

By analyzing genetic divergences in early Homo sapiens populations, researchers argue that the biological capacity for language must have been present at least 135,000 years ago. The researchers propose that language might have played a key role. Fossils do not speak, and ancient DNA does not carry recordings of conversations.

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Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

These stones, excavated by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reveal early examples of rotational tools, predating the invention of the wheel by thousands of years. Instead, the researchers hypothesize that these perforated stones were spindle whorls, early tools used for hand-spinning yarn.

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Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

The vibrant shades offered by ochre became instrumental in creating artwork that spanned the boundaries of the Stone Age, preserving a tradition that endures in many modern cultures worldwide. The Archaeological Process: Tracing Ochre’s Journey The analysis at Lion Cavern involved 173 ochre samples from 15 different sites across Africa.

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Teaching Anthropology

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

The SWP field school offers UTM students the opportunity to be trained in archaeological excavation within their campus grounds. Teaching prompted us to reassess our skills and rediscover the motivations that led us to pursue archaeology originally.

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Anthropology.net

JANUARY 17, 2025

. “Melka Wakena’s unique high-altitude setting offers valuable insights into how early humans adapted to challenging environments,” the researchers wrote. Stone Selection as a Window into Hominin Cognition The researchers aimed to understand how early Acheulian toolmakers selected stones for their tools.

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

A new study published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology 1 has upended this assumption. By directly comparing the stone tools (lithics) of these two cultures for the first time, researchers have found no meaningful technological connection between them. But do they? The results were striking. 3) Semi-tournant core. (4)

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Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

High in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan, the Soii Havzak rock-shelter has provided researchers with an invaluable glimpse into early human migration routes and daily life in Central Asia. Discovered 1 only recently, this rock-shelter sits 40 meters above a tributary of the Zeravshan River, approximately 10 kilometers north of Panjakent.

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Anthropology.net

MAY 7, 2025

” By comparing flint artifacts from over 20 archaeological sites with geological samples from the Pyrenean flint formations, researchers mapped not only where humans traveled—but what they valued. They brought traditions. Related Research Féblot-Augustins, J. ” Not all flint circulated equally.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 25, 2025

These tools, characterized by a prepared-core technique that allowed for precise flake removal, have long been studied using traditional measurements. This new study offers a different lens: analyzing the entire three-dimensional structure of the core to assess how shape is controlled across different regions and tradition.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 18, 2025

13075 The research, published in Archaeometry 1 , suggests that before the first intentional toolmakers, hominins may have relied on "naturaliths"—sharp rock fragments created by natural geological or biological processes. These specimens and additional specimens can also be seen in figures S1-S28. Image by Michelle R. Bebber, Metin I.

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Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 23, 2024

The find also highlights the importance of interdisciplinary archaeological work. Using carbon-14 dating, the research team confirmed the age of the tomb, artifacts, and writing, providing robust evidence for the early development of alphabetic systems. What Was the Purpose of the Cylinders?

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Anthropology.net

MAY 2, 2025

“The archaeological record here was practically a blank page,” noted Seyyed Milad Hashemi of Tarbiat Modares University, the project’s lead researcher. Covering an area of nearly 900 square kilometers, researchers identified eight Paleolithic landscapes, most clustered on ancient alluvial fans and old river terraces.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 27, 2025

​ a) Location of early metallurgical activities in Anatolia and Gre Fılla archaeological site. Among the architectural remnants and everyday artifacts, researchers have uncovered compelling evidence of early copper use and production.​ b) The context where the vitrified material (GRE-VRF) was found. c) Chisel axe.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 26, 2025

New research by Lorena Becerra-Valdivia, published in Nature Communications 1 , suggests that humans did not simply follow stable climates but adapted to fluctuating conditions, sometimes settling in areas experiencing severe cold. Although a single lithic tradition/category is assigned to each site, some contain more than one (e.g.,

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

2025 The study, published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 1 , examined 26 iron objects from burial sites at Częstochowa-Raków and Częstochowa-Mirów. The researchers propose that the meteoritic iron used in these artifacts likely came from a locally observed meteorite fall. Credit: Jambon et al.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 5, 2025

Researchers have uncovered a collection of systematically shaped bone tools at Olduvai Gorge, dating back to 1.5 Bone tools found in Olduvai, photographed in the Pleistocene Archaeology Lab of CSIC. Bone tools found in Olduvai, photographed in the Pleistocene Archaeology Lab of CSIC.

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Anthropology.net

JANUARY 19, 2025

It serves as a critical archaeological site for understanding the transition from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic agriculturalists. This approach minimizes ambiguities, allowing researchers to distinguish between protein sources with remarkable precision.

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Anthropology.net

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Insights from 130,000 Years of Climate and Human Impact The study tracked vegetation changes in southeastern Australia over the past 130,000 years, analyzing fossil pollen and archaeological data to determine how climate and human land use shaped the region’s ecology.

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Anthropology.net

APRIL 14, 2025

A sweeping archaeological analysis 1 led by Gary Feinman of the Field Museum of Natural History offers a strikingly different view. “The idea that big populations or new technologies automatically lead to widening inequality simply doesn’t hold up in the archaeological record.” Bogaard, A., Feinman, G. Peterson, C.

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

One such discovery has emerged from the archaeological site of Jebel Faya, a rock shelter nestled in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Credit: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2025). These artifacts stand out for their sophistication, demonstrating a clear departure from earlier Middle Paleolithic traditions.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 10, 2025

Unlike many other archaeological sites that have been repeatedly excavated over decades, this cave has only recently been investigated systematically. As researchers continue to study the material from Grotta della Lea, the site promises to deepen our understanding of the people who thrived in Europe’s last great Ice Age.

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Sapiens

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

In fact, it is because of the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni people, and the Pai Tribes, that archaeological sites exist in the Grand Canyon. It is also because of the Hopi and Pueblo people that archaeological sites exist within Chaco Canyon. CC What is the traditional origin history of the Hopi people?

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Anthropology.net

APRIL 23, 2025

A Quiet Revolution in Clay In the archaeological record of East and Central Asia, the earliest ceramics are often associated with the late Upper Paleolithic to Mesolithic transition—typically tied to slow-burning hearths, storage pits, and seasonal camps. Related Research and Further Reading Kuzmin, Y. link] Kuzmin, Y.

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

The research, published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 1 , presents compelling micro-archaeological evidence that fire was not just a survival tool but a defining cultural trait of the Gravettian tradition. However, Fuente del Salín offers a different perspective.

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Anthropology.net

MAY 2, 2025

Rethinking the Archaeology of Contact For decades, the presence or absence of European trade goods—glass beads, iron knives, brass kettles—has guided archaeologists in determining whether a North American Indigenous site was occupied before or after European contact. If European objects were found, the site was “historic.”

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Anthropology.net

APRIL 2, 2025

The discovery of a sophisticated stone tool tradition in southern China is now forcing a major reassessment of that assumption. Credit: Ben Marwick At Longtan, researchers uncovered 53 Quina scrapers and 14 cores—blocks of stone from which scrapers were struck. Could they have developed or adopted Quina technology?

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

The Genetic Footprint of the Huns The study focused on 35 newly sequenced genomes from key archaeological sites, including a 3rd–4th century site in Kazakhstan and 5th–6th century burial contexts in the Carpathian Basin. These individuals stood out as genetic outliers in the region, hinting at direct steppe connections.

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Anthropology.net

APRIL 29, 2025

While the southern lowlands began to host reindeer hunters and mobile foragers, the highlands and islands of Scotland remained largely uncharted in the archaeological record. Evidence has trickled in from sites in Yorkshire and Kent, but Skye, until now, was off the archaeological map. Suggested Related Research Grimm, S.

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Anthropology.net

MARCH 10, 2025

In a new paper published in Advances in Archaeological Practice 1 , Ward and his colleagues are calling for museums to take a more ethical, culturally informed approach to caring for the bones of animals, particularly those tied to Indigenous traditions. Are they places where we treat archaeological objects as inanimate things?

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Anthropology.net

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

A recent study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 1 takes a significant step toward answering these questions. The Engraved Stones of the Levant The researchers focused on five artifacts from four archaeological sites: Manot Cave, Amud Cave, Qafzeh Cave, and Quneitra. Did Neanderthals create them?

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Sapiens

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

The Wajãpi had invited me to map archaeological sites in their territory. The Wajãpi already knew of my “archaeological finds”—the footsteps of Creator Hero from the beginning of time. What could my archaeological knowledge possibly offer to such a vast cosmological wisdom? I was excited.

Archaeology 120

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Teaching Anthropology

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

The SWP field school offers UTM students the opportunity to be trained in archaeological excavation within their campus grounds. Teaching prompted us to reassess our skills and rediscover the motivations that led us to pursue archaeology originally.

Archaeology 130

Archaeology Teaching Artifacts Anthropology 130