#Neanderthals developed extraordinary technology for extraction of fat, vital nutrition from large mammal bones

'What makes Neumark-Nord so exceptional is the preservation of an entire landscape, not just a single site,’ notes Leiden-based author Prof. Wil Roebroeks. ‘We see Neanderthals hunting and minimally butchering deer in one area, processing elephants intensively in another, and—as this study shows—rendering fat from hundreds of mammal skeletons in a centralized location. There’s even some evidence of plant use, which is rarely preserved. This broad range of behaviors in the same landscape gives us a much richer picture of their culture.’'

#Pleistocene #diet #archaeology

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025/07/neanderthals-ran-fat-factories-125000-years-ago

New research suggests ochre was used not just for symbolic purposes, but as a specialized tool during the Middle Stone Age in South Africa, c. 80,000 years ago (University of Bergen). #archaeology #science #palaeolithic
https://www.uib.no/en/sapience/178780/shaping-past-ochre-tool-early-human-innovation

🥵 Not another heat record …

🌍 Scientific models can predict how #climate is developing, but what about society?

🏺 Drawing on insights from the past, the #archaeology of #ClimateChange can offer perspectives for the future:

A. Burke et al. in Nat Commun 16, 2025: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60450-9

The Temple of Palaspata, recently discovered in the Bolivian Andes, is associated with the Tiwanaku civilisation (Pennsylvania State University). #archaeology #temple #tiwanaku
https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/ancient-temple-ruins-discovered-andes-shed-light-lost-society

A tool for archaeological data analysis based on automatic data extraction from drawings and photographs (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz). #archaeology #science #dataanalysis
https://press.uni-mainz.de/archaeology-in-the-age-of-big-data/

Systematic analysis of stamped bricks used in Trier (ancient Treveris), including archaeometric studies for chemical composition of the clay, applied to reconstruct the historical development of the city in Late Antiquity (Goethe University, Frankfurt). #archaeology #science #archaeometry #Trier
https://aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de/english/building-material-for-an-ancient-metropolis/

Vier jaar lang bestudeerde Vicky Beckers houten plakjes onder de microscoop. Zo bracht ze de anatomie van 2 plantenfamilies in kaart. Haar onderzoek helpt om houtsoorten te herkennen. Dat is handig voor de houthandel én de archeologie.

For four years, Vicky Beckers examined slices of wood under a microscope, mapping the anatomy of 2 plant families. Her research helps identify different wood species, benefiting both the timber trade and archaeology.
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025/03/unveiling-the-hidden-world-of-wood
#biology #archaeology

Research based on genomic evidence suggests that human language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago, when the first groups of Homo sapiens began to move apart geographically and genetic variations developed (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). #archaeology #genetics #language https://news.mit.edu/2025/when-did-human-language-emerge-0314

Analysis of LiDAR-generated data suggests that the Zapotec site of Guiengola in Mexico was indeed a fortified city, the research mapped the size and layout of the structures and inferred their use based on artefacts associated with them (McGill University). #archaeology #science #lidar #zapotec https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/remote-sensing-tools-yield-insights-abandoned-pre-columbian-mexican-city-362490

Research by Leiden archaeologists and international colleagues identified starch grains preserved on basalt percussive tools found at an early Middle Pleistocene (c. 780,000 years ago) site in Israel. #archaeology #science #prehistory https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025/01/leiden-archaeologists-uncover-earliest-evidence-of-plant-food-processing

Top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2024 according to Archaeology Magazine: the making of a Moche queen (Peru), reindeer hunter's wall (Baltic Sea), Aswan's great necropolis (Egypt), artists of Dinosaur Valley (Brazil), origins of the Scythians (Siberia), a war hero's grave (Italy), grim evidence from the Artic (Canada), a golden shaman (Panama), unmasking a Maya dynasty (Guatemala), enduring Ice Age ritual (Australia). #archaeology #discoveries
https://archaeology.org/collection/top-10-discoveries-of-2024/

Assessing the quality of citizen science in archaeological remote sensing: results from the Heritage Quest project in the Netherlands
#archaeology #remotesensing #citizenscience #culturalheritage https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/assessing-the-quality-of-citizen-science-in-archaeological-remote-sensing-results-from-the-heritage-quest-project-in-the-netherlands/AD514BA3713EFC518038EC9232C3B5AD

Environmental preferences of hominins over time based on archeological findings, landscape topographic data and model simulations of the climate and biomes (Science Advances). #archaeology #ecology #paleoanthropology https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq3613

Early encounters between Europeans and Indigenous North Americans: ancient walrus DNA analysis traces potential trade routes of ivory artefacts between Norse Vikings and indigenous peoples of Greenland’s High Arctic (Lund University). #archaeology #science #ancientDNA https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/early-interactions-between-europeans-and-indigenous-north-americans-revealed

@angusm Now I understand why orcas are also called killer whales...

A new study on the sophisticated techniques used to build Menga, a Neolithic dolmen in Spain (c. 3800 to 3600 BC). Science Advances. #geoarchaeology #science #neolithic #megaliths #engineering
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp1295

Associated research article:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304956

New evidence against the old "Clovis first” hypothesis? According to this research, anthropic cut marks on bones of extinct megafauna from Argentina have been dated to the last glacial maximum, c. 21,000 years ago (Universidad Nacional de La Plata). #archaeology #science #southamerica
https://unlp.edu.ar/investiga/cienciaenaccion/cientificos-de-la-unlp-descubren-el-registro-de-presencia-humana-mas-antiguo-de-sudamerica-84923/

Research on the relationship between animal species selected for the manufacturing of bone artefacts in the Neolithic and their function through the application of archaeozoological, use-wear and palaeoproteomic analyses (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). #archaeology #science #neolithic #archaeozoology https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail/early-pyrenean-neolithic-groups-applied-species-selection-strategies-to-produce-bone-artefacts-1345830290613.html?detid=1345921175587

@ArchaeoIain Thank you for sharing this article on Paleolithic eyed needles, important to contextualise these more recent (and unusual) finds