Fossil and Archaeology News - August 2009 Archives

Tiny ancient shells point to earliest fashion trend (8/29/2009)

Shell beads unearthed from four sites in Morocco confirm early humans were consistently wearing and even trading symbolic jewelery as early as 80,000 years ago. These beads add to similar finds dating back as far as 110,000 in Algeria, Morocco, Israel and South Africa, confirming these as the oldest form of personal ornaments. Together these shells -- all from the Nassarius genus -- indicate a shared tradition passed along through cultures over thousands of years. ...> Full Article

Iridescence found in 40-million-year-old fossil bird feather (8/27/2009)

Known for their wide variety of vibrant plumage, birds have evolved various chemical and physical mechanisms to produce these beautiful colors over millions of years. ...> Full Article

Archaeologist discovers stone tools, rare animal bones - clues to Caribbean's earliest inhabitants (8/21/2009)

A prehistoric water-filled cave in the Dominican Republic has become a "treasure trove" with the announcement by Indiana University archaeologists of the discovery of stone tools, a primate skull, and the claws, jawbone and other bones of several species of sloths. This rare find is expected to offer insight into both the earliest inhabitants of the Greater Antilles and an issue of worldwide concern -- the extinction of native birds and animals when humans arrive. ...> Full Article

Computers unlock more secrets of the mysterious Indus Valley script (8/19/2009)

A statistical analysis reveals distinct patterns in ancient Indus symbols, and creates a hypothetical model for the unknown language. ...> Full Article

Archaeologists find cache of tablets in 2,700-year-old Turkish temple (8/18/2009)

Excavations led by a University of Toronto archaeologist at the site of a recently discovered temple in southeastern Turkey have uncovered a cache of cuneiform tablets dating back to the Iron Age period between 1200 and 600 BCE. Found in the temple's cella, or "holy of holies," the tablets are part of a possible archive that may provide insights into Assyrian imperial aspirations. ...> Full Article

Early modern humans use fire to engineer tools from stone (8/17/2009)

Discovery places complex cognition at 72,000 years ago, and perhaps far earlier ...> Full Article

Diet, population size and the spread of modern humans into Europe (8/16/2009)

Stable isotope data published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, and Michael Richards of the University of British Columbia and the Max Planck Institute, suggests that at least some of the European early modern humans consistently consumed fish, supplementing their diet of terrestrial animals. ...> Full Article

London's earliest timber structure found during Belmarsh prison dig (8/15/2009)

London's oldest timber structure has been unearthed by archaeologists from Archaeology South-East (part of the Institute of Archaeology at UCL). It was found during the excavation of a prehistoric peat bog adjacent to Belmarsh Prison in Plumstead, Greenwich, in advance of the construction of a new prison building. Radiocarbon dating has shown the structure to be nearly 6,000 years old and it predates Stonehenge by more than 500 years. ...> Full Article

Early human hunters had fewer meat-sharing rituals (8/14/2009)

University of Arizona anthropologist Mary Stiner has discovered that early stone-age hunters at Qesem Cave were skilled big game predators but shared their meat informally. ...> Full Article

Bipedal humans came down from the trees, not up from the ground (8/13/2009)

Knuckle-walking evolved at 2 different times ...> Full Article

Chicken-hearted tyrants (8/11/2009)

It will break every pre-schooler's heart: Tyrannosaurus rex and other predatory dinosaurs might not have been fearless hunters after all. Based on fossil evidence researchers at LMU Munich propose that the large carnivores hunted mainly juvenile dinosaurs instead of giant herbivorous adults. ...> Full Article

Extinction runs in the family (8/7/2009)

Efforts to preserve evolutionary history should focus on the most vulnerable lineages ...> Full Article

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique (8/6/2009)

Early relatives of spiders that lived around 300 million years ago are revealed in new 3-D models, in research published today in the journal Biology Letters ...> Full Article

'Desert Sharks' Released In Paperback (8/5/2009)

Did great white sharks evolve from makos or the mighty C. megalodon? How do researchers trace the great white's evolutionary path? Author takes readers on a search of Peruvian mountains too find the answers. ...> Full Article