World’s Oldest Stone Tools Were Made By Ape-Like Hominid 3.3 Million Years Ago
World’s Oldest Stone Tools Were Made By Ape-Like Hominid 3.3 Million Years Ago In the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, an ape-like hominin is depicted as the inventor of the first-ever primitive tool, changing the course of human history forever. Half a century after the film’s release, scientists confirmed that the …
A 1,000-year-old wall in Peru was built to protect against El Niño floods, research suggests
A 1,000-year-old wall in Peru was built to protect against El Niño floods, research suggests An ancient desert wall in northern Peru was built to protect precious farmlands and canals from the ravages of El Niño floods, according to new research. Many archaeologists had suggested that the wall, known as the Muralla La Cumbre and …
This 5,500-Year-Old Sumerian Star Map Recorded the Impact of a Mᴀssive Asteroid
This 5,500-Year-Old Sumerian Star Map Recorded the Impact of a Mᴀssive Asteroid An ancient Sumerian astronomer recorded on the clay tablet the events he observed on 29 June 3123 BC. An ancient clay tablet housed at the British Museum has puzzled experts for more than 150 years. The Cuneiform tablet in the British Museum collection …
New suspect in the greatest act of vandalism in the history of dinosaur study
New suspect in the greatest act of vandalism in the history of dinosaur study Researchers from the University of Bristol are rewriting the history of paleontology’s darkest and most bizarre event. Vandals with sledgehammers destroyed skeletons and models intended for display in New York’s first dinosaur museum before it was even finished in 1871. For …
First records of human kissing may date back 1,000 years earlier than estimated
First records of human kissing may date back 1,000 years earlier than estimated Humanity’s earliest record of kissing dates back about 4,500 years in the ancient Middle East, 1,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to researchers. Scientists have highlighted evidence that suggests kissing was practised in some of the earliest Mesopotamian societies and documented …
3-D Digital Model of RMS тιтanic Created
3-D Digital Model of RMS тιтanic Created The first ever full-scale digital scan of the тιтanic has revealed the world’s most famous shipwreck in “astonishing,” never-before-seen detail. Caked in mud and surrounded by pitch-black water, the corroded wreck of the тιтanic was scanned by submersibles using deep-sea mapping to create “an exact ‘digital twin’” that …
DNA from a 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant reveals the woman who wore it
DNA from a 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant reveals the woman who wore it A pendant made of a deer tooth that was exposed to DNA about 20,000 years ago has yielded clues about the ancient woman who wore it. The tooth, which was worn as a necklace bead, most likely absorbed DNA from the person’s sweat …
An Unlikely Source of Prehistoric Food Identified
An Unlikely Source of Prehistoric Food Identified Early human foragers may have relied on eating the partially digested vegetable matter, called digesta, found in the stomachs and digestive tracts of bison and other large game herbivores. But foraging hypotheses and models do not include this important source of calories and carbohydrates, according to a University …
Hidden Ptolemy text, printed beneath a Latin manuscript, deciphered after 200 years
Hidden Ptolemy text, printed beneath a Latin manuscript, deciphered after 200 years Researchers have deciphered an ancient manuscript that they think Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian mathematician and astronomer of Greek descent, penned during the first century A.D. Written in Greek on parchment, the text was originally discovered in 1819 by Angelo Mai, a Roman Catholic …
Drug Use Detected in Hair Found in Mediterranean Island Cave
Drug Use Detected in Hair Found in Mediterranean Island Cave Human hair recovered in a Mediterranean island cave has yielded Europe’s oldest direct evidence of people taking hallucinogenic drugs, researchers say. By around 3,000 years ago, visitors at Es Càrritx cave on Menorca — perhaps shamans who performed spiritual and healing rituals — consumed plants …