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ShovelBums Fee Change Effective April 5th 2011

After consulting with the users of ShovelBums I am implementing a fee change effective April 5th 2011 as detailed in this message to the 15,000+ member of ShovelBums.  The new fee for posting a job will be $100 per job advertistement/job class (this is 1/4 the price of an advertisement on Monster.com).  For example:

  • If you advertise for 20 Archaeology Field Technicians the fee is $100
  • If you advertise for 20 Archaeology Field Technicians and 3 Crew Chiefs, and 1 Principal Investigator the fee is $300.
  • "Cattle Calls" (i.e. an add that reads like "We need a bunch of field people for a lot of projects in several states this summer") will be billed on a case by case basis
    • Note: It is much better for you and the members to have a clear subject to your message detailing what positions you have available.  You won't be charged anything extra for splitting your advertisement into multiple postings and it makes it easier for your intended audience to see what you want AND to share your add with their personal network.

Best,

R. Joe

 

 

 
 
Archaeology Field Schools 2012

The 2012 Archaeology/Anthropology Field School Directory is now open for entries!  You can include up to 10 images plus an icon and logo with your entry.  I will be sending out updated versions of the Archaeology/Anthropology Field School Directory twice month to the 15,000 members of ShovelBums. The DEADLINE for entry in the 1st edition is January 31.

 

There is a $25 fee for listing field schools (some have suggested I raise it to $50, but I will hold it at $25 for 2011).  But here is the deal: If you are from a project/institution that is strapped for cash go ahead and submit your field school and then drop me a note and we can work something out.  While I need to make a living, it is more important for the students to know about your field school opportunity.  Bad business model, but good for the students, and the students are what it is all about.

Best,

R. Joe
 
About ShovelBums

ShovelBums is a community driven freely accessible employment service owned and operated by R. Joe Brandon. ShovelBums currently has over 15,000 members and is the fastest way for employers to reach their potential target audience.
 
How (and why) to submit your Archaeology, Anthropology or Cultural Resource Management job to ShovelBums (Hint: Because it works!)

When you submit an Archaeology or Anthropology teaching position or Cultural Resource Management job to ShovelBums you reach over 15,000 professional archaeologists immediately! It is easy (well kind of), read on:  Also read on for important information about the fees (below) for posting on ShovelBums.

Short Version:

What you need to do first is Join the ShovelBums mailing list.  To prevent spam to the list members only members are able to post.  It is important to note that the mailing list is maintained on a different website than ShovelBums.org (where you are right now). This means that when you register here, on ShovelBums.org you are not registered to send a job advertisement out.  For your security I use YahooGroups to host the mailing list, trust me, this is a good thing.

 
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Current Archaeology News

  • Following genetic footprints out of Africa: First modern humans settled in Arabia
    A new study, using genetic analysis to look for clues about human migration over sixty thousand years ago, suggests that the first modern humans settled in Arabia on their way from the Horn of Africa to the rest of the world.
  • Ancient domesticated dog skull found in Siberian cave: 33,000 years old
    A 33,000-year-old dog skull unearthed in a Siberian mountain cave presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and indicates that modern dogs may be descended from multiple ancestors, with advancing glaciers thwarting early domestication efforts.
  • In ancient Pompeii, trash and tombs went hand in hand
    Trash and tombs went hand in hand in ancient Pompeii. That's according to research that provides new insights into daily life of that city before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.
  • Scientists crack medieval bone code
    The existence of brucellosis, an infectious disease still prevalent today, has now been confirmed in ancient skeletal remains.
  • Skeletons point to Columbus voyage for syphilis origins
    Skeletal evidence that reputedly showed signs of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his voyage in 1492 does not hold up when subjected to standardized analyses for diagnosis and dating, according to a new appraisal. This is the first time that all 54 previously published cases have been evaluated systematically, and bolsters the case that syphilis came from the New World.
  • Divers retrieve prehistoric wood from Lake Huron
    Under the cold clear waters of Lake Huron, researchers have found a five-and-a-half foot-long, pole-shaped piece of wood that is 8,900 years old. The wood, which is tapered and beveled on one side in a way that looks deliberate, may provide important clues to a mysterious period in North American prehistory.
  • Disappearance of the elephant caused rise of modern humans: Dietary change led to modern humans...
    Scientists have connected evidence about diet with other cultural and anatomical clues to conclude that the disappearance of the elephants led to the emergence of Homo sapiens in the Middle East much earlier than first suspected. The findings set the stage for a new, revolutionary understanding of human history.
  • Ancient meat-loving predators survived for 35 million years
    A species of ancient predator with saw-like teeth, sleek bodies and a voracious appetite for meat survived a major extinction at a time when the distant relatives of mammals ruled the earth.
  • Ancient dry spells offer clues about the future of drought
    As parts of Central America and the US Southwest endure some of the worst droughts to hit those areas in decades, scientists have unearthed new evidence about ancient dry spells that suggest the future could bring even more serious water shortages. Three researchers have presented new findings about the past and future of drought.
  • Ancient bronze artifact from East Asia unearthed at Alaska archaeology site
    Archeologists have discovered the first prehistoric bronze artifact made from a cast ever found in Alaska, a small, buckle-like object found in an ancient Eskimo dwelling and which likely originated in East Asia.
  • Ice Age paintings from the Swabian Jura, Southwestern Germany document the earliest painting tradition in...
    Recent excavations conducted by the University of Tübingen at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany have produced new evidence for the earliest painting tradition in Central Europe about 15,000 years ago.
  • Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses
    An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to shed new light on the realism of horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings. The team, which includes researchers from the University of York, has found that all the colour variations seen in Paleolithic cave paintings – including distinctive ‘leopard’ spotting - existed in pre-domestic horse populations, lending weight to the argument that the artists were reflecting their natural environment.
  • Castles in the desert: Satellites reveal lost cities of Libya
    Satellite imagery has uncovered new evidence of a lost civilization of the Sahara in Libya's south-western desert wastes that will help re-write the history of the country. The fall of Gaddafi has opened the way for archaeologists to explore the country's pre-Islamic heritage, so long ignored under his regime.
  • Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy
    An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital -- once in 1990 and again this year -- for some not-so-routine medical exams.
  • Helping unravel causes of Ice Age extinctions
    Did climate change or humans cause the extinctions of the large-bodied Ice Age mammals such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? Scientists have for years debated the reasons behind the Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammals in Eurasia and two thirds of the large mammals in North America.
  • Jawbone found in England is from the earliest known modern human in northwestern Europe
    A piece of jawbone excavated from a prehistoric cave in England is the earliest evidence for modern humans in Europe, according to an international science team. New dating of the bone, which shows that it is between 44,000 and 41,000 years old, is expected to help scientists pin down how quickly modern humans spread across Europe during the last Ice Age. It also helps to confirm the much-debated theory that early humans coexisted with Neanderthals.
  • Analysis reveals malaria, other diseases as ancient, adaptive and persistent foes
    One of the most comprehensive analyses yet done of the ancient history of insect-borne disease concludes for the first time that malaria is not only native to the New World, but it has been present long before humans existed and has evolved through birds and monkeys.
  • Computer scientist cracks mysterious 'Copiale Cipher'
    More than three centuries after it was devised, the 75,000-character "Copiale Cipher" has finally been broken. The mysterious cryptogram, bound in gold and green brocade paper, reveals the rituals and political leanings of a 18th-century secret society in Germany.
  • Viking buried with axe, sword and spear found with fully intact Viking boat burial in...
    The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Scottish Highlands. The 5m-long grave contained the remains of a high status Viking, who was buried with an axe, a sword with a beautifully decorated hilt, a spear, shield boss and bronze ring-pin.
  • First North American hunters 1,000 years earlier than previously thought, speared mastodon fossil shows
    A new and astonishing chapter has been added to North American prehistory in regards to the first hunters and their hunt for the now extinct giant mammoth-like creatures -- the mastodons. New research has shown that the hunt for large mammals occurred at least 1,000 years before previously assumed.
  • Face-to-face with an ancient human
    A reconstruction based on the skull of Norway’s best-preserved Stone Age skeleton makes it possible to study the features of a boy who lived outside Stavanger 7,500 years ago.
  • Ancient depiction of childbirth discovered at Etruscan site in Tuscany
    An archaeological excavation at Poggio Colla, the site of a 2,700-year-old Etruscan settlement in Italy's Mugello Valley, has turned up a surprising and unique find: two images of a woman giving birth to a child. Researchers who oversee the Poggio Colla excavation site some 20 miles northeast of Florence, discovered the images on a small fragment from a ceramic vessel that is more than 2,600 years old.
  • New evidence for the oldest oxygen-breathing life on land
    New research shows the first evidence that oxygen-breathing bacteria occupied and thrived on land 100 million years earlier than previously thought.
  • Archaeologists find blade 'production lines' existed as much as 400,000 years ago
    Archaeologists report that large numbers of long, slender cutting tools were discovered at the Qesem Cave outside Tel Aviv. They report that every element of the system points to a sophisticated tool "production line" to rival technologies used hundreds of thousands of years later.
  • Genetic study of cave millipedes reveals isolated populations and ancient divergence between species
    Cave millipedes of the genus Tetracion are found on the southern Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee and Alabama, USA. New genetic analyses show that their populations are generally isolated and genetically distinct. Genetic divergence between two species of Tetracion suggests they diverged several million years ago.
  • Documentary brings world's oldest underwater city back to life
    Movie industry computer graphics and the very latest digital marine technology have brought the world's oldest submerged city back to life in a new documentary. Just a few metres under the sea, off the southern coast of Greece, lies Pavlopetri -- the oldest submerged city in the world. A team of archaeologists has spent the last three years surveying the site which was first discovered in the late 1960's. This summer the city, which dates back over 5,000 years, became the first underwater city to be fully digitally mapped and recorded creating a highly detailed stone by stone plan in...
  • Ancient road found at Maya village buried by volcanic ash 1,400 years ago
    A research team excavating a Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has unexpectedly hit an ancient white road that appears to lead to and from the town, which was frozen in time by a blanket of ash.
  • Excavation of islands around Britain to establish origins of Neolithic period
    Archaeologists are investigating three island groups around Britain to help understand why people changed from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to farming the land.
  • Aboriginal Australians: The first explorers
    In an exciting development, researchers have, for the first time, pieced together the human genome from an Aboriginal Australian. The results re-interpret the prehistory of our species.
  • Asia was settled in multiple waves of migration, DNA study suggests
    Researchers studying DNA patterns from modern and archaic humans has found that the Denisovans, a recently discovered hominin group, contributed genes to several populations in Asia and that modern humans settled Asia in more than one migration.
  • Archaeologists uncover evidence of large ancient shipyard near Rome
    Archaeologists, excavating Portus - the ancient port of Rome, believe they have discovered a large Roman shipyard. The team has uncovered the remains of a massive building close to the distinctive hexagonal basin or 'harbor', at the center of the port complex.
  • Did the orientation of the continents hinder ancient settlement of the Americas?
    In an intriguing original look at the history of the first Americans, a new study finds evidence that the north-south orientation of the American continents slowed the spread of populations and technology, compared to the east-west axis of Eurasia.
  • Continents influenced ancient human migration, spread of technology
    New research pieces together ancient human migration in North and South America. Researchers have found that technology spread more slowly in the Americas than in Eurasia. Population groups in the Americas have less frequent exchanges than groups that fanned out over Europe and Asia.
  • Seaside fortress was a final stronghold of early Islamic power
    Researchers have said that a Roman-influenced bath house at the fortress of Yavneh-Yam, located on a peninsula near present-day Tel Aviv, indicates that Arabic rulers maintained control of the site until the 12th century A.D. Military officers in the fortress, he suggests, were responsible for hostage negotiations between Arabic powers and Christian Crusaders, and the harbor itself was used for prisoner exchange.
  • Fossil discovery could be our oldest human ancestor
    Researchers have confirmed the age of possibly our oldest direct human ancestor at 1.98 million years old.
  • Fossil discovery supports evolutionary link between Australopiths and Homo
    Skeletal remains found in a South African cave may yield new clues to human development and answer key questions of the evolution of the human lineage, according to a new series of papers.
  • Black Death bacterium identified: Genetic analysis of medieval plague skeletons shows presence of Yersinia pestis...
    A team of German and Canadian scientists has shown that today's plague pathogen has been around at least 600 years. The Black Death claimed the lives of one-third of Europeans in just five years from 1348 to 1353. Until recently, it was not certain whether the bacterium Yersinia pestis -- known to cause the plague today -- was responsible for that most deadly outbreak of disease ever.
  • 2,000-year-old burial box could reveal location of the family of Caiaphas
    A professor in Israel has authenticated an inscription on an ancient ossuary thought to come from a burial site at the legendary location of the battle between David and Goliath. The unusually detailed inscription could reveal the home of the family of the high priest Caiaphas prior to its exodus to Galilee.
  • Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old lion adorning citadel gate complex in Turkey
    Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have unearthed the remains of a monumental gate complex adorned with stone sculptures, including a magnificently carved lion. The gate complex provided access to the citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 950-725 BCE), and is reminiscent of the citadel gate excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1911 at the royal Hittite city of Carchemish.
  • Earliest image of Egyptian ruler wearing 'white crown' of royalty brought to light
    The earliest known image of an Egyptian ruler wearing the "White Crown" associated with Egyptian dynastic power has been brought to light by archaeologists.
  • 'Amino acid time capsule': New way to date the past
    British scientists are using an 'amino acid time capsule' to date the Quaternary period, stretching back nearly three million years. It is the first widespread application of refinements of the 40-year-old technique of amino acid geochronology. The refined method measures the breakdown of a closed system of protein in fossil snail shells, and provides a method of dating archaeological and geological sites.
  • What is war good for? Sparking civilization, suggest archaeology findings from Peru
    Raiding, triggered by political conflict in the 5th century BC, likely shaped the development of the first settlement that would classify as a civilization in the Titicaca basin in southern Peru, suggests a new study.
  • Heavy metal hardens battle: Body armor hindered Medieval warriors
    The French may have had a better chance at the Battle of Agincourt had they not been weighed down by heavy body armor, say researchers. A new study shows that soldiers carrying armor in Medieval times would have been using more than twice the amount of energy had they not been wearing it. This is the first clear experimental evidence of the limitations of wearing Medieval armor on a soldier's performance.
  • Separated for 20 million years: Blind beetle from Bulgarian caves clarifies questions
    One of the smallest ever cave-dwelling ground beetles has recently been discovered in two caves in the Rhodopi Mountains, Bulgaria, and described under the name Paralovricia beroni. The beetle is completely blind and is only 1.8-2.2 mm long.
  • Best-preserved house from the period of the Kingdom of Israel is uncovered at Tel Shikmona
    Exceptional detective-archaeological work at the first season of archaeological digs at Tel Shikmona, on the southern edge of Israel's city of Haifa, has uncovered the remains of a house dating back to the period of the Kingdom of Israel. Upon re-exposing the structure, archaeologists were amazed to find that it had remained well preserved and is in fact one of the best-preserved "Four-Room House" dating back to that period known today.
  • Hidden lives of Baltimore's Irish immigrants unearthed for first time
    Archaeologists are unearthing a unique picture of early Irish immigrants in the Baltimore area -- of city children taught at home to read and write before widespread public education or child labor laws, and insular rural communities defying assimilation.
  • Ancient Mycenaean fortress uncovered
    New research in Cyprus reveals the remnants of a Late Bronze Age (1500-750 B.C.) fortress that may have functioned to protect an important urban economic center in the ancient world.
  • Dawn of agriculture took toll on health
    When populations around the globe started turning to agriculture around 10,000 years ago, regardless of their locations and type of crops, a similar trend occurred: the height and health of the people declined. The pattern holds up across standardized studies of whole skeletons in populations, say researchers in the first comprehensive, global review of the literature regarding stature and health during the agriculture transition.
  • Cave researchers explore stream-filled cavern at entrance to Jerusalem
    Researchers have conducted an initial survey of what appears to be an important, ancient water source in a cave that was been discovered during excavation work for a new train station being constructed at the entrance to Jerusalem.
  • Silver from the Americas may have entered the Spanish economy later than thought
    European metal dominated Spanish silver coinage up until the reign of Philippe III (1578-1621) and it was only in the 18th century that it was completely replaced by Mexican metal. Using mass spectrometry analyses, researchers have succeeded in determining the provenance of coinage circulating in Spain after 1492. These results call into question the hypothesis according to which the massive influx of metals from the New World was directly responsible for the inflation that occurred in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • Friday, February 3
    Archaeologists are uncovering the roots of the industrial revolution in Los Angeles, California, at the site of Chapman’s Mill and the San Gabriel Mission. The artifacts include a brass religious medallion, a nineteenth-century Spanish coin, local and imported pottery, beads, and plenty of food remains. More than 60,000 artifacts have been excavated from a backyard [...]
  • Thursday, February 2
    A Florida-based deep-sea salvage company has been ordered by the 11th U.S. circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to return nearly 600,000 gold and silver coins to Spain. The coins were recovered from the ocean’s floor off the coast of Spain in 2007. A large piece of a shipwreck washed ashore on a Lake Michigan beach. [...]
  • Wednesday, February 1
    Land mines that were probably buried by Japanese forces during a battle in Cebu Province have been discovered on one of the islands of the Philippines. Traces of an eighteenth-century plantation, including the foundations of the main house, a separate kitchen, outbuildings, slave quarters, outhouses, a cistern, and a well have been found in Danville, Virginia. [...]
  • Tuesday, January 31
    Germany has returned artifacts that were looted from Afghanistan’s National Museum  during the civil war of the early 1990s. Tens of thousands of artifacts are still missing. Last year, France returned 297 royal protocol books to Korea. Now, the National Museum of Korea has made some of them available to view online. Saxon coins and a [...]
  • Monday, January 30
    Germany has returned 45 artifacts to Iraq, including a 6,500-year-old Sumerian gold jar, a Sumerian battle ax, and a stone from an Assyrian palace. The artifacts had been stolen from Iraqi museums in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. A kiln has been uncovered at Mexico’s Atzompa Archaeology Site in Oaxaca. The kiln [...]
  • Friday, January 27
    Czech archaeologists have rediscovered a Meroe-period temple that had been lost to the desert sands of Sudan in the nineteenth century. Riddles written in the ancient Akkadian language have been translated from a copy of a 3,500-year-old clay tablet from southern Mesopotamia by Nathan Wasserman of Hebrew University, and Michael Streck of the Altorientalisches Institut at Universität [...]
  • Thursday, January 26
    “What modern people are doing with online social networks is what we’ve always done—not just before Facebook, but before agriculture,” said James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego. By studying the Hadza, who live as hunter gatherers in Tanzania, Fowler and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School found that social networks could have contributed [...]
  • Wednesday, January 25
    Underwater archaeologists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in Athens are using an autonomous diving robot to search for shipwrecks from the Age of the Minoans, more than 3,000 years ago. “Ships were the way that people communicated and moved about the ancient world. So if we can find [...]
  • Tuesday, January 24
    In Turkey, drought has revealed a large, 1,600-year-old harbor town that archaeologists are calling Bathonea. The port is located some 13 miles from the center of Istanbul. “The discoveries made are now shedding a completely new light to the wider urbanized area of Constantinopolis. A fantastic story begins to unveil,” commented Voker Heyd of the University [...]
  • Monday, January 23
    Italy has returned a sculpted head of Domitilla Minor, which was stolen from Sabratha in the 1960s, to Libya. A y-shaped Roman building has been discovered in eastern England, near the ancient town of Venta Icenorum. “It’s very unusual to find a building like this where you have no known parallels for it. What they were [...]

Current Anthropology News

  • Following genetic footprints out of Africa: First modern humans settled in Arabia
    A new study, using genetic analysis to look for clues about human migration over sixty thousand years ago, suggests that the first modern humans settled in Arabia on their way from the Horn of Africa to the rest of the world.
  • Dawn of social networks: Ancestors may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin based...
    Ancient humans may not have had the luxury of updating their Facebook status, but social networks were nevertheless an essential component of their lives, a new study suggests. The study's findings describe elements of social network structures that may have been present early in human history, suggesting how our ancestors may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin based on shared attributes, including the tendency to cooperate. According to the paper, social networks likely contributed to the evolution of cooperation.
  • Neanderthals and their contemporaries engineered stone tools, anthropologists discover
    New published research from anthropologists in the UK supports the long-held theory that early human ancestors across Africa, Western Asia and Europe engineered their stone tools. 
  • Ancient domesticated dog skull found in Siberian cave: 33,000 years old
    A 33,000-year-old dog skull unearthed in a Siberian mountain cave presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and indicates that modern dogs may be descended from multiple ancestors, with advancing glaciers thwarting early domestication efforts.
  • When it comes to accepting evolution, gut feelings trump facts
    For students to accept the theory of evolution, an intuitive "gut feeling" may be just as important as understanding the facts, according to a new study. In an analysis of the beliefs of biology teachers, researchers found that a quick intuitive notion of how right an idea feels was a powerful driver of whether or not students accepted evolution -- often trumping factors such as knowledge level or religion.
  • Ancient popcorn discovered in Peru
    People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new article.
  • Most recent European great ape discovered
    Based on a hominid molar, scientists from Germany, Bulgaria and France have documented that great apes survived in Europe in savannah-like landscapes until seven million years ago.
  • New insights into an ancient mechanism of mammalian evolution
    A team of geneticists and computational biologists have reveal how an ancient mechanism is involved in gene control and continues to drive genome evolution.
  • Evolution is written all over your face
    Why are the faces of primates so dramatically different from one another? Biologists serving as "evolutionary detectives" studied the faces of 129 adult male primates from Central and South America, and offer answers. These faces evolved over at least 24 million years.
  • First physical evidence of tobacco in Mayan container
    Anthropologists and other scientists have used ultra-modern chemical analysis technology to analyze ancient Mayan pottery for proof of tobacco use in the ancient culture. They discovered the first physical evidence of tobacco in a Mayan container. Their discovery represents new evidence on the ancient use of tobacco in the Mayan culture and a new method to understand the ancient roots of tobacco use in the Americas.
  • Early primate had transitional lemur-like grooming claw
    A new study examines the first extinct North American primate with a toe bone showing features associated with the presence of both nails and a grooming claw, indicating our primate ancestors may have traded their flat nails for raised claws for functional purposes, much like pop icons Adele and Lady Gaga are doing today in the name of fashion.
  • Simpler times: Did an earlier genetic molecule predate DNA and RNA?
    Scientists have described the Darwinian evolution of functional TNA molecules from a large pool of random sequences. This is the first case where such methods have been applied to molecules other than DNA and RNA, or very close structural analogues thereof. One of the researchers said "the most important finding to come from this work is that TNA can fold into complex shapes that can bind to a desired target with high affinity and specificity."
  • Evolution of complexity recreated using 'molecular time travel'
    Scientists have now demonstrated how just a few small, high-probability mutations increased the complexity of a molecular machine more than 800 million years ago. By biochemically resurrecting ancient genes and testing their functions in modern organisms, the researchers showed that a new component was incorporated into the machine due to selective losses of function rather than the sudden appearance of new capabilities.
  • In ancient Pompeii, trash and tombs went hand in hand
    Trash and tombs went hand in hand in ancient Pompeii. That's according to research that provides new insights into daily life of that city before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.
  • Scientists crack medieval bone code
    The existence of brucellosis, an infectious disease still prevalent today, has now been confirmed in ancient skeletal remains.
  • New theory emerges for where some fish became four-limbed creatures
    A small fish crawling on stumpy limbs from a shrinking desert pond is an icon of can-do spirit, emblematic of a leading theory for the evolutionary transition between fish and amphibians. This theorized image of such a drastic adaptation to changing environmental conditions, however, may, itself, be evolving into a new picture.
  • Cultural diversification also drives human evolution
    Changes in social structure and cultural practices can also contribute to human evolution, according to a new study.
  • Chinese fossils shed light on evolutionary origin of animals from single-cell ancestors
    Evidence of the single-celled ancestors of animals, dating from the interval in the Earth's history just before multicellular animals appeared, has been discovered in 570 million-year-old rocks from South China.
  • Skeletons point to Columbus voyage for syphilis origins
    Skeletal evidence that reputedly showed signs of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his voyage in 1492 does not hold up when subjected to standardized analyses for diagnosis and dating, according to a new appraisal. This is the first time that all 54 previously published cases have been evaluated systematically, and bolsters the case that syphilis came from the New World.
  • Breastfeeding saved babies in 19th century Montreal
    Breastfeeding increased infant survival rates in 19th -Century Montreal in two major ways, according to new research. Mother's milk protected vulnerable infants from food and water contaminated by fecal bacteria, while breastfeeding postponed the arrival of more siblings and that improved the health of mothers as well as their subsequent children.
  • Attic vases from Athens inspired Cypriote pottery
    Athenian pottery was exported to both east and west. In Cyprus the pottery was exported for about 300 years and it became a part of the Cypriots’ life. It also inspired the local potters and painters to create their own versions of the imagery and enrich them with local elements.
  • How has the human skull evolved?
    Genetically determined morphological integration directs the evolution of skull shape in humans, according to new research.
  • Human skull is highly integrated: Study sheds new light on evolutionary changes
    Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other.
  • Chinese scientists announce the first complete sequencing of Mongolian genome
    Chinese scientists have announced the first complete sequencing of Mongolian genome.
  • Mercury releases into the atmosphere from ancient to modern times
    In pursuit of riches and energy over the last 5,000 years, humans have released into the environment 385,000 tons of mercury, the source of numerous health concerns, according to a new study that challenges the idea that releases of the metal are on the decline.
  • Follow your nose: Compared to Neanderthals, modern humans have a better sense of smell
    High-tech medical imaging techniques were recently used to access internal structures of fossil human skulls. Researchers used sophisticated 3-D methods to quantify the shape of the basal brain as reflected in the morphology of the skeletal cranial base. Their findings reveal that the human temporal lobes, involved in language, memory and social functions as well as the olfactory bulbs are relatively larger in Homo sapiens than in Neanderthals.
  • Endangered orangutans offer a new evolutionary model for early humans
    Studying how the orangutans cope with a harsh environment may offer a glimpse into what early human ancestors faced, new research suggests.
  • Starving orangutans might help to better understand obesity and eating disorders in humans
    New research examining how endangered Indonesian orangutans – considered a close relative to humans -- survive during times of extreme food scarcity might help scientists better understand eating disorders and obesity in humans.
  • Divers retrieve prehistoric wood from Lake Huron
    Under the cold clear waters of Lake Huron, researchers have found a five-and-a-half foot-long, pole-shaped piece of wood that is 8,900 years old. The wood, which is tapered and beveled on one side in a way that looks deliberate, may provide important clues to a mysterious period in North American prehistory.
  • Earliest known bug-repellant plant bedding found at South African rock shelter
    Rare finds such as early ornaments, cave drawings and Middle Stone Age engravings are the subjects of a good deal of anthropological study and they provide clues. But in a new study, an international team of researchers report another find that could give additional insight. What's more, it could place the use of herbal medicines much earlier than previously known.
  • Disappearance of the elephant caused rise of modern humans: Dietary change led to modern humans...
    Scientists have connected evidence about diet with other cultural and anatomical clues to conclude that the disappearance of the elephants led to the emergence of Homo sapiens in the Middle East much earlier than first suspected. The findings set the stage for a new, revolutionary understanding of human history.
  • 77,000-year-old evidence for 'bedding' and use of medicinal plants uncovered at South African rock shelter
    An international team of researchers has discovered the earliest evidence for the intentional construction of plant "bedding." The 77,000-year-old evidence for preserved plant bedding and the use of insect-repelling plants was discovered in a rock shelter in South Africa.
  • Scientists unlock the mystery surrounding a tale of shaggy dogs
    Researchers have produced the first clear evidence that textiles made by the indigenous population of the Pacific coast of North America contained dog hair.
  • Human, artificial intelligence join forces to pinpoint fossil locations
    Traditionally, fossil-hunters often could only make educated guesses as to where fossils lie. The rest lay with chance. But thanks to a new software model, fossil-hunters' reliance on luck when finding fossils may be diminishing. Using artificial neural networks, researchers developed a computer model that can pinpoint productive fossil sites.
  • Soybean adoption came early by many cultures, archaeologists say
    Human domestication of soybeans is thought to have first occurred in central China some 3,000 years ago, but archaeologists now suggest that cultures in even earlier times and in other locations adopted the legume.
  • Fossil moths show their true colors
    The brightest hues in nature are produced by tiny patterns in, say, feathers or scales rather than pigments. These so-called "structural colors" are widespread, giving opals their fire, people their blue eyes, and peacocks their brilliant feathers. Now, a new study brings us closer to the origins of structural colors by reconstructing them in fossil moths that are 47 million years old.
  • Ancient bronze artifact from East Asia unearthed at Alaska archaeology site
    Archeologists have discovered the first prehistoric bronze artifact made from a cast ever found in Alaska, a small, buckle-like object found in an ancient Eskimo dwelling and which likely originated in East Asia.
  • Archeologists discover huge ancient Greek commercial area on island of Sicily
    The Greeks were not always in such dire financial straits as today. German archeologists have discovered a very large commercial area from the ancient Greek era during excavations on Sicily.
  • Evolution during human colonizations: Selective advantage of being there first
    The first individuals settling on new land are more successful at passing on their genes than those who did not migrate, according to new research.
  • Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy
    An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital -- once in 1990 and again this year -- for some not-so-routine medical exams.
  • Helping unravel causes of Ice Age extinctions
    Did climate change or humans cause the extinctions of the large-bodied Ice Age mammals such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? Scientists have for years debated the reasons behind the Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammals in Eurasia and two thirds of the large mammals in North America.
  • New evidence for the earliest modern humans in Europe
    The timing, process and archeology of the peopling of Europe by early modern humans have been actively debated for more than a century. Reassessment of the anatomy and dating of a fragmentary upper jaw with three teeth from Kent's Cavern in southern England has shed new light on these issues.
  • Jawbone found in England is from the earliest known modern human in northwestern Europe
    A piece of jawbone excavated from a prehistoric cave in England is the earliest evidence for modern humans in Europe, according to an international science team. New dating of the bone, which shows that it is between 44,000 and 41,000 years old, is expected to help scientists pin down how quickly modern humans spread across Europe during the last Ice Age. It also helps to confirm the much-debated theory that early humans coexisted with Neanderthals.
  • Analysis reveals malaria, other diseases as ancient, adaptive and persistent foes
    One of the most comprehensive analyses yet done of the ancient history of insect-borne disease concludes for the first time that malaria is not only native to the New World, but it has been present long before humans existed and has evolved through birds and monkeys.
  • Shared genes with Neanderthal relatives: Modern East Asians share genetic material with prehistoric Denisovans
    During human evolution our ancestors mated with Neanderthals, but also with other related hominids. Researchers have now shown that people in East Asia share genetic material with Denisovans, who got the name from the cave in Siberia where they were first found.
  • The scars of slavery
    The diaspora of Afro-descendants in Mexico and Central America takes on many guises, as reflected in names used such as Colonial Blacks, Afro-Antilleans, Garifuna. Status and levels of social recognition and integration are highly diverse and this distinguishes the countries of this region from the rest of the Latin-American continent. Researchers are studying the historical construction of these communities, which developed from successive waves of migrations, and of their identities.
  • Controversy over reopening the 'Sistine Chapel' of Stone Age art
    Plans to reopen Spain's Altamira caves are stirring controversy over the possibility that tourists' visits will further damage the 20,000-year old wall paintings that changed views about the intellectual ability of prehistoric people, according to a new article. The caves are the site of Stone Age paintings so magnificent that experts have called them the "Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art."
  • Literary detectives unravel famous Ben Jonson mystery
    The amazing chance discovery of a manuscript hidden among papers in an ancient family archive is shedding new light on the legendary career of William Shakespeare’s biggest rival, the poet and playwright, Ben Jonson.
  • Computer scientist cracks mysterious 'Copiale Cipher'
    More than three centuries after it was devised, the 75,000-character "Copiale Cipher" has finally been broken. The mysterious cryptogram, bound in gold and green brocade paper, reveals the rituals and political leanings of a 18th-century secret society in Germany.
  • Viking buried with axe, sword and spear found with fully intact Viking boat burial in...
    The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Scottish Highlands. The 5m-long grave contained the remains of a high status Viking, who was buried with an axe, a sword with a beautifully decorated hilt, a spear, shield boss and bronze ring-pin.
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