The main chamber of Cloggs Cave. Monash University archaeologist Joe Crouch is standing in the 1970s excavation pit, digging a new area in the wall of the old excavation.
Bruno David
Two starkly different research projects at East Gippsland's Cloggs Cave, 50 years apart, show the importance of Indigenous perspectives in archaeology.
The Shrine of the Holy Nativity, Bethlehem, 1849.
David Roberts
Archaeologists used to dig primarily at sites that were easy to find thanks to obvious visual clues. But technology – and listening to local people – plays a much bigger role now.
Five centuries before Columbus arrived, migrants were spreading across North America, carrying their culture with them and mixing with those they encountered in new places.
A new environmental record for a prehistoric site in Kenya helped researchers figure out how external conditions influenced which of our ancient ancestors lived there, with what way of life.
Julien Louys, Griffith University and Patrick Roberts, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Several theories have suggested either humans, climate change or both drove megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia. Our newest work suggests otherwise.
A Maliwawa macropod found in the Namunidjbuk clan estate of the Wellington Range.
P. Taçon
Did people settle these islands by traveling north from South America, or in the other direction? Reanalyzing data from artifacts discovered decades ago provides a definitive answer.
Pulverized ancient bone can provide DNA to scientists for analysis.
Xin Xu Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Artefacts suggest a ‘great leap’, a recent evolution of modern intelligence. Fossils and DNA argue that’s an illusion.
A: Border Cave’s 200,000 year old fossilised grass fragments. B: The profile section of desiccated grass bedding dating to around 43,000 years ago.
Both images copyright Lyn Wadley
Before 200,000 years ago, close to the origin of our species, people preferred the use of broad-leaved grasses to build their beds and resting areas using ash layers underneath.
Revil Mason remained passionate about archaeology throughout his life.
Supplied
Mason tirelessly sought to convince officials of the need to recognise and celebrate the African past, and the role that African people played in the making of modern South African society.
There is not much information on artefacts used by Stone Age humans to make sound and music – but the first comprehensive survey is a good start.
Cylinder seal (left) and modern impression (right) showing two people drinking beer through long straws. Khafajeh, Iraq (Early Dynastic period, c. 2600–2350 B.C.).
Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
Beer was extremely popular in ancient Mesopotamia. Sipped through straws, it differed from today’s beer and was enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
Mauricio Marat, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Archaeological discoveries in a jungle cave in central Indonesia suggest humans arrived there 18,000 years ago and decided to stay a while, hunting in the jungle and building canoes.
The updated methods are providing a clearer picture of how Earth and its inhabitants evolved over the past 60,000 years - and thus, providing new insight into its future.