tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/archaeology-695/articles
Archaeology – The Conversation
2024-03-24T23:52:18Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225792
2024-03-24T23:52:18Z
2024-03-24T23:52:18Z
We have revealed a unique time capsule of Australia’s first coastal people from 50,000 years ago
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582751/original/file-20240319-18-jmngyk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C20%2C1649%2C1256&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West coast of Barrow Island, overlooking the submerged northwestern shelf.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kane Ditchfield</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Barrow Island, located 60 kilometres off the Pilbara in Western Australia, was once a hill overlooking an expansive coast. This was the northwestern shelf of the Australian continent, now permanently submerged by the ocean.</p>
<p>Our new research, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379124000489">published in Quaternary Science Reviews</a>, shows that Aboriginal people repeatedly lived on portions of this coastal plateau. We have worked closely with coastal Thalanyji Traditional Owners on this island work and also on their sites from the mainland.</p>
<p>This use of the plain likely began 50,000 years ago, and the place remained habitable until rising sea levels cut the island off from the mainland 6,500 years ago. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-once-lived-in-a-vast-region-in-north-western-australia-and-it-had-an-inland-sea-219505">People once lived in a vast region in north-western Australia – and it had an inland sea</a>
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<h2>A unique time capsule</h2>
<p>The northwestern shelf and the submerged coastlines of Australia are immensely significant for understanding how and where <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379122003377">First Nations people</a> lived before and during the last ice age.</p>
<p>When the last ice age was at its coldest (24,000 to 19,000 years ago), sea levels worldwide were about 130 metres below current levels. As the ice melted, the sea rose rapidly, eventually flooding the connection between Barrow Island and the mainland.</p>
<p>Since Aboriginal people did not occupy the island after this time, the human archaeological record of Barrow Island is a time capsule, unique in Australia. Most other coastal occupation areas from this period are now beneath the sea, but these drowned landscapes were once vast and habitable.</p>
<p>The largest rock shelter on the island is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379117302640">Boodie Cave</a>, one of Western Australia’s oldest archaeological sites. Excavations here revealed evidence of Aboriginal occupation dating back at least 50,000 years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cave-dig-shows-the-earliest-australians-enjoyed-a-coastal-lifestyle-77326">Cave dig shows the earliest Australians enjoyed a coastal lifestyle</a>
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<p>As sea levels fluctuated through time, the distance from Boodie Cave to the seashore varied significantly. Aboriginal people brought shellfish back to Boodie Cave even when it was many kilometres from the coast.</p>
<p>As the sea rose, people’s diets changed. The quantity of shellfish, crabs, turtles and fish consumed in the cave increased through time.</p>
<p>Aboriginal people here mainly used local, silica-rich limestone for crafting their stone tools. While this material was readily accessible, it blunted easily. Instead, people used thick and hard shells from large Baler sea snails to make knives for butchering turtles and dugong.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing a high vis jacket stands in a red rocky cave with archaeology tools in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581911/original/file-20240314-30-7m01mt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One of the authors, Peter Veth, excavating a 7,000-year-old rich layer with shell knives, turtle, fish and wallaby remains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kane Ditchfield</span></span>
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<h2>43,000 years of exchange</h2>
<p>In contrast to the cave deposits, the open-air archaeological sites present a different picture. Three years of systematic field surveys recorded over 4,400 flaked and ground stone artefacts from nearly 50 locations.</p>
<p>Excluding one limestone source, most of these stone tools represent geological sources not found on the island. This means they were made out of rocks more typical of the west Pilbara and Ashburton regions.</p>
<p>The artefacts we’ve found on Barrow Island show that Aboriginal people transported and exchanged stone materials from inland or places now under the sea for over 43,000 years.</p>
<p>We don’t yet know why the artefacts in the cave are so different to the ones found in the open air.</p>
<p>The numerous open sites leave a record of how Aboriginal people adapted to sea-level changes. Both the surface and cave records suggest that Aboriginal people used more local limestone and shell tools as rising sea levels cut off access to the mainland or drowned sources.</p>
<p>Imported stone tools were precious and therefore conserved and heavily used for grinding seeds, working harder materials such as wood, and likely for cutting softer materials such as skins and plant fibre.</p>
<p>While early Aboriginal people continued to use coastal resources, they maintained social networks and exchanges with the mainland. The open sites from Barrow Island provide one line of evidence connecting contemporary Aboriginal people to the now-drowned coastal plains, coastlines and continental islands.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dark cavern with a single light source illuminating a rectangular excavation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583633/original/file-20240322-26-4nwr5g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Researchers working at Boodie Cave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kane Ditchfield</span></span>
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<h2>An ancestral connection for Thalanyji peoples</h2>
<p>Despite the distance of Barrow Island from the mainland for most of the last 6,500 years, Thalanyji knowledge holders refer to the use of the island from both historic-era fishing activities and as forced labourers in the early pearling industry.</p>
<p>They know the Sea Country between the islands, and the songline connections linking the mainland to the islands. Traditional Owners involved in our project see the artefacts as evidence of their ancestral connection to the island, old coastlines and now drowned coastal plain.</p>
<p>The Barrow Island open-air sites are a significant time capsule, offering unique insights into coastal Aboriginal lifeways over tens of thousands of years.</p>
<p>These sites, combined with the cave records, provide scientists and Traditional Owners with invaluable opportunities to understand and preserve Australia’s rich and deep history.</p>
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<p><em>The authors would like to acknowledge the Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation, recognised communally according to their cultural preference, as co-authors of this study.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Veth receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kane Ditchfield receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Kendrick was previously employed by the government of Western Australia, and assisted in implementation of the Barrow Island Archaeology Project throughout its field work period. He consults part time as a zoologist and ecologist to Biota Environmental Sciences.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David W. Zeanah and Fiona Hook do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Barrow Island off the coast of Western Australia holds a unique record of First Nations people. For millennia, they lived on vast plains that are now drowned by the sea.
Peter Veth, Laureate Professor in Archaeology, The University of Western Australia
David W. Zeanah, Professor, California State University, Sacramento
Fiona Hook, Adjunct associate, The University of Western Australia
Kane Ditchfield, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia
Peter Kendrick, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222663
2024-02-26T13:09:03Z
2024-02-26T13:09:03Z
The bog is where forensics and archaeology meet to solve ‘cold cases’
<p>Occasionally, police investigators find themselves announcing archaeological discoveries, rather than criminal findings. In 1984, for example, police oversaw the recovery of the Iron Age bog body (a naturally mummified corpse found in a peat bog) later called <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28589151">“Lindow Man” in Cheshire</a>, UK. On January 25, 2024, the <a href="https://www.psni.police.uk/latest-news/police-find-bog-body-dated-over-2000-years-bellaghy">Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI)</a> found themselves doing just that. </p>
<p>The civilian discovery, and subsequent PSNI excavation, of a 2,000 year old bog body at Bellaghy, in the Londonderry county of Northern Ireland, is significant because of the rarity of prehistoric human remains that <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/46717">include soft tissue preservation</a>. As with The Lindow Man, the initial investigations were conducted by the police in case the remains were those of a recent murder victim – making the location a crime scene rather than an archaeological site. </p>
<p>It was only following radiocarbon dating of the remains from Bellaghy that the body, by then identified as that of a young male, was shown to have lived during the Iron Age. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.psni.police.uk/latest-news/police-find-bog-body-dated-over-2000-years-bellaghy">In a statement</a>, Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan said: “On initial examination, we couldn’t be sure if the remains were ancient or the result of a more recent death. Therefore, we proceeded to excavate the body with full forensic considerations in a sensitive and professional manner. This approach also ensures that any DNA evidence could be secured for any potential criminal investigation.” </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Police find bog body dated over 2,000 years in Bellaghy.</span></figcaption>
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<p>There have been at least 2,000 bog bodies recovered from Europe’s peatlands, with around 130 <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/bogs-bones-and-bodies-the-deposition-of-human-remains-in-northern-european-mires-9000-bcad-1900/B90A16A211894CB87906A7BCFC0B2FC7">found in Ireland</a>. Archaeological excavations of bog bodies are <a href="https://www.casemateacademic.com/blog/2023/01/18/the-dos-and-donts-of-digging-a-bog-body/">very rare</a>, as the great majority of bog bodies are discovered ex situ – removed from their surroundings during peat cutting or by the actions of the finders. </p>
<p>The excavation of the Bellaghy Body by PSNI with support from forensic archaeologists points to the importance of careful and methodical recovery, for understanding both ancient and modern human remains found in peatlands. </p>
<h2>Navigating the bog</h2>
<p>Archaeologists need to understand context to interpret the past, and the peaty graves of bog bodies are no different. The Bellaghy body seems to have been found in situ, potentially offering valuable evidence associated with the circumstances of the death. This is important as it may assist in interpreting the violent ends met by other prehistoric bog bodies, some of whom have been interpreted as <a href="https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Archaeology/Exhibitions/Kingship-and-Sacrifice">sacrificial victims</a>. </p>
<p>Peatlands are <a href="https://theconversation.com/bogs-are-unique-records-of-history-heres-why-100627">remarkable archaeological archives</a>, but the earth does not neatly divide traces of the distant and recent past. Archaeology and forensic science still have much to learn from each other. For example, the discovery of Lindow Man <a href="https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/moors-murder-detective-has-no-closure-from-bradys-death-1776797">directly influenced</a> the searches for the victims of the serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley on Saddleworth Moor in 1986 and 1987.</p>
<p>During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Irish Civil Rights leader Bernadette Devlin wrote about the IRA using a site called <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1848819">The Black Bog</a> in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to hide evidence of their activities. </p>
<p>Ecocritic Maureen O’Connor and archaeologist Benjamin Gearey have explored the role of peatlands during the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14688417.2021.1878049#:%7E:text=Seamus%20Heaney's%20(1969)%20poem%20Bogland,the%20bog's%20'encroaching%20horizon'.">Irish War of Independence</a>, sometimes used to hide both the dead and the living. </p>
<p>Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, The Independent Commission for the Location of Victim Remains (ICLVR) has sought to locate people who went missing during The Troubles, often referred to as <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/11/04/searching-for-northern-irelands-disappeared-as-the-years-went-on-it-just-became-life/">“the disappeared”</a>. In the commission’s search over the last 25 years, four people remain missing, including suspected IRA murder victim <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-6743159">Columba McVeigh</a>, who is believed to have been buried at Bragan Bog in the Monaghan county in Ireland.</p>
<h2>The challenge of the bog</h2>
<p>While forensic archaeologists have a very specific brief to fulfil, they are as likely to uncover traces of the distant past as they are traces of modern crimes. </p>
<p>In searching for modern victims of murder, the forensic archaeologist who uncovers evidence of the distant past has the same duty of care as all other archaeologists – to observe, record and recover traces of human activity. It is hoped that the PSNI recovery of the Bellaghy Boy will in time result in the release of information about the burial site for archaeologists to pore over. </p>
<p>Peatlands are challenging environments for both archaeological and forensic investigations. They are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-finding-buried-bodies-77803">difficult to survey</a> for traces of graves or evidence of recent disturbance, making it hard to detect anything other than the <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/1646">solid geology below the peat</a>. </p>
<p>While peatlands might seem timeless in their appearance, they have changed significantly over the millennia. They have been subject to drainage and peat cutting for fuel, the planting of woodlands, agricultural use, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35492599">settlement</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rspb-peak-district-trudy-harrison-crown-prosecution-service-england-b2337025.html">burned for grouse raising</a>. Most recently, some have been restored for biodiversity and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/21/headway/peat-carbon-climate-change.html">carbon capture</a>. </p>
<p>The peatland in which a person was buried in the 1970s might look very different to that under investigation in 2024, let alone <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683619838048">two millennia ago</a>.</p>
<p>Archaeologists are fascinated by change and continuity, and bogs offer both in spades. Peatlands have long provided locations where bodies might be deposited without apparent trace, and even today we often rely on chance to bring them to our attention. </p>
<p>The riddles of finding a body in a bog perplex police investigators, archaeologists and forensic scientists alike. While the archaeological record may show strikingly similar patterns of body deposition across time, very different motives and interpretations might lie behind these cases. </p>
<p>We need to think in terms of developing <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-archaeology/article/abs/bog-bodies-in-context-developing-a-best-practice-approach/7CAE3C8DC6193E2F2584EE35C7990024">“best practice”</a> for excavating future bog bodies, drawing on contemporary approaches to investigating homicides. The work of the PSNI at Bellaghy could provide invaluable insights in this regard. </p>
<p>For archaeologists and forensic archaeologists, the future recording and reporting of bodies found in the bogs of Europe might help us better understand what human stories lie behind the patterns of those trackless, mossy graves.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosie Everett is a consultant forensic ecologist and has contributed to UK forensic science. Rosie Everett receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Gearey receives funding from the Irish Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karl Harrison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The bog does not neatly divide traces of the distant and recent past. Archaeology and forensic science still have much to learn from each other.
Rosie Everett, Lecturer, Environmental Science, University College Cork
Benjamin Gearey, Lecturer in Environmental Archaeology, University College Cork
Karl Harrison, Lecturer in Forensic Archaeology, Cranfield University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221082
2024-02-23T13:49:28Z
2024-02-23T13:49:28Z
The Russia-Ukraine War has caused a staggering amount of cultural destruction – both seen and unseen
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577441/original/file-20240222-24-fymjst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C3988%2C2652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ruins of a church in Bohorodychne, Donetsk district, Ukraine, on Jan. 27, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-a-church-destroyed-by-the-war-in-bohorodychne-news-photo/1958547329?adppopup=true">Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>War doesn’t just destroy lives. It also tears at the fabric of culture. </p>
<p>And in the case of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now about to enter its third year, the remarkable destruction of Ukrainian history and heritage since 2022 hasn’t been a matter of collateral damage. Rather, the Russian military has deliberately targeted <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7424472">museums, churches and libraries</a> that are important to the Ukrainian people. </p>
<p>It’s impossible to document the full extent of the destruction, particularly in the active military zones in eastern and southern Ukraine. However, as archaeologists and filmmakers, we wanted to do what we could. This meant traveling to liberated villages, museums and churches in northern and eastern Ukraine adjacent to regions with ongoing fighting. </p>
<p>Working closely with Ukrainian colleagues, we ended up making two nine-day trips – one in March 2023 and another in October 2023.</p>
<p>Here is some of what we found:</p>
<h2>Sifting through the ruins</h2>
<p>In liberated parts of Ukraine, the bodies of the dead have long been carried away and, for the most part, buried in local cemeteries. But enter any formerly occupied city or town, and you’ll immediately notice that the scars from battles that took place from March 2022 to July 2022 remain starkly visible. </p>
<p>Driving around Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/19/russian-strike-on-chernihiv-ukraine">we witnessed hundreds of burned-out buildings</a>, and many more that are riddled with bullet holes and damaged by shrapnel. </p>
<p>As we wound through small farming villages, we were struck by the ferocity and randomness of modern military firepower: One part of a village could be completely flattened, while a block down the road, the houses were untouched.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in red coat walking along sidewalk as a destroyed building looms over her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577367/original/file-20240222-30-6vn3xl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ukraine Hotel in Chernihiv, pictured in March 2023 after it had been bombed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Kuijt</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During a wet day in the middle of October 2023, we drove through small tree-lined roads to see the remains of <a href="https://war.city/tours/chernihiv-region/">the Church of the Ascension</a> in Lukashivka, a small village about 8 miles from Chernihiv.</p>
<p>Previously home to about 300 people, Lukashivka was occupied by the Russians in March 2022 and later recaptured by the Ukrainian military. </p>
<p>Built in 1913 with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfry_(architecture)">two-tiered belfry</a> that can be seen for miles, this large white-brick church is now a shell of what it once was: Its wood flooring has been scorched and its brick roof blown open. In a few sections of the wall, the original plaster and paintings are still preserved.</p>
<p>Inside the place of worship, we traversed the detritus of war, hearing the crunch of spent cartridges, rocket cases, broken bottles and heaps of burned cans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman rides a bike on a wet, cloudy day, past a damaged white church with gold dome." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577368/original/file-20240222-20-wj5qe3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Church of the Ascension in Lukashivka, a small village near the city of Chernihiv, in October 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Kuijt</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We’ll never really know how many soldiers and civilians died fighting over Lukashivka and the church. </p>
<p>We do know, however, that cultural heritage has few friends during war.</p>
<p>The partially preserved church at Lukashivka is one of hundreds of cultural and religious buildings that have been damaged or destroyed over the last two years. This includes <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/russian-air-strike-damages-transfiguration-cathedral-odesa-180982616/">the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Odesa</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-theater-c321a196fbd568899841b506afcac7a1">the Mariupol Drama Theater</a> and the <a href="https://chytomo.com/en/the-bombing-of-kharkiv-damaged-one-of-europe-s-largest-libraries/">Korolenko Kharkiv State Scientific Library</a>, one of the largest libraries in Europe.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tYeLRyce-P0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The authors explore the Church of the Ascension in Lukashivka, where intense fighting had taken place.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than meets the eye</h2>
<p>If traveling in Ukraine has taught us one important lesson, it’s that the digging of trenches can erase history. </p>
<p>While the destruction of churches, libraries and museums viscerally evokes a sense of loss, there’s an entire unseen world below the ground surface – filled with untold numbers of artifacts, bones and buried buildings – that are exposed when trenches are created. </p>
<p>In fact, it’s likely that this war has destroyed more history and archaeology buried below the ground than above it. </p>
<p>As armies did during <a href="https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/trench-warfare">World War I</a>, the Ukrainian military built deep trenches and bunkers along rivers and high ground in the early months of the war. Two years later, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/nov/07/21st-century-trench-warfare-ukrainian-frontline-in-pictures">these defensive trench systems are a central element of the ground war</a> and demarcate the front lines.</p>
<p>In many cases, the trenches were dug into the remains of buried archaeology sites, most of which were previously unknown and untouched. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in military fatigues peers over the top of a muddy trench." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576221/original/file-20240216-26-cxs6t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Ukrainian officer steps out of a trench network near the city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainian-officer-steps-out-of-a-muddy-trench-network-as-news-photo/2008690272?adppopup=true">Scott Peterson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In March 2023, for example, we visited sites around Iripin and Bucha, two villages on the northern edge of Kyiv, to document how medieval and Bronze age sites buried below the surface had been destroyed by trenches or, in other cases, were now blanketed by minefields to stop Russian military units. </p>
<p>We also went to <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.159">the 11th century archaeology site of Oster</a>. Perched on a small hill southeast of Chernihiv, Oster was an important regional center in the medieval period. It had a brick-and-stone church and a large settlement nearby. As part of the siege of Chernihiv in March 2022, Ukrainian troops built deep trenches and bunkers around the edges of Oster, since the site overlooks rivers and crossing points.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.159">When we visited Oster a year after the invasion</a>, we noticed that the trench system around the church was dug into a large, 11th century settlement and burial ground. Laying exposed on the dirt piles along the trenches we found medieval human skeletal remains. The more we studied the system of trenches and bunkers, which encircles an area of about 650 feet (198 meters), the more human bones we saw.</p>
<p>A crew of archaeologists has returned to photograph the destruction of these burial grounds. But given the ongoing war, it isn’t possible to fully document the destruction, let alone fill in the trenches, which still may be needed by soldiers. </p>
<p>The previously unknown burial ground at Oster is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of similar sites that have been damaged or destroyed in central and northeastern Ukraine.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wl_22GzjUHM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The authors explore a system of trenches that had been built at Oster, an important medieval archaeological site.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>War and the fabric of culture</h2>
<p>Even after the fighting ends, large areas of Ukraine will remain inaccessible for years, given the widespread <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/30/23979758/ukraine-war-russia-land-mines-artillery-humantarian-crisis">use of mines</a> and <a href="https://occup-med.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12995-023-00398-y">environmental contaminants</a>. </p>
<p>Surviving collections and museum exhibits <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Ukraine">inside and outside of Ukraine</a> have assumed greater importance: They may represent the sole evidence of ancient cultures originating from these damaged territories.</p>
<p>We can confidently say that Europe has not experienced destruction of this magnitude, let alone this quickly, since World War II. </p>
<p>The bombings of churches, libraries and residences have destroyed major areas of Ukraine. As with the Nazis’ pilfering of paintings, bronze sculptures and art <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/world-war-ii-looted-art-turning-history-into-justice-u-s-national-archives/PQXxtIcpKuJmJw?hl=en">in the last few years of World War II</a>, in the first months after the invasion <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/catastrophic-putin-war-wiping-out-ukraine-recent-history-1771314">the Russian army looted museums, stole art and destroyed churches</a> with missiles and tank shells. </p>
<p>Make no mistake: At its core, the Russian full-scale invasion is a military attempt to erase Ukraine’s history, culture and heritage.</p>
<p>Seemingly entrenched in a 1950s geopolitical framework, President Vladimir Putin and other representatives of the Russian state <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/opinion/ukraine-war-national-identity.html">dispute that Ukraine is a sovereign nation</a>. Ukraine’s churches, museums and libraries are a threat to Russia, for they are the material and symbolic fabric that holds together Ukrainian identity and resistance. </p>
<p>That’s why this war is as much about culture as it is about land.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man looks through rubble near a destroyed pink building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577373/original/file-20240222-24-rkxmni.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A children’s library destroyed by a missile attack in the city of Chernihiv.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Viacheslav Skorokhod</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pavlo Shydlovskyi has received funding from Goethe-Institut. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Kuijt and William Donaruma do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In addition to destroyed buildings, there’s an entire underground world – filled with untold numbers of artifacts, bones and ruins – that are exposed and damaged by the digging of trenches.
Ian Kuijt, Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame
Pavlo Shydlovskyi, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev
William Donaruma, Professor of the Practice in Filmmaking, University of Notre Dame
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223614
2024-02-22T17:09:13Z
2024-02-22T17:09:13Z
Out of Darkness: I’m an expert on human origins – here’s how this stone age thriller surprised me
<p>Neither the choice of genre (survivalist horror) nor time period (43,000 years ago) bodes well for Out of Darkness. After all, films set in the stone age tend to be comedic, sexualised or woefully historically inaccurate. Think Ice Age (2002), Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) or 10,000BC (2008) – in which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVzdHEhC8YI">mammoths help build the pyramids</a>. Yet this film is neither. It goes way beyond expectations with its attempts at historical accuracy, and what’s more it is fun to watch – especially if suspense or a high body count are your thing.</p>
<p>A film set at the time of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-long-did-neanderthals-and-modern-humans-co-exist-in-europe-evidence-is-growing-it-may-have-been-at-least-10-000-years-222762">modern human and Neanderthal interactions</a> is long overdue, given both the better public understanding of this period and Neanderthals being thought of in <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/biology/hominin-species-neanderthals/">more humanised terms</a> than ten years ago.</p>
<p>What’s more, as we face more existential threats there is a greater tendency to look to the distant past for inspiration for how we should live, both <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-living-like-a-hunter-gatherer-could-improve-your-health-208813">physically</a> and <a href="https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/chapters/m/10.22599/HiddenDepths.k/">emotionally</a>. Still, the producers of Out of Darkness should be applauded for having the guts to tackle some of the real challenges of setting a film in this period. </p>
<p>They have used as authentic a language as possible – hiring linguist Dr Daniel Andersson to create a stone age-sounding language especially for the film, translated for the audience using subtitles. They also cast actors with accurate skin tones. The makeup of the group at its heart is realistic, with older and vulnerable members and, refreshingly, a competent, proactive woman lead (who is dressed in appropriate clothing, rather than a <a href="https://www.biography.com/actors/a42940234/raquel-welch-fur-bikini-mixed-feelings">fur bikini</a>). </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ZyZU1jphUA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<h2>Is the film historically accurate?</h2>
<p>Out of Darkness follows a small group of modern humans who set out across the Europe of 43,000 years ago, trying to find new land and rescue the leader’s son, who has apparently been taken by some strange creatures. </p>
<p>There are amazing landscapes, tense scenes and – as is expected from a survivalist horror – few people left standing after the carnage. For those of us looking for meaning under the macabre, there is a cautionary tale about acting on assumptions and the dangers of rage and fear.</p>
<p>There is plenty of detail here which fits the evidence we have about this period of the stone age (known as the middle-upper palaeolithic transition). There’s fitted clothing with fur inside, decorated spears, fire-lighting kits, a <a href="https://www.donsmaps.com/discs.html#:%7E:text=Discs%20from%20the%20stone%20age,objects%20in%20their%20own%20right">rondelle</a> (a bone disc with a central hole) and Neanderthals with raptor feather headdresses. </p>
<p>There are even rather slick references for the knowledgeable. Dead mammoths are shown at the bottom of a ravine modelled on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-this-spot-on-the-jersey-coast-was-like-a-magnet-for-neanderthals-70369">La Cotte de St Brelade</a>, a Neanderthal hunting site in Jersey. Neanderthals are shown taking and wearing modern human jewellery as a nod to the <a href="https://phys.org/news/2016-09-evidence-ancient-jewelry-grotte-du.html">Châtelperronian bone pendants</a>, found in the south of France.</p>
<p>People are buried at a location that looks remarkably like the most famous Neanderthal burial site, <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/shanidarz">Shanidar Cave</a> in Iraq. Even depictions of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-016-9306-y">cannibalism</a> are not at odds with what we know of mortuary practices in the period.</p>
<p>The wider social settings also bring some welcome authenticity. Telling firelight stories of courageous journeys into new lands, the elderly, young and pregnant work together.</p>
<p>Is Out of Darkness entirely prehistorically accurate? No, of course not. But it goes way beyond most depictions. In reality, stone age people would have carried tents and built shelters, not fought over a cold damp cave. They would also have found a fair bit of food in the tundra rather than starving. And of course it is not clear how the characters in the film managed to shave. </p>
<p>I would also expect links to other groups, or perhaps more of a story as to why this group is so isolated. And the voices of the Neanderthals are a bit too far fetched (more like a squawk than high-pitched language). What’s more, the lack of other living things depicted feels like a missed opportunity to include more predators, which were <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-015-0248-1?origen=app">genuinely dangerous and scary</a> in the stone age.</p>
<h2>Stone age bad guys</h2>
<p>As a professor of the archaeology of human origins, the one thing I dislike about the film is that subservience to the “bad guys” doesn’t fit <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635717303698?casa_token=6nkGRzHGKkwAAAAA:yrmVb7eFtEzSxibNdEJ1HNt0Utw94yl2p0IJRcCR514KP6RZ0P_SsaT226vYMhEiIyJnf3X7">what we know</a>. </p>
<p>The leader of this small band of travellers, Adem (Chuku Modu), is a bit of bully, who tells women what to do or say, and supports some hierarchy in which “strays eat last”. Neither the impulsiveness nor the violence fit what we know of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12015116/Myths_about_hunter_gatherers_redux_nomadic_forager_war_and_peace">hunter-gatherer populations</a>. Their <a href="https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/HiddenDepths/">emotional regulation</a> (capacity to feel emotions consciously rather than simply act on them) was actually far better than ours in our <a href="https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/f6f8491c-dbf5-46ed-bf5b-c62342a7ae3b/content%7DChaudbury%20ref">comparatively dysfunctional</a> modern societies. </p>
<p>It is also hard to see how humans and Neanderthals could <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-long-did-neanderthals-and-modern-humans-co-exist-in-europe-evidence-is-growing-it-may-have-been-at-least-10-000-years-222762">live contemporaneously</a> for as much as 10,000 years with such a mutual wipe out. But given that bloodshed comes with the genre, all of this may be something we need to forgive. </p>
<p>I might perhaps let them get away with this if we accept these people were some kind of <a href="https://openquaternary.com/articles/10.5334/oq.ai">dysfunctional outcast party</a>, in which dominance tactics might be more tolerated and normal rules didn’t apply.</p>
<p>There is, after all, plenty to love. Out of Darkness offers a great portrayal of a capable stone age woman protagonist – and equally capable Neanderthal woman. Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green) is adept with both knife, spear and any convenient rock, dispatching people whenever the occasion demands (which seems to be pretty regularly).</p>
<p>There will always be some gripes over accuracy here and there but Out of Darkness is fun to watch, and it is great to see the period opening up to more informed popular imagination. I’m hoping for a sequel.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Spikins was amongst several academics who spoke to the film producers in the very early conceptual stages of the film. </span></em></p>
Out of Darkness attempts at historical accuracy are a welcome surprise, and what’s more, it is fun to watch.
Penny Spikins, Professor of the Archaeology of Human Origins, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216998
2024-02-20T19:57:06Z
2024-02-20T19:57:06Z
Ancient DNA reveals children with Down syndrome in past societies. What can their burials tell us about their lives?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575544/original/file-20240214-26-4oegvh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3264%2C1827&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Las_Eretas_aztarnategiko_etxearen_oinarriak.jpg">Suna no onna / Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After analysing DNA from almost 10,000 people from ancient and pre-modern societies, our international team of researchers have discovered six cases of Down syndrome in past human populations.</p>
<p>Our results, published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45438-1">Nature Communications</a>, show people with Down syndrome lived in ancient populations. Although these individuals were very young when they died, they were all buried with care, indicating they were appreciated as members of their communities.</p>
<h2>Down syndrome in humans</h2>
<p>The DNA in our cells (our genome) is separated into 23 chromosomes, much like a book is separated into chapters. Most people carry two “versions” of the first 22 chromosomes, one from each of their parents. In some cases, people can have a third, extra copy of chromosome 21 (this condition is called trisomy 21). </p>
<p>This extra copy of chromosome 21 changes how the body and brain develop. People with trisomy 21 will have some level of intellectual disability and some characteristic physical features (such as almond-shaped eyes or a shorter height). The physical features that can result from trisomy 21 are called <a href="https://www.downsyndrome.org.au/about-down-syndrome/what-is-down-syndrome/">Down syndrome</a>.</p>
<p>However, not every person with Down syndrome has the same physical features, and many of these features are not visible in the skeleton. This has made diagnosing Down syndrome from archaeological remains, which are often damaged and incomplete skeletons, very difficult. </p>
<p>However, we <em>can</em> detect trisomy 21 from even very small amounts of ancient DNA. This is because an additional chromosome 21 will lead to noticeably more DNA from chromosome 21 being present among the DNA that can be extracted from old bones and teeth.</p>
<h2>Discovered across different times and places</h2>
<p>After screening nearly 10,000 DNA samples, we identified six individuals with Down syndrome. </p>
<p>In our research, we screened nearly 10,000 DNA samples from across the world, dating as far back as when humans were hunter-gatherers. The six individuals we identified with Down syndrome were all from Europe, likely because this is where most of our ancient DNA samples were from. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-stone-age-cemetery-dna-reveals-a-treasured-founding-father-and-a-legacy-of-prosperity-for-his-sons-206940">In a Stone Age cemetery, DNA reveals a treasured 'founding father' and a legacy of prosperity for his sons</a>
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</em>
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<p>One individual was buried in the 17th or 18th century in a church graveyard in Helsinki, Finland, under what is now a popular tourist attraction, the <a href="https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/see-and-do/sights/senate-square">Helsinki Senate Square</a>. </p>
<p>Another individual was discovered on the Greek island of <a href="https://www.aeginagreece.com/aegina/pages/history/index.html">Aegina</a>, the closest Mediterranean island to Athens. This individual lived approximately 3,300 years ago, and was buried next to a house, with a rare and intricate bead necklace. </p>
<p>A third individual was discovered at the Bronze Age Bulgarian tell site (a settlement on a man-made hill) of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06334-8">Yunatsite</a>, dating to around 4,800 years ago. This infant was buried under the floor of the home in a so-called “urn burial”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of the remains of a small human skeleton." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559452/original/file-20231114-15-iv5hk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The inhumation of the perinatal infant with Down syndrome from the Iron Age site of Las Eretas. This individual was buried within one of the houses in the settlement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographs from the Government of Navarre and J.L. Larrion.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The remaining three individuals were found in two Iron Age sites in Spain, <a href="https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1280">Alto de la Cruz and Las Eretas</a>, dating to approximately 2,500 years ago. According to the estimates of their age at death, these babies likely did not survive to birth. </p>
<p>However, they were buried with care within homes or within special buildings reserved for rituals. These burials were remarkable, as most people of the region during these times were cremated instead of buried.</p>
<p>We also compared the skeletons of the individuals with Down syndrome to identify common skeletal differences, such as irregular bone growth, or porosity of the skull bones. </p>
<p>“Learning from this work may help to identify future cases of Down syndrome from skeletons when ancient DNA can’t be recovered,” says our co-author Patxuka de-Miguel-Ibáñez of the University of Alicante, the lead osteologist for the Spanish sites in the study.</p>
<h2>An unexpected discovery</h2>
<p>At one of the same Iron Age Spanish sites, we also identified an infant that carried an extra copy of chromosome 18. This condition, called <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/a-z-health-reference/trisomy-18">Edwards syndrome</a>, causes much more severe physical differences, which could be observed in the skeletal remains. This baby likely only survived to 40 weeks’ gestation, but was also given a special burial.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of a settlement." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563237/original/file-20231204-22-9dw6do.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A reconstruction of the Early Iron Age settlement of Las Eretas, Navarra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iñaki Diéguez / Javier Armendáriz, Museo Las Eretas, Navarra</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fact that three cases of Down syndrome and the one case of Edwards syndrome were found in just two contemporaneous and nearby settlements was a surprise to us. </p>
<p>“We don’t know why this happened,” says our co-author Roberto Risch, an archaeologist from The Autonomous University of Barcelona. “But it appears as if these people were purposefully choosing these infants for special burials.”</p>
<h2>A view of our past</h2>
<p>Today, individuals with Down syndrome live full and happy lives as valued members of our communities. Notably, our research found no adult individuals with Down syndrome. However, this study shows the perinates and infants that were found were clearly buried with care. In the case where a newborn survived, they were cared for until death. </p>
<p>As we discover and analyse more of these sorts of cases, we will be able to investigate the questions of how our near and distant ancestors viewed rare and uncommon genetic syndromes and how they cared for one another in these cases.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-thought-the-first-hunter-gatherers-in-europe-went-missing-during-the-last-ice-age-now-ancient-dna-analysis-says-otherwise-200899">We thought the first hunter-gatherers in Europe went missing during the last ice age. Now, ancient DNA analysis says otherwise</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
After sifting through DNA from almost 10,000 people from ancient and pre-modern societies, we have discovered six cases of Down syndrome in past human populations.
Adam "Ben" Rohrlach, Mathematics Lecturer and Ancient DNA Researcher, University of Adelaide
Kay Prüfer, Group leader, Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223665
2024-02-15T14:45:00Z
2024-02-15T14:45:00Z
Stone Age ‘megastructure’ under Baltic Sea sheds light on strategy used by Palaeolithic hunters over 10,000 years ago
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575948/original/file-20240215-20-135c8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist's impression of the Blinkerwall: the ancient stone wall used as a hunting structure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/university/details/news/022-stone-age-hunter">Michał Grabowski</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Archaeologists have identified what may be Europe’s <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2312008121">oldest human-made megastructure</a>, submerged 21 metres below the Baltic Sea in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. This structure – which has been named the Blinkerwall – is a continuous low wall made from over 1,500 granite stones that runs for almost a kilometre. The evidence suggests it was constructed by Palaeolithic people between 11,700 and 9,900 years ago, probably as an aid for hunting reindeer.</p>
<p>The archaeologists investigating the Bay of Mecklenburg used a range of submarine equipment, sampling methods and modelling techniques to reconstruct the ancient lake bed and its surrounding landscape. This revealed that the Blinkerwall stands on a ridge running east to west, with a 5km-wide lake basin a few metres below the ridge to the south. </p>
<p>The human, rather than natural, origin for the Blinkerwall was confirmed by an archaeological diving team who photographed sections of the wall. These show that it is made up of 288 very large boulders, which were probably dropped in that location by the retreating glacier, connected by 1,673 smaller stones. </p>
<p>These smaller stones appear to have been collected from the immediate vicinity, as the area just to the north of the wall has many fewer stones than the areas even further north. The resulting structure stands a little under a metre in height and up to two metres wide, with remarkable regularity over its 971-metre length.</p>
<h2>A different landscape</h2>
<p>At the time of its construction, the landscapes and seascapes of northwest Europe were very different from today. The climate was beginning to warm as the colder Pleistocene era ended and the warmer Holocene era began. Sea levels were much lower, and large glaciers sat over much of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennoscandia">Fennoscandia</a>. </p>
<p>The land around the Baltic Sea basin was rising rapidly, released from the weight of the retreating glaciers and transforming a brackish body of water known as the Yoldia sea into the freshwater Ancylus lake. Great Britain was a peninsula of the European continental landmass, with a vast lowland plain <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/doggerland/">known as Doggerland</a> stretching from Norfolk to the Netherlands. Herds of reindeer, European bison and wild horse migrated across its sparsely forested landscape.</p>
<p>In cultural terms, this period, known as the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2017.0264">Late Upper Palaeolithic</a>, is marked by significant hallmarks in technological innovation by the people who lived at this time. Dogs <a href="https://academic.oup.com/af/article/4/3/23/4638686">had been recently domesticated</a>; there are regionally distinct forms of stone projectile points; and there is frequent use of decorated bone and <a href="https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF11171-Mesolithic-harpoon-from-Leman-and-Ower-Bank-Doggerland">antler harpoons</a>, as well as specialist hunting strategies employed to target migrating prey.</p>
<p>The identification of the Blinkerwall now demonstrates that Palaeolithic hunters were managing their landscape to aid their hunting activities more deliberately than was previously thought.</p>
<p>Construction of walls and other features in the landscape is familiar to us, particularly in the context of land enclosure for farming. Both contemporary and ancient societies that have traditionally subsisted by hunting and gathering wild resources are also known to alter their environments by constructing features such as stone walls. These are used for a variety of purposes including fishing, shellfishing and hunting. </p>
<p>The researchers compared the Blinkerwall to other archaeologically documented structures of a similar length and construction type that have been <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2022-09-02-oxford-archaeologists-discover-monumental-evidence-prehistoric-hunting-across">identified in the Middle East</a>, <a href="https://news.umich.edu/prehistoric-caribou-hunting-structure-discovered-beneath-lake-huron/">North America</a>, Canada and Greenland. These structures are interpreted as having been built for the purpose of game drive hunting. In this strategy, hunters use landscape and built features to gain an advantage over their prey by directing its movements to a location where they are more vulnerable to attack by other hunters. </p>
<p>The similarity of the Blinkerwall to these other structures, and its construction adjacent to a body of water, led to the suggestion that the wall had been created for the same purpose. The lake itself may also have been used in this strategy.</p>
<h2>Supporting evidence</h2>
<p>One archaeological site from Germany that supports this interpretation is <a href="https://www.academia.edu/71486857/Dating_the_lost_arrow_shafts_from_Stellmoor_Schleswig_Holstein_Germany_">Stellmoor</a>, located just north of Hamburg and which dates to the latest time that the Blinkerwall could have been constructed. </p>
<p>The site is located at the end of a narrow valley where thousands of reindeer bones – some bearing hunting impact traces, flint points and even pinewood arrow shafts – were found preserved in the ancient lake sediments. The hunting evidence at Stellmoor shows the reindeer were shot by arrows as they were driven down the valley into the lake. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Northern and Central Europe in the Late Upper Palaeolithic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575955/original/file-20240215-18-yv51yg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northern and Central Europe in the Late Upper Palaeolithic (white areas = ice-covered).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://zbsa.eu/european-prehistoric-and-historic-atlas/">Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While there is no archaeological evidence at Stellmoor to suggest people had deliberately created or changed the landscape to enhance their hunting success, it shows how the topography of the landscape was used to the hunters’ advantage. The Blinkerwall construction provides evidence that Palaeolithic people took this level of planning and coordination a step further. </p>
<p>It shows they recognised and understood the instincts of their prey so well that they were able to predict their movements – and how they would react when faced with an artificially created obstacle like the Blinkerwall.</p>
<p>The discovery of this monumental piece of hunting architecture is unique in Europe. At a maximum of 11,700 years old, it is one of the oldest examples in the world, potentially predating a desert hunting “kite” at <a href="https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/dating-a-near-eastern-desert-hunting-trap-kite-using-rock-surface">Jibal al-Gadiwiyt</a> in Jordan by over a thousand years. </p>
<p>The Blinkerwall adds a new element to our understanding of the highly skilled and specialised hunting strategies engineered by people at the end of the last glacial period – strategies that have continued to be used in different landscapes for millennia. And the discoveries are unlikely to stop here. </p>
<p>The Bay of Mecklenburg has the potential to reveal further archaeological evidence of equal significance. The researchers do not rule out the possibility that another wall or other associated features could be found, buried under later sedimentation of the ancient lake. </p>
<p>If weapons, tools or animal remains were to be recovered at the site, this would reveal information about the nature and duration of its use – and far greater insights into the sophisticated subsistence strategies of the Palaeolithic hunters of the Baltic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Piper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The find represents Europe’s largest human-made megastructure.
Stephanie Piper, Lecturer in Archaeology, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222236
2024-01-31T16:05:51Z
2024-01-31T16:05:51Z
Early humans reached northwest Europe 45,000 years ago, new research shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572467/original/file-20240131-19-wvfnh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C1920%2C1428&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">View of the new excavations in front of what is currently left of the Ilsenhoehle under the Ranis castle. Photo by Karen Ruebens. This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The period between 50,000 to 40,000 years ago saw a crucial biological and cultural transformation for humans: this was the time when local groups of Neanderthals were replaced by incoming groups of our own species, <em>Homo sapiens</em>. </p>
<p>The exact reasons behind this replacement are still poorly understood, but recent advances in archaeological and biomolecular science – combined with new archaeological discoveries – have provided illuminating new insights into the northward dispersal of early groups of <em>Homo sapiens</em>. </p>
<p>Our research – <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02303-6">published today in Nature</a> – has used these new techniques to the fullest, opening a new chapter in our understanding of how modern humans came to inhabit northwestern Europe.</p>
<h2>Ranis: a stone age mystery?</h2>
<p>In the 1930s, at the site of Ilsenhöhle in Ranis (Thuringia, Germany), Werner M. Hülle uncovered a wealth of archaeological materials, including stone tools linked to the transition between the Middle Palaeolithic (Neanderthal) and Upper Palaeolithic (<em>Homo sapiens</em>). This stone tool industry – known as the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) – can be traced across central and northwest Europe, from Czechia to Britain. </p>
<p>Hülle was not able to identify human remains in the LRJ layers at Ranis. Poor bone preservation at many other LRJ sites meant there was strong debate about whether these tools had been made by Neanderthals or early <em>Homo sapiens</em>.</p>
<p>Our team re-excavated the Ranis site from 2016 to 2022. This was done by an international research group, led by <a href="https://www.college-de-france.fr/fr/chaire/jean-jacques-hublin-paleoanthropologie-chaire-statutaire">Jean-Jacques Hublin</a>, <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/human-origins/staff/mcpherro/">Shannon McPherron</a>, <a href="https://denkmalpflege.thueringen.de/">Tim Schüler</a> and <a href="https://www.uf.phil.fau.de/das-team/dr-marcel-weiss/">Marcel Weiss</a>. Over the course of our work, we successfully located the trenches from Hülle’s excavation, and found remaining LRJ deposits at a depth of nearly 8 metres. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572276/original/file-20240130-15-tnyeid.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Excavating the LRJ layers 8 metres deep at Ranis was a logistical challenge and required elaborate scaffolding to support the trench. © Marcel Weiss, License: CC-BY-ND 4.0.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Identifying ancient human remains</h2>
<p>Around 1,800 bone fragments were recovered thanks to the new excavation. However, heavy fragmentation meant that only around 10% of the LRJ bone material could be identified to species. To increase the identification rate, we sampled previously unidentifiable bone fragments from both new and old excavations, and used new proteomic methods (analysing ancient proteins) to provide further species identifications. </p>
<p>It was a welcome surprise when we identified human remains, from both our new excavations and those from the 1930s: for the first time, human remains had been securely identified from an LRJ layer. Further visual assessment of the 1930s bone fragments brought the total number of identified human fragments up to thirteen.</p>
<p>Ancient DNA analysis identified all of these human fragments as <em>Homo sapiens</em>. A series of direct radiocarbon dates then securely placed them around <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06923-7">45,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<h2>Early humans as climate-resilient hunters</h2>
<p>These human fossils were found alongside bone remains from reindeer, bison, woolly rhinoceros, arctic fox, wolf and wolverine, suggesting an extremely cold environment. This was confirmed by temperature estimates obtained by looking at oxygen isotopes on horse teeth, suggesting sub-arctic, tundra-like climate conditions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02318-z">similar to modern day northwestern Russia</a>. </p>
<p>While some animal bones had clear traces of being butchered by humans, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02303-6">a lot of the material showed clear signs of being consumed by hyenas</a>. Both archaeological analysis and data extracted directly from human remains show a diet based on large herbivores – especially reindeer and horse – with a focus on highly nutritious bone marrow. We also identified cut marks on carnivores, including wolves, suggesting that their furs were used to combat the cold.</p>
<p>We were also able to compare our species identifications on bone with those identified in <a href="https://communities.springernature.com/posts/dirt-dna-sieving-through-history">ancient sediment DNA samples</a>. By doing this, we found an increase in carnivore DNA in layers with more herbivore remains and material that had been consumed by carnivores. Overall, it is clear that the Ranis cave was used intermittently by hyenas, hibernating bears, and small, pioneer groups of climate-resilient <em>Homo sapiens</em>. </p>
<h2>New understandings of early human presence in northwest Europe</h2>
<p>Our work marks a significant shift in the understanding of <em>Homo sapiens</em>‘ initial incursions into the plains of northwestern Europe 47,500 years ago, which took place under severely cold climatic conditions. Moving in small groups, they shared their environment and sites with large carnivores, such as hyenas, and manufactured finely made stone points. </p>
<p>The brief use of the Ranis cave by small groups of <em>Homo sapiens</em> contrasts with evidence from the same period of their longer and more intensive presence at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248421001263">Bacho Kiro Cave</a> in Bulgaria. This shows that we are only beginning to understand the settlement dynamics of the earliest dispersals of <em>Homo sapiens</em> into Europe, as well as their interactions with groups of local Neanderthals. </p>
<p>With a new suite of analytical tools at our disposal, and with large quantities of bone material available to study – both from new excavations and existing museum collections – we are now entering a new and exciting phase of archaeological research into the coexistence of our species with Neanderthals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222236/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Smith receives funding from the Max Planck Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorothea Mylopotamitaki receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 861389 - PUSHH. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Ruebens receives funding from the Max Planck Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcel Weiss recibe fondos de Max Planck Society. </span></em></p>
New discoveries of bone fragments at Ranis cave in Germany prove the early presence of cold-adapted Homo sapiens in northern Europe
Geoffrey Smith, Researcher, University of Kent
Dorothea Mylopotamitaki, Doctorante, Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en biologie (CIRB), Collège de France
Karen Ruebens, Researcher, Paléaoanthropologie, CIRB, Collège de France
Marcel Weiss, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221921
2024-01-30T11:04:54Z
2024-01-30T11:04:54Z
European immigrants introduced farming to prehistoric North Africa, new research shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571205/original/file-20240122-27-uv5o5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C18%2C3977%2C2245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Golden wheat fields in Morocco.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/panorama-golden-wheat-tanger-regions-morocco-2296488255">Akdi pic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Neolithic age – when agriculture and animal farming were adopted – has become one of the most widely studied periods of social and economic transition in recent years. It was a period that drove great change in the evolution of human society.</p>
<p>Recent research – the fruit of projects that combine archaeological excavation and analysis of ancient DNA – points to rapid development in the Middle East, in the region known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertile_Crescent">Fertile Crescent</a>. The innovations that came about there subsequently spread, and were adopted by hunter gatherer communities in the Anatolian peninsula (present day Turkey).</p>
<p>Around 8,500 years ago, members of farming communities crossed the Aegean Sea, bringing techniques similar to those used in Anatolia to Greece and the Balkans. Five centuries later, some then made the crossing to Italy. </p>
<h2>The Neolithic age reaches the Iberian Peninsula</h2>
<p>Agriculture first appeared on the Iberian Peninsula around 7,600 years ago. This occurred alongside its appearance on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, as well as its gradual expansion through the river valleys of continental Europe. </p>
<p>It led to a marked increase in population sizes, and a huge demographic shift took place when local hunter gatherers were assimilated, bringing about broad genetic and cultural variation. These communities were the last of the Mesolithic era.</p>
<p>On the Iberian peninsula, the practices that Neolithic populations brought with them were similar to those that had appeared a few centuries earlier in Italy. The decoration of pottery is particularly significant, as it is a strong indicator of cultural affinities. This generally consisted of impressed motifs, known as Cardium pottery, which often made use of seashells such as cockles.</p>
<p>This type of pottery has been found in coastal areas throughout the Mediterranean, so it is believed that Neolithic people travelled on simple boats that sailed close to the shore. In a relatively short time, these populations came to occupy the entire Iberian peninsula, where they underwent rapid cultural evolution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bowl with Cardium imprint decoration." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570687/original/file-20240122-25-4tyeos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bowl with Cardium imprint decoration. Cova de la Sarsa. 5th-4th millenia BC, Prehistory Museum of Valencia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cuenco_con_decoraci%C3%B3n_impresa_cardial._Cova_de_la_Sarsa._Museu_de_Prehist%C3%B2ria_de_Val%C3%A8ncia.jpg">Jerónimo Roure Pérez/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Crossing the Gibraltar strait</h2>
<p>While the Mesolithic was developing in Europe, North African communities also subsisted through hunting and gathering. Genetically, they were very similar to groups from several thousand years earlier, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar8380">remains of which have been discovered in the Taforalt cave</a> in Oujda, Morocco. These groups did not seem to have pottery, at least not those in the northern Maghreb. </p>
<p>Further south, the Sahara looked very different to how it does today. It was damper, and even boasted areas of savanna, forest, rivers and lakes. There, the hunter gatherer population did seem to have pottery, specifically in areas such as present day Mali, Niger and Sudan.</p>
<p>Around 7,500 years ago, signs of agriculture and animal husbandry began to appear in Northern Morocco, along with Cardium imprinted pottery that bore many similarities to pieces found in Mediterranean Iberia. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.05.052">These have principally been found</a> in the Tingitana peninsula, near present day Tangier.</p>
<p>Agricultural innovations included cereal crops (wheat and barley) and legumes (beans, peas and lentils), as well as rearing sheep and goats. Along with the appearance of ceramics, there is evidence of beads decorating small marine gastropods, as well as beads made from ostrich eggshells, which were widespread at earlier sites, and throughout ancient Africa more generally.</p>
<h2>How innovation spread</h2>
<p>Such developments raise the question of whether these innovations could have spread from the Iberian peninsula. If so, how were they adopted?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06166-6">The study of human remains dating from this period, discovered in Kaf Taht el-Ghar, near Tétouan in Morocco</a>, have provided answers. Analysis of ancient DNA from four individuals – dating from between 7,400 and 7,100 years ago – tells a tale of interbreeding and transcontinental crossings.</p>
<p>In contrast to previous findings, the Neolithic inhabitants of this cave were genetically similar to European Neolithic people, mostly of Anatolian heritage (from the area roughly corresponding to present day Turkey), with contributions from ancient European Mesolithic hunter gatherers. The local population only made up 15-20% of the gene pool. </p>
<p>This indicates a Neolithic population in the area that we could define as “Creole”. It was genetically similar to that present at the same time in the Iberian Peninsula, and very different from the one that had inhabited the region a few centuries before. </p>
<p>By contrast, in a 7,100 year old necropolis not even 200km to the south – the Ifri N'Amr Ou Moussa cave – an entire community of farmers was discovered. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06166-6">Though they had imprinted ceramics, their genetic profile was entirely indigenous to the region</a>. This appears to be evidence of the local population simply adopting neolithic practices without assimilating into a new society.</p>
<h2>Following the ceramic trail</h2>
<p>One thousand years later, some 6,500 years ago, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-018-9310-6">new types of ceramics appeared at Neolithic sites on Morocco’s Atlantic coast</a>. These had mottled decorations and, often, rope impressions similar to those seen in the Sahara. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06166-6">Genetic analysis</a> of three individuals who were linked to this type of pottery – found at the necropolis of Skhirat-Rouazi, near Rabat – once again reveals a process of change. They seem to be descended from Neolithic populations, not from Anatolia but from the Mediterranean Levant (Middle East). It is believed that they travelled from the Sinai, crossing a much wetter, more hospitable Sahara than today, and accompanying herds of animals. Known as pastoralist groups, their genetics also include a small percentage of local hunter gatherers. </p>
<p>Finally, 5,700 years ago, towards the end of the Neolithic era, human DNA discovered at the site of Kelif el Baroud, also near Rabat, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800851115">seems to close the circle</a>, with evidence of interbreeding between all the previous groups. The genome found there is a mix derived from indigenous North African hunter gatherers, Anatolian farmers mixed with European hunter gatherers, and the pastoralist groups from the Levant. </p>
<p>In the general context of the Western Maghreb, this forms the basis of an ancestral melting pot of cultures that is now shared by most of its inhabitants. The gene pool of the region’s present population is a union – formed over millions of years – of three continents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rafael M Martínez Sánchez no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>
New research shows that Neolithic migrants from Spain brought agriculture to Northern Morocco over 7,500 years ago.
Rafael M Martínez Sánchez, Prehistoria, Universidad de Córdoba
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219122
2024-01-17T13:06:07Z
2024-01-17T13:06:07Z
3D scanning: we recreated a sacred South African site in a way that captures its spirit
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563302/original/file-20231204-19-z5jfbg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 3D rendering of Ga-Mohana Hill in South Africa, a sacred and important heritage site.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Wessels</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, if you want to visit remarkable archaeological sites such as <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364/">Great Zimbabwe</a> or <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/326/">Petra</a> in Jordan you don’t even need to leave your house. </p>
<p>3D scanning technology has improved in leaps and bounds in the last two decades and become much more affordable. This has led to numerous archaeological and heritage sites appearing on online interactive 3D platforms such as <a href="https://sketchfab.com">Sketchfab</a>. Unlike still images and videos, 3D models offer enhanced interaction, enabling users to navigate and perceive a place from various perspectives. </p>
<p>But while technology has raced ahead, there is a noticeable lag in the establishment of best practice guidelines within the field.</p>
<p>We are a multidisciplinary team made up of a geomatician, an architect, and two archaeologists. In <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11759-022-09460-3">a recent article</a> we examined the implications of current scanning technology and sought to answer the question: can people avoid repeating the mistakes of the past when digitising cultural locations? </p>
<p>One criticism of current 3D models of archaeological sites is that they are devoid of human traces and history. The pursuit of objectivity in scientific endeavours is the norm. But, in using 3D technology – making decisions about site boundaries, what is cleaned from the model, and the chosen level of detail – a subjective filter is introduced. The omission of human usage and cultural traces renders these representations static and sterile. This inadvertently strips sites of the very culture they aim to preserve.</p>
<p>In our research we sought to offer an alternative approach: one which aligns with indigenous archaeology, where indigenous knowledge and scientific methods are blended. To do so, we undertook a case study by <a href="https://rockartportal.org/Ga-Mohana.html">digitising a site</a> in South Africa that is of profound cultural and spiritual importance to many who live in that area. The results highlighted that, with considered approaches, researchers can help keep the vibrant culture of meaningful places alive even when they’re brought into the digital world. </p>
<h2>A place with potency</h2>
<p>Ga-Mohana Hill is situated close to a small town called Kuruman in a semi-arid region in the north of South Africa. We chose the site as our case study because of its rich cultural and archaeological significance. It has two significant rock shelters, Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, facing north-west, and Ga-Mohana Hill South Rockshelter, facing south-east, which are located at opposite sides of the hill. </p>
<p>The south rockshelter preserves rock art and archaeological traces from the Later Stone Age. In the north shelter, archaeologists have <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-eggshells-and-a-hoard-of-crystals-reveal-early-human-innovation-and-ritual-in-the-kalahari-154191">recovered material</a> dating to 105,000 years ago, including ostrich eggshell fragments, stone tools, and a cache of calcite crystals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-eggshells-and-a-hoard-of-crystals-reveal-early-human-innovation-and-ritual-in-the-kalahari-154191">Ancient eggshells and a hoard of crystals reveal early human innovation and ritual in the Kalahari</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Today Ga-Mohana Hill holds profound cultural significance for the local community. While this cultural heritage endures, its prominence has been diminishing due to various socio-political factors. One of us, Sechaba Maape, grew up in the area, and has actively worked to restore Ga-Mohana as a meaningful place from a cultural perspective. <a href="https://www.thesitemagazine.com/read/drawing-creepy-places">Reflecting on his youth</a>, he recounts tales of Noga ya Metsi, the Great Snake, residing in the rockshelters and engaging in abductions and supernatural activities that unsettled the community. </p>
<p>These narratives contributed to the places acquiring a frightening reputation. Interestingly, the secrecy surrounding the locations dissuades many in the community from visiting them, though the sites have been used for various initiation rituals. And, today, the landscapes at Ga-Mohana Hill are used by church groups and other community members for spiritual communion and prayer sessions. Traditional healers and <a href="https://theworkshopkokasi.co.za/">tourists</a> also visit Ga-Mohana.</p>
<p>These multiple uses and its rich archaeological heritage mean that Ga-Mohana is a place of deep meaning and can be considered a living heritage site. We therefore wanted to create an online, interactive 3D digital replica that represented its multiple uses. Ultimately, our aim was to manifest the potency that this place holds within the 3D model, rather than merely representing its archaeological and scientific value.</p>
<h2>A new approach to 3D models</h2>
<p>Our approach was to focus on three elements. First, the agency – the ability to act upon people to give and receive meaning – that this place holds. Second, the proximity the 3D model gives to the physical site and to past and present people and their cultures and, third, the multivocal nature of the site – that is, telling the different stories of this place so all relevant voices can be heard.</p>
<p>To achieve this, we conducted a 3D scan of Ga-Mohana Hill and its shelters by acquiring photogrammetric images by drone and hand-held cameras. The images were processed to produce an optimised 3D model suitable for web-based applications. The <a href="https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/ga-mohana-hill-and-rock-shelters-f260e92d749045a1b4896a30f96a09a5">3D model</a> was then augmented with a number of visual devices, along with customised text in the form of rotating signboards. </p>
<p>The Great Snake is represented as a moving shadow on the shelter wall. Candles were placed in the 3D version of the shelter to symbolise the site’s ongoing religious aspects. </p>
<p>To represent the archaeology, a number of artefacts that were excavated were 3D scanned and then digitally placed into the 3D model to show where they were found, thus in a sense returning them to their original context. Other visual devices include a hearth, flowing tufas (ancient waterfalls), enhanced rock art and animated engravings. All the visual devices were designed to be moving to animate the place and show its vitality.</p>
<p>We also created <a href="https://rockartportal.org/Ga-Mohana.html">a website</a> to contextualise and introduce the 3D model and warn people who may not want to visit the model for cultural reasons and because of its ritual potency.</p>
<h2>What we’ve learned</h2>
<p>Based on what we’ve learned from this project, we proposed an approach that prioritises the digitisation of place – with all its meanings and vitality, over space – simply inert geometry – emphasising agency, proximity and multivocality.</p>
<p>A shift is needed from a purely objective approach to 3D documentation, towards representing the space as a meaningful place to a public audience. This involves acknowledging and portraying cultural, social and political contexts. By avoiding the privileging of one voice over others, our aim is to subvert dominant viewpoints and promote inclusivity. </p>
<p>The study also underscores the significance of archaeological visualisation in reshaping perceptions of the past and contributing to the formation of present identities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Schoville receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jayne Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Griffith University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sechaba Maape and Stephen Wessels do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
One criticism of current 3D models of archaeological sites is that they are presented devoid of human traces and history.
Stephen Wessels, PhD candidate, University of Cape Town
Benjamin Schoville, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
Jayne Wilkins, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, Griffith University
Sechaba Maape, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221160
2024-01-16T14:55:40Z
2024-01-16T14:55:40Z
Valley of lost cities found in the Amazon – technological advances in archaeology are only the beginning of discovery
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569317/original/file-20240115-67474-53qn3f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C11%2C1877%2C1185&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jay Silverstein with an Olmec head he helped discover in Mexico in 1994.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jay Silverstein</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A valley of lost cities has been discovered in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/11/amazon-archaeology-lost-cities-ecuador">Ecuadorian Amazon</a>. When you hear of such a discovery you might think of archaeologists with chisels and brushes or explorers in pith helmets stumbling across sites deep in the forest. Instead, without needing to brave the hazards of the forest, Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) has revealed networks of buried roads and earthen mounds. </p>
<p>The point of exploratory science is to reveal what has so far been hidden. Whether at the edge of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the bottom of the sea with Underwater Autonomous Vehicles (UAVs), or through the canopy of the densest forests with Lidar, we are discovering things that reshape our understanding of the world.</p>
<p>The increasing ability to discover things with technology without having to actually dig them up might lead to questions about whether we are nearing the end of the age of archaeological discovery. Since the 18th century, the scientific search for ancient cities and lost temples has fed our imaginations and filled our museums, but the past is a finite resource.</p>
<p>Now, remote sensors and drones probe the most far-removed places on the globe. So has 300 years of research and recent technological advances left us with little left to be discovered? As an archaeologist with 30 years of experience working on sites, I can tell you it has not. </p>
<p>During my first dig at San Lorenzo, Mexico, in 1994, we uncovered the last of the great <a href="https://theconversation.com/aztec-and-maya-civilizations-are-household-names-but-its-the-olmecs-who-are-the-mother-culture-of-ancient-mesoamerica-206380">Olmec heads</a>. As the face peered out from the earth where it had been buried for 3,000 years, I wondered if I would ever see such an incredible discovery again. Luckily, I have.</p>
<p>Following this dig, I led projects in the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26308182">Tierra Caliente of West Mexico</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40026042">Tikal</a> in Guatemala, and for the last 15 years in <a href="https://www.telltimai.org/">Egypt</a>. The changes in technology are wonderful tools that help me find and model history, but they do not deplete it. </p>
<h2>Why excavation is key to understanding</h2>
<p>The biggest advances in archaeological search come from the application of <a href="https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-M-1-2023/3/2023/isprs-annals-X-M-1-2023-3-2023.html">drones</a>, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/7/1876">canopy-penetrating Lidar and UAVs</a>. They have opened up areas of exploration that were previously too remote, too deep, or too dangerous. But seeing an image of something in the ground or at the bottom of the sea is only the most preliminary step in discovery.</p>
<p>You cannot truly understand an image until you have seen the artefacts associated with ancient constructions and you have studied the occupational history. The more we find with modern technology means we are that much farther behind than we thought in actually discovering the secrets of the buried past.</p>
<p>My current project at <a href="https://www.telltimai.org/">Tell Timai in the Egyptian Delta</a> consists of a study of the ancient Graeco-Roman-Egyptian city of Thmouis. The city was occupied from at least the 6th century BC to the 9th century AD.</p>
<p>Buried within the ruins are the fossilised records of lives, economies and religions of hundreds of thousands of people. These ancient people witnessed the rise of empires, revolutions, religious transformations and wars. Every aspect of those lives offers an opportunity for investigation. </p>
<p>Now, consider what we can see from a remotely sensed image and what we learn from archaeological investigation. At Thoumis, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2022.2158569">Hellentisic Building</a> we found was first seen with a magnetometer while still buried underground. However, to understand more the house had to be excavated. </p>
<p>In the excavation, coins, the evidence of burning, catapult stones and ceramics were discovered. These finds tell us that the house had undergone at least three episodes of rebuilding and a destruction event in the early 2nd century BC that corresponds with a rebellion discussed on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-dug-for-evidence-of-the-rosetta-stones-ancient-egyptian-rebellion-heres-what-i-found-200318">Rosetta Stone</a> that wrecked the city. </p>
<h2>More and more sites to study</h2>
<p>Last year, we discovered a <a href="https://www.barpublishing.com/tell-timai-egypt-2009-2020.html">lost temple</a>, which included a monumental dedication to the 29th dynasty pharaoh, <a href="https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/4277/1/Quack_As_he_disregarded_2015.pdf">Psammuthes</a>. In searching satellite imagery around the temple, I found a circular feature suggesting that it might be a sacred <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JMA/article/view/23769">nilometer</a> (a device used for measuring flood levels and for sacred ceremonies involving the waters of the Nile).</p>
<p>When we excavated the feature, we found that it was actually a large Roman well that had been constructed through the temple layer more than 500 years after the temple had been destroyed. So, even if you find a location, it takes decades to explore and understand the significance of what remote sensing can detect.</p>
<p>The challenges in the field are not that we are running out of things to study, but that we lack the resources to study and protect the abundance of poorly understood ancient sites. Each new place revealed is only the tip of an iceberg. The increased capacity to find sites highlights the need to conserve these places and protect them from development and looting. </p>
<p>Seeing architectural geometries in a remotely sensed image is only a superficial starting point. Profound knowledge comes with the study of the culture and the vertical excavation that peels back the history of a lost civilisation. </p>
<p>Archaeology is more than knowing that a site exists, it is about knowing why it exists and what it tells us about the evolution of our contemporary civilisation. </p>
<p>Sadly, the more I have worked in archaeology, the more I recognise that one lifetime is not enough. It barely gives me time to scratch the surface of mysteries waiting to be solved. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay Silverstein receives funding from the National Geographic Society and The American Research Center in Egypt.</span></em></p>
More discoveries are being made with the use of technology, but that’s just the start of the investigation.
Jay Silverstein, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology , Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220029
2024-01-09T00:48:20Z
2024-01-09T00:48:20Z
New analysis unlocks the hidden meaning of 15,000-year-old rock art in Arnhem Land
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566518/original/file-20231219-27-o7yxd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C462%2C4449%2C2986&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Moffat</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rock art is one of the most intriguing records of the human past – it directly represents how our ancestors viewed their world. This provides a fundamentally different perspective compared to other archaeological items, such as stone artefacts.</p>
<p>Despite this beguiling potential, rock art research can be highly challenging. Different researchers can have contrasting interpretations of what the same image means. Sometimes they can’t even agree on what the rock art represents.</p>
<p>Given these difficulties, how can rock art contribute to understanding the past?</p>
<p>Our new research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01917-y">published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences</a> uses an innovative approach to understand rock art in Arnhem Land in a fundamentally different way.</p>
<h2>A dramatic landscape change</h2>
<p>Our work concerns the Red Lily Lagoon area. This part of western Arnhem Land contains an internationally significant record of humanity’s past, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">Australia’s oldest archaeological site</a>.</p>
<p>It has also been the subject of dramatic landscape change as a result of sea levels rising significantly over the last 14,000 years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remarkable-new-tech-has-revealed-the-ancient-landscape-of-arnhem-land-that-greeted-australias-first-peoples-201394">Remarkable new tech has revealed the ancient landscape of Arnhem Land that greeted Australia’s First Peoples</a>
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<p>The coastline moved from hundreds of kilometres away to right up against the cliffs in the Red Lily region, before retreating northwards about 50km to its current position. These changes would have had profound implications for people living in the area.</p>
<p>The complex landscape of sandstone cliffs and flat floodplains would have dramatically changed: from open savanna, to mudflat, to mangrove swamp. Eventually it would become the seasonally inundated freshwater wetlands that exist in the region today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people touching a wall with rock art showing outlines of human hands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566796/original/file-20231220-29-rrvdey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Arnhem Land hosts a stunning rock art record which continues to be maintained today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Moffat</span></span>
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<h2>An astonishing rock art record</h2>
<p>Arnhem Land has an astonishing <a href="https://theconversation.com/threat-or-trading-partner-sailing-vessels-in-northwestern-arnhem-land-rock-art-reveal-different-attitudes-to-visitors-161586">rock art record</a> that continues to be maintained by Traditional Owners today.</p>
<p>The rock art in Arnhem Land can be categorised into a number of different styles, which change over millennia. These styles, including <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/xray/hd_xray.htm">the well-known X-Ray style</a>, are thought to align with landscape changes driven by sea level rise. For example, saltwater animals such as fish appear in the rock art record when the sea had risen enough to impact this area.</p>
<p>To overcome the subjective nature of interpreting the artwork, archaeologists often turn to the landscape – to understand the placements of different types of art. </p>
<p>This approach usually assumes that the landscape today looks similar to when the art was painted. In Arnhem Land, where rock art has been estimated to be over 15,000 years old and the landscape has changed dramatically over this time, this isn’t true. </p>
<p>Our research used high-resolution elevation data, created from plane and drone surveys, to understand the placement of rock art sites throughout the landscape. We also mapped buried landscapes using imaging techniques to understand how the landscape has changed over time.</p>
<p>We used this data to understand how much of the landscape could be seen from each rock art site during each period of landscape evolution. We also examined what type of landscape was visible from each location. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bearded smiling man holding a large black and red device with wings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566230/original/file-20231218-19-xga6y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Drone used to survey rock art in the Red Lily Lagoon area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Moffat</span></span>
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<p>This is the first time this approach has been used in Arnhem Land. The results provide new insights into what inspired people to create rock art at different times in the past.</p>
<h2>Valuable mangroves</h2>
<p>Importantly, we found rock art production was most active, diverse in style, and covered the most area of the plateau during the period when mangroves completely covered the floodplains.</p>
<p>This may be because the mangroves provided abundant resources which sustained a large and stable human population. Or perhaps it was a response to the substantial contraction of available land caused by the sea level rise.</p>
<p>We also found that during the period when the sea level was rising, rock art was preferentially made in areas with long-distance views over areas of open woodland.</p>
<p>This may have been to facilitate hunting, or to allow careful management of landscapes during a period when many people would have been displaced from the north by sea level rise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A panorama of a rocky landscape with a blue sky above it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=177&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566797/original/file-20231220-15-62df57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The complex mosaic of floodplain, plateau and escarpment country in the Red Lily Lagoon area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Moffat</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Detailed landscapes provide deep insights</h2>
<p>Overall, our results show people in the past selected locations for rock art placement with intention. These rock art placements have the potential to tell us much more about the archaeology of Arnhem Land.</p>
<p>The locations where art is made have changed fundamentally over time. This reflects significant social and economic changes, which follow the landscape evolution over the long history of human occupation in western Arnhem Land.</p>
<p>Importantly, our results show that considering rock art through the lens of the modern landscape makes it impossible to make sense of the patterns of rock art placement and other archaeological records.</p>
<p>Our work shows more detailed models of the landscape directly surrounding archaeological sites can yield profound insights into past human activities, even those as difficult to interpret as the incredible artwork of Arnhem land.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/threat-or-trading-partner-sailing-vessels-in-northwestern-arnhem-land-rock-art-reveal-different-attitudes-to-visitors-161586">Threat or trading partner? Sailing vessels in northwestern Arnhem Land rock art reveal different attitudes to visitors</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jarrad Daniel Kowlessar receives funding from Flinders University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Wesley receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Flinders University, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and National Geographic. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Moffat receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Flinders University, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alfred Nayinggul does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Rock art directly represents how our ancestors saw the world. A new approach involving the history of the landscape brings fresh meaning to Arnhem Land rock art.
Jarrad Daniel Kowlessar, Associate Lecturer, Flinders University
Alfred Nayinggul, Senior Erre Traditional Owner, Indigenous Knowledge
Daryl Wesley, Senior research fellow, Flinders University
Ian Moffat, Associate Professor of Archaeological Science, Flinders University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/218833
2024-01-04T10:27:36Z
2024-01-04T10:27:36Z
Africans discovered dinosaur fossils long before the term ‘palaeontology’ existed
<p>Credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones usually goes to British gentlemen for their finds between the 17th and 19th centuries in England. <a href="http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/learning/htmls/plot.htm">Robert Plot</a>, an English natural history scholar, was the first of these to <a href="https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/dinosaurs-and-fossils/who-discovered-the-first-dinosaur-fossils?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share-from-amnh-org">describe</a> a dinosaur bone, in his 1676 book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Over the next two centuries dinosaur palaeontology would be dominated by numerous British natural scientists. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP543-2022-236">our study</a> shows that the history of palaeontology can be traced back much further into the past. We present evidence that the first dinosaur bone may have been discovered in Africa as early as 500 years before Plot’s.</p>
<p>We’re a team of scientists who study fossils in South Africa. Peering through the published and unpublished archaeological, historical and palaeontological literature, we discovered that there has been interest in fossils in Africa for as long as there have been people on the continent. </p>
<p>This is not a surprise. Humankind originated in Africa: <em>Homo sapiens</em> has existed for at least <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336">300,000 years</a>. And the continent has a great diversity of rock outcrops, such as the Kem Kem beds in Morocco, the Fayum depression in Egypt, the Rift Valley in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-maasai-legend-behind-ancient-hominin-footprints-in-tanzania-119373">east Africa</a> and the Karoo in southern Africa, containing fossils that have always been accessible to our ancestors. </p>
<p>So it wasn’t just likely that African people discovered fossils first. It was inevitable.</p>
<p>More often than not, the first dinosaur fossils supposedly discovered by scientists were actually brought to their attention by local guides. Examples are the discovery of the gigantic dinosaurs <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Jobaria/390687"><em>Jobaria</em></a> by the Tuaregs in Niger and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/542624-Giraffatitan"><em>Giraffatitan</em></a> by the Mwera in Tanzania.</p>
<p>Our paper reviews what’s known about African indigenous knowledge of fossils. We list fossils that appear to have long been known at various African sites, and discuss how they might have been used and interpreted by African communities before the science of palaeontology came to be.</p>
<h2>Bolahla rock shelter in Lesotho</h2>
<p>One of the highlights of our paper is the archaeological site of Bolahla, a Later Stone Age rock shelter in Lesotho. Various dating techniques indicate that the site was occupied by the Khoesan and Basotho people from the 12th to 18th centuries (1100 to 1700 AD). The shelter itself is surrounded by hills made of consolidated sediments that were deposited under a harsh Sahara-like desert some 180 million to 200 million years ago, when the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth. </p>
<p>This part of Lesotho is particularly well known for delivering the species <em>Massospondylus carinatus</em>, a 4 to 6 metre, long-necked and small-headed dinosaur. Fossilised bones of <em>Massospondylus</em> are abundant in the area and were already so when the site was occupied by people in the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>In 1990, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3889171">archaeologists</a> working at Bolahla discovered that a finger bone of <em>Massospondylus</em>, a fossil phalanx, had been transported to the cave. There are no fossil skeletons sticking out the walls of the cave, so the only chance that this phalanx ended up there was that someone in the distant past picked it up and carried it to the cave. Perhaps this person did so out of simple curiosity, or to turn it into a pendant or toy, or to use it for traditional healing rituals. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dinosaur-tracksite-in-lesotho-how-a-wrong-turn-led-to-an-exciting-find-208963">Dinosaur tracksite in Lesotho: how a wrong turn led to an exciting find</a>
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<p>After heavy rains, it is not unusual that the people in the area discover the bones of extinct species that have been washed out of their mother-rock. They usually identify them as belonging to a dragon-like monster that devours people or even whole houses. In Lesotho, the Basotho call the monster “Kholumolumo”, while in South Africa’s bordering Eastern Cape province, the Xhosa refer to it as “<a href="https://chosindabazomhlaba.com/2022/03/29/ukufika-kwamacikilishe-angamagongqongqo/">Amagongqongqo</a>”.</p>
<p>The exact date when the phalanx was collected and transported is unfortunately lost to time. Given the current knowledge, it could have been at any time of occupation of the shelter from the 12th to 18th centuries. This leaves open the possibility that this dinosaur bone could have been collected up to 500 years prior to Robert Plot’s find.</p>
<h2>Early knowledge of extinct creatures</h2>
<p>Most people knew about fossils well before the scientific era, for as far back as collective societal memories can go. In Algeria, for example, people referred to some dinosaur footprints as belonging to the legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Roc bird</a>”. In North America, cave paintings depicting dinosaur footprints were painted by the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Anasazi people</a> between AD 1000 and 1200. Indigenous Australians identified dinosaur footprints as belonging to a legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Emu-man</a>”. To the south, the notorious conquistador Hernan Cortes was given the fossil femur of a Mastodon by the <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Fossil_Legends_of_the_First_Americans.html?id=CMsgQQkmFqQC&redir_esc=y">Aztecs</a> in 1519. In Asia, Hindu people refer to ammonites (coiled fossil-sea-shells) as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shaligrams-the-sacred-fossils-that-have-been-worshipped-by-hindus-and-buddhists-for-over-2-000-years-are-becoming-rarer-because-of-climate-change-209311">Shaligrams</a>” and have been worshipping them for more than 2,000 years. </p>
<h2>Claiming credit</h2>
<p>The fact that people in Africa have long known about fossils is evident from folklore and the archaeological record, but we still have much to learn about it. For instance, unlike the people in Europe, the Americas and Asia, indigenous African palaeontologists seem to have seldom used fossils for traditional medicine. We are still unsure whether this is a genuinely unique cultural trait shared by most African cultures or if it is due to our admittedly still incomplete knowledge. </p>
<p>Also, some rather prominent fossil sites, such as the Moroccan Kem Kem beds and South African Unesco <a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/introduction-to-your-visit-to-the-cradle-of-humankind-world-heritage-site">Cradle of Humankind</a> caves, have still not provided robust evidence for indigenous knowledge. This is unfortunate, as fossil-related traditions could help bridge the gap between local communities and palaeontologists, which in turn could contribute <a href="https://theconversation.com/graffiti-threatens-precious-evidence-of-ancient-life-on-south-africas-coast-157777">preserving</a> important heritage sites.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rock-stars-how-a-group-of-scientists-in-south-africa-rescued-a-rare-500kg-chunk-of-human-history-192508">Rock stars: how a group of scientists in South Africa rescued a rare 500kg chunk of human history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By exploring indigenous palaeontology in Africa, our team is putting together pieces of a forgotten past that gives credit back to local communities. We hope it will inspire a new generation of local palaeoscientists to walk in the footsteps of these first African fossil hunters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Benoit receives funding from the DSI-NRF African Origins Platform program and GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Penn-Clarke receives funding from GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Helm does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.
Julien Benoit, Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
Cameron Penn-Clarke, Senior Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand
Charles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213358
2024-01-03T20:26:46Z
2024-01-03T20:26:46Z
The strange story of the grave of Copernicus
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565952/original/file-20231215-19-1ympo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3994%2C2862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (1873)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomer_Copernicus,_or_Conversations_with_God#/media/File:Jan_Matejko-Astronomer_Copernicus-Conversation_with_God.jpg">Jan Matejko / Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nicholas Copernicus was the astronomer who, five centuries ago, explained that Earth revolves around the Sun, rather than vice versa. A true Renaissance man, he also practised as a mathematician, engineer, author, economic theorist and medical doctor.</p>
<p>Upon his death in 1543 in Frombork, Poland, Copernicus was buried in the local cathedral. Over the subsequent centuries, the location of his grave was lost to history.</p>
<h2>Who was Copernicus?</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A portrait of a serious looking man" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565954/original/file-20231215-25-i46ixp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus from the town hall of Toruń (circa 1580).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#/media/File:Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg">Unknown artist / Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/152408c0">Nicholas Copernicus</a>, or Mikołaj Kopernik in Polish, was born in Toruń in 1473. He was the youngest of four children born to a local merchant. </p>
<p>After his father’s death, Copernicus’s uncle assumed responsibility for his education. The young scholar initially studied at the University of Kraków between 1491 and 1494, and later at Italian universities in Bologna, Padua and Ferrara.</p>
<p>After studying medicine, canon law, mathematical astronomy, and astrology, Copernicus returned home in 1503. He then worked for his influential uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, who was the Prince-Bishop of Warmia.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/copernicus-revolution-and-galileos-vision-our-changing-view-of-the-universe-in-pictures-60103">Copernicus' revolution and Galileo's vision: our changing view of the universe in pictures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Copernicus <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21614776/">worked as a physician</a> while continuing his research in mathematics. At that time, both astronomy and music were considered branches of mathematics. </p>
<p>During this period, he formulated two influential economic theories. In 1517, he developed the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0289.00063">quantity theory of money</a>, which was later re-articulated by John Locke and David Hume, and popularised by Milton Friedman in the 1960s. In 1519, Copernicus also introduced the concept now known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25776118">Gresham’s law</a>, a monetary principle addressing the circulation and valuation of money.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A photo of a large brick cathedral." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548664/original/file-20230917-29-ztk9ck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicholas Copernicus was buried in Frombork Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archcathedral_Basilica_of_the_Assumption_of_the_Blessed_Virgin_Mary_and_St._Andrew%2C_Frombork#/media/File:Frauenburger_Dom_2010.jpg">Holger Weinant / Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Copernican model of the universe</h2>
<p>The cornerstone of Copernicus’s contributions to science was his revolutionary model of the universe. Contrary to the prevailing Ptolemaic model, which maintained that Earth was the stationary centre of the universe, Copernicus argued that Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun.</p>
<p>Copernicus was further able to compare the sizes of the planetary orbits by expressing them in terms of the distance between the Sun and Earth.</p>
<p>Copernicus feared how his work would be received by the church and fellow scholars. His magnum opus, “<a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/apr2008.html">De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium</a>” (On the Movement of the Celestial Spheres), was only published just before his death in 1543. </p>
<p>The publication of this work set the stage for groundbreaking shifts in our understanding of the universe, paving the way for future astronomers such as Galileo, who was born more than 20 years after Copernicus’s death.</p>
<h2>The search for Copernicus</h2>
<p>The Frombork Cathedral serves as the final resting place of more than 100 people, most of whom lie in unnamed graves.</p>
<p>There were several unsuccessful attempts to locate Copernicus’s remains, dating as far back as the 16th and 17th centuries. Another failed attempt was made by the French emperor Napoleon after the 1807 Battle of Eylau. Napoleon held Copernicus in high regard as a polymath, mathematician and astronomer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Photo of the inside of a cathedral" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565958/original/file-20231215-17-kqh2zj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Historians believed Copernicus would have been buried near a particular altar in Frombork Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archcathedral_Basilica_of_the_Assumption_of_the_Blessed_Virgin_Mary_and_St._Andrew%2C_Frombork#/media/File:Frombork_Cathedral_Interior.jpg">Julian Nyča / Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2005, a group of Polish archaeologists took up the search. </p>
<p>They were guided by the theory of historian Jerzy Sikorski, who claimed that Copernicus, serving as the Canon of Frombork Cathedral, would have been buried near the cathedral altar for which he was responsible during his tenure. This was the Altar of Saint Wacław, now known as the Altar of the Holy Cross.</p>
<p>Thirteen skeletons were discovered near this altar, including an <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/copernicus-unearthed-115715830/">incomplete skeleton</a> belonging to a male aged between 60 and 70 years. This particular skeleton was identified as the closest match to that of Copernicus. </p>
<h2>Forensic science</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photos of a human skull from the front and side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548662/original/file-20230917-23-c6vx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A skull believed to belong to Copernicus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://clkp.policja.pl/clk/badania-i-projekty/ciekawe-badania/172502,Czy-tak-wygladal-Mikolaj-Kopernik.html">Dariusz Zajdel / Centralne Laboratorium Kryminalistyczne Policji</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The skull of the skeleton served as the basis for a facial reconstruction.</p>
<p>In addition to morphological studies, DNA analysis is often used for the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0907491106">identification of historical or ancient remains</a>. In the case of the presumed remains of Copernicus, a genetic identification was possible due to the well-preserved state of the teeth. </p>
<p>A significant challenge lay in identifying a suitable source of reference material. There were no known remains of any relatives of Copernicus.</p>
<h2>An unlikely find</h2>
<p>In 2006, however, a new source of DNA reference material came to life. An astronomical reference book used by Copernicus for many years was found to contain hair among its pages. </p>
<p>This book had been taken to Sweden as war booty following the Swedish invasion of Poland in the mid-17th century. It is currently in the possession of the Museum Gustavianum at Uppsala University. </p>
<p>A meticulous examination of the book revealed several hairs, thought likely to belong to the book’s primary user, Copernicus himself. Consequently, these hairs were assessed as potential reference material for genetic comparison with the teeth and bone matter recovered from the tomb.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owned-this-stone-age-jewellery-new-forensic-tools-offer-an-unprecedented-answer-204797">Who owned this Stone Age jewellery? New forensic tools offer an unprecedented answer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The hairs were compared with the <a href="https://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2009/10/22/nicolaus-copernicus-old-old-blue-eyes.aspx">DNA from the teeth and bones</a> of the discovered skeleton. Both the mitochondrial DNA from the teeth and the skeletal sample matched those of the hairs, strongly suggesting that the remains were indeed those of Nicholas Copernicus.</p>
<p>The multidisciplinary effort, involving archaeological excavation, morphological studies and advanced DNA analysis, has led to a compelling conclusion. </p>
<p>The remains discovered near the Altar of the Holy Cross in Frombork Cathedral are highly likely to be those of Nicholas Copernicus. This monumental find not only sheds light on the final resting place of one of the most influential figures in the history of science, but also showcases the depth and sophistication of modern scientific methods in corroborating historical data.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darius von Guttner Sporzynski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A team of archaeologists discovered the remains of the 16th-century father of modern astronomy, who demonstrated that the Earth orbits the Sun.
Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219505
2023-12-20T23:25:15Z
2023-12-20T23:25:15Z
People once lived in a vast region in north-western Australia – and it had an inland sea
<p>For much of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">65,000 years</a> of Australia’s human history, the now-submerged northwest continental shelf connected the Kimberley and western Arnhem Land. This vast, habitable realm covered nearly 390,000 square kilometres, an area one-and-a-half times larger than New Zealand is today.</p>
<p>It was likely a single cultural zone, with similarities in ground stone-axe technology, styles of rock art, and languages found by archaeologists in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. </p>
<p>There is plenty of archaeological evidence humans once lived on continental shelves – areas that are now submerged – all around the world. Such hard evidence has been retrieved from underwater sites in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/doggerlands-lost-world-shows-melting-glaciers-have-drowned-lands-before-and-may-again-26472">North Sea</a>, <a href="https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3046150">Baltic Sea</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.04.008">Mediterranean Sea</a>, and along the coasts of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.04.008">North</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0275-y">South</a> America, <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC97332">South Africa</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-coastal-waters-are-rich-in-indigenous-cultural-heritage-but-it-remains-hidden-and-under-threat-166564">Australia</a>.</p>
<p>In a newly published <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0277-3791(23)00466-3">study in Quaternary Science Reviews</a>, we reveal details of the complex landscape that existed on the Northwest Shelf of Australia. It was unlike any landscape found on our continent today.</p>
<h2>A continental split</h2>
<p>Around 18,000 years ago, the last ice age ended. Subsequent warming caused sea levels to rise and drown huge areas of the world’s continents. This process <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-coastal-living-is-at-risk-from-sea-level-rise-but-its-happened-before-87686">split the supercontinent of Sahul into New Guinea and Australia</a>, and cut Tasmania off from the mainland. </p>
<p>Unlike in the rest of the world, the now-drowned continental shelves of Australia were thought to be environmentally unproductive and little used by First Nations peoples.</p>
<p>But mounting archaeological evidence shows this assumption is incorrect. Many large islands off Australia’s coast – islands that once formed part of the continental shelves – <a href="https://theconversation.com/cave-dig-shows-the-earliest-australians-enjoyed-a-coastal-lifestyle-77326">show signs of occupation</a> before sea levels rose.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Overhead image of a coastline with modern day outlines and what it used to look like" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566496/original/file-20231219-19-p3hmw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Satellite image of the submerged northwest shelf region. Right: Drowned landscape map of the study area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">US Geological Survey, Geoscience Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-first-discovery-of-its-kind-researchers-have-uncovered-an-ancient-aboriginal-archaeological-site-preserved-on-the-seabed-138108">Stone tools</a> have also recently been found on the sea floor off the coast of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.</p>
<p>However, archaeologists have only been able to speculate about the nature of the drowned landscapes people roamed before the end of the last ice age, and the size of their populations. </p>
<p>Our new research on the Northwest Shelf fills in some of those details. This area contained archipelagos, lakes, rivers and a large inland sea.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=677&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=677&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=677&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566506/original/file-20231219-19-6sk9bk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During lower sea levels, a vast archipelago formed on the Australian northwest continental shelf (top). A modern day example of an archipelago on a submerged continental shelf is the Åland Islands near Finland (bottom).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">US Geological Survey, Geoscience Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mapping an ancient landscape</h2>
<p>To characterise how the Northwest Shelf landscapes changed through the last 65,000 years of human history, we projected past sea levels onto high-resolution maps of the ocean floor.</p>
<p>We found low sea levels exposed a vast archipelago of islands on the Northwest Shelf of Sahul, extending 500km towards the Indonesian island of Timor. The archipelago appeared between 70,000 and 61,000 years ago, and remained stable for around 9,000 years.</p>
<p>Thanks to the rich ecosystems of these islands, people may have migrated in stages from Indonesia to Australia, using the archipelago as stepping stones. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-incredible-journey-the-first-people-to-arrive-in-australia-came-in-large-numbers-and-on-purpose-114074">An incredible journey: the first people to arrive in Australia came in large numbers, and on purpose</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With descent into the last ice age, polar ice caps grew and sea levels dropped by up to 120 metres. This fully exposed the shelf for the first time in 100,000 years.</p>
<p>The region contained a mosaic of habitable fresh and saltwater environments. The most salient of these features was the Malita inland sea.</p>
<p>Our projections show it existed for 10,000 years (27,000 to 17,000 years ago), with a surface area greater than 18,000 square kilometres. The closest example in the world today is the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sea+of+Marmara/@40.7576502,28.3402382,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x14b568aa4776cfa7:0x5eb5ffc8155d820f!8m2!3d40.6681407!4d28.1122679!16zL20vMDc0cWo?entry=ttu">Sea of Marmara</a> in Turkey. </p>
<p>We found the Northwest Shelf also contained a large lake during the last ice age, only 30km north of the modern day Kimberley coastline. At its maximum extent it would have been half the size of Kati Thandi (Lake Eyre). Many ancient river channels are still visible on the ocean floor maps. These would have flowed into Malita sea and the lake.</p>
<h2>A thriving population</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-australians-grew-to-a-population-of-millions-much-more-than-previous-estimates-142371">previous study</a> suggested the population of Sahul could have grown to millions of people.</p>
<p>Our ecological modelling reveals the now-drowned Northwest Shelf could have supported between 50,000 and 500,000 people at various times over the last 65,000 years. The population would have peaked at the height of the last ice age about 20,000 years ago, when the entire shelf was dry land. </p>
<p>This finding is supported by new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06831-w">genetic research</a> indicating large populations at this time, based on data from people living in the Tiwi Islands just to the east of the Northwest Shelf. </p>
<p>At the end of the last ice age, rising sea levels drowned the shelf, compelling people to fall back as waters encroached on once-productive landscapes. </p>
<p>Retreating populations would have been forced together as available land shrank. New rock art styles appeared at this time in both <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aay3922">the Kimberley</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X16304059?casa_token=Fjcbovqs0NcAAAAA:SG4045quovcQgEInsZOFFxW6rLIjCpnDVFi13xrWC2e7ALnXn2kKhttJzCkPzqlWXzKg3RDKUw">Arnhem Land</a>.</p>
<p>Rising sea levels and the drowning of the landscape is also recorded in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-aboriginal-stories-preserve-history-of-a-rise-in-sea-level-36010">oral histories</a> of First Nations people from all around the coastal margin, thought to have been passed down for over 10,000 years. </p>
<p>This latest revelation of the complex and intricate dynamics of First Nations people responding to rapidly changing climates lends growing weight to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-knowledge-is-lost-when-a-species-disappears-its-time-to-let-indigenous-people-care-for-their-country-their-way-172760">the call</a> for more Indigenous-led environmental management in this country and elsewhere.</p>
<p>As we face an uncertain future together, deep-time Indigenous knowledge and experience will be essential for successful adaptation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kasih Norman received funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Award and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey J. A. Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frédérik Saltré receives funding from Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tristen Anne Norrie Jones receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Clarkson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Our new study reveals a mosaic of habitable landscapes – now submerged by the ocean – once supported up to 500,000 people living in Australia’s northwest.
Kasih Norman, Research Fellow, Griffith University
Chris Clarkson, Professor in Archaeology, The University of Queensland
Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
Frédérik Saltré, Research Fellow in Ecology for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
Tristen Anne Norrie Jones, Academic Fellow, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219136
2023-12-12T14:42:58Z
2023-12-12T14:42:58Z
Madagascar cave art hints at ancient connections between Africa and Asia
<p>Unique, prehistoric rock art drawings have been discovered in the Andriamamelo Cave in western Madagascar. </p>
<p>I was part of a team that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564894.2020.1749735">discovered and described</a> these ancient treasures. They’re the first truly pictorial art, depicting images of nature with human-like and animal-like figures, to be seen on the island. Until recently, rock art in Madagascar had only yielded a few sites with basic symbols.</p>
<p>The dramatic discoveries contained several surprises, including hints at some remarkable cultural connections. </p>
<p>First, scenes depicted in some cases linked up fairly directly to Egyptian religious motifs from the Ptolemaic period (300-30 BCE). </p>
<p>Second, other inferences from symbols and writing on the walls showed connections to the Ethiopian and Afro-Arab worlds. </p>
<p>Finally, prevalent symbology and motifs evoked a two-millennia-old cave art style from Borneo. </p>
<p>An additional realm of surprises: at least three extinct animals of Madagascar (thought to have been extinct for many centuries) may be depicted – a giant sloth lemur, elephant birds and a giant tortoise. </p>
<p>It has long been believed – and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30846019_The_Culture_History_of_Madagascar">evidence</a> has confirmed – that the people, language, and culture of Madagascar are rooted in distant ancient connections to Borneo, an island in south-east Asia, combined with strong influences from continental eastern Africa.</p>
<p>However, who the first Malagasy were, when they arrived, and what they did after that, are all hotly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119303282?via%3Dihub">debated</a> topics.</p>
<p>Though our findings are speculative, any information that might be derived from the Andriamamelo Cave evidence is of considerable interest to the reconstruction of Malagasy early history.</p>
<h2>Connections beyond Madagascar</h2>
<p>Our research group – including Malagasy scientists from local institutions, and American, British and Australian specialists – visited the site near the village of Anahidrano on the north-west edge of the 17,100-hectare Beanka protected area in 2013. </p>
<p>Our team spent several days recording the images, surveying and mapping the entire cave, searching for associated archaeological sites, and interviewing local villagers regarding the art. It took several years, however, to search through relevant literature and museum archives to confirm the uniqueness and significance of what we’d found.</p>
<p>We made digital copies and hand-drawings of 72 cave-art objects. These were drawn in black pigment and included 16 animals, six human forms, two human-animal hybrid forms, two geometric designs, 16 examples of an M-shaped symbol, and many other patterns and indistinct forms. </p>
<p>Egyptian connections are hinted at in eight major images, including a falcon (Horus); the bird-headed god Thoth; the ostrich goddess Ma`at and two human-animal figures which were similar to Anubis – an ancient Egyptian god usually depicted as a man with a canine head. </p>
<p>The ubiquitous and mysterious M-figures demand explanation: we suggested, after searching many relevant alphabets, that it is a perfect match for only one, the letter “hawt” (ሐ) in the ancient Ethiopian Amharic alphabet, pronounced “ha”.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, though, we also found this symbol in cave art from Borneo thought to be about 2,000 years old, and in no other cave or rock art throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In some Austronesian languages (the diverse language family that extends from Malagasy on the west to distant Hawaii and Rapa Nui in the Pacific), the word “ha” is a term for the “breath of life”. </p>
<p>All these possible connections remind us that Madagascar’s people, language, and culture are in themselves syncretic, blending African and Asian influences to produce a unique Malagasy people.</p>
<p>The richly detailed and diverse art is notable also for what it doesn’t show. </p>
<p>No Christian, Muslim or Hindu symbolism is depicted, and no relatively modern motifs such as the Latin alphabet, cars, airplanes or flags. Even the ubiquitous zebu (cattle), the culturally paramount symbol of the last thousand years or more in Madagascar, are absent.</p>
<h2>When and whose</h2>
<p>It’s hard to know exactly when these drawings were made. Direct dating of cave art is notoriously difficult, and proved so in this case as the black pigment was made from dark inorganic minerals with only a small component of charcoal we could use for radiocarbon dating. </p>
<p>The presence of extinct animals, and the lack of modern motifs and the alphabet used in modern Malagasy, weigh heavily against the notion of a recent origin for the art.</p>
<p>We suspect that the art is about 2,000 years old – dating back to the time of Cleopatra or before, based on the religious motifs. If it is, that is remarkable and useful to know because it may provide evidence for who colonised Madagascar and when.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, a set of pre-Christian religious beliefs has survived for centuries or even millennia among certain ethnic groups in very remote areas of the immense island – retaining recognisable influences from Egypt, Ethiopia and Borneo – that would be perhaps more remarkable. Village informants hinted at that possibility, by insisting that the “sorcerer” pictured was a member of a mysterious group of “Vazimba” or “Bosy”) who lived in the forest nearby.</p>
<p>So, whose art is this? We wish we knew, but clues are mostly lacking. The only possible writing, besides the M-figures, is a line of faint script in the lower right corner of this rock-art extravaganza. </p>
<p>Our best guess is that the legible middle six of eight characters, inferred to be <em>sorabe</em>, archaic Malagasy writing in Arabic script, may say “D-A-NT-IA-R-K”. </p>
<p>Does that refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes? This king of the Seleucid Empire (western Asia) in the Ptolemaic period built a large navy, conquered much of Egypt in 170 BCE, and sent exploring and trading expeditions down the Red Sea and the east African coast. Ivory traders in that period <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/200009">spread</a> Roman goods as far south as ports in Tanzania south of Zanzibar, to trade with Azania. </p>
<p>Until more art or relevant archaeological evidence turns up for ancient African and Asian influences in Madagascar, we can only speculate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Burney received funding from the National Geographic Society for the field research leading to these discoveries.</span></em></p>
Rock art from a Malagasy cave hints at some remarkable cultural connections.
David Burney, Professor of Conservation Paleobiology, National Tropical Botanical Garden, and Adjunct Professor, University of Hawaii
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215211
2023-12-11T18:56:21Z
2023-12-11T18:56:21Z
Was King Herod the Great really so ‘great’? What history says about the bad guy of the Christmas story
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564389/original/file-20231207-21-moqskm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C1022%2C927&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Herod the Great − though in the Gospel of Matthew, he wasn't so great.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-4-ad-bust-of-emperor-herod-the-great-news-photo/51243879?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>King Herod will sound familiar to anyone who’s heard the Christmas story. King of Judea when Jesus of Nazareth was born, the ruler attempts to find and kill the baby after hearing that the “King of the Jews” has just been born.</p>
<p>Tricked by the Magi, the wise men whom Herod had sent to determine where the infant was, a raging Herod decreed that all children 2 and under who live near Bethlehem are to be killed. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=NRSVUE">The Gospel of Matthew</a> contains the famous account of this “slaughter of the innocents,” and of Mary, Joseph and Jesus’ flight to Egypt.</p>
<p>Interestingly, King Herod’s storyline is not found in any other biblical texts nor in Roman records. Yet it is pivotal in Matthew’s Gospel, which contrasts Herod’s mission, death, to that of the baby Jesus, life.</p>
<p>So who was the real King Herod – and why would Matthew’s Gospel include him?</p>
<p>I am a scholar who studies <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/redefining-ancient-borders-9780567025210/">the interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel</a>, as well as <a href="https://religiousstudies.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty/aaron-gale">the Jewish roots of Christianity</a>. Historians in the field know a fair amount about Herod’s life, and the actual facts are somewhat surprising.</p>
<h2>‘King of the Jews’</h2>
<p>Writers such as <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/">the Jewish historian Josephus</a>, who fought against Roman rule in the first century C.E. before eventually allying himself with Rome, have provided detailed accounts regarding Herod’s deeds. In addition, modern archaeologists have excavated many sites associated with him, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCEaIiWHe8k">the possible location of Herod’s tomb</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A richly illustrated medieval manuscript shows a scene of a family superimposed over other illustrations." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A manuscript illumination of the Magi visiting Jesus, made in the Netherlands in the 16th century, shows the Magi before Herod at the bottom of the image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manuscript-illumination-with-adoration-of-the-magi-ca-news-photo/1288526680?adppopup=true">Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to historical accounts, Herod the Great was the regional <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7501s.ct002407/?r=-0.407,0.293,1.722,1.087,0">king of Judea</a>, which contained the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. He ruled from about 37 B.C.E. until his death in 4 B.C.E., at a time when Judea was still under Roman influence. Most scholars estimate that Jesus was born <a href="https://www.patheos.com/answers/when-was-jesus-born">between 6 and 4 B.C.E.</a> – during Herod’s reign, as Matthew’s Gospel indicates.</p>
<p>Since Herod was <a href="https://lexundria.com/j_bj/1.284/wst">appointed by Rome</a> to rule over Judea, a mostly Jewish region, he was literally “king of the Jews.” However, Herod may not have actually been Jewish at all, at least by birth. </p>
<p>He was likely from the region known as Idumea, to the south. Herod’s father had likely been forced to <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/antipater-ii-or-antipas">convert to Judaism</a>, as scholars believe many Idumeans were, while his mother was <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-14.html">an Arabian princess</a>. However, as Josephus points out, the two groups intermingled quite extensively, with some Idumeans, perhaps including his father, willingly adopting Jewish customs.</p>
<p>Josephus even declares that Herod was basically a Judean, though it is likely that many of the native Jews in Judea would have been skeptical of their king’s claims to be truly Jewish and <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/king-herod/#footnote-905">viewed him as an outsider</a>, especially if he did come from Idumea. However, Josephus does indicate that Herod would <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html">ally himself with Roman leadership</a> whenever he deemed it prudent.</p>
<h2>‘Great’ but severe</h2>
<p>Herod the Great proved himself a skillful builder, responsible for the planning and construction of projects such as the city of Herodium; the extravagant harbor <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1480/">at Caesarea Maritima</a>, on the Mediterranean Coast; and <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1040/">the mountain fortress of Masada</a>, which was located in the middle of the unforgiving desert near the Dead Sea.</p>
<p>Most famously, perhaps, was Herod’s rebuilding and expansion of the Jewish <a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/new-testament-history-culture-society/temple-herod">temple complex in Jerusalem</a>. This project alone took decades to complete. Herod’s remodeled temple was a much more grandiose structure than Solomon’s original temple, built about a thousand years earlier. Josephus noted how <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/complete.iii.vi.v.html">it resembled a white, snow-covered mountain</a> – that is, the parts of it that were not covered in gold.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of men in black and white clothing, seen from the back, face a tall tan-colored stone wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jewish men pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, part of Herod’s expansion of the temple complex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-jewish-community-gather-to-pray-at-the-news-photo/1779946594?adppopup=true">Israel Fuguemann/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Regardless of whether Herod was actually Jewish, he contributed to the preservation of Judaism. He succeeded in exempting Jews from serving in the Roman military and having to engage in emperor worship, preserving their ability <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-16.html">to practice Judaism in relative peace</a>. </p>
<p>Herod also proved himself a brilliant <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2018/08/uw-religion-today-king-herod-the-economic-power-of-government-spending.html">economic strategist</a> who greatly increased the wealth of Judea by engaging in ventures such as international trade, which included the sale of balsam wood and copper. He contributed funds to national and international endeavors, including <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2016/08/uw-religion-today-king-herod-president-of-the-olympic-games.html">the Olympic Games</a>, and it is said that he even <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/herods-wealth/">averted a regional famine</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Herod’s sinister reputation as a tyrant was probably well deserved. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An ornate painting depicts a woman in white with long dark hair walking down steps and looking back toward a downcast king on a throne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herod sentenced his own wife to death, suspecting her of plotting to kill him: ‘Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod,’ by painter John William Waterhouse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse-Mariamne_Leaving_the_Judgement_Seat_of_Herod-1887.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because he constantly feared a rebellion, he would execute anyone he deemed a threat to his reign, including his own first wife and three of his sons. In addition, he was reported to have <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html">excessively taxed his constituents</a> to help support his economic programs.</p>
<h2>Similar stories?</h2>
<p>There is no historical record of any “massacre of the innocents” – even the tyrannical Herod most likely never condoned such an action. </p>
<p>If that was the case, why does Matthew’s Gospel mention King Herod so prominently in Jesus’ birth narrative?</p>
<p>Matthew’s version is considered <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2019/09/16/the-gospel-of-matthew-within-and-without-judaism/">the most Jewish of the Gospels</a>, the four biblical accounts of Jesus’ life in the New Testament – for example, it advocates for <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A17-19&version=NRSVUE">upholding Jewish laws</a>. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel was likely written by Jews for a mostly Jewish audience late in the first century C.E., when the Christian movement was still in its infancy.</p>
<p>Matthew’s audience would have been familiar with the existing Hebrew scriptures, including the famous story of Moses’ childhood, when he escapes the pharaoh’s edict <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.1.16?lang=bi&aliyot=0">to kill all the newborn sons</a> of his Hebrew slaves. Biblical scholars have made the case that Matthew’s Gospel intentionally compared Jesus with Moses, who saved the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, to convince the intended audience that Jesus, too, was a long-awaited savior.</p>
<p>To strengthen the similarities between Jesus and Moses, this argument goes, the authors of Matthew had Herod threaten Jesus in the same manner that the pharaoh threatened the Hebrew children. The Jewish audience of Matthew would have connected the two narratives, in which good ultimately triumphs over evil. The Gospel story further villainizes Herod, whose son, <a href="https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/which-herod-was-which-sorting-out-the-five-herods/">also called King Herod, or Herod Antipas</a>, was ruling at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion around 30 C.E.</p>
<p>Herod may have been a splendid builder and a savvy economist – and technically the “King of the Jews.” But in the eyes of the Gospel authors, it was Jesus who truly <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=NRSVUE%20%22%22">deserved that title</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Gale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Historians know a fair bit about Herod the Great, the king of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth.
Aaron Gale, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216539
2023-11-22T19:09:13Z
2023-11-22T19:09:13Z
Carved trees and burial sites: Wiradjuri Elders share the hidden stories of ‘marara’ and ‘dhabuganha’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556383/original/file-20231028-19-r3emxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C3015%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caroline Spry</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following contains information about deceased persons, ceremonial practices, and Men’s and Women’s Business with the permission of the Gaanha-bula Action Group.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>People have long used symbols (marks or characters) to communicate ideas and concepts. It is something that sets humans apart from other beings. </p>
<p>The oldest dated example of symbolic thinking is a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jan/11/humanities.arts">77,000-year-old carved ochre object</a> found in South Africa. While we will never know what its symbols meant, it is a different story in Australia, where we are privileged to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today about symbols made by their ancestors in the past. </p>
<p>One remarkable example of symbolic expression is the <em>marara</em> (carved trees or dendroglyphs) of <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia">Wiradjuri Country</a>, in southeastern Australia. In a new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2023.2219378">Wiradjuri-led study</a>, we have combined traditional cultural knowledge and archaeological methods to develop culturally and scientifically informed understanding of these sacred locations for the first time. </p>
<p>Our study of <em>marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> is guided by the principles of the Wiradjuri philosophy <em>Yindyamarra</em> (cultural respect).</p>
<h2>Carved trees and burials</h2>
<p><em>Marara</em> are trees with elaborate <em>muyalaang</em> (tree carvings), marking the <em>dhabuganha</em> (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing. They represent a traditional cultural practice with deep roots. </p>
<p>Wiradjuri people created <em>marara</em> by removing a large slab of bark, then intricately carving <em>muyalaang</em> into the fresh tree surface. <em>Muyalaang</em> often appear as a series of curved lines or geometric patterns like diamonds and zig-zags. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A triptych of photos of carved trees with different patterns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556378/original/file-20231027-25-tz9saf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of marara (carved trees) with curved lines (left), nested diamonds (middle) and diamonds (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caroline Spry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The British explorer John Oxley described <em>marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> in an 1817 diary entry. Three years later, painter G.H. Evans depicted the scene, with several <em>marara</em> carved to face a central <em>dhabuganha</em> and three “mourning” seats: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The form of the whole was semi-circular. Three rows of seats occupied one half, the grave and an outer row of seats the other; the seats formed segments of circles of fifty, forty-five, and forty feet each, and were formed by the soil being trenched up from between them. The centre part of the grave was about five feet high, and about nine long, forming an oblong pointed cone.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of an earth mound and ridges among trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556379/original/file-20231027-19-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1820 depiction of three marara (carved trees), a dhabuganha (burial) in the centre and ‘mourning’ seats to the right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135903737/view">G. H. Evans / National Library of Australia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, a diminishing number of <em>marara</em> remain. Most <em>dhabuganha</em> are no longer visible due to erosion and modern land-use practices. </p>
<h2>Two burial sites</h2>
<p>We used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar">ground-penetrating radar</a> at one location to non-invasively analyse and map changes in soil to refine our understanding of the resting place of a Wiradjuri man of high standing, whose <em>dhabuganha</em> is no longer visible today but remains marked by a <em>marara</em>. We created a 3D model of this <em>marara</em>.</p>
<p>Not far away, on the other side of a creek, is a fallen scarred tree reported to mark the <em>dhabuganha</em> of the man’s “wife”. The man’s <em>marara</em> and the woman’s fallen scarred tree would have faced each other when the fallen tree was still standing – perhaps as a symbol of their connection.</p>
<div class="sketchfab-embed-wrapper">
<iframe title="Figure 8 Garra TST Main" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; xr-spatial-tracking" xr-spatial-tracking="" execution-while-out-of-viewport="" execution-while-not-rendered="" web-share="" src="https://sketchfab.com/models/4b0237ed0cf94d0d8b3cfbe7770bbadd/embed?ui_infos=0&ui_watermark_link=0&ui_watermark=0&dnt=1" width="100%" height="400"> </iframe>
</div>
<p>We also studied <em>marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> at Yuranigh’s Grave, a public tourist site near Molong. <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/yuranigh-2829">Yuranigh</a> was a Wiradjuri man of high standing who accompanied explorer Thomas Mitchell on his inland expeditions during the 19th century. </p>
<p>Mitchell valued Yuranigh so much that, after Yuranigh’s passing, he added a European headstone to Yuranigh’s <em>dhabuganha</em>, which is also surrounded by several traditionally carved <em>marara</em>. The headstone inscription reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To Native Courage Honesty and Fidelity. Yuranigh who accompanied the expedition of discovery into tropical Australia in 1846 lies buried here according to the rites of his countrymen and this spot was dedicated and enclosed by the Governor General’s authority in 1852.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A bigger cultural landscape</h2>
<p>Despite the remarkable appearance of <em>marara</em>, our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders make it clear that <em>marara</em> are not just artistic objects. They are sacred locations with specific cultural (or symbolic) meaning that is not clear without deeper understanding of Wiradjuri people and Country. </p>
<p>Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Neil Ingram reveals that <em>muyalaang</em> speak to “the different clan groups and their stories”. Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that <em>muyalaang</em> are “connected back to the totems” of the area. Wiradjuri Knowledge Holder James Williams states that <em>marara</em> show “a path from here – this life – to the next life”, between the earth and “sky world” where Baiame the Wiradjuri Creator, or Sky Spirit, lives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people in discussion, sitting and standing in a circle outdoors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556382/original/file-20231027-29-1h0l1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wiradjuri Elders, knowledge holders and community discussing marara (carved trees) and dhabuganha (burials) with researchers on Country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caroline Spry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders also highlight that <em>marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> should not be understood as individual locations or isolated “sites”. </p>
<p>Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that “you need to open your mind and think further than what’s on the tree, and what’s in the ground, and have a look around, and see what’s there … within a bigger cultural landscape”. <em>Marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> form part of a connected system of Wiradjuri lore, beliefs, traditional cultural practices and Country that involved men, women and children together.</p>
<p><em>Marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> encourage us to look beyond what we perceive in physical form to understand the different ways of seeing the world around us.</p>
<p>We have had the privilege of working together to document these sacred locations, and to shine a light on this important and fragile part of Australian history. <em>Marara</em> and <em>dhabuganha</em> tell a hidden story that is not apparent without deeper cultural understanding. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors wish to acknowledge this article was also written with Uncle Neil Ingram (Wiradjuri Elder), Aunty Alice Williams (Wiradjuri Elder), James Williams (Wiradjuri Knowledge Holder), Yarrawula Ngullubul Men’s Corporation, Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, Michelle Hines (Central Tablelands Local Land Services) and Tracey Potts (Central Tablelands Local Land Services).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Spry undertakes research at La Trobe University and receives research funding from La Trobe University and government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian J Armstrong receives funding from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Ingram works for the Central Tablelands Local Land Services.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lawrence Conyers receives funding from the University of Denver. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Sutherland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A new study unlocks the mysteries of ancient burial marker trees made by Wiradjuri people in southeastern Australia.
Caroline Spry, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, PhD, La Trobe University
Brian J Armstrong, Research Associate, The University of Melbourne
Greg Ingram, Wiradjuri Traditional Custodian, and Aboriginal Communities Officer at Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Indigenous Knowledge
Ian Sutherland, Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi Traditional Custodian, Indigenous Knowledge
Lawrence Conyers, Professor of Anthropology, University of Denver
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214347
2023-11-17T13:29:56Z
2023-11-17T13:29:56Z
Forget ‘Man the Hunter’ – physiological and archaeological evidence rewrites assumptions about a gendered division of labor in prehistoric times
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560041/original/file-20231116-21-sqjk8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=544%2C53%2C4368%2C2812&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In small-group, subsistence living, it makes sense for everyone to do lots of jobs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/tribe-of-hunter-gatherers-wearing-animal-skin-live-royalty-free-image/1194512903">gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prehistoric men hunted; prehistoric women gathered. At least this is the standard narrative written by and about men to the exclusion of women.</p>
<p>The idea of “Man the Hunter” runs deep within anthropology, convincing people that hunting made us human, only men did the hunting, and therefore evolutionary forces must only have acted upon men. Such depictions are found not only in media, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-human-evolution">but in museums</a> and introductory anthropology textbooks, too. </p>
<p>A common argument is that a sexual division of labor and unequal division of power exists today; therefore, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00226">must have existed in our evolutionary past</a> as well. But this is a just-so story without sufficient evidentiary support, despite its pervasiveness in disciplines like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2013.804899">evolutionary psychology</a>.</p>
<p>There is a growing body of physiological, anatomical, ethnographic and archaeological evidence to suggest that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-theory-that-men-evolved-to-hunt-and-women-evolved-to-gather-is-wrong1/">not only did women hunt</a> in our evolutionary past, but they may well have been better suited for such an endurance-dependent activity.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YE6ZrpwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">We are both</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=u3iE81oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">biological anthropologists</a>. Cara specializes in the physiology of humans living in extreme conditions, using her research to reconstruct how our ancestors may have adapted to different climates. Sarah studies Neanderthal and early modern human health, and excavates at their archaeological sites.</p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for scientists like us – who attempt to include the contributions of all individuals, regardless of sex and gender, in reconstructions of our evolutionary past – to be accused of rewriting the past to fulfill a politically correct, woke agenda. The actual evidence speaks for itself, though: Gendered labor roles did not exist in the Paleolithic era, which lasted from 3.3 million years ago until 12,000 years ago. The story is written in human bodies, now and in the past.</p>
<p>We recognize that biological sex can be defined using multiple characteristics, including chromosomes, genitalia and hormones, each of which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23623">exists on a spectrum</a>. Social gender, too, is not a binary category. We use the terms female and male when discussing the physiological and anatomical evidence, as this is what the research literature tends to use.</p>
<h2>Female bodies: Adapted for endurance</h2>
<p>One of the key arguments put forth by “Man the Hunter” proponents is that <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/444294299">females would not have been physically capable</a> of taking part in the long, arduous hunts of our evolutionary past. But a number of female-associated features, which provide an endurance advantage, tell a different story.</p>
<p>All human bodies, regardless of sex, have and need both the hormones <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/estrogen">estrogen</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/testosterone">testosterone</a>. On average, females have more estrogen and males more testosterone, though there is a <a href="https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/tests/testosterone#:%7E:text=Normal%20Results,0.5%20to%202.4%20nmol%2FL">great deal of variation</a> <a href="https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=167&ContentID=estradiol#:%7E:text=30%20to%20400%20pg%2FmL,50%20pg%2FmL%20for%20men">and overlap</a>.</p>
<p>Testosterone often gets all the credit when it comes to athletic success. But estrogen – technically the estrogen receptor – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1086185">is deeply ancient</a>, originating somewhere between 1.2 billion and 600 million years ago. It <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna38268611">predates the existence of sexual reproduction</a> involving egg and sperm. The testosterone receptor originated as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1086185">duplicate of the estrogen receptor</a> and is only about half as old. As such, estrogen, in its many forms and pervasive functions, seems necessary for life among both females and males.</p>
<p>Estrogen influences athletic performance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01651-w">particularly endurance performance</a>. The greater concentrations of estrogen that females tend to have in their bodies likely confer an endurance advantage – an ability to exercise for a longer period of time without becoming exhausted.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="sihoutte of a woman's body with cartoon systems highlighted" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559161/original/file-20231113-27-iz9t0v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The hormone estrogen has multiple effects throughout the body and plays a role in people regardless of sex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cara Ocobock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/H00-024">Estrogen signals the body to burn more fat</a> – beneficial during endurance activity for two key reasons. First, fat has more than twice the calories per gram as carbohydrates do. And it takes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556002">longer to metabolize fats than carbs</a>. So, fat provides more bang for the buck overall, and the slow burn provides sustained energy over longer periods of time, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.12234">can delay fatigue during endurance activities</a> like running.</p>
<p>In addition to their estrogen advantage, females have a greater proportion of <a href="https://blog.nasm.org/fitness/fast-twitch-vs-slow-twitch">type I muscle fibers</a> relative to males.</p>
<p>These are slow oxidative muscle fibers that prefer to metabolize fats. They’re not particularly powerful, but they take awhile to fatigue – unlike the powerful type II fibers that males have more of but that tire rapidly. Doing the same intense exercise, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1152/JAPPL.1998.85.3.1175">females burn 70% more fats</a> than males do, and unsurprisingly, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422739">less likely to fatigue</a>. </p>
<p>Estrogen also appears to be important for post-exercise recovery. Intense exercise or heat exposure can be stressful for the body, eliciting an inflammatory response via the release of heat shock proteins. Estrogen limits this response, which would otherwise inhibit recovery. Estrogen also stabilizes cell membranes that might otherwise be damaged or rupture due to the stress of exercise. Thanks to this hormone, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2165/11319760-000000000-00000">females incur less damage during exercise</a> and are therefore capable of faster recovery.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Silhouette of woman running with cartoon systems highlighted" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559162/original/file-20231113-25-uu4rie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A variety of physiological differences add up to an advantage for women in endurance activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cara Ocobock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women in the past likely did everything men did</h2>
<p>Forget the Flintstones’ nuclear family with a stay-at-home wife. There’s no evidence of this social structure or gendered labor roles during the 2 million years of evolution for the genus <em>Homo</em> until the last 12,000 years, with the advent of agriculture. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal">Our Neanderthal cousins</a>, a group of humans who lived across Western and Central Eurasia approximately 250,000 to 40,000 years ago, formed small, highly-nomadic bands. Fossil evidence shows <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.05.039">females and males experienced the same bony traumas</a> across their bodies – a signature of a hard life hunting deer, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/aurochs">aurochs</a> and wooly mammoths. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1212(199703)7:2%3C133::AID-OA326%3E3.0.CO;2-4">Tooth wear that results from using the front teeth as a third hand</a>, likely in tasks like tanning hides, is equally evident across females and males.</p>
<p>This nongendered picture should not be surprising when you imagine small-group living. Everyone needs to contribute to the tasks necessary for group survival – chiefly, producing food and shelter and raising children. Individual mothers are not solely responsible for their children; in foragers, the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0001601">whole group contributes to child care</a>.</p>
<p>You might imagine this unified labor strategy then changed in early modern humans, but archaeological and anatomical evidence shows it did not. Upper Paleolithic modern humans leaving Africa and entering Europe and Asia show very few sexed differences <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20950">in trauma and repetitive motion wear</a>. One difference is more evidence of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2016.09.001">“thrower’s elbow” in males than females</a>, though some females shared these pathologies.</p>
<p>And this was also the time when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2000.0435">people were innovating with hunting technologies</a> like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/spear-thrower">atlatls</a>, fishing hooks and nets, and bow and arrows – alleviating some of the wear and tear hunting would take on their bodies. A recent archaeological experiment found that using <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40451-8">atlatls decreased sex differences</a> in the speed of spears thrown by contemporary men and women.</p>
<p>Even in death, there are no sexed differences in how Neanderthals or modern humans <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199569069.013.0017">buried their dead, or the goods affiliated with their graves</a>. These indicators of differential gendered social status do not arrive until agriculture, with its stratified economic system and monopolizable resources.</p>
<p>All this evidence suggests paleolithic women and men did not occupy differing roles or social realms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="young women adorned with toucan and macaw feathers holding wooden sticks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560074/original/file-20231116-22-l4g97u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young women from the Awa Indigenous group in Brazil return from a hunt with their bows and arrows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-a-group-of-young-awa-women-adorned-with-toucan-news-photo/1258052224">Scott Wallace/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Critics might point to recent forager populations and suggest that since they are using subsistence strategies similar to our ancient ancestors, their gendered roles are inherent to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.</p>
<p>However, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20046">many flaws in this approach</a>. Foragers are not living fossils, and their social structures and cultural norms have evolved over time and in response to patriarchal agricultural neighbors and colonial administrators. Additionally, ethnographers of the last two centuries brought their sexism with them into the field, and <a href="https://kernsverlag.com/en/book/distorting-the-past/">it biased how they understood forager societies</a>. For instance, a recent reanalysis showed that 79% of cultures described in ethnographic data <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287101">included descriptions of women hunting</a>; however, previous interpretations frequently left them out. </p>
<h2>Time to shake these caveman myths</h2>
<p>The myth that female reproductive capabilities somehow render them incapable of gathering any food products beyond those that cannot run away does more than just underestimate Paleolithic women. It feeds into narratives that the contemporary social roles of women and men are inherent and define our evolution. Our Paleolithic ancestors lived in a world where everyone in the band pulled their own weight, performing multiple tasks. It was not a utopia, but it was not a patriarchy. </p>
<p>Certainly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1433060">accommodations must have been made for group members</a> who were sick, recovering from childbirth or otherwise temporarily incapacitated. But pregnancy, lactation, child-rearing and menstruation are not permanently disabling events, as researchers found among the living Agta of the Philippines who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287829">continue to hunt during these life periods</a>.</p>
<p>Suggesting that the female body is only designed to gather plants ignores female physiology and the archaeological record. To ignore the evidence perpetuates a myth that only serves to bolster existing power structures.</p>
<ul>
<li><em>Read more on this topic in <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-theory-that-men-evolved-to-hunt-and-women-evolved-to-gather-is-wrong1/">Scientific American</a></em></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Female bodies have an advantage in endurance ability that means Paleolithic women likely hunted game, not just gathered plants. The story is written in living and ancient human bodies.
Sarah Lacy, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Delaware
Cara Ocobock, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216769
2023-11-13T17:33:47Z
2023-11-13T17:33:47Z
Orkney’s lost tomb – how my team and I made the Neolithic discovery
<p>Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland, <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/514/">is renowned for</a> its remarkably well-preserved monuments. Many of these are Neolithic (10,000 BC to 2,200 BC) and consist of stone circles and chambered tombs, which are still highly visible in the landscape. Chambered tombs are monuments built of stone with a chamber area designed to hold the remains of the dead. </p>
<p>In many parts of Britain, chambered tombs have been robbed for stone, and while this was also the case on Orkney, most sites do not seem to have been as badly affected as in other parts of the country.</p>
<p>In 2020 one of my team encountered a series of letters preserved in National Museums Scotland’s library relating to a dispute over some Neolithic objects discovered in Orkney in the 19th century. </p>
<p>This led us to a newspaper account in the Orkney Herald in 1896, which reported that Orkney antiques specialist <a href="https://sketchfab.com/hugoandersonwhymark/collections/james-walls-cursiters-artefacts-c80ed66f100b4db380dc83533806d74d">James Walls Cursiter</a> had encountered a series of archaeological discoveries made by the son of the landowner at Holm, on the east side of Orkney’s mainland. </p>
<p>The finds included a <a href="https://sketchfab.com/hugoandersonwhymark/collections/james-walls-cursiters-artefacts-c80ed66f100b4db380dc83533806d74d">mace-head made from gneiss</a> (a metamorphic rock with a distinct banding), a plain stone ball and eight skeletons. They were found within the ruins of a stone mound that had previously supplied stone to build a nearby farmhouse. The surviving stonework was interpreted by Cursiter as the remains of a “chambered burial mound”. </p>
<p>This discovery was rapidly forgotten. By coincidence, a recently discovered archaeological notebook belonging to Cursiter revealed further details of the finds. This included a sketch of the monument and, most importantly, an approximate location of the discovery. </p>
<p>All of this appeared to suggest that there may well be an unknown chambered tomb, mostly destroyed, but surviving to some extent nevertheless awaiting rediscovery.</p>
<h2>Discovering the tomb</h2>
<p>In 2022 a geophysical survey was carried out in the same location as described by Cursiter. Among other features, these surveys located a substantial archaeological anomaly on top of a prominent mound almost precisely in the location described as a position of the monument.</p>
<p>In 2023, we decided to open up a trench to see if anything survived. When we arrived at the site, it did not look promising. All that remained on the ground was a very slight grassy dome which had clearly been ploughed over the years. In a field of many grassy knolls, it was hard to see how this was anything exceptional. Yet, the location was quite prominent, with views out over the landscape in many directions, comparable to other passage tombs in the area. A passage tomb is a type of chambered tomb with a long thin passage leading to a central chamber with smaller cells off the main chamber. </p>
<p>As we peeled off the turf, we quickly came down onto heavily disturbed soil containing smashed Victorian ceramics and stone rubble. This came from a nearby farmhouse that had robbed stone from the tomb in order to build their barn. There was no rubbish collection then, so their waste went out on to the fields. But scattered among this recent material were small fragments of bone which looked much older. </p>
<p>As we dug further down, we started to encounter the lower walls of a stone structure, exactly as described by Cursiter. Much of the bone within the stone structure was highly fragmentary, which seemed to reinforce the idea that this monument had been mostly destroyed in the 19th century. </p>
<p>However, in one of the side cells off the main passage – which was largely filled with small stone rubble that accumulated from the dismantling of an intact side cell which would once have had a high roof – we found a perfectly preserved and undisturbed Neolithic tomb deposit. </p>
<p>This consisted of a minimum of 14 burials of seven adults and seven children. The skeletons were placed in a variety of different positions. Two were crouched (knees to chest) and laid on their side, while another was tightly flexed with the knees pulled tight to the chest, and placed face down. Two were placed in the grave embracing one another, with the remains of two young children placed on their heads. </p>
<p>This level of preservation is remarkable. It is quite unusual to find tomb deposits intact and so well preserved.</p>
<p>In revealing and excavating these remains, we have found a lost passage tomb, but also revealed that these finds will not be preserved forever. The soil added into the monument during the Victorian destruction of the site has been eroding the bones ever since, so it is now a race against time to retrieve what survives. </p>
<p>The human remains will enable to us discover many different aspects of peoples’ lives in the Neolithic age, including what they ate and how they died. It also shows that in a landscape where many monuments are exceptionally well preserved, there are still new and exciting discoveries to be made.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vicki Cummings receives funding from Society of Antiquaries of London and Orkney Islands Council for work on this project</span></em></p>
It is unusual to find a tomb so intact and so well preserved.
Vicki Cummings, Professor of Neolithic Archaeology, Cardiff University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216988
2023-11-09T19:09:40Z
2023-11-09T19:09:40Z
Farmers or foragers? Pre-colonial Aboriginal food production was hardly that simple
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558543/original/file-20231109-21-a2kns6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C5254%2C3500&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For almost ten years, debate has raged over the book <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/culture/decolonising-agriculture-bruce-pascoes-dark-emu/">Dark Emu</a> by Aboriginal historian Bruce Pascoe. In it, Pascoe argues many pre-colonial Aboriginal groups were farmers, pointing to examples like eel aquaculture in Victoria, and grain planting and threshing of native millet in the arid centre.</p>
<p>The debate has drawn in everyone from academics to Aboriginal communities invested in food futures to shock jocks claiming it is a warping of history. </p>
<p>For our group of archaeologists and First Nations people, the fact this debate has raged so long suggests there are shortcomings in how we think of food production and how we investigate it in Australian archaeology.</p>
<p>Farmers versus foragers is a huge oversimplification of what was a mosaic of food production. After all, Australian landscapes differ markedly, from tropical rainforest to snowy mountains to arid spinifex country. For many Aboriginal people, the terms “farming” and “hunter-gatherer” do not capture the realities of 60 millennia of food production. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1558/aff.18161">new research</a> published in the <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/AFF/article/view/18161/28231">Archaeology of Food and Foodways</a>, we argue that to better understand millennia-old systems, archaeologists must engage deeply with fields such as plant genetics, ethnobotany, archaeobotany and bioarchaeology as well as listening more carefully to the views of Aboriginal people. Here’s how. </p>
<h2>We need to use better methods</h2>
<p>For decades, archaeologists have grappled with the task of understanding ancient food production. We are by no means the first to point to the lack of appropriate methods as a reason why this has proved hard.</p>
<p>Archaeobotanists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618216302816">Anna Florin</a> and Xavier Carah have observed that food production systems in northern Australia are very similar to those in Papua New Guinea. While we accept Papuan food gardens, Australian archaeologists have been less eager to embrace this idea for Australia. </p>
<p>In part, this is a failure of terminology. Aboriginal food production was enormously varied. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="map of australia showing Aboriginal grainlands in the centre, yam country in the south east and many other food production systems" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558468/original/file-20231108-23-ttevb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=950&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This map shows the complex and diverse types of food production and settlement systems documented by researchers across Australia, ranging from arid grainlands to rainforest seed processing to yam harvesting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The solution lies in better methods. For instance, many Aboriginal groups lived semi-permanently in gunyah (bark hut) villages, as Dark Emu demonstrates by quoting colonial observers. </p>
<p>These settlement sites are vital to gaining a better understanding of how people lived. By excavating gunyah sites and fireplaces where food was prepared, we can recover seeds by sieving dirt and ash to find out which plants people used. The problem? Many of the sieves used were not fine enough to capture the tiny seeds of vital plants such as native millet. Most seeds used by Aboriginal groups were less than 1mm in radius. </p>
<p>This can be fixed. In south-west Asia, archeobotanists have long used fine mesh sieves to recover ancient seeds. You also need reference collections of seeds to be able to identify them from fireplaces. </p>
<h2>Genetics – and archaeology?</h2>
<p>It might not sound like a natural fit. But around the world, combining plant genetics with archaeology has dramatically changed our understanding of how people used plants, how they moved them about the landscape and how they changed these plants into forms better suiting our use. The wild precursor of corn, for instance, <a href="https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2022/02/02/teosinte2022">looks almost nothing</a> like what we moulded it into through selection. </p>
<p>Combining these approaches is only in its infancy in Australia. But early applications together with Aboriginal knowledge of plant use has revealed dramatic new insights into how Aboriginal people moved important species such as <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0186663">black bean</a> <em>Castanospermum australe</em> around the landscape and cultivated them. </p>
<p>The legacy of these food production techniques may still be visible today. For instance, when we look at the four species of native rice, we would not expect them to have large seeds. But all four species do. For millennia, Aboriginal groups in Australia’s wet north farmed these floodplain grasses. They may well have provided some selective pressure that resulted in larger grains, as early farmers did elsewhere. </p>
<p>To date, we don’t know this for sure. But we can find out. Careful genetic analysis of remaining wild populations should tell us if these large grains came from human rather than natural selection. We can also analyse genetic diversity between wild rice populations, to see if Aboriginal groups were involved in spreading these useful plants further. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-our-new-archaeological-research-investigates-dark-emus-idea-of-aboriginal-agriculture-and-villages-146754">Friday essay: how our new archaeological research investigates Dark Emu's idea of Aboriginal 'agriculture' and villages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Stories from ancestral remains</h2>
<p>Every bone tells a story. In your bones lie traces of how fast you grew, what you ate and how hard your life was. </p>
<p>Studying ancestral remains is a very sensitive issue due to the colonial practice of collecting Aboriginal remains for research. But when done sensitively and respectfully, it yields fresh insights.</p>
<p>Bones and teeth can tell us many things about life in Aboriginal Australia. Tracking <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-did-you-grow-up-how-strontium-in-your-teeth-can-help-answer-that-question-112705">changes in isotope ratios in teeth</a> can tell us if people were shifting to a more sedentary way of living. Stress in bones can tell us about difficult food production techniques such as labour-intensive seed grinding. </p>
<h2>The past can shape the future</h2>
<p>Aboriginal culture is 60 millennia old, during which time the climate shifted several times. Sea levels rose, flooding the Bass Strait and the coastal plains connecting Cape York to Papua New Guinea. </p>
<p>For a culture to survive that long means it had to rely on sustainable food production. Finding out how exactly this was done could yield lost knowledge and make it possible for current-day Aboriginal groups to recapture these methods and crops. </p>
<p>To date, renewed interest in bushfoods has not spread far beyond boutique food industries such as gourmet breads and specialised plant foods like Kakadu plum and quandongs. </p>
<p>Learning more about drought-resilient crops such as native rice and native millet (<em>Panicum decompositum</em>) could help farmers adapt to climate change and diversify food production. In central Victoria, the Dja Dja Wurrung group is exploring the potential for kangaroo grass (<em>Themeda triandra</em>) for use as a food and as drought-resistant cattle fodder. </p>
<p>The better we understand ancient food production, the more likely we are to be able to bring this knowledge to bear on today’s challenges – and give a fuller answer to the questions raised by Dark Emu. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man holding kangaroo grass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558545/original/file-20231109-19-kyr3up.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dja Dja Wurung man Rodney Carter inspects kangaroo grass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/book-review-farmers-or-hunter-gatherers-the-dark-emu-debate-rigorously-critiques-bruce-pascoes-argument-161877">Book review: Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate rigorously critiques Bruce Pascoe's argument</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Westaway receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Crowther receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Henry receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodney Carter is the CEO of the Dja Dja Wurrung Corporate Group, the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aborginal Corporation and Dja Dja Wurrung Enterprises. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For a decade, debate has raged over Dark Emu’s account of Aboriginal agriculture. But ancient food production in Australia is more complex than labels like farming or hunter-gathering suggest.
Michael Westaway, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland
Alison Crowther, Senior Lecture in Archaeology, The University of Queensland
Nathan Wright, Lecturer in archaeology, University of New England
Robert Henry, Director, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland
Rodney Carter, Traditional Owner, Indigenous Knowledge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213479
2023-11-08T13:53:29Z
2023-11-08T13:53:29Z
Turkana stone beads tell a story of herder life in a drying east Africa 5,000 years ago
<p>On the shores of Lake Turkana in east Africa, about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, pastoralists buried their dead in communal cemeteries that were marked by stone circles and pillars. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721975115">The north-west Kenya “pillar sites”</a> were built around the same time as Stonehenge in the UK. But these places have a different story to tell: about how mortuary traditions reflect people’s environments, behaviours and reactions to change.</p>
<p>The burial sites appeared at a time of major <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737912200021X">environmental</a> and economic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825217303331">change</a> in the region. The Sahara, which received enough rainfall 9,000-7,000 years ago to sustain populations of fisher-hunter-gatherers and pastoralists, was <a href="https://pastglobalchanges.org/publications/pages-magazines/pages-magazine/7413">drying</a>, causing groups of people to move east and south. Even in eastern Africa, lake levels were dropping dramatically; grassy plains were expanding. Around Lake Turkana, people began herding animals in addition to fishing and foraging. </p>
<p>At several of the pillar sites around Lake Turkana, archaeologists have found that hundreds of people were <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-019-00914-4">ceremonially interred</a> under large, circular platform mounds. Many of those individuals were found wearing remarkable colourful stone beads, some as part of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other jewellery worn, for example, around the waist. These beautiful personal ornaments include blue-green amazonite, soft pink zeolite, deep red chalcedony, purple fluorite and green talc, among other minerals and rocks.</p>
<p>I study relationships between humans and their environments, especially at times of major economic transformations, using scientific techniques applied to archaeology. I recently led a team of experts in geology and archaeology of the region to conduct the first comprehensive mineralogical <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2023.2232703">analysis</a> of the Turkana stone beads. </p>
<p>The focus of our study was to discover what types of minerals and rocks the early herders had used to make adornments, and where these materials came from. </p>
<p>This kind of information can tell archaeologists about the role of artefacts in the society that used them.</p>
<h2>Wearing beads</h2>
<p>Humans have been making and wearing beads for over <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi8620">140,000 years</a>. Beads are one of the oldest forms of symbolism and are often used as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-tiny-ostrich-eggshell-beads-that-tell-the-story-of-africas-past-128577">adornment</a> in a culture. Wearing something on your body is an expressive choice that can have many meanings, such as protection, acknowledgement of friendships and bonds, status or role in society. Personal ornaments like beads may indicate a common cultural understanding. </p>
<p>Analysis of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-excavated-beads-tell-us-about-the-when-and-where-of-human-evolution-53695">beads in archaeological sites</a> has shown that we can learn many things from them. </p>
<p>At the Turkana pillar sites, the stone bead tradition was clearly important, partly because of the number of beads found accompanying burials, and partly because the practice persisted for hundreds of years. </p>
<p>Knowing the range of materials helps us understand landscape use in the past: where people were buried, where they watered their animals, seasonal movements for grazing, special yearly trips to significant places and other movements. Pastoralists recorded or marked their worlds by what they left behind and what they took with them. Patterns in the composition of the bead collections may indicate there was communication and exchange of objects across the region.</p>
<h2>Sorting the stone beads</h2>
<p>Of the six pillar sites that have been excavated by archaeologists, three have yielded substantial assemblages of stone beads: Lothagam North, Manemanya and Jarigole. Our team began by sorting the stone beads by site, and by their mineral and rock types.</p>
<p>Our study identified the mineral characteristics of 806 stone beads. We looked at properties like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/specific-gravity">specific gravity</a>, crystal and molecular structure, and the characteristic emissions that are particular to certain minerals. </p>
<p>What we found was a strikingly diverse set of beads that varied by site. The visual characteristics of some of the beads – colour, lustre and so on – may have made them particularly valuable or had a special meaning economically, socially, spiritually or symbolically. Their source and workability may also have given them a certain value. </p>
<p>Pink zeolites and turquoise amazonites were the most common stone beads at the site of Lothagam North, comprising over three-quarters of the assemblage. This was very similar to the site of Jarigole, located across the lake. The sites are hundreds of kilometres apart, with Lake Turkana in between – suggesting a cultural connection between them.</p>
<p>In contrast, the kinds of beads at Manemanya were different: mostly softer and paler pink and off-white calcite beads that were quite large. Further, while at Lothagam North there often were just a few beads found with any individual, one person at Manemanya was buried with over 300 stone beads and over 10,000 ostrich eggshell beads. </p>
<p>This suggests that although having stone beads was a commonality across the sites, distinctions – and distinct meanings for different people – did exist. </p>
<h2>Sourcing stones</h2>
<p>We also wanted to know whether the beads were produced from local sources (within a few days’ walk) or acquired through long-distance journeys or trade. Sourcing allows us to partially reconstruct how the earliest pastoralists moved around the landscape during the year.</p>
<p>A survey of the areas west of Lake Turkana and a search of the published literature on the geology of the region identified places where these materials might have come from.</p>
<p>There are possible sources for most of these materials within about 150km of the pillar sites. Limestone rocks may have been procured easily near the lake. Some of the tougher materials, like the chalcedonies, could have been carried to the lake area by rivers, to be picked up perhaps by someone watering cattle or fetching water from a stream. Other minerals come from a specific source. The variety of bead types demonstrates that people knew their landscape well.</p>
<p>Sometimes, they went out of their way to get certain minerals, or perhaps traded for them. The closest known sources for amazonite and fluorite are, respectively, 225 km, in southern Ethiopia; and 350 km, near the modern city of Eldoret, Kenya. </p>
<p>These suggest that bead making was not just a casual affair; material selection was intentional.</p>
<h2>Local landscapes</h2>
<p>Early herders in the Turkana Basin obtained materials from both local and distant places, and shaped them into personal adornments. These stone beads were placed with the dead, in numbers and combinations that differed by individual and place. We don’t yet fully know what they meant – but future research in the Turkana Basin will continue to explore the lives and legacies of these pioneering herders as they negotiated new environmental and social landscapes.</p>
<p><em>Edits and comments for this article were provided by Late Prehistory of West Turkana project co-directors Drs. Elizabeth Hildebrand and Katherine Grillo, project minerologist Mark Helper, and Emmanuel Ndiema, who helped lead the sourcing study.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Funding for Klehm's research on the pillar site stone beads was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.</span></em></p>
Mineralogical analysis of 5,000-year-old stone beads from Turkana, Kenya suggest a novel mortuary tradition by early pastoralists.
Carla Klehm, Research Assistant Professor, Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216847
2023-11-02T12:20:41Z
2023-11-02T12:20:41Z
The wildfires that led to mass extinction: a warning from California’s Ice Age history – podcast
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557169/original/file-20231101-15-12hv68.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C62%2C2946%2C1931&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/french-fire-burns-sequoia-national-forest-2028796637">Ringo Chiu via Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, Californians have had to deal with some <a href="https://ktla.com/news/the-cities-where-wildfires-threaten-the-most-homes-in-california/">deadly and destructive wildfires</a>. But in fact, this part of the western United States has been shaped by fire for millennia. </p>
<p>In this episode of <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a></em> podcast, we hear about new research from California into a decades-old mystery: <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132415">the extinction of large animals</a> at the end of the Ice Age. It’s providing some worrying lessons from history about the way humans, fire and ecosystems interact. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/65438fad29dc900012d158ce" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p></p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In a park in the middle of Los Angeles lies one of the most important fossil sites in the world – the La Brea Tar Pits. The park sits atop a natural oil reserve. Regular earthquakes in the area opened up fissures in the ground, bringing some of that oil to the surface where it sits in pools of tar, or asphalt.</p>
<p>“The asphalt is so sticky that if you were to walk in there, you would not be able to get out without help if you were to get both of your feet stuck. And so that’s what happened over the last part of the Ice Age,” explains Emily Lindsey, a paleoecologist and associate curator at La Brea Tar Pits who also works at the University of California, Los Angeles. </p>
<p>This was a period when large animals roamed the Earth – including, in the area of modern-day California, mammoths, giant ground sloths, sabre-tooth cats and dire wolves. Many of these animals got trapped in the tar pits at La Brea, where their bodies provide a unique fossil record of the animals that moved through the area during the Ice Age – until, that is, about 13,000 years ago, says Lindsey.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What’s unique about the Ice Age is that at the very end of it, after more than 50 million years of having big animals in all global ecosystems, most of those animals went extinct – most of the big ones. And it happened very rapidly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cause of this mass extinction has been debated by scientists for decades. In <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo3594">new research</a>, Lindsey and her colleagues decided to use the fossil records at La Brea, combined with sediment records from a nearby lake, to pinpoint exactly when the extinctions took place in California – and what else was happening at the time. </p>
<p>They found that in the 2,000 years leading up to the extinction event, the climate in southern California was warming rapidly, and drying out. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And then 200 years before the extinction event, about 13,200 years ago, we see something very unusual happen. Everything catches on fire.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lindsey and her team argue that alongside the warming climate, it was humans – whose populations began to expand in this part of North America at around this time – who probably ignited these fires, which eventually led to the extinction of California’s big animals. The findings, she says, are “eerily similar” to what’s happening in the area today. </p>
<p>Listen to <a href="https://podfollow.com/the-conversation-weekly/view">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast for the full interview with Emily Lindsey, plus some insights on the current state of wildfires in North America from Stacy Morford, environment and climate editor at The Conversation in the US. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2901/California_Wildfires_Transcript.docx.pdf?1699551646">full transcript</a> of this episode is now available. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer of the show.</em></p>
<p><em>Newsclips in this episode are from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlVFWcmzueo">CBS Evening News</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpRxPJkZPs">NBC News</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>You can find us on X, formerly known as Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Listen to <em>The Conversation Weekly</em> via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a> or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Lindsey receives funding from the National Science Foundation, which funded some of the research reported in this article. </span></em></p>
A changing climate, humans and fire were a deadly combination for the big animals that used to roam southern California. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214070
2023-10-26T22:55:00Z
2023-10-26T22:55:00Z
Bringing a shark to a knife fight: 7,000-year-old shark-tooth knives discovered in Indonesia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555981/original/file-20231026-37260-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C31%2C5083%2C3414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tiger-shark-jaw-showing-teeth-343934774">Matthew R McClure/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have uncovered two unique and deadly artefacts dating back some 7,000 years – tiger shark teeth that were used as blades.</p>
<p>These finds, reported in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.144">Antiquity</a>, are some of the earliest archaeological evidence globally for the use of shark teeth in composite weapons – weapons made with multiple parts. Until now, the oldest such shark-tooth blades found were less than 5,000 years old.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photos of two bone shards with a serrated edge and holes along the bottom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550157/original/file-20230926-23-g9d5se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Modified tiger shark teeth found in 7,000-year-old layers of Leang Panninge (top) and Leang Bulu’ Sipong 1 (bottom) on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M.C. Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our international team used a combination of scientific analysis, experimental reproduction and observations of recent human communities to determine that the two modified shark teeth had once been attached to handles as blades. They were most likely used in ritual or warfare.</p>
<h2>7,000-year-old teeth</h2>
<p>The two shark teeth were recovered during excavations as part of a joint Indonesian-Australian archaeological research program. Both specimens were found in archaeological contexts attributed to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-were-the-toaleans-ancient-womans-dna-provides-first-evidence-for-the-origin-of-a-mysterious-lost-culture-166565">Toalean culture</a> – an enigmatic foraging society that lived in southwestern Sulawesi from around 8,000 years ago until an unknown period in the recent past.</p>
<p>The shark teeth are of a similar size and came from <a href="https://oceana.org/marine-life/tiger-shark/">tiger sharks</a> (<em>Galeocerda cuvier</em>) that were approximately two metres long. Both teeth are perforated.</p>
<p>A complete tooth, found at the cave site of Leang Panninge, has two holes drilled through the root. The other – found at a cave called Leang Bulu’ Sipong 1 – has one hole, though is broken and likely originally also had two holes.</p>
<p>Microscopic examination of the teeth found they had once been tightly fixed to a handle using plant-based threads and a glue-like substance. The adhesive used was a combination of mineral, plant and animal materials.</p>
<p>The same method of attachment is seen on modern shark-tooth blades used by cultures throughout the Pacific.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up photo of a pointy yellow tooth tooth with scratches clearly visible" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555969/original/file-20231026-32800-1mgf8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scratches and a ground section on the tip of the Leang Panninge shark tooth indicate its use by people 7,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M.C. Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Examination of the edges of each tooth found they had been used to pierce, cut and scrape flesh and bone. However, far more damage was present than a shark would naturally accrue during feeding.</p>
<p>While these residues superficially suggest Toalean people were using shark-tooth knives as everyday cutting implements, ethnographic (observations of recent communities), archaeological and experimental data suggest otherwise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A brownish yellow bone close up with holes and grooves clearly visible" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555970/original/file-20231026-30-epfmyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grooves and traces of red resin along the base of the Leang Panninge tooth show how the teeth were attached using threads.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M.C. Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why use shark teeth?</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, our experiments found tiger shark-tooth knives were equally effective in creating long, deep gashes in the skin when used to strike (as in fighting) as when butchering a leg of fresh pork.</p>
<p>Indeed, the only negative aspect is that the teeth blunt relatively quickly – too quickly to make their use as an everyday knife practical.</p>
<p>This fact, as well as the fact shark teeth can inflict deep lacerations, probably explains why shark-tooth blades were restricted to weapons for conflict and ritual activities in the present and recent past.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/evolution-of-a-smile-400-million-year-old-spiny-fish-overturns-shark-theory-of-tooth-origins-160563">Evolution of a smile: 400 million year old spiny fish overturns shark theory of tooth origins</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shark-tooth blades in recent times</h2>
<p>Numerous societies across the globe have integrated shark teeth into their material culture. In particular, peoples living on coastlines (and actively fishing for sharks) are more likely to incorporate greater numbers of teeth into a wider range of tools.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three serrated implements with neat rows of pointy teeth attached" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550163/original/file-20230926-28-azgt97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shark teeth are widely used to edge deadly combat weapons or powerful ritual blades in the Pacific. Left: a knife from Kiribati; centre and right: weapons from Hawai'i.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?keyword=shark&keyword=tooth&keyword=knife">The Trustees of The British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Observations of present-day communities indicate that, when not used to adorn the human body, shark teeth were almost universally used to create blades for conflict or ritual – including ritualised combat.</p>
<p>For example, a fighting knife found throughout north Queensland has a single long blade made from approximately 15 shark teeth placed one after the other down a hardwood shaft shaped like an oval, and is used to strike the flank or buttocks of an adversary. </p>
<p>Weapons, including lances, knives and clubs armed with shark teeth are known from mainland New Guinea and Micronesia, while lances form part of the mourning costume in Tahiti. </p>
<p>Farther east, the peoples of Kiribati are renowned for their shark-tooth daggers, swords, spears and lances, which are recorded as having been used in highly ritualised and often fatal conflicts.</p>
<p>Shark teeth found in Maya and Mexican archaeological contexts are widely thought to have been used for ritualised bloodletting, and shark teeth are known to have been used as tattooing blades in Tonga, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Kiribati. </p>
<p>In Hawai‘i, so-called “shark-tooth cutters” were used <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20702769">as concealed weapons and for</a> “cutting up dead chiefs and cleaning their bones preparatory to the customary burials”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A wooden weapon with a rounded handle and jagged tooth attachments at the other end" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550167/original/file-20230926-18-o9w9uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A shark-tooth knife from Aua Island, Papua New Guinea. Red arrows highlight wear and damage caused by fighting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M. Langley and The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other shark tooth archaeological finds</h2>
<p>Almost all shark-tooth artefacts recovered globally have been identified as adornments, or interpreted as such.</p>
<p>Indeed, modified shark teeth have been recovered from older contexts. A solitary tiger shark tooth with a single perforation from Buang Merabak (New Ireland, Papua New Guinea) is dated to around 39,500–28,000 years ago. Eleven teeth with single perforations from Kilu (Buka Island, Papua New Guinea) are dated to around 9,000–5,000 years ago. And an unspecified number of teeth from Garivaldino (Brazil) is dated to around 9,400–7,200 years ago.</p>
<p>However, in each of these cases the teeth were likely personal ornaments, not weapons.</p>
<p>Our newly described Indonesian shark tooth artefacts, with their combination of modifications and microscopic traces, instead indicate they were not only attached to knives, but very likely linked to ritual or conflict.</p>
<p>Whether they cut human or animal flesh, these shark teeth from Sulawesi could provide the first evidence that a distinctive class of weaponry in the Asia-Pacific region has been around much longer than we thought.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214070/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Langley is an Associate Professor of Archaeology in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, Brisbane. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Brumm receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adhi Oktaviana is a PhD Candidate at Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast and Researcher at Research Centre of Archaeometry, The National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lecturer in the archeology study program, Hasanuddin University and Chair of the Sulawesi Archaeological Research Collaboration Center. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Basran Burhan is a PhD student at Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, Brisbane. </span></em></p>
Archaeologists have discovered two 7,000-year-old tiger shark teeth that were once part of ritual or fighting blades on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Michelle Langley, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Griffith University
Adam Brumm, Professor, Griffith University
Adhi Oktaviana, PhD Candidate, Griffith University
Akin Duli, Professor, Universitas Hasanuddin
Basran Burhan, PhD candidate, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211462
2023-10-22T11:15:32Z
2023-10-22T11:15:32Z
Ancient pots hold clues about how diverse diets helped herders thrive in southern Africa
<p>The introduction of herding – a way of life which centres on keeping herds of mobile domesticated animals – significantly changed Africa’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CELL.2017.08.049">genetic</a>, economic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jaar.1998.0323">social and cultural</a> landscapes during the last 10,000 years. Unlike other parts of the world, mobile herding spread throughout the continent thousands of years before farming and did not replace foraging in many places. This gave rise to complex mosaics of foragers and food producers across sub-Saharan Africa. </p>
<p>Once herding reached southern Africa during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00046196">early first millennium AD</a>, it spread rapidly throughout the region, in part because of presumed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113672">local adoption</a> of sheep by diverse groups of foragers. Since these foragers and herders left similar types of artefacts it is difficult to pinpoint who was herding in the archaeological record, their dietary choices, and how this way of life spread. </p>
<p>Traditional archaeological data alone – such as the types of animal bones present at sites – can’t always help. So, researchers need to combine multiple lines of evidence from both traditional and biomolecular archaeology, which involves studying ancient lipids (fats) and proteins.</p>
<p>I am an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on understanding how herders thrived in the Namaqualand coastal desert of South Africa over the last 2,000 years. </p>
<p>Recently I was part of a research team that wanted to better understand how ancient herders in Namaqualand incorporated sheep into their diet. We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28577-1">analysed the residues of past meals preserved in archaeological pottery</a>. By analysing lipids entrapped in ancient pottery we found evidence for dairy fats. </p>
<p>This may seem, at first glance, to be merely historical curiosity with no current applications. But in reality, conducting this research now – while herding is still a viable economic activity in Namaqualand – can contribute to the broader discussion about climate resilient landscape use. Herding initially spread to Namaqualand amid environmental, economic and social change. Similar forces threaten the practice’s future. Understanding how ancient herders managed their herds in an unpredictable environment may offer insights for altering or refining current practices.</p>
<h2>Studying the pots</h2>
<p>Namaqualand, which covers around 50,000km², is located in the westernmost part of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. </p>
<p>It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Kamiesberg Mountains about 100km to the east, the Oliphants River to the south and the Orange River to the north. This semi-arid desert has an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009831308074">average annual rainfall of 150mm</a>; more than 66% of that falls in the winter months. The largest town in the region is Springbok, with a population of just under <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=4286&id=6898">13,000</a>. </p>
<p>There generally aren’t many livestock bones present at archaeological sites in the region. This is because herders were highly mobile, with small herds, and didn’t regularly consume their sheep. </p>
<p>However, there is an archaeological resource that exists in abundance: pottery sherds. These contain microscopic traces of the ancient meals cooked in them. Analysing these pottery-bound lipids using a method called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxNMm78tvrI">organic residue analysis</a> allows researchers to identify ruminant (for example sheep, cow, antelope), non-ruminant (for example seal, shellfish, fish), and ruminant dairy fats that were cooked in the pots. Finding dairy fats in pottery provides evidence for livestock when their bones are absent or unidentifiable at archaeological sites. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chemical-traces-in-ancient-west-african-pots-show-a-diet-rich-in-plants-177579">Chemical traces in ancient West African pots show a diet rich in plants</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>We <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-28577-1">analysed pottery</a> from four archaeological sites in the region dated to between AD 137 and AD 1643 to help unravel the dietary choices of ancient herders and foragers in Namaqualand. </p>
<p>The two inland sites located along the Orange River <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb329a96-a52f-4ba2-bdfd-73c73293d99e">contained</a> the <a href="https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/9-2-066-0034-20010901-ACO_0.pdf">remains of domesticated animals and pottery</a>. The two coastal sites did not contain domesticate remains but <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb329a96-a52f-4ba2-bdfd-73c73293d99e">did</a> contain <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/f09f3b8b-4c06-4f18-a891-1719f5a5c5ab">pottery</a>, generally regarded as a proxy for herders.</p>
<p>We found that the people using these pots ate a variety of foodstuff including ruminant and non-ruminant animal fats. We also found the first direct evidence for people processing milk in South African pottery. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that low-intensity herders living in Namaqualand during the period we studied didn’t rely solely on their domesticated animals for all or even most of their daily dietary needs. Instead they had diverse diets and relied on a range of species for daily subsistence.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>Our next step is to characterise the ceramic-bound proteins preserved in the pottery. Organic residue analysis is a powerful tool. But it can only separate lipids into broad categories (dairy, ruminant, non-ruminant). Ceramic-bound proteins, meanwhile, are similar to DNA in that they encode fundamental genetic information that is key to identifying species. This species-level data is vital since early food producer sites consist of wild and domestic species that look similar.</p>
<p>Though this research focuses on the distant past, it has applications today, too. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/livestock-are-threatened-by-predators-but-old-fashioned-shepherding-may-be-an-effective-solution-201193">Livestock are threatened by predators – but old-fashioned shepherding may be an effective solution</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Namaqualand, herding remains an important livelihood for many: <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=735&id=4=1">60% of households</a> participate in some form of daily herding activity. Globally, many herders face <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100488">serious water, food, and pasture scarcity</a>. Herders in Namaqualand are being exposed to extreme temperatures and often have severely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2018.12.001">limited access</a> to water and pasture.</p>
<p>So, this more targeted type of research on the resource use and subsistence decisions of archaeological herders who thrived in an unpredictable environment is important and timely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtneay Hopper receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>
Archaeological data alone can’t always help to answer researchers’ questions: multiple lines of evidence are needed.
Courtneay Hopper, Postdoctoral researcher and Lecturer in Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215313
2023-10-12T14:08:36Z
2023-10-12T14:08:36Z
A tooth that rewrites history? The discovery challenging what we knew about Neanderthals – podcast
<p>For generations, Neanderthals have been a source of fascination for scientists. This species of ancient hominim inhabited the world for around 500,000 years until they suddenly disappeared around 40,000 years ago. Today, the cause of their extinction remains a mystery.</p>
<p>Archaeologist Ludovic Slimak and his team have spent three decades excavating caves, studying ancient artefacts and delving into the world of Neanderthals – and they’ve recently published <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/454664/the-naked-neanderthal-by-slimak-ludovic/9780241617663">provocative new findings</a>. In this week’s episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, we speak to Slimak about how Neanderthals lived, what happened to them, and why their extinction might hold profound insights into the story of our own species, <em>Homo Sapiens</em>.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/6527acacd40c9700124997d2" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p></p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Neanderthals migrated to Europe around 400,000 years ago from Africa, the birthplace of humanity. Until now, the general consensus among archaeologists has been that <em>Homo Sapiens</em> were a lot slower to leave Africa, only migrating to Europe approximately 42,000 years ago and in one wave that coincided with the extinction of Neanderthals.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ludovic-slimak-1315718">Slimak</a>, an archaeologist at Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier in France, has published <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europes-first-humans-may-have-arrived-in-three-waves-180982107/">controversial</a> new work that challenges this.</p>
<p>In 2022, he published <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj9496">research from</a> the Mandrin Grotte in the Rhône valley in southern France, which suggested he’d found a <em>Homo Sapiens</em> tooth within Neanderthal sediment layers. He explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We began to work in the middle of these layers that were dated at 54,000 years, and then we began to find incredibly modern Homo Sapiens technologies sandwiched between very classic Neanderthal technologies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277444">Slimak’s subsequent research</a> suggests that, rather than a single wave of <em>Homo Sapiens</em> migration from west Asia to Europe, there were in fact three waves, the last of which happened around 42,000 years ago. These findings are provocative: they would rewrite the timeline to suggest that <em>Homo Sapiens</em> arrived in Europe about 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, and so co-existed with Neanderthals for much longer. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-earliest-modern-humans-in-europe-mastered-bow-and-arrow-technology-54-000-years-ago-200609">The earliest modern humans in Europe mastered bow-and-arrow technology 54,000 years ago</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What tools reveal</h2>
<p>To understand the factors that led to the extinction of Neanderthals and the survival and dominance of <em>Homo Sapiens</em>, Slimak has also compared the tools crafted by both species during the period they co-inhabited Europe. His hypothesis is that examining the evolution of these tools and how they’re made might provide clues into the differing fates of the two human species. </p>
<p>During <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.add4675">a three-year study</a>, he compared flint tools found in Lebanon’s Ksar ‘Akil cave to those in France. Slimak noticed a striking similarity in the flint points atop spears crafted by <em>Homo Sapiens</em>, even those produced tens of thousands of years apart. He explains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you take <em>Homo Sapiens</em> tools or weapons technology, after you’ve seen a hundred of these tools, they are precisely the same. So, we have a process of standardisation, of production in series that is very specific to our species. But now, if you take Neanderthal tools … each of them will be different from the others. That is systematic among all Neanderthal societies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Slimak argues that <em>Homo Sapiens</em>’ disposition for systematisation and standardisation might have conferred an evolutionary advantage during that period. It wasn’t a matter of <em>Homo Sapiens</em> wiping out other human species such as Neanderthals. Rather, their efficient ways may have played an pivotal role in their survival.</p>
<p>To find out more, listen to the full episode of <a href="https://podfollow.com/the-conversation-weekly/view">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast. A transcript of this <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2877/The_Conversation_Weekly_podcast_Neanderthals_transcript.pdf?1698061926">episode is now available</a>. </p>
<p><em>This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, with assistance from Katie Flood. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer of the show.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ludovic Slimak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What could the extinction of Neanderthals tell us about our own species? An archaeologist explains in The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Mend Mariwany, Producer, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.