EurekAlert! - Archaeology
Sun May 9 22:29:48 EDT 2010
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Maya plumbing, first pressurized water feature found in New World - (Penn State) A water feature found in the Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the New World, according to a collaboration between two Penn State researchers, an archaeologist and a hydrologist. However, how the Maya used the pressurized water is still unknown.

Aboriginal hunting and burning increase Australia's desert biodiversity, Stanford researchers find - (Stanford University) In Australia, Martu hunter-gatherers light fires to expose the hiding places of their prey: monitor lizards called goanna that can grow up to 6 feet long. These generations-old hunting practices, part of the Martu day-to-day routine, have reshaped Australia's Western Desert habitats, say Stanford University researcher.

A shrunken giant - (University of Bonn) Sauropod dinosaurs, like the famous Brachiosaurus or Argentinosaurus, are known above all for their enormous size. Yet some of these giants evolved into dwarfs. An international research team at Bonn University has now confirmed that the sauropod dinosaur Magyarosaurus dacus, a close relative of the Argentinosaurus, never grew any larger than a horse.

Bald eagle diet shift enhances conservation - (Carnegie Institution) An unprecedented study of bald eagle diet, from about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to the present, will provide wildlife managers with unique information for reintroducing Bald Eagles to the Channel Islands off California. Eagles fed mainly on seabirds from about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to the 1840s and 50s, when humans introduced sheep. The seabirds provided carrion for the local eagle population until the pesticide DDT wiped out the eagles in the 1960s.

World's largest polar science conference to take place in Oslo - (Arctic Institute of North America) There's still time to register for the International Polar Year conference being held from June 8-12 in Oslo, Norway. Scheduled are 1,200 oral presentations on the latest polar science research, including important global climate work. The conference will provide direct access to the leading polar scientists of the world. Press representatives are eligible for waived registration fees.

Ancient artifacts revealed as northern ice patches melt - (Arctic Institute of North America) An interdisciplinary team of Canadian scientists is discovering a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools high in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories. The artifacts are being revealed as warming temperatures melt ice patches that have been used for thousands of years by caribou seeking relief from summer heat and insects. Among the artifacts recovered are a 2400 year old spear-throwing tool and a 1000-year-old ground squirrel snare.

Discovering the history hidden in the tessellas of mosaics - (Carlos III University of Madrid) Mosaics are an important documentary source for the study of history, going far beyond their artistic aspect. That is the nature of the research being carried out by Luz Neira, professor of ancient history at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, who has received the Cultura Viva de Arqueología Award for her work.

New bony-skulled dinosaur species discovered in Texas - (Yale University) Paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur with a softball-sized lump of solid bone on top of its skull. The species, which the researchers named Texacephale langstoni, was a plant-eating dinosaur about as big as a medium-sized dog that lived 70-80 million years ago. The team discovered skull fragments in Big Bend National Park and found that they represent a new genus of pachycephalosaur that is different from its northern neighbors.

Chinese pigs 'direct descendants' of first domesticated breeds - (Durham University) Modern-day Chinese pigs are directly descended from ancient pigs which were the first to be domesticated in the region 10,000 years ago, a new archaeological and genetic study has revealed.

Classic Maya history is embedded in commoners' homes - (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) They were illiterate farmers, builders and servants, but Maya commoners found a way to record their own history -- by burying it within their homes. A new study of the objects embedded in the floors of homes occupied more than 1,000 years ago in central Belize begins to decode their story.

Ancient Americans took cold snap in their stride - (Springer) Until now, it has been assumed that cooling temperatures and their impact on communities posed significant adaptive challenges to the Paleoindian groups. David Meltzer from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Vance Holliday from the University of Arizona in Tucson, suggest otherwise in their review of climatic and environmental records from this time period in continental North America, published in Springer's Journal of World Prehistory.

Arizona's mammoth hunters -- out with a whimper or a bang? - (University of Arizona) A team of University of Arizona researchers has revisited the evidence pointing to a cataclysmic event thought by many scientists to have wiped out the North American mega fauna -- such as mammoths, saber tooth cats, giant ground sloths and dire wolves -- along with the Clovis hunter and gatherer culture some 13,000 years ago. Their findings make an impact scenario as the cause of the Pleistocene extinctions appear less likely.

Scientists uncover new species of human ancestor - (University of New South Wales) In a discovery that could rewrite the story of human evolution, scientists working in South Africa have uncovered the skeletal remains of a new species of ancient human. The anatomy and age are described in two papers in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Science.

International team discovers new species of hominid - (DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) An international team of scientists has described a new fossil find and a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sediba, thought to be at least 2 million years old in an area of South Africa known as the Cradle of Humankind.

U of T researchers shed light on ancient Assyrian tablets - (University of Toronto) A cache of cuneiform tablets unearthed by a team led by a University of Toronto archaeologist has been found to contain a largely intact Assyrian treaty from the early 7th century BCE.

Texas A&M anthropologist helps identify new species of Homo-like fossil found in South Africa - (Texas A&M University) Two well-preserved skeletons of a human ancestor never before seen have been discovered in South Africa by a team that includes a Texas A&M University anthropologist.

IU's Carlson among team of scientists announcing new species of prehistoric man - (Indiana University) Indiana University anthropologist Kristian J. Carlson today (April 8) joined an international team of six other scientists announcing discovery of the fossil remains of a new species of early man that could help rewrite the path of human evolution.

New hominid shares traits with Homo species - (American Association for the Advancement of Science) A newly documented species, called Australopithecus sediba, was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known Homo species -- and its introduction into the fossil record might answer some key questions about what it means to be human.

Dig looks at society just before dawn of of urban civilization in the Middle East - (University of Chicago) A team of archaeologists is excavating a key site from the prehistoric society that formed the foundation of urban life in the ancient Middle East. The site already has yielded evidence of trade in obsidian, rich agricultural production and the development of copper processing -- all of which flourished long before people domesticated pack animals for transportation or invented the wheel.

Stone Age Scandinavians unable to digest milk - (Uppsala University) The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, supports the researchers' earlier conclusion that today's Scandinavians are not descended from the Stone Age people in question but from a group that arrived later.

Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' reveals more secrets - (University of Montreal) "The Last Supper" -- relentlessly studied, scrutinized, satirized and one the world's most famous paintings -- is still revealing secrets. Researchers Olivier Bauer, Nancy Labonte, Jonas Saint-Martin and Sebastien Fillion of the Universite de Montreal Faculty of Theology have found new meaning to the food depicted by Leonardo Da Vinci's famous artwork.

Did climate influence Angkor's collapse? - (The Earth Institute at Columbia University) Decades of drought, interspersed with intense monsoon rains, may have helped bring about the fall of Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilization at Angkor nearly 600 years ago, according to an analysis of tree rings, archeological remains and other evidence. The study, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may also shed light on what drives -- and disrupts -- the rainy season across much of Asia, which waters crops for nearly half the world's population.

An archaeological mystery in a half-ton lead coffin - (University of Michigan) In the ruins of a city that was once Rome's neighbor, archaeologists last summer found a 1,000-pound lead coffin.

Religious beliefs are the basis of the origins of Palaeolithic art - (FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) This statement isn't new, but for years anthropologists, archaeologists and historians of art understood these artistic manifestations as purely aesthetic and decorative motives. Eduardo Palacio-Pérez, researcher at the University of Cantabria, now reveals the origins of a theory that remains today.

The largest Last Supper - (Cornell Food & Brand Lab) Professors Brian and Craig Wansink teamed up to analyze the amount of food depicted in 52 of the best-known paintings of the Last Supper. After indexing the sizes of the foods by the sizes of the average disciple's head, they found that portion size, plate size and bread size increased dramatically over the last 1,000 years.