EurekAlert! - Archaeology
Sun Apr 24 04:23:09 EDT 2011
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Fossil sirenians give scientists new look at ancient climate - (National Science Foundation) What tales they tell of their former lives, these old bones of sirenians, relatives of today's dugongs and manatees. And now, geologists have found, they tell of the waters in which they swam.While researching the evolutionary ecology of ancient sirenians -- commonly known as sea cows--scientist Mark Clementz and colleagues unexpectedly stumbled across data that could change the view of climate during the Eocene Epoch, some 50 million years ago.

Evolution of human 'super-brain' tied to development of bipedalism, tool-making - (University of Colorado at Boulder) Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees -- not ancestral apes -- for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist.

New research suggests right-handedness prevailed 500,000 years ago - (University of Kansas) Markings on fossilized front teeth show that right-handedness goes back a half-million years in the human family.

Pier review - (National Physical Laboratory) On Oct. 5, 2010, the historic Hastings Pier was set on fire, destroying 95 percent of the Grade II listed building, leading to concerns over its future. Now scientists from the UK's National Physical Laboratory are helping to show that the future of the pier is more positive than expected.

First 3-D topographic map of early Maya city 'Head of Stone' delineates ancient buildings - (Southern Methodist University) Archaeologists have made the first three-dimensional topographic map of the early Maya city "Head of Stone" in Guatemala's Central Lakes region, adding new perspective to the site and its ancient buildings and architectural patterns. Called Holtun in Maya, the never-before-excavated city includes a triadic pyramid, astronomical observatory, ritual ball court, plazas and residential mounds for elites and commoners, says archaeologist Brigitte Kovacevich, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, a co-leader of the site's international archaeological team.

Carbon dating identifies South America's oldest textiles - (University of Chicago Press Journals) Textiles and rope fragments found in a Peruvian cave have been dated to around 12,000 years ago, making them the oldest textiles ever found in South America, according to a report in the April issue of Current Anthropology.

Explore the origin of our species: Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human Evolution - (Wiley-Blackwell) One of the world's most distinguished experts of paleoanthropology presents two landmark volumes chronicling the greatest story ever told: the origin of our species.

Birds inherited sense of smell from dinosaurs ... and improved it - (University of Calgary) According to conventional wisdom, the sense of smell declined during the transition from dinosaurs to birds as the senses of vision and balance were improved for flight. But new research published by scientists at the University of Calgary, the Royal Tyrrell Museum and Ohio University suggests that millions of years ago, the winged critters also boasted a better sense for scents than their dinosaur ancestors.

Scientists discover a new species of dinosaur, bridging a gap in the dinosaur family tree - (Smithsonian) A team of scientists led by the Smithsonian Institution has discovered a fossilized dinosaur skull and neck vertebrae that not only reveal a new species, but also an evolutionary link between two groups of dinosaurs. The new species, Daemonosaurus chauliodus, was discovered at Ghost Ranch, N.M. The team's findings are published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Wednesday, April 13.

Scientists make bamboo tools to test theory explaining East Asia's Stone Age tool scarcity - (Southern Methodist University) The long-held theory that prehistoric people in East Asia crafted their tools from bamboo is much more complicated than originally conceived, according to a new study. Research until now didn't address whether complex bamboo tools can be made with simple stone tools. Now an experimental archaeological study, in which a modern-day flint knapper replicated the crafting of bamboo knives, confirms it is possible, says archaeologist Metin I. Eren, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

'Paperless' research to be highlighted at international conference - (University of Cincinnati) A new approach to conducting archaeological research -- led by University of Cincinnati researchers -- is revolutionizing methods of recording history, a field that is steeped in tradition.

Sand drift explained - (University of Stavanger) The sand along the south-western coastal rim of Norway has drifted for more than 9000 calendar years. This was triggered by sea-level changes and human activities, new research has found.

Archaeological whodunit from the hometown of Romeo and Juliet - (American Chemical Society) Three new bright blue pigments with origins in the hometown of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet have become stars in a drama that is unsettling experts on conservation of archaeological treasures around the world. That's the topic of an article on the solution of an archaeological "whodunit" involving those new-to-science pigments in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

AGU journal highlights -- April 5, 2011 - (American Geophysical Union) Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "New study says 2 degrees Celsius warming may be unavoidable by 2100"; "Icelandic volcano exonerated for harsh winter of 1783-1784"; "Droughts and floods becoming more common in northern Australia"; "Improved model reproduces deadly European heat wave"; "Tree ring record chronicles major pre-Hispanic droughts in Mesoamerica"; and "Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet melting accelerating."

Living dinosaurs: The evolutionary history of modern birds - (Wiley-Blackwell) In "Living Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary History of Modern Birds," researchers Gareth Dyke and Gary Kaiser set out to unite ornithologists and paleontologists to form a modern understanding of the evolution of birds at the beginning of the 21st century.

Did dinosaurs have lice? Researchers say it's possible - (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) A new study louses up a popular theory of animal evolution and opens up the possibility that dinosaurs were early -- perhaps even the first -- animal hosts of lice.

Facial structure of men and women has become more similar over time - (North Carolina State University) Research from North Carolina State University shows that they really don't make women like they used to, at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced.

First broad-scale maps of life on the sea-shelf - (CSIRO Australia) Marine scientists from five research agencies have pooled their skills and resources to compile a directory of life on Australia's continental shelf.

Archaeologists investigate Iraqi marshes for origins of Mesopotamian cities - (National Science Foundation) Three National Science Foundation-supported researchers recently undertook the first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in nearly 20 years.

Archaeologists explore Iraqi marshes for origins of urbanization - (Penn State) The first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in 20 years was a preliminary foray by three women who began to explore the links between wetland resources and the emergence and growth of cities last year.

West Runton Elephant helps unlock the past - (University of York) Researchers from the Universities of York and Manchester have successfully extracted protein from the bones of a 600,000 year old mammoth, paving the way for the identification of ancient fossils.

Research explores why ancient civilization was 'livin' on the edge' - (University of Cincinnati) The research, an ongoing project involving a multidisciplinary team of University of Cincinnati researchers, will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

UC pioneers research on environmental practices of ancient Maya - (University of Cincinnati) UC researchers are strongly represented among the hundreds of presentations at the upcoming Society for American Archaeology meeting. In fact, one entire symposium session is dedicated to groundbreaking UC research on the agroforestry and water management of the ancient Maya.

Baylor, Texas A&M researchers find earliest people to inhabit the Americas - (Baylor University) Baylor University geology researchers, along with scientists from Texas A&M University and around the country, have found the oldest archaeological evidence of human occupation in the Americas at a Central Texas archaeological site located about 40 miles northwest of Austin.

Texas A&M-led study shows earliest American residents came at least 15,500 years ago - (Texas A&M University) Michael Waters, director of Texas A&M's Center for the Study of First Americans, along with researchers from Baylor University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Minnesota and Texas State University, have found the oldest archaeological evidence for human occupation in Texas and North America at the Debra L. Friedkin site, located about 40 miles northwest of Austin. Their work is published in the current issue of Science magazine.