EurekAlert! - Archaeology
Sat Jun 27 20:29:02 EDT 2009
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Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to federal research results - (SPARC) Sens. Joseph Lieberman and John Cornyn today introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act, a bill to ensure free, timely, online access to the published results of research funded by 11 US federal agencies. The proposed bill is welcomed by the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, a coalition of research institutions, consumers, patients and others formed to support open public access to publicly funded research.

Showcasing the secrets of Caistor Roman town - (University of Nottingham) In December 2007 a team of experts, led by the University of Nottingham, unveiled an extraordinary set of high-resolution images that gave an insight into the plan of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St. Edmund in Norfolk.

Notre Dame study describes evidence of world's oldest known granaries - (University of Notre Dame) A new study co-authored by Ian Kuijt, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, describes recent excavations in Jordan that reveal evidence of the world's oldest known granaries.

Obsidian 'trail' provides clues to how humans settled, interacted in Kuril Islands - (University of Washington) Archaeologists have used stone tools to answer many questions about human ancestors in both the distant and near past and now they are analyzing the origin of obsidian flakes to better understand how people settled and interacted in the inhospitable Kuril Islands.

Underground cave dating from the year 1 A.D. exposed in Jordan Valley - (University of Haifa) An artificial underground cave, the largest in Israel, has been exposed in the Jordan Valley in the course of a survey carried out by the University of Haifa. Professor Adam Zertal, who headed the excavating team, reckons that this cave was originally a large quarry during the Roman and Byzantine era and was one of its kind. Various engravings were uncovered in the cave, including cross markings, and it is assumed that this could have been an early monastery.

NOAA report finds threats to California's Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary - (NOAA Headquarters) A new NOAA report on the health of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary indicates that the overall condition of the sanctuary's marine life and habitats is fair to good, but identifies several emerging threats to sanctuary resources.

New discovery suggests mammoths survived in Britain until 14,000 years ago - (Wiley-Blackwell) Research which finally proves that bones found in Shropshire, England, provide the most geologically recent evidence of woolly mammoths in northwestern Europe publishes today in the Geological Journal. Analysis of both the bones and the surrounding environment suggests that some mammoths remained part of British wildlife long after they are conventionally believed to have become extinct.

CARTA to digitize extensive primate collection this summer - (University of California - San Diego) To help trace the origins of the human species, and potential links to other primates, researchers with the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny -- a joint organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies -- will begin digitizing and examining skeletal specimens and related medical records this summer from more than two dozen chimpanzees.

CU-Boulder study shows Maya intensively cultivated manioc 1,400 years ago - (University of Colorado at Boulder) A University of Colorado at Boulder team has uncovered an ancient and previously unknown Maya agricultural system -- a large manioc field intensively cultivated as a staple crop that was buried and exquisitely preserved under a blanket of ash by a volcanic eruption in present-day El Salvador 1,400 years ago.

Archeological evidence of human activity found beneath Lake Huron - (University of Michigan) More than 100 feet deep in Lake Huron, on a wide stoney ridge that 9,000 years ago was a land bridge, University of Michigan researchers have found the first archeological evidence of human activity preserved beneath the Great Lakes.

Fossil teeth of browsing horse found in Panama Canal earthworks - (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) Rushing to salvage fossils from the Panama Canal earthworks, Aldo Rincon, paleontology intern at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, unearthed a set of fossil teeth. Bruce J. MacFadden, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida in Gainesville, describes the fossil as Anchitherium clarencei, a three-toed browsing horse, in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Paleontology.

New 'molecular clock' aids dating of human migration history - (University of Leeds) Researchers at the University of Leeds have devised a more accurate method of dating ancient human migration -- even when no corroborating archaeological evidence exists.

High population density triggers cultural explosions - (University College London) Increasing population density, rather than boosts in human brain power, appears to have catalyzed the emergence of modern human behavior, according to a new study by University College London scientists published in the journal Science. High population density leads to greater exchange of ideas and skills and prevents the loss of new innovations. It is this skill maintenance, combined with a greater probability of useful innovations, that led to modern human behavior appearing at different times in different parts of the world.

UF study finds that ancient mammals shifted diets as climate changed - (Public Library of Science) A new University of Florida study shows mammals change their dietary niches based on climate-driven environmental changes, contradicting a common assumption that species maintain their niches despite global warming.

Harvard scientist says we are what we eat -- and what we cook - (Harvard University) "You are what you eat." Can these pithy words explain the evolution of the human species?Yes, says Richard Wrangham of Harvard University, who argues in a new book that the invention of cooking -- even more than agriculture, the eating of meat, or the advent of tools -- is what led to the rise of humanity.

Stanford's Woods Institute awards new round of Environmental Venture Projects - (Stanford University) The Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford has awarded four new Environmental Venture Projects grants for interdisciplinary research aimed at finding practical solutions promoting global sustainability. Four Stanford University faculty teams will receive a total of $791,692 over the next two years to tackle environmental challenges, from the desert grasslands of Australia to the mountain meadows of California.

Lesson from the past for surviving climate change - (University of Leicester) Research led by the University of Leicester suggests people today and in future generations should look to the past in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

Ocean life in olden days: Researchers upend modern notions of 'natural' animal sizes, abundance - (Census of Marine Life) Using such diverse sources as old ship logs, literary texts, tax accounts, newly translated legal documents and even mounted trophies, Census of Marine Life researchers are piecing together images -- some flickering, others in high definition -- of fish of such sizes, abundance and distribution in ages past that they stagger modern imaginations. They are also documenting the timelines over which those giant marine life populations declined.

Fire and water reveal new archaeological dating method - (University of Manchester) Scientists at the University of Manchester have developed a new way of dating archaeological objects -- using fire and water to unlock their "internal clocks."

The role of astronomy in antiquity examined in new book - (Springer) In his new authoritative study of archaeoastronomy, "Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy," author Guilio Magli asks, "Was it an attempt to reproduce the sky on Earth? To bring down the power of stars to where they could see it, worship it, and use it?" Magli examines the role of astronomy in antiquity and provides a clear, up-to-date survey of current thinking on the motives of the ancients for building fabulous monuments all over our planet.

The first evidence of pre-industrial mercury pollution in the Andes - (University of Alberta) The study of ancient lake sediment from high altitude lakes in the Andes has revealed for the first time that mercury pollution occurred long before the start of the Industrial Revolution. University of Alberta Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Ph.D. student Colin Cooke's results from two seasons of field work in Peru have now provided the first unambiguous records of pre-industrial mercury pollution from anywhere in the world.

Woods Hole lecture series explores range of scientific topics - (National Academy of Sciences) The National Academies announced today this summer's lineup of lectures called Distinctive Voices a the Jonsson Center. The public events in Woods Hole, Mass., feature diverse subjects for those curious about science, technology and medicine. This year, the program will explore science and technology's role in diplomacy, space exploration, climate change, globalization, aging and creativity.

Researchers gain genome-wide insights into patterns of the world's human population structures - (University of Washington) Through sophisticated statistical analysis and advanced computer simulations, researchers are learning in greater detail about the genomic signatures of human population structures around the world. Looking at seven continental groups -- Africa, America, Central and Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Oceania, they found 18 axes of variation, some of which distinguished particular populations. They found variation patterns that correlated with geography in nearly every continental group.

UTSA announces funding for new faculty research - (University of Texas at San Antonio) UTSA has awarded funding for nine new faculty projects in its five strategic areas of excellence: health, security, energy and the environment, human and social development, and sustainability.

New dinosaur species possible in Northwestern Alberta - (University of Alberta) The discovery of a gruesome feeding frenzy that played out 73 million years ago in Northwestern Alberta may also lead to the discovery of new dinosaur species in Northwestern Alberta. University of Alberta student Tetsuto Miyashita and Frederico Fanti, a paleontology graduate student from Italy, made the discovery near Grande Prairie, 450 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.