Latest news with #prehistoric
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Were Exploring a Cave—and Found 100 Prehistoric Structures
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The discovery of more than 100 prehistoric structures in the Cova Dones cave in Spain makes it one of the most significant prehistoric underground sites in the world. Archaeologists found stalagmites intentionally reassembled within the caves, dating them to prehistoric times. Questions remain about the purpose of the underground structures in a cave already known for a wealth of finds. Prehistoric humans intentionally modified stalagmites in the Cova Dones cave in Spain, forming over 100 structures—known as speleofacts—as a result. The recent archaeological find becomes one of the most significant prehistoric underground discoveries in the world, according to the team behind the discovery. 'This finding shows the adaptation of the environment by the prehistoric communities and places the site as the second most important in the world in this category, only behind the French cave of Saint-Marcel,' the discovery team from the universities of Alicante and Zaragoza wrote in a translated statement. Located in Millares, Cova Dones may have just jumped to the forefront of prehistoric underground discussions, but answers may be hard to come by. The archaeological team identified more than 100 speleofacts coming from the fracture, displacement, or regrouping of stalagmites to form structures. Experts believe this is 'convincing evidence of the planned occupation of the underground environment by prehistoric societies.' Still, some of the patterning of the recreated forms leaves questions as to their purpose, whether ritual or instead related to site planning by forming boundaries. The team was able to start dating the speleofacts thanks to calcium regrowth on the fractures, allowing them to 'attribute, at least partially, these interventions to prehistoric periods.' The researchers plan to continue to study the speleofacts to better date the timing of the underground work and 'accurately determine the scope and chronology of these structures.' This isn't the first time the prehistoric nature of Cova Dones has surfaced. In 2023, Antiquity published a study classifying the cave as home to the largest set of Paleolithic rock art on the eastern Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, with more than 100 paintings and engravings dated around 24,000 years old. The paintings included at least 19 animal representation in three different zones in the cave, some roughly 1,300 feet from the entrance. The study noted that all the zones were easily accessible without any climbing required. Key animals shown in the graphics included horses, deer, aurochs, and a stag. The researchers were able to date the cave art because of an overlap with cave bear claw marks and the artwork. Cave bears went extinct roughly 24,000 years ago. Shortly after the rock art finding, the existence of a 1,900-year-old Roman sanctuary was revealed in a room roughly 650 feet from the entrance of the cave, with a set of inscriptions and a coin of Emperor Claudius. The 2023 study noted that much of the cave system was yet unexplored by modern archaeologists, opening the possibility for additional finds. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
BBC News
a day ago
- Science
- BBC News
Dragon Man: Ancient skull 'reveals what mysterious Denisovans looked like'
Scientists have linked genetic material extracted from an ancient skull found in China in 2018 to a mysterious group of early skull, nicknamed 'Dragon Man' had fascinated experts because it didn't seem to match any other prehistoric human. Now, an expert study says it has linked genetic material from the fossil with previous bones belonging to an group of prehistoric humans called Denisovans. Read on to find out more about Dragon Man, the Denisovans and how they made the discovery. Who is Dragon Man? The "Dragon Man" or Homo longi was the name given to the early relative whose fossilised skull was first given to experts in China in 2018, after reportedly being first discovered back in skull is thought to be around 146,000 years old and has been identified as a male of around 50 years finding was extra interesting to scientists who said they believed the Dragon Man was closer to modern humans than Neanderthals. Who are the Denisovans? Meanwhile Denisovans were a species of ancient humans, distinct from Neanderthals, another species of ancient are extinct relatives of modern humans who at one point lived alongside homo sapiens (humans like us). Denisovans are believed to have lived in Asia, 285 thousand to 25 thousand years ago. They were first identified from DNA taken from finger bone found in Siberia in then although other Denisovans have been identified, their appearance had remained a mystery. A team from the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing worked on linking the Dragon Man fossil to the team failed to retrieve DNA from the skull's tooth and petrous bone, a section at the bottom of the skull which is usually a rich source of DNA in it was the hardened plaque on the teeth known as tartar which gave them results they could on this evidence, Denisovans can finally be would have had strong brow ridges, larger teeth than Neanderthals and modern humans, but brains around the same size. "I really feel that we have cleared up some of the mystery surrounding this population," said Qiaomei Fu, lead author of the new research. "After 15 years, we know the first Denisovan skull."It's hoped that this research could help identify Denisovan bones in other museum collections too.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists reconstruct 10,500-year-old woman's face using DNA
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Researchers studying the remains of a prehistoric woman who lived around 10,500 years ago in what is now Belgium have produced a reconstruction of her face using ancient DNA. A team led by scientists from Ghent University found that the woman would have had blue eyes and slightly lighter skin than most other people from the Mesolithic period in Western Europe who have been analyzed to date, according to a statement from the university on Tuesday. Isabelle De Groote, an archaeologist at Ghent University who leads the research project on Mesolithic Belgium, told CNN that the woman came from the same population group as the Cheddar Man, who lived in what is now the United Kingdom at around the same time, but had lighter skin. The findings challenge previous assumptions that European hunter gatherers shared the same genetic makeup, and demonstrates that there was already considerable variation in skin color among different populations, said De Groote. 'From the skull we could also tell that she was somewhere between 35 and 60 years old,' De Groote told CNN on Wednesday. 'She also had a nose with a high nasal bridge, which is similar to Cheddar Man,' De Groote added. 'She also has strong brow ridges despite being a female.' The woman's remains were found in the Margaux cave in Dinant during an archaeological dig in 1988-1989 alongside the bodies of eight other women, said De Groote. This was 'an unusual finding' as most Mesolithic burial sites contain a mixture of men, women and children, she added. 'Many of the skeletons were sprinkled with ochre, a practice associated with ritual or symbolic behavior,' said De Groote. Most of the bodies were carefully covered with stone fragments, while one individual had cut marks on her skull that were made after her death, she added. 'Also interesting is that this burial cave was used over a period of several hundreds of years so that they were places of memory that people would go back to despite their mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle,' said De Groote. 'These findings point to complex burial customs and raise intriguing questions about the social structure and cultural practices of this early hunter-gatherer community,' she added. Philippe Crombé, an archaeologist at the university who is part of the project team, said that the ancient woman's skin color was 'a bit of a surprise,' but there's a limited pool of Mesolithic people with whom to compare. 'All individuals so far analyzed on ancient DNA in Western Europe have belonged to the same genetic group,' he said. 'So it's a bit of a surprise, but on the other hand, it is to be expected that in the wide area of Western Europe there's some variability, as there is today.' When the remains were recovered there was no way to conduct research into ancient DNA, said Crombé. 'Techniques have developed since the excavation,' he told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the interdisciplinary project is 'a re-analysis of old excavations using state of the art methods.' Crombé detailed how 'quite good quality' DNA was taken from the woman's skull, allowing for the creation of 'a very detailed reconstruction.' Her skin color, hair color and eye color is all based on ancient DNA, while other elements such as her jewelry and tattoos are based on archaeological data obtained from other excavations in the River Meuse basin, which also allowed them to build a picture of her daily life. At one excavation – a former campsite on the banks of the river – scientists found stone tools, bones from wild game and fish remains, said Crombé, providing evidence that these people would have been nomadic. 'They're still moving around because they are entirely dependent on natural resources: wild game, wild plants, fish,' he said. 'So that forced them to move through the landscape and to move their settlements.' Many questions remain about these Mesolithic communities, which were the last hunter-gatherers in Western Europe, said Crombé. Now the team are analyzing the remains to piece together the relationships between people who were buried together, and also plan to study the extent to which they would have eaten fish, he added.
CNN
a day ago
- Science
- CNN
Scientists reconstruct 10,500-year-old woman's face using DNA
Researchers studying the remains of a prehistoric woman who lived around 10,500 years ago in what is now Belgium have produced a reconstruction of her face using ancient DNA. A team led by scientists from Ghent University found that the woman would have had blue eyes and slightly lighter skin than most other people from the Mesolithic period in Western Europe who have been analyzed to date, according to a statement from the university on Tuesday. Isabelle De Groote, an archaeologist at Ghent University who leads the research project on Mesolithic Belgium, told CNN that the woman came from the same population group as the Cheddar Man, who lived in what is now the United Kingdom at around the same time, but had lighter skin. The findings challenge previous assumptions that European hunter gatherers shared the same genetic makeup, and demonstrates that there was already considerable variation in skin color among different populations, said De Groote. 'From the skull we could also tell that she was somewhere between 35 and 60 years old,' De Groote told CNN on Wednesday. 'She also had a nose with a high nasal bridge, which is similar to Cheddar Man,' De Groote added. 'She also has strong brow ridges despite being a female.' The woman's remains were found in the Margaux cave in Dinant during an archaeological dig in 1988-1989 alongside the bodies of eight other women, said De Groote. This was 'an unusual finding' as most Mesolithic burial sites contain a mixture of men, women and children, she added. 'Many of the skeletons were sprinkled with ochre, a practice associated with ritual or symbolic behavior,' said De Groote. Most of the bodies were carefully covered with stone fragments, while one individual had cut marks on her skull that were made after her death, she added. 'Also interesting is that this burial cave was used over a period of several hundreds of years so that they were places of memory that people would go back to despite their mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle,' said De Groote. 'These findings point to complex burial customs and raise intriguing questions about the social structure and cultural practices of this early hunter-gatherer community,' she added. Philippe Crombé, an archaeologist at the university who is part of the project team, said that the ancient woman's skin color was 'a bit of a surprise,' but there's a limited pool of Mesolithic people with whom to compare. 'All individuals so far analyzed on ancient DNA in Western Europe have belonged to the same genetic group,' he said. 'So it's a bit of a surprise, but on the other hand, it is to be expected that in the wide area of Western Europe there's some variability, as there is today.' When the remains were recovered there was no way to conduct research into ancient DNA, said Crombé. 'Techniques have developed since the excavation,' he told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the interdisciplinary project is 'a re-analysis of old excavations using state of the art methods.' Crombé detailed how 'quite good quality' DNA was taken from the woman's skull, allowing for the creation of 'a very detailed reconstruction.' Her skin color, hair color and eye color is all based on ancient DNA, while other elements such as her jewelry and tattoos are based on archaeological data obtained from other excavations in the River Meuse basin, which also allowed them to build a picture of her daily life. At one excavation – a former campsite on the banks of the river – scientists found stone tools, bones from wild game and fish remains, said Crombé, providing evidence that these people would have been nomadic. 'They're still moving around because they are entirely dependent on natural resources: wild game, wild plants, fish,' he said. 'So that forced them to move through the landscape and to move their settlements.' Many questions remain about these Mesolithic communities, which were the last hunter-gatherers in Western Europe, said Crombé. Now the team are analyzing the remains to piece together the relationships between people who were buried together, and also plan to study the extent to which they would have eaten fish, he added.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant salamander fossil unearthed at Gray Fossil Site
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Researchers at the Gray Fossil Site have discovered the remains of a giant salamander that once called prehistoric Appalachia home. According to a news release from East Tennessee State University (ETSU), the giant plethodontid salamander was strong-jawed and possessed a powerful bite. New guidance on hemp-derived cannabinoid products: What will change on Jan. 1, 2026 The species, Dynamognathus robertsoni, was about 16 inches long, making it one of the largest salamanders to ever exist in the area. In the present day, Northeast Tennessee and all of Southern Appalachia are teeming with a wide variety of salamanders. Among those, researchers say, are dusky salamanders, a stream-dwelling species that measures about seven inches long at their largest. Dusky salamanders are related to Red Hills salamanders, a large species that lives underground with a worm-like body and small limbs. 'Finding something that looks like a Red Hills salamander here in East Tennessee was a bit of a surprise,' Assistant Collections Manager Davis Gunnin stated in the release. 'Today, they're only found in a few counties in southern Alabama, and researchers thought of them as a highly specialized dead-end lineage not particularly relevant to the evolution of the dusky salamanders. Discovery of Dynamognathus robertsoni here in Southern Appalachia shows that these types of relatively large, burrowing salamanders were once more widespread in eastern North America and may have had a profound impact on the evolution of Appalachian salamander communities.' Guinn described Dynamognathus robertsoni as 'the largest plethodontid salamander and one of the largest terrestrial salamanders in the world.' Assistant Collections Manager Shay Maden said the name of the newly discovered salamander comes from its bite and also pays homage to the volunteer who found the first specimen at Gray Fossil Site. 'This group of salamanders has unusual cranial anatomy that gives them a strong bite force, so the genus name – Dynamognathus – Greek for 'powerful jaw,' is given to highlight the great size and power of the salamander compared to its living relatives,' Maden said. As for 'robertsoni,' that name comes from Gray Fossil Site volunteer Wayne Robertson. According to ETSU, Robertson discovered the first specimen of the salamander and has sifted through more than 50 tons of soil containing fossils since 2000. Guinn, Maden and other researchers from the Gray Fossil Site and ETSU published their findings in the journal Historical Biology. The other authors included: Director and Professor of Geosciences Dr. Blaine Schubert Head Curator and Associate Professor of Geosciences, Dr. Joshua Samuels Museum Specialist Keila Bredehoeft Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
