http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/cultures/ Cultures of the World. News and findings about early human cultures. Learn about trading, colonization, early language development and the showoff hypothesis. en-us Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:05:02 EST Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:05:02 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/cultures/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207133602.htm Scientists have completed the genome sequence of a Denisovan, a representative of an Asian group of extinct humans related to Neanderthals. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:36:36 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207133602.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207100143.htm Although many anthropologists believe that modern humans ancestors "wiped out" Neanderthals, it's more likely that Neanderthals were integrated into the human gene pool thousands of years ago during the Upper Pleistocene era as cultural and climatic forces brought the two groups together. New research suggests that the Neanderthals demise was due to a combination of influences, including cultural changes. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:01:01 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207100143.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125132610.htm Ancient humans may not have had the luxury of updating their Facebook status, but social networks were nevertheless an essential component of their lives, a new study suggests. The study's findings describe elements of social network structures that may have been present early in human history, suggesting how our ancestors may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin based on shared attributes, including the tendency to cooperate. According to the paper, social networks likely contributed to the evolution of cooperation. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:26:26 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125132610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120124092742.htm New published research from anthropologists in the UK supports the long-held theory that early human ancestors across Africa, Western Asia and Europe engineered their stone tools.  Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:27:27 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120124092742.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104115049.htm Trash and tombs went hand in hand in ancient Pompeii. That's according to research that provides new insights into daily life of that city before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:50:50 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104115049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222161213.htm Changes in social structure and cultural practices can also contribute to human evolution, according to a new study. Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:12:12 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222161213.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222142444.htm Evidence of the single-celled ancestors of animals, dating from the interval in the Earth's history just before multicellular animals appeared, has been discovered in 570 million-year-old rocks from South China. Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:24:24 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222142444.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220133608.htm Athenian pottery was exported to both east and west. In Cyprus the pottery was exported for about 300 years and it became a part of the Cypriots’ life. It also inspired the local potters and painters to create their own versions of the imagery and enrich them with local elements. Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:36:36 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220133608.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220102248.htm Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other. Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:22:22 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220102248.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111219102230.htm Chinese scientists have announced the first complete sequencing of Mongolian genome. Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:22:22 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111219102230.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212221026.htm Under the cold clear waters of Lake Huron, researchers have found a five-and-a-half foot-long, pole-shaped piece of wood that is 8,900 years old. The wood, which is tapered and beveled on one side in a way that looks deliberate, may provide important clues to a mysterious period in North American prehistory. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:10:10 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212221026.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208151220.htm An international team of researchers has discovered the earliest evidence for the intentional construction of plant "bedding." The 77,000-year-old evidence for preserved plant bedding and the use of insect-repelling plants was discovered in a rock shelter in South Africa. Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:12:12 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208151220.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130171049.htm A series of new archaeological discoveries in the Sultanate of Oman, nestled in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, reveals the timing and identity of one of the first modern human groups to migrate out of Africa, according to new research. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:10:10 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130171049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121151554.htm Traditionally, fossil-hunters often could only make educated guesses as to where fossils lie. The rest lay with chance. But thanks to a new software model, fossil-hunters' reliance on luck when finding fossils may be diminishing. Using artificial neural networks, researchers developed a computer model that can pinpoint productive fossil sites. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:15:15 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121151554.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111117154645.htm Human domestication of soybeans is thought to have first occurred in central China some 3,000 years ago, but archaeologists now suggest that cultures in even earlier times and in other locations adopted the legume. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:46:46 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111117154645.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111114112314.htm Archeologists have discovered the first prehistoric bronze artifact made from a cast ever found in Alaska, a small, buckle-like object found in an ancient Eskimo dwelling and which likely originated in East Asia. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:23:23 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111114112314.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111114093411.htm The Greeks were not always in such dire financial straits as today. German archeologists have discovered a very large commercial area from the ancient Greek era during excavations on Sicily. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:34:34 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111114093411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103143237.htm The first individuals settling on new land are more successful at passing on their genes than those who did not migrate, according to new research. Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:32:32 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103143237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161058.htm A piece of jawbone excavated from a prehistoric cave in England is the earliest evidence for modern humans in Europe, according to an international science team. New dating of the bone, which shows that it is between 44,000 and 41,000 years old, is expected to help scientists pin down how quickly modern humans spread across Europe during the last Ice Age. It also helps to confirm the much-debated theory that early humans coexisted with Neanderthals. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161052.htm Was it humans or climate change that caused the extinctions of the iconic Ice Age mammals (megafauna) such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? For decades, scientists have been debating the reasons behind these enigmatic Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammal species in Eurasia and two thirds of the species in North America. Now an interdisciplinary research team has tried to tackle the contentious question in the biggest study of its kind. And the answers are far more complicated than ever imagined. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161052.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031154119.htm During human evolution our ancestors mated with Neanderthals, but also with other related hominids. Researchers have now shown that people in East Asia share genetic material with Denisovans, who got the name from the cave in Siberia where they were first found. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:41:41 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031154119.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026122437.htm Plans to reopen Spain's Altamira caves are stirring controversy over the possibility that tourists' visits will further damage the 20,000-year old wall paintings that changed views about the intellectual ability of prehistoric people, according to a new article. The caves are the site of Stone Age paintings so magnificent that experts have called them the "Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art." Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:24:24 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026122437.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145100.htm The tip of a bone point fragment found embedded in a mastodon rib from an archaeological site in Washington state shows that hunters were present in North America at least 800 years before Clovis, confirming that the first inhabitants arrived earlier to North America than previously thought, says a team of researchers. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:51:51 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145054.htm A new and astonishing chapter has been added to North American prehistory in regards to the first hunters and their hunt for the now extinct giant mammoth-like creatures -- the mastodons. New research has shown that the hunt for large mammals occurred at least 1,000 years before previously assumed. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:50:50 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145054.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020122313.htm Culture is not a trait that is unique to humans. By studying orangutan populations, researchers have demonstrated that great apes also have the ability to learn socially and pass them down through a great many generations. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:23:23 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020122313.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020084819.htm A reconstruction based on the skull of Norway’s best-preserved Stone Age skeleton makes it possible to study the features of a boy who lived outside Stavanger 7,500 years ago. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:48:48 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020084819.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018084634.htm New research into evolutionary psychology suggests that physical stature affects our preferences in political leadership. The article reveals that a preference for physically formidable leaders, or caveman politics, may have evolved to ensure survival in ancient human history. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:46:46 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018084634.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111017111610.htm Archaeologists report that large numbers of long, slender cutting tools were discovered at the Qesem Cave outside Tel Aviv. They report that every element of the system points to a sophisticated tool "production line" to rival technologies used hundreds of thousands of years later. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111017111610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013141807.htm An ochre-rich mixture, possibly used for decoration, painting and skin protection 100,000 years ago, and stored in two abalone shells, was discovered at Blombos Cave in Cape Town, South Africa. Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:18:18 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111013141807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111008130348.htm Movie industry computer graphics and the very latest digital marine technology have brought the world's oldest submerged city back to life in a new documentary. Just a few metres under the sea, off the southern coast of Greece, lies Pavlopetri -- the oldest submerged city in the world. A team of archaeologists has spent the last three years surveying the site which was first discovered in the late 1960's. This summer the city, which dates back over 5,000 years, became the first underwater city to be fully digitally mapped and recorded creating a highly detailed stone by stone plan in photo-realistic 3-D. Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:03:03 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111008130348.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006162535.htm Ancient structures uncovered in Turkey and thought to be the world's oldest temples may not have been strictly religious buildings after all, according to a new article. Archaeologists argue that the buildings found at Gobekli Tepe may have been houses for people, not the gods. Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:25:25 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006162535.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111004180106.htm A study into the muscle development of several different fish has given insights into the genetic leap that set the scene for the evolution of hind legs in terrestrial animals. This innovation gave rise to the tetrapods -- four-legged creatures, and our distant ancestors -- that made the first small steps on land some 400 million years ago. Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:01:01 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111004180106.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926102801.htm The discovery by Russian archaeologists of the remains of an extinct prehistoric human during the excavation of Denisova Cave in Southern Siberia in 2008 was nothing short of a scientific sensation. The sequencing of the nuclear genome taken from an over 30,000-year-old finger bone revealed that Denisova man was neither a Neanderthal nor modern human, but a new form of hominin. Minute traces of the Denisova genome are still found in some individuals living today. The comparisons of the DNA of modern humans and prehistoric human species provide new indications of how human populations settled in Asia over 44,000 years ago. Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:28:28 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926102801.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922141905.htm Researchers have for the first time sequenced the genome of a man who was an Aboriginal Australian. They have shown that modern day Aboriginal Australians are the direct descendents of the first people who arrived on the continent some 50,000 years ago and that those ancestors left Africa earlier than their European and Asian counterparts. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:19:19 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922141905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922141858.htm In an exciting development, researchers have, for the first time, pieced together the human genome from an Aboriginal Australian. The results re-interpret the prehistory of our species. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:18:18 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922141858.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110921120122.htm Researchers are utilizing the complete genome sequences of people alive today to shed light on events at the dawn of human history, such as the times of divergence of early human populations and of the "out of Africa" migration of the ancestors of modern Europeans, Asians and other non-African groups. Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:01:01 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110921120122.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110921115910.htm Researchers have found that periods of rapid fluctuation in temperature coincided with the emergence of the first distant relatives of human beings and the appearance and spread of stone tools. Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:59:59 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110921115910.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110908104201.htm Hand bones from a single individual with a clear taxonomic affiliation are scarce in the hominin fossil record, which has hampered understanding of the evolution of manipulative abilities in hominins. An international team of researchers has now published a study that describes the earliest, most complete fossil hominin hand post-dating the appearance of stone tools in the archaeological record, the hand of a 1.98-million-year-old Australopithecus sediba from Malapa, South Africa. Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:42:42 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110908104201.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110907171533.htm That seems to be the takeaway from new research that concludes "archaic" humans, somewhere in Africa during the last 20-60 thousand years, interbred with anatomically modern humans and transferred small amounts of genetic material to their offspring who are alive today. University of Arizona geneticist Michael Hammer and a team of evolutionary biologists, geneticists and mathematicians report the finding in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110907171533.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829142513.htm A professor in Israel has authenticated an inscription on an ancient ossuary thought to come from a burial site at the legendary location of the battle between David and Goliath. The unusually detailed inscription could reveal the home of the family of the high priest Caiaphas prior to its exodus to Galilee. Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:25:25 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829142513.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110825141635.htm For a few years now, scientists have known that humans and their evolutionary cousins had some casual flings, but now it appears that these liaisons led to a more meaningful relationship. Interbreeding between modern humans and close relatives -- including Neanderthals and the recently discovered Denisovans -- has endowed some human gene pools with beneficial versions of immune system genes, researchers report in a new study. Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110825141635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110809104309.htm Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have unearthed the remains of a monumental gate complex adorned with stone sculptures, including a magnificently carved lion. The gate complex provided access to the citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 950-725 BCE), and is reminiscent of the citadel gate excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1911 at the royal Hittite city of Carchemish. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:43:43 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110809104309.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110728144928.htm New research sheds light on why, after 300,000 years of domination, European Neanderthals abruptly disappeared. Researchers have discovered that modern humans coming from Africa swarmed the region, arriving with over ten times the population as the Neanderthal inhabitants. Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:49:49 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110728144928.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719194356.htm Scientists have found that ancient footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania, show that human-like features of the feet and gait existed almost two million years earlier than previously thought. Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:43:43 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719194356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719171545.htm Since Charles Darwin's publication of "The Origin of Species," evolutionary theory has become the bedrock of modern biology, yet its application to the understanding of the human mind remains controversial. For the past 30 years, evolutionary interpretation of human cognition has been dominated by the field of evolutionary psychology -- a field based on a set of widely held assumptions, which are now being questioned by new findings and approaches from genetics, neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719171545.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718085329.htm Some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals and is found exclusively in people outside Africa, new research shows. Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:53:53 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718085329.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110629124500.htm Renaissance specialists in the UK have discovered that the art of social networking pre-dates the Twitter and Facebook generations by more than 400 years. Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:45:45 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110629124500.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621093308.htm Advanced crafting of stone spearheads contributed to the development of new ways of human thinking and behaving. The technology took a long time to acquire, required step by step planning and increased social interaction across the generations. This led to the human brain developing new abilities, according to archeologists. Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:33:33 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621093308.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110620103852.htm New research in Cyprus reveals the remnants of a Late Bronze Age (1500-750 B.C.) fortress that may have functioned to protect an important urban economic center in the ancient world. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:38:38 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110620103852.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110607100134.htm An ambitious project to identify, explain and provide citations for the words written in cuneiform on clay tablets and carved in stone by Babylonians, Assyrians and others in Mesopotamia between 2500 B.C. and A.D. 100 has been completed after 90 years of labor. Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:01:01 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110607100134.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110603122849.htm Though people with autism face many challenges because of their condition, they may have been capable hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times, according to a new paper. Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:28:28 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110603122849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110530152331.htm Greenland's early Viking settlers were subjected to rapidly changing climate. Temperatures plunged several degrees in a span of decades, according to researchers. A reconstruction of 5,600 years of climate history from lakes near the Norse settlement in western Greenland also shows how climate affected the Dorset and Saqqaq cultures. Mon, 30 May 2011 15:23:23 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110530152331.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110519101231.htm Archaeologists have discovered a 12,000-year-old iron oxide mine in Chile that marks the oldest evidence of organized mining ever found in the Americas, according to a new article. Thu, 19 May 2011 10:12:12 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110519101231.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110513112527.htm Remains found near the Arctic Circle characteristic of Mousterian culture have recently been dated at over 28,500 years old, which is more than 8,000 years after Neanderthals are thought to have disappeared. This unexpected discovery challenges previous theories. Fri, 13 May 2011 11:25:25 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110513112527.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110510153942.htm Direct dating of a fossil of a Neanderthal infant suggests that Neanderthals probably died out earlier than previously thought. Tue, 10 May 2011 15:39:39 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110510153942.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420125510.htm 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. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:55:55 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420125510.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419131543.htm Markings on fossilized front teeth show that right-handedness goes back a half-million years in the human family. Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419131543.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110414091112.htm 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, say archaeologists. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:11:11 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110414091112.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408101749.htm 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. Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:17:17 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408101749.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407101625.htm A new approach to conducting archaeological research is revolutionizing methods of recording history, a field that is steeped in tradition. Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407101625.htm