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mesolithic

Artist's illustration symbolically depicting the research results. Source: Sayo Studio/Nature

Ancient DNA Reveals Reason for High Multiple Sclerosis Rates in Europe

Researchers have created the world's largest ancient human gene bank by analyzing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across Western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago. By...
The oldest fortified settlement sits atop a section of land overlooking the Amnya River. Source: Nikita Golovanov/Antiquity Publications Ltd

World’s Oldest Fortress Discovered in Siberia Challenges Traditional Archaeology

The world's oldest fortress has been discovered in Siberia, dating to 8,000 years ago. This defensive complex reveals an ancient class structure, and like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, it challenges...
Artistic recreation of the use of Mesolithic baskets by a group of hunter-gatherers in the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol. (Moisés Belilty Molinos / CC BY ND) Insert: A pair of sandals discovered in the cave. (Martínez Sevilla, F. et al. / Science Advances)

6,200-Year-Old Sandals Found in Spanish Cave are Europe’s Oldest Shoes

Scientists claim to have found Europe’s oldest shoes in a bat cave in Spain’s Andalusia - sandals woven from esparto grass that date back some 6,200 years. These were part of a large haul of objects...
Illustration of Mesolithic people digging a pit.	Source: MOLA

Archaeologists in Britain Shocked to Find 25 Mesolithic Period Pits

During a pair of separate excavations that took place in Linmere, Bedfordshire in 2019 and 2021, stunned archaeologists unearthed 25 monumental pits that date back far into prehistory. Radiocarbon...
A lobster uncovered ancient ruins. Source: yalo173 / Adobe Stock.

How a Lobster Helped Uncover an Ancient Site that Rewrites History (Video)

Uncovering ancient mysteries hidden beneath the waves has always captivated the imaginations of archaeologists and explorers alike. In an extraordinary tale of unexpected discovery, a lobster...
Artist’s reconstruction of the Swedish shaman. Photography by Gert Germeraad, Trelleborgs Museum.

Sweden's Exceptional 7,000-Year-Old Burial That Defied Tradition (Video)

The discovery of 'Burial XXII' in Sweden during the early 1980s generated considerable excitement among archaeologists. This unique Mesolithic grave , located in Skateholm on the southern coast,...
Star Carr deer bone mask (Trustees of the British Museum / CC by SA 4.0)

The Mystery of the Ritualistic Deer Bone Mask, a Mesolithic Marvel (Video)

The Star Carr archaeological site, located in the North of England, has yielded some of the most remarkable discoveries in recent times, providing insight into the lives of Mesolithic people. One of...
An artist’s impression of the child buried in Majoonsuo during their life. Source: Tom Björklund / University of Helsinki

Child’s Stone Age Grave in Finland Reveals Nordic Funerary Customs

A Stone Age burial site in Majoonsuo in the municipality of Outokumpu in eastern Finland has provided an exceptional find during an archaeological dig. Buried underneath a gravel road in a forest in...

Baby Slings Were a Thing 10,000 Years Ago, New Discovery Reveals

A team of archaeologists have studied the remains of a 10,000-year-old baby with high technology. Their new paper not only found signs of ritual burial, but it reveals that baby carriers, or baby...
The Pesse canoe, shown here, believed to be the world's oldest known boat, was made roughly 10,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period, from a Scots pine trunk, in the Netherlands region.

Europe’s Famous Mesolithic Pesse Canoe: Earth’s Oldest Known Boat

One of the most interesting artifact discoveries was the finding of the Pesse canoe in 1955. This unique boat is considered to be the oldest boat in existence and is estimated to be around 10,000...
The collaboration of archaeologists and scientists in England led to the 2021 discovery of a large number of Stonehenge pits used for trapping big game about 10,000 years ago! The Stonehenge monument at sunset. 	Source: vencav / Adobe Stock

Hundreds of Ancient Hunting Pits Discovered By Stonehenge

Widely believed to be the most intensively investigated prehistoric site in the world, Stonehenge has forever held a place of mystery and never-ending curiosity in the minds of human beings...
Top Image: Detail of study co-author Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna examining a Mesolithic skeleton. Source: José Paulo Ruas

Mesolithic Burials in Europe from 8,000 Years Ago Point to Earliest Evidence of Mummification

How old is the art of embalming the dead and where did it originate? This is one of those eternal archaeological questions that is constantly reinforced and altered with the arrival of new evidence...
It was here in the Arma Vierana cave in northern Italy where the Mesolithic infant and her shell beads were found by the research team.		Source: Jamie Hodgkins / University of Colorado Denver

10,000-Year-Old Mesolithic Burial Showed Special Reverence For Infant Girl

Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists exploring a cave in Italy excavated parts of a skeleton that belonged to an infant girl who died approximately 10,000 years ago, in the early Mesolithic period...
The excavation site and Mesolithic tools. Source: Institute of Archaeology RAS

10,000+ Artifacts, Including Mesolithic Tools, Found in Russia

The Mesolithic Age, i.e., the ‘Middle Stone Age,’ was a transitionary period of the Stone Age that existed between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic (Old Stone Age and New Stone Age,...
Does Elba the ‘Shepherdess’ Show Early Animal Domestication?

Does Elba the ‘Shepherdess’ Reveal Early Animal Domestication?

A Mesolithic woman, now known as “Elba the Shepherdess, who lived 9,300 years ago has been brought back to life by facial reconstruction engineers. However, Elba the Shepherdess’s remains were...
The magnitude of the Storegga tsunami would have wiped out many modern Scottish cities. Source: Kevin Carden / Adobe Stock

8,000 Years Ago The Storegga Tsunami Shattered Scotland

The three Storegga Slides are amongst the largest known submarine landslides in history. They occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf in the Norwegian Sea, approximately 6225–...
The rabbit hole which produced the prehistoric finds on Skokholm Island.       Source: Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle, WTSWW / Royal Commission RCAHMW).

Burrowing Rabbits Discover Priceless Artifacts On Skokholm Island

On uninhabited Skokholm Island, two miles off the coast of Wales, burrowing rabbits dug out two Stone Age tools and one Bronze Age piece of pottery. Although it was the Skokholm bunnies that...
Jet necklaces and bracelet discovered during the A75 Dunragit Bypass roadwork excavations in Scotland.

Scottish Roadwork Treasure Trove Now Revealed!

A treasure trove of artifacts was unearthed in Scotland during the building of the A75 Dunragit bypass, a new road in Wigtownshire, Scotland , back in 2014. According to The Scotsman , the discovery...
Stone Age People’s Fascination With Elk Teeth Pendants Examined

Stone Age People’s Fascination With Elk Teeth Pendants Examined

Seeking to unlock the secrets of a long-lost Stone Age society, a team of archaeologists recently performed an in-depth study of more than 4,000 elk teeth pendants currently housed at the Peter The...
The Prehistoric Survivors of the Doggerland Tsunami Event

The Prehistoric Survivors of the Doggerland Tsunami Event

Thousands of years ago, mainland Europe and the UK were attached by a landmass called Doggerland. A tsunami hit that land and it was believed for a time that almost all of the hunter-gatherers who...
Two years ago, German scientists dated the Idol as being 11,000 years old.

Beaver's teeth 'used to carve the oldest wooden statue in the world’

Dating back 11,000 years - with a coded message left by ancient man from the Mesolithic Age - the Shigir Idol is almost three times as old as the Egyptian pyramids. New scientific findings suggest...
Respect For Canines Shown In Stone Age Dog Burial In Sweden

8,400 Year Old Dog Burial With Grave Goods Unearthed

Dogs have long been considered to be human’s best friend with evidence of their relationship going back for millennia. Now a remarkable discovery in Sweden, shows that even 8,400 years ago people and...
One of the mounted skulls found in Motala, Sweden. Credit: Anna Arnberg.

This is What a Man from the Tomb of Sunken Skulls Looked Like

When archaeologists were excavating a dry prehistoric lake bed in Motala, Sweden in 2009, they stumbled upon one of the most peculiar archaeological discoveries the nation had seen – the so-called ‘...
The evolution of stone tools. Source: andrey gonchar / Adobe Stock.

Taking a ‘Knapp’ With Our Ancient Ancestors - Stone Tools Through the Ages

The process of creating lithic tools took our hominin species millions of years to perfect. However, we often dismiss stone tools as simplistic primitive technology. The mastering of stone knapping...

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