Archaeology
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Archaeology
Green reapers
Agriculture's rise sparked widespread use of green stone beads as fertility charms and as protection against supernatural forces, scientists propose.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Resurrection of a biblical tree
Date palm pit found at Masada sprouts at age 2,000, becoming the oldest known seed to germinate.
By Amy Maxmen -
Archaeology
Acrobat’s last tumble
Sacrificial offerings in an ancient Mesopotamian building included a beheaded acrobat, a new skeletal analysis suggests.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Domain of the dead
Researchers say that Stonehenge functioned as the largest cemetery of its time.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Footprints in the ash
Humans may have been walking around what is now central Mexico 40,000 years ago.
By Sid Perkins -
Archaeology
Peruvian site yields a golden discovery
The discovery of a 4,000-year-old gold necklace in Peru suggests that social elites and economic growth appeared in a surprisingly simple society.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Zeus’ altar drew early visitors
Archaeologists have discovered evidence that people used a ceremonial altar to the ancient Greek god Zeus around 5,000 years ago, a millennium before Zeus worship originated.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
The Black Death chose its victims selectively
An analysis of medieval skeletons in England and Denmark finds that the devastating epidemic known as the Black Death killed excess numbers of people who were physically frail to begin with.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Dawn of the City
A research team has excavated huge public structures from more than 6,000 years ago in northeastern Syria, challenging the notion that the world's first cities arose in the so-called fertile crescent of what's now southern Iraq.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
La Brea del Sur
Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California.
By Sid Perkins -
Archaeology
Muons Meet the Maya
Physicists are exploring the use of muons generated by cosmic rays to explore Mayan archaeological sites and to probe the interiors of volcanoes and shipping containers.
By Betsy Mason