yourlocalarchaeologist

160,000-year-old sophisticated stone tools discovered in China may not have been made by Homo sapiens Archaeologists have found the oldest known evidence of hafted tools in East Asia, and they challenge a previously held assumption about stone tool use.

An artistic impression of what we uncovered at Xigou and a snapshot of what life was like in central China 100,000 years ago www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

European Homo sapiens May Have Been Hunting with Bow and Arrow Earlier than Previously Believed In a new paper published this month in the journal iScience, researchers from the University of Tübingen and elsewhere present a multidisciplinary analysis of stone and bone projectile points…

📰 Experimental archaeology suggests modern humans could have begun hunting with bows and arrows as early as 40,000 years ago, 28,000 years earlier than previously believed

🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via Sci.News

Scientists have uncovered evidence of Ireland's largest prehistoric hillfort settlement In a recent study published in Antiquity, Dr. Dirk Brandherm and his colleagues identified more than 600 suspected house platforms in the Brusselstown Ring hillfort, making it the largest nucleated se...

To end the year, here's some fabulous #ArchaeologyNews for #HillfortsWednesday - Ireland's largest hillfort!

Occupied from 1200-400 BC, with over 600 houses found so far, it's even larger than Maiden Castle!

🎆 See you all in 2026! 🎆

#archaeology #news

🏺 phys.org/news/2025-12...

Neanderthals cannibalized 'outsider' women and children 45,000 years ago at cave in Belgium Fragmented Neanderthal bones discovered in a cave in Belgium show that one group cannibalized the women and children of another group.

Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺

Top) overview of wooden features in a trench, from the first settlement phase (twentieth century BC); bottom) horizontally laid wooden beams forming the foundation of a rectangular building with a plank floor in the centre of the settlement mound, excavated in 2017 (photographs by J. N. Meyer).

Wooden settlement remains from Bronze Age Tabakoni, in the Colchis lowlands of western Georgia #Woodensday 🏺 #Archaeology
The waterlogged environment required a solid foundation for the construction of occupation sites, and the anaerobic conditions preserved them.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Two Roads Out of Africa: What Teeth From Dmanisi Say About the First Global Humans A close reading of ancient molars from the Caucasus challenges the idea that a single human species led the earliest migration beyond Africa.

Ancient teeth from Dmanisi suggest more than one human species left Africa together. Dental data challenge the single-species Homo erectus story and hint at a messier, more diverse first migration. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #OutOfAfrica www.anthropology.net/p/two-roads-...

West African ancestry in seventh-century England: two individuals from Kent and Dorset Archaeogenetics, the study of ancient DNA, can reveal powerful insights into kinship and the movement of individuals in (pre)history. Here, the authors report on the identification of two individuals with genetic profiles consistent with recent sub-Saharan African ancestry, both of whom were buried in early-medieval cemeteries in southern Britain. Focusing primarily on a sub-adult female from Updown in Kent, the authors explore the societal and cultural contexts in which these individuals lived and died, and the widening geographic links indicated by their presence, pointing back to the Byzantine reconquest of North Africa in AD 533–534.

People have always moved around, and DNA can now paint a clearer picture of ancient migration #MigrantsDay #IMD
DNA analysis at two early-medieval cemeteries in southern Britain found genetic connections all the way to sub-Saharan West Africa.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area The Dmanisi paleoanthropological assemblage from Georgia is among the most debated collections of hominin fossils due to its early age and extreme morphological diversity relative to other Homo…

"We conclude that differences in crown dimensions support the hypothesis of two distinct taxa coexistent at the Dmanisi site, previously proposed to be Homo georgicus and Homo caucasi." [taxa rarely used]
Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area

Homo heidelbergensis and The Origins of The Middle Stone Age: The Kabwe (Broken Hill) Lithic Assemblage - African Archaeological Review The Middle Stone Age (MSA) saw the emergence of novel behaviours in the archaeological record and is generally associated with our own species, Homo sapiens. Yet, most archaeological assemblages contain no fossil remains, with those rare assemblages with a fossil association giving a less than clear-cut picture. Here, we describe the lithic assemblage from Kabwe, Zambia, a cave site that was originally discovered in the early twentieth century and is most famous for the Kabwe cranium, an exceptionally well-preserved Middle Pleistocene Homo fossil. The nature of the assemblage’s excavation means that it is not well-provenanced. To address this issue, we draw on archival data related to the original excavations and discoveries during the 1920s and use the remains of original matrix still adhering to several of the lithic artefacts to separate out the assemblage stratigraphically. This indicates no significant difference in technological strategies across the assemblage. Whilst there is an Early Stone Age component to the assemblage in the form of spheroids, it is generally consistent with MSA technological strategies, including notably Levallois-like and laminar modes of production evident from cores and debitage. We thus interpret the Kabwe assemblage as a transitional ESA/MSA industry. Due to the possible association with Homo heidelbergensis sensu lato fossils in the form of both the Kabwe cranium and postcranial remains, this hints that the early MSA could have included other members of our clade rather than just Homo sapiens, complicating current models of MSA origins.

The #Kabwe lithic assemblage in #Zambia

#Hheidelbergensis and the origin of the #MiddleStoneAge

#archaeology #Africa #MiddlePleistocene

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-025-09642-8

Study finds humans were making fire 400,000 years ago, far earlier than once thought Archaeologists in Britain say they have found the earliest known evidence of deliberate fire-making, dating to around 400,000 years ago.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France dating to about 50,000 years ago.
#Archaeology

Earliest evidence of making fire Nature - Baked sediment, heat-shattered artefacts and introduced pyrite in a 400,000-year-old Palaeolithic occupation site in Suffolk, UK provide evidence of intentional fire-making, marking a...

"Earliest evidence of making fire" - full-text view-only version of the Nature paper, using the link below.
rdcu.be/eT4WI

A black-and-white composite plate of Orrorin tugenensis fossils arranged on a dark background, each labeled with a letter. At the top left (A) and top right (B) are two views of a femur, each preserving the femoral head and part of the shaft. Near the center (D and E) are two mandibular fragments: D is a broader jaw section with cracked cortical surfaces, and E is a narrower, more elongated jaw piece with several teeth still in place. Along the lower left (J) and lower right (K) are two views of the humerus, showing sections of the shaft and a partially preserved distal end. Surrounding these main elements are smaller bone fragments labeled C, F, G, H, I, L, M, and N—irregular pieces representing additional isolated bits of long bone and other skeletal material. All fossils show weathering, breakage, and mineralization typical of early Miocene–Pliocene hominin remains.

The human ancestor Orrorin tugenensis was announced at a press conference in Nairobi #OnThisDay in 2000. The find consisted of a femur, humerus, and teeth, including small canines. 🧪
📸Australian Museum

Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey

Today in #Palaeolunch we considered the evidence for cannibalism of gracile female Neanderthals and children from Goyet cave. Who was eating who? was this hunting, warfare, desperation or ritual? The latest study of the site takes our understanding a lot further. #PaPa 🦣🏺
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Pech-de-l’Azé I & Abri Peyrony (~51–48 ka): rib-bone lissoirs used to smooth hides—Europe’s earliest specialized bone tools, made by Neanderthals. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #Neanderthals #Lissoir
Paper: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

New finds shed light on diet and locomotion in Australopithecus deyiremeda - Nature 3.4-million-year-old hominin fossils discovered in Ethiopia provide insight into the diet and locomotion of Australopithecus deyiremeda.

LETS GOOOO Australopithecus deyiremeda is not only legit but is tied to the Burtele Foot!

Arboreality maintained in some australopiths while other (Au. afarensis) committed more to the ground.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New finds shed light on diet and locomotion in Australopithecus deyiremeda - Nature 3.4-million-year-old hominin fossils discovered in Ethiopia provide insight into the diet and locomotion of Australopithecus deyiremeda.

Nature research paper: New finds shed light on diet and locomotion in Australopithecus deyiremeda

go.nature.com/48mtcJE

Examples of Antarctic rock samples that bear resemblance to proposed human- or non-human primate-made stone tools.

What makes Antarctica so useful to archaeologists? #AntarcticaDay
It was never occupied by primates, so may be the perfect 'natural laboratory' for comparing human (or other primate)-made #lithic tools with naturally fractured stones.

🔗 from 2023 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Six stone axes, some roughly curvilinear, some long, thick triangular and flattened with sharp edges.

NEW Is this West Africa's first 'multi-tool'?
Use-wear analysis of Ground Stone Axes from Later #StoneAge (c.13000–12000 years ago) Nigeria indicates they were used for many different tasks, such as wood working, butchery/bone working and digging.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

New publication alert!‼️ Wrapping up 2025 with my fifth paper of the year in the SAJS!

The paper reviews how stone tools reveal social connections, noting similar patterns can also arise independently and suggesting ways to better distinguish the two. 💫
🔗 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Archaeologists have analyzed 16 pieces of ocher unearthed at Neanderthal sites in Crimea and Ukraine. One piece was scraped into a crayon-like shape, and its tip had been resharpened—possibly a tool for drawing.

archaeology.org/news/2025/11/03/neanderthals-may-have-crafted-implements-for-drawing/

This is figure 1, which is a map of Turkana Basin with the Namorotukunan Archeological Site and a timeline of currently known events in the Plio-Pleistocene.

A paper in Nature Communications presents archaeology of the Namorotukunan site in Kenya’s Turkana Basin, and the study’s findings suggests continuity in tool-making practices over 300,000 years, with evidence of systematic selection of rock types. go.nature.com/3WJnBrK 🏺 🧪

Human skull shape evolved faster than any of the apes New research led by Aida Gómez-Robles helps illustrate how researchers study the evolution of cranial form.

Some fascinating new research is showing how fast ancestral humans evolved their skulls, outpacing all other lineages of apes. These methods intersect with work that my students and I are doing, fun to explain how they work and what the results may mean.

www.johnhawks.net/p/human-skul...

Chimpanzees in Uganda use flying insects to tend their wounds, study reveals Animals respond to injury in many ways. So far, evidence for animals tending wounds with biologically active materials is rare. Yet, a recent study of an orangutan treating a wound with a medicinal pl...

👀 #Primates

Reconstructed left hand of KNM-ER 101000.

New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei🏺🧪
C. Mongle, Meave Leakey, @louiseleakey.bsky.social et al
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Suggests P. boisei capable of tool making and use in some capacity while also supports proposed dichotomy of dietary adaptations between Paranthropus and Homo

The mechanics of vertical climbing provide a proximate explanation for the convergent evolution of ankle morphology in African apes and atelids.

Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins 🏺🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Examines the evolutionary context of human bipedalism by analyzing the morphology of 4.4 million-year-old hominin talus attributed to ARA-VP-6/500-023.

Ancient Teotihuacan murals reveal possible 2,000-year-old Uto-Aztecan language

A new study published in Current Anthropology may have solved one of the largest mysteries of ancient Mesoamerica—the language spoken in Teotihuacan...

More information: archaeologymag.com/2025/10/teot...

Ancient microbial DNA and proteins preserve in concretions covering human remains Archaeological remains covered with concretions, including human bones, are commonly found in certain areas and time periods of interest for understan…

Ancient microbial DNA and proteins preserve in concretions covering human remains

🏺 This book mostly makes me wonder what image Sally Rosen Binford might have chosen of herself if she'd written her own archaeological magnum opus

(of course, one might argue whether she would ever have chosen to write such a book or centre herself on its cover in the first place...)

3D model of a temple complex from above. A square wall surrounds a central courtyard. The outer wall is lined with smaller rooms.

Isometric reconstruction of a previously unknown Tiwanaku temple in the Bolivian Andes, published this year in Antiquity. Its study reveals the complex trade and ritual interaction networks of this powerful pre-Inka state.

Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

How our ancestors invented clothing and transformed it into fashion

Remarkable archaeological finds are telling a new story of how prehistoric humans turned clothing from a necessity into a means of self-expression