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Chile mummies possibly done in by arsenic Thursday, November 24, 2005; Posted: 10:58 a.m. EST (15:58 GMT) SAN MIGUEL DE AZAPA, Chile (Reuters) -- Living in the harsh desert of northern Chile's Pacific coast more than 7,000 years ago, the Chinchorro fishing tribe mysteriously began mummifying dead babies -- removing internal organs, cleaning bones, stuffing and sewing up the skin, putting wigs and clay masks on them. The Chinchorro mummies are the oldest known artificially preserved dead, dating thousands of years before Egyptian mummies, and the life quest of the archeologists who study them is to discover why this early...

A new analysis of artwork left behind by the enigmatic inhabitants of the abandoned Mesoamerican city Teotihuacan suggests the colorful pictures and shapes may constitute a rudimentary language that ultimately evolved into the language of the Aztecs.If the team of researchers behind the discovery can successfully decipher the "lost language," they believe it could offer clues about the identity of Teotihuacan's builders and the reasons they abandoned the once thriving metropolis...Previous excavations and decades of research have determined that Teotihuacan was founded sometime around 100 AD. Researchers have also determined that the massive complex of buildings and roadways likely supported...

Despite being a staple food for millions of people worldwide, the genetic secrets of the sweet potato have long remained a mystery to scientists. That is, until now. New research has revealed the complexities behind the genetic makeup of these tubers, widely considered to be a superfood for their health benefits. What science reveals about them is surprising, revealing a previously unknown evolutionary history involving a “hybrid ancestry” behind the beloved vegetables. The research, led by Professor Zhangjun Fei at the Boyce Thompson Institute, was recently published in Nature Plants. The Hybrid Ancestry of Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes carry six...

A vast stone temple built 1,000 years ago by one of South America's most powerful civilizations has been uncovered in the Andes.Archaeologists discovered the temple, known as Palaspata, atop a ridge in the remote highlands southeast of Lake Titicaca, near the small community of Ocotavi in western Bolivia.The large structure was the craftsmanship of the Tiwanaku civilization, which left a mark on the world with impressive stone structures, advanced irrigation systems, and unique art and pottery before vanishing around 1000AD.Covering an area roughly the size of a city block, the site measures approximately 410 feet long by 476 feet wide.It...

The Kansas City Star reports that Peruvian authorities made a stunning new discovery at the site of Era de Pando in the Supe Valley. The region was home to the Caral culture, which is often considered the oldest city-building civilization in the Americas. Previous excavations at Era de Pando have unearthed four large and four small pyramid complexes, and at least 40 other buildings, including houses and temples, that date back at least 4,000 years. While working near one of the largest pyramids, archaeologists recently uncovered the ruins of a structure known as a "fire altar." The circular feature, which...

Join Dr. Donald Blakeslee on the excavations into Kansas' lost megasite of Etzanoa, a Great Plains archaeology site that is rewriting the understanding of indigenous societies. Etzanoa: The Lost Kansas Megasite | 11:10 Matt Gush | 1.91K subscribers | 342,995 views | March 30, 2024

Scientists were recently baffled by DNA evidence that revealed the existence of a genetically unknown group of early South American settlers. Archaeologists are continually adapting their models for how human populations spread from Asia through North America to South America, and this new research is bound to alter those theories once again. The Associated Press reports that the researchers analyzed ancient DNA from 21 individuals who lived in Colombia's Altiplano Cundiboyacense region thousands of years ago. Located near current-day Bogotá, this area was also close to the ancient land bridge connecting South and Central America, the route that early human...

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15. The items returned included funerary items that were taken illegally from tombs in northern Peru during the 1960s and ’70s. The return marks the second time New York officials have repatriated a group of works to Peru. Also among the returned objects is a copper mask believed to represent a fanged Moche deity Ai Apaec, which has historically been associated with protection. The mask, which dates to approximately 300 BCE, is believed to have been taken from...

Ancient DNA from the pelt of a fluffy white dog named Mutton is revealing new details about the woolly dog, an extinct breed that was cared for and raised by the women of the Coast Salish tribal nations in the Pacific Northwest. The small dogs... were fed a special diet of fish or elk, and they were shorn like sheep, their wool woven into special blankets and textiles.For thousands of years, woolly dogs were cherished as family members and raised on islands or kept in pens to ensure they didn't interbreed with other dogs, according to Michael Pavel, an elder...

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, 6,500-year-old objects found deep within a cave in West Texas may comprise the oldest nearly-intact weapons kit recovered in North America. The wooden and stone tools were collected by a team of archaeologists from Sul Ross State University and the University of Kansas over the past several years from San Esteban Rockshelter near Marfa. Several thousand years ago, an Indigenous hunter sat by a fire in the cave and evaluated the state of their weapons, making repairs to some and discarding others. Their arsenal consisted of a throwing spear, a boomerang, and several...

A team of Brazilian researchers is investigating a cave site featuring ancient paintings in Itatiaia National Park, near the border between Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. The discovery, which could reshape the understanding of early human presence in the region, has drawn the attention of leading archaeologists and cultural preservation agencies. Though the paintings were discovered in 2023 by Andres Conquista, an operational supervisor at the park, the news was kept under wraps to protect the site, which sits along a well-traveled hiking trail. While hiking during a climbing trip, Conquista was drawn to a cluster of blooming red...

A study published in the journal Antiquity [2022] suggested an ancient South American civilization spiked a beer-like drink with psychoactive drugs as a way of maintaining social cohesion and forging new bonds with surrounding communities. The findings offer some of the clearest archaeological evidence demonstrating how ancient civilizations used psychoactive substances for recreation and social cohesion...The Wari civilization flourished in the Peruvian Andes... Excavations revealed evidence the Wari were brewing large quantities of a beer-like drink known as chicha. The alcoholic beverage is common to a number of ancient civilizations in the region, however, spiking it with a hallucinogenic substance...

We have no idea who made the exquisite pieces. Image credit: J. Przedwojewska-Szymańska/PASI (CC BY 4.0) A remarkable collection of five pre-Hispanic clay puppets with rotating heads has been discovered in El Salvador. Aside from the expert craftsmanship that went into making the items, the ancient figurines are notable for the context in which they were found - atop the largest pyramid at the mysterious site of San Isidro. “They’re made of very, very fine clay without any obvious additives, so this is a very fine piece of art,” Dr Jan Szymański from the University of Warsaw told IFLScience. He...

Pre-colonial people in Brazil may have gathered in summer months to feast on migratory fish and share alcoholic drinks, a new study suggests.An international team – involving scientists from the University of York, UK; the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, and the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil –analysed pottery fragments dating back to between 2300 and 1200 years ago which were discovered around the Patos Lagoon in Brazil.The shores of the Lagoon are characterised by settled earthen mounds, known as "Cerritos" which were built by pre-colonial ancestors of Pampean Indigenous groups called the Charrua and Minuano.

Science Magazine reports that Robert Kelly of the University of Wyoming and his colleagues compiled more than 60,000 radiocarbon dates for artifacts from the United States and Canada. Then, assuming that the amount of radiocarbon data collected from a given region reflects its population at that time, the researchers made comparisons between the possible size of the populations over time and between regions. The study suggests that North American populations grew for about 2,000 years and peaked around A.D. 1150, then the size of the population decreased by at least 30 percent by 1500. Yet populations grew and declined in...

According to a Live Science report, bioarchaeologist Sara Juengst of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her colleagues uncovered the 1,200-year-old burial of a woman at the Manteño site of Buen Suceso, which is located near the coast of Ecuador. Examination of the bones revealed that the woman was between the ages of 17 and 20, and between seven and nine months pregnant, at the time of her death. It was also determined that the woman had suffered skull fractures, and that her hands and left leg had been violently removed. The head of another person between the...

The first inhabitants of what is now the United States appeared around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago — a blip in time compared to the annals of some of the earliest places humans lived. Initially, population growth was slow due to the continent’s geographic isolation; significant increases began only after Europeans made their way to the Americas throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 20th century, the U.S. population was experiencing rapid expansion — a trend that has slowed in recent years. Here’s a look at America’s changing population through history, from early prehistoric arrivals to the decline we’re...

Archaeologists recently identified the remains of four human funerary burials from approximately 3,800 years ago in a space in northern Peru associated with a water cult. The bundled funeral remains belong to two children, a teenager, and an adult. They were buried facing the Andean mountains and interred with symbolic offerings, such as stone pendants and snail shells. The remains were found nestled between mud and stone walls near a valley in Peru’s dry, coastal Viru province by the Virú Valley Archaeological Research Project (PAVI) of the National University of Trujillo (UNT). Related Articles The ancient neolithic monument of Stonehenge...

According to a statement released by the University of Exeter, an international team of researchers, including Mark Robinson and Jose Iriarte of the University of Exeter and Javier Aceituno of the University of Antioquia, compared images of animals found in the Colombian Amazon on Cerro Azul in the Serranía de la Lindosa with animal bones uncovered in nearby archaeological excavations. The rock art images, drawn with ocher on 16 rock panels on a remote hilltop, are estimated to be about 12,500 years old. Study of the animal remains revealed that the prehistoric population consumed a diverse diet of fish, mammals,...

The mysterious, sudden abandonment of the ancient lost city of Cahokia by its inhabitants has been puzzling historians for a long time now – and experts have cast fresh doubt on one of the most popular theories to date...Around the middle of the 14th century, the 50,000 or so people who called the bustling, vibrant city home departed for other places, suggesting that something pretty dramatic and life-changing had taken place.One explanation for this mass exodus has blamed a severe drought followed by widespread crop failure – but a new investigation from the US Bureau of Land Management and Washington...