Archaeology

Excavation in basal calcrete at Moyjil containing burnt stones and charcoal. Image credit - Ian J. McNiven

Archaeology Places Humans in Australia 120,000-Years-Ago

By Bruce R. Fenton on 11th March 2019 Archaeology

Shell middens and a potential ancient hearth add to growing evidence of a much deeper human occupation period in Australasia (prehistoric Sahul). A meticulously detailed 11 years research program has concluded that there is compelling evidence for a human presence 120,000 years at Moyjil, Point Richie, on the far south coast of Victoria. In the past, scientific research suggestive of human habitation in Australia up to 120,000 years ago had been considered and then rejected. Several habitation sites have produced discoveries pointing to a much earlier than expected period, but the controversy led to more conservative dating. The new finding…

Neanderthal Artists Responsible for 65,000-year-old Paintings in Spain

By Bruce R. Fenton on 23rd February 2018 Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology

Whether Neanderthals had the same cognitive abilities as fully modern humans has long been a matter of debate with many suggesting our species displayed more mental prowess, one area where Neanderthals were considered lacking was in the production of cave art. New findings from cave sites in Spain suggest that Neanderthals had nothing to envy in respect to their close cousins, our direct ancestors. Archaeological research across Europe has convincingly established that the ancestors of modern Europeans reached the continent around 45,000 years ago, this date not only matched fossils and tools found but also coincided with the earliest examples…

Ancient Mound Builder Culture Revealed in Northern Australia

By Bruce R. Fenton on 11th February 2018 Archaeology

Archaeologists working on a project in western Cape York at the northern tip of Queensland have announced the confirmation of an extensive mound building culture in the region, responsible for hundreds of ceremonial burial mounds. The structures had been known about, indeed some were even built on, but were previously assumed to be natural features of the landscape. The mounds are so numerous that they stretch across at least 60 kilometres of the Mapoon coast, a remote, mostly indigenous, community in Cape York. Local indigenous families have expressed fears they are surrounded by ghosts, with some mounds being in the…

Above Left - Pillar 28 from Enclosure C, Gobekli Tepe (Image Credit: K. Schmidt, DAI). Above right - “Medicine Man of the Worgaia” (Image Credit: Peoples of All Nations, 1922).

A Global Aboriginal Australian Culture? The Proof at Göbekli Tepe

By Bruce R. Fenton on 13th October 2017 Archaeology

A Global Aboriginal Australian Culture? The Proof at Göbekli Tepe (Originally published in New Dawn Magazine, July 2017) By BRUCE FENTON Scientists and independent researchers have publicly speculated on the purpose of the mysterious Göbekli Tepe megalithic complex in southern Turkey. The question that the experts seem unable to address is the identity of the builders. Having completed an in-depth investigation of human origins and early migrations, it is now appropriate to reveal my extraordinary findings – Göbekli Tepe is the product of Aboriginal Australian culture. The identification of the builders will likely be considered very controversial, as it should…

Human encounter with mega fauna (possibly a giant sloth) depicted in rock art at Serra de Capivara national park.

Humans Present at Brazil’s Santa Elina Rock Shelter 23,120 Years Ago, Confirms National Museum of Natural History in Paris

By Bruce R. Fenton on 7th September 2017 Archaeology

Accurate Dating of Bone Ornaments by scientists associated with the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Details of the new dating were published in a paper for Cambridge University’s archaeology journal Antiquity (August 8th, 2017), the research team place modern humans at Brazil’s Santa Elina rock shelter significantly earlier than 20,000 years ago. The Santa Elina rock shelter, in Central Brazil, is home to extraordinary rock art and evidence of lengthy occupation by the first Americans. Occupation of the site is dated to several different periods, suggesting that groups of hunter gatherers only dwelt at the site when climate favoured…

England’s Ancient Megaliths Covered in Secret Star Marker Code Visible by Moonlight

By Bruce R. Fenton on 19th July 2017 Archaeology

A recent investigation of stone-age rock art at a megalithic construction known as Hendraburnick Quoit, in Cornwall, has revealed that ten times the number of artistic markings are visible when viewed in moonlight or feeble sunlight from the south east. These mysterious markings are now exclusively revealed by Ancient News researchers to be coded star markers. [This article explores the conclusions reached in a new study, and offers the opinion of this writer as to the possible interpretations of some of the associated scientific findings]. They also discovered that pieces of quartz had been deliberately crushed and spread around the…

History of Domesticated Dogs Traced to Single Event, Probably in East Asia

By Bruce R. Fenton on 19th July 2017 Archaeology

Debate over the first domestication of wolves has long been a contentious issue, new ancient DNA evidence supports a one-off occurrence sometime between 40,000 to 20,000 years ago. The history of the human domestication of wolves and the selective breeding that gave us ‘man’s best friend’ has long been dogged by controversy. Canine genetic research published in June 2016 supported the possibility of two separate domestication episodes, with wolves being first brought into service by modern humans living in East Asia followed by a similar process beginning in Europe – involving two distinct populations of wolves. The latest study examined…

Browsing: Archaeology