Medicine & TechnologyWhat were the first words uttered by the early ancestors of modern humans? According to a new study, one of the first possible sentences could have been, "Tool bad," and likely occurred between 2.5 and 1.8 million years ago.
While tales of the cryptid, the Loch Ness monster more colloquially known as Nessy, have gone largely unsubstantiated in the past, archaeologists in Scotland believe that they may now have found creature that fits the bill. The only problem is, that the dolphin-like marine reptile which grew to lengths of up to 14 feet went extinct nearly 170 million years ago.
Over the past Millenia, civilizations even before the age of written history, have fallen when faced with famine, disease and even war. But when the most advanced civilization in the world disappears without a reason, the mystery creates some unique speculations. For years now, researchers and archaeologists have sought out an answer to what happened to the Mesoamerican Mayan civilization, and while theories have run the gamut from mass suicide to disease and famine, researchers now believe that they have found the answer entombed in an underwater lagoon.
For those who are avid viewers of works of independent horror films, many know that Poland is often the back-drop for some of the most terrifying tales of local folklore and blood-sucking creatures of the night. And there’s a reason behind the madness. Dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, stories of vampires have abounded in the region, leading to a uniquely deviant form of burials that are intended to keep proposed vampires in their crypts.
In spite of the harsh climate, freezing many regions of Tibet’s upper plateaus in the mountains of Asia, researchers have uncovered a rich anthropological history of the past amidst frozen objects of the past. And what they reveal is that even in the far off past, the surmounting odds against survival in the region known as the “Roof of the World” created many interesting challenges for ancient man.
For early man, surviving and conquering niche environments, like that of the Tibetan Plateau of Asia, was a difficult task that required the perfect combination of conditions. Tribes needed to learn how to work together, to traverse harsh terrain, to find/build shelter, and above all they had to learn how to feed themselves year-round. And while the surmounting odds of surviving the domain known as the “Roof of the World” were stacked against them, with extreme altitudes, relentless winds, frigid temperatures and low-oxygen conditions complicating the living conditions they had in their new home, researchers now say that early men were able to conquer this uninhabited ecosystem thanks to a cold-hardy crop used to make beer – barley.
Researchers from Idaho State University pray that a new discovery uncovered near American Falls Reservoir in their home state of Idaho may only be part of a whole, yet to be seen. Earlier this month, in the course of surveying an excavation site while working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the university alongside avid fossil hunters uncovered a portion of a Columbian era mammoth skull complete with tusks. And the team believes the entire rare skeleton may also be buried in the reservoir.
In Antarctica, much of life and history is swept away or covered completely by ice and snow. Even in the face of unending change, the surface appears timeless and constant, even though it sets the stage for some of the most tragic stories south of the equator.
In a sky-high archaeological dig, based near the peaks of the Peruvian Andes mountains, an international team of researchers unearthed the oldest-known evidence of human settlement high above sea level. In fact, the rock shelters and tool fragments found, date back roughly 12,000 years and lie 14,700 feet above coastal sea level at the base of the mountain range.
After excavating a large complex found in the Israeli archaeological site of Tel Burna, archaeologists have uncovered what they believe to be a 3,300 year-old complex, once run and inhabited by an ancient cult.