Latest Stone Age Stories
Stone Age humans were only able to develop relatively advanced tools after their brains evolved a greater capacity for complex thought Stone Age humans were only able to develop relatively advanced tools after their brains evolved a greater capacity for complex thought, according to a new study that investigates why it took early humans almost two million years to move from razor-sharp stones to a hand-held stone axe. Researchers used computer modelling and tiny sensors embedded in...
Was it the evolution of the hand, or of the brain, that enabled prehistoric toolmakers to make the leap from simple flakes of rock to a sophisticated hand axe?A new study finds that the ability to plan complex tasks was key. The research, published today in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, is the first to use a cyber data glove to precisely measure the hand movements of stone tool making, and compare the results to brain activation."Making a hand axe appears to require...
Researchers have discovered the oldest evidence to date that prehistoric humans in southern Africa had mastered a complex, delicate process to sharpen stones into spears and knives at least 75,000 years ago, more than 50,000 years earlier than previously believed, according to a study published Thursday.The technique, known as pressure flaking, took place at Blombos Cave in modern day South Africa during the Middle Stone Age by anatomically modern humans, and involved the heating of silcrete...
Archaeologists have discovered a "fantastically preserved", 5,100-year-old door in Zurich, Switzerland.The poplar wood door, which researchers believe was made in 3,063 BC, is "solid and elegant", and may be one of the oldest ever found in Europe, said chief archaeologist Niels Bleicher on Wednesday.It had well-preserved hinges and was "remarkable because of the way the planks were held together," said Bleicher, who used tree rings to determine the age of the door.It...
Geographers at Leicester use forensic techniques to investigate untapped resourceScientists at the University of Leicester are using an unusual resource to investigate ancient climates"“ prehistoric animal urine.The animal in question is the rock hyrax, a common species in countries such as Namibia and Botswana. They look like large guinea pigs but are actually related to the elephant. Hyraxes use specific locations as communal toilets, some of which have been used by generations of...
New research challenges the controversial theory that an ancient comet impact devastated the Clovis people, one of the earliest known cultures to inhabit North America.Writing in the October issue of Current Anthropology, archaeologists Vance Holliday (University of Arizona) and David Meltzer (Southern Methodist University) argue that there is nothing in the archaeological record to suggest an abrupt collapse of Clovis populations. "Whether or not the proposed extraterrestrial impact...
Austrian and British researchers, who are working to understand ancient rock engravings from the Copper Age found in many hidden locations throughout Europe, said the displays may have been prehistoric man's primitive version of cinema. The visual displays indicate the artwork was more than simple images, the researchers from Cambridge University and Sankt Poelten's university of applied sciences (FH) in Austria believe. "The cliff engravings... in our opinion are not just pictures but are...
Did a change in climate or an extraterrestrial impact bring an end to the beasts and people that roamed the Southwest shortly after the last ice age?A team of researchers from the University of Arizona has revisited evidence pointing to a cataclysmic event thought by many scientists to have wiped out the North American megafauna "“ such as mammoths, saber tooth cats, giant ground sloths and Dire wolves "“ along with the Clovis hunter-gatherer culture some 13,000 years ago. The team...
University of Calgary archaeologist unearths earliest evidence of modern humans using wild grains and tubers for foodThe consumption of wild cereals among prehistoric hunters and gatherers appears to be far more ancient than previously thought, according to a University of Calgary archaeologist who has found the oldest example of extensive reliance on cereal and root staples in the diet of early Homo sapiens more than 100,000 years ago.Julio Mercader, holder of the Canada Research Chair in...
Researchers ponder whether Internet will produce more financially equal societiesA new study reveals the important role inherited wealth plays in sustaining economic inequality in small scale societies. A team of 26 anthropologists, statisticians, and economists based at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico amassed an unprecedented data set allowing 43 estimates of a family's wealth inheritance and found that financial inequality among populations largely depends on the...
