ramonmercado
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People suffering from shell shock do so.
Lower Palaeolithic / Early Stone Age Finds & Theories
- Thread starter Mighty_Emperor
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People suffering from shell shock do so.
maximus otter
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Stone Age Cave Dwelling Found Exactly As It Was Left 17,000 Years Ago
Archaeologists in northern Spain have uncovered what they describe as one of the “best conserved Paleolithic dwellings in the world”. Dated to 16,800 years ago, the living space in the La Garma cave in Cantabria appears almost as it did when its ancient inhabitants abandoned the site, with tools and other artifacts strewn across the floor.
Originally discovered in 1995, La Garma was inhabited by humans throughout the Upper Paleolithic and contains one of the most complete collections of rock art in Europe, spanning the Old Stone Age all the way up to the site’s desertion in the Magdalenian period. It was at this time – around 17,000 years ago – that a rockfall blocked the entrance to the cave, sealing its contents like a prehistoric time capsule.
The oval-shaped space measures around 5 meters squared (54 square feet) and is delineated by a series of stone blocks and stalagmites, “which fixed to the ground a structure made of sticks and hides supported by a nearby ledge in the cave wall.” In the center of the living space is a hearth, surrounded by a multitude of items that would have been used in everyday life by the cave’s ancient inhabitants.
These include tools used to produce stone, antler and bone artifacts, as well as those utilized during the butchering of animals and the working of hides. Among the 4,614 items retrieved so far, researchers also found spears, needles, and a “proto harpoon”.
In addition to these utilitarian objects, the cave was found to contain a number of artistic pieces, including an aurochs bone engraved with the image of both an aurochs and a human face. According to the researchers, this is the only artifact of its kind ever discovered from Palaeolithic Europe.
https://www.iflscience.com/stone-ag...-exactly-as-it-was-left-17000-years-ago-71896
maximus otter
Archaeologists in northern Spain have uncovered what they describe as one of the “best conserved Paleolithic dwellings in the world”. Dated to 16,800 years ago, the living space in the La Garma cave in Cantabria appears almost as it did when its ancient inhabitants abandoned the site, with tools and other artifacts strewn across the floor.
Originally discovered in 1995, La Garma was inhabited by humans throughout the Upper Paleolithic and contains one of the most complete collections of rock art in Europe, spanning the Old Stone Age all the way up to the site’s desertion in the Magdalenian period. It was at this time – around 17,000 years ago – that a rockfall blocked the entrance to the cave, sealing its contents like a prehistoric time capsule.
The oval-shaped space measures around 5 meters squared (54 square feet) and is delineated by a series of stone blocks and stalagmites, “which fixed to the ground a structure made of sticks and hides supported by a nearby ledge in the cave wall.” In the center of the living space is a hearth, surrounded by a multitude of items that would have been used in everyday life by the cave’s ancient inhabitants.
These include tools used to produce stone, antler and bone artifacts, as well as those utilized during the butchering of animals and the working of hides. Among the 4,614 items retrieved so far, researchers also found spears, needles, and a “proto harpoon”.
In addition to these utilitarian objects, the cave was found to contain a number of artistic pieces, including an aurochs bone engraved with the image of both an aurochs and a human face. According to the researchers, this is the only artifact of its kind ever discovered from Palaeolithic Europe.
https://www.iflscience.com/stone-ag...-exactly-as-it-was-left-17000-years-ago-71896
maximus otter
ramonmercado
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New findings at Shiyu.
Some of the 45,000 year-old stone tools found at the Shiyu site in China. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
Fragments of ancient rock and bone in Eastern Asia are changing our understanding of the history of human migration. They're artifacts found in the Shiyu site of northeastern China, and new analysis has revealed that they were created by Homo sapiens some 45,000 years ago.
It's the earliest evidence of modern humans in Eastern Asia, suggesting that Homo sapiens were established at Shiyu by then, and provoking a new interpretation of the cultural artifacts previously found at the site.
"The site reflects a process of cultural creolization – the contact between societies and relocated peoples – blending inherited traits with novel innovations, thus complicating the traditional understanding of Homo sapiens' global expansion," explains archaeologist Francesco D'Errico of the University of Bordeaux.
Some of the stone tools from Shiyu, knapped using the Levallois method. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
Shiyu has been known for decades as a place of archaeological significance. It was inhabited for a long time – the sedimentary sequence is 30 meters (98 feet) deep, and the layers therein were deposited over tens of thousands of years. Buried in the sediment, archaeologists have found a rich assortment of tools and artifacts made and used by the people who lived there.
Establishing who those people were, and how long they lived there, has been an ongoing project. The first excavations, in 1963, yielded thousands of objects: 15,000 stone artifacts, thousands of pieces of bone and teeth… and one single hominid fossil, a piece of skull bone identified as belonging to Homo sapiens.
However, most of the collection was subsequently lost, including the skull fragment.
Undeterred, scientists undertook another excavation in 2013. Led by paleoanthropologist Shi-Xia Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an international multidisciplinary team has now worked to characterize the site in detail.
Some of the tools recovered at the site, including scrapers, blades, a borer, and an awl. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
They selected a large number of the available artifacts, and analyzed them closely. They studied animal bones found at the site. And they performed new dating analysis, using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques to accurately date samples taken from different sections of the sediment sequence.
The dating revealed that the very oldest layer of the sequence was deposited around 45,000 years ago. And the analysis of the artifacts revealed a range of technological skills, such as the Levallois technique for knapping stone, developed in Europe around 250,000 years ago.
https://www.sciencealert.com/45000-...iest-evidence-of-homo-sapiens-in-eastern-asia
45,000-Year-Old Tools And Bones Reveal Earliest Evidence of Homo Sapiens in Eastern Asia
Some of the 45,000 year-old stone tools found at the Shiyu site in China. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
Fragments of ancient rock and bone in Eastern Asia are changing our understanding of the history of human migration. They're artifacts found in the Shiyu site of northeastern China, and new analysis has revealed that they were created by Homo sapiens some 45,000 years ago.
It's the earliest evidence of modern humans in Eastern Asia, suggesting that Homo sapiens were established at Shiyu by then, and provoking a new interpretation of the cultural artifacts previously found at the site.
"The site reflects a process of cultural creolization – the contact between societies and relocated peoples – blending inherited traits with novel innovations, thus complicating the traditional understanding of Homo sapiens' global expansion," explains archaeologist Francesco D'Errico of the University of Bordeaux.
Some of the stone tools from Shiyu, knapped using the Levallois method. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
Shiyu has been known for decades as a place of archaeological significance. It was inhabited for a long time – the sedimentary sequence is 30 meters (98 feet) deep, and the layers therein were deposited over tens of thousands of years. Buried in the sediment, archaeologists have found a rich assortment of tools and artifacts made and used by the people who lived there.
Establishing who those people were, and how long they lived there, has been an ongoing project. The first excavations, in 1963, yielded thousands of objects: 15,000 stone artifacts, thousands of pieces of bone and teeth… and one single hominid fossil, a piece of skull bone identified as belonging to Homo sapiens.
However, most of the collection was subsequently lost, including the skull fragment.
Undeterred, scientists undertook another excavation in 2013. Led by paleoanthropologist Shi-Xia Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an international multidisciplinary team has now worked to characterize the site in detail.
Some of the tools recovered at the site, including scrapers, blades, a borer, and an awl. (Yang et al., Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2024)
They selected a large number of the available artifacts, and analyzed them closely. They studied animal bones found at the site. And they performed new dating analysis, using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques to accurately date samples taken from different sections of the sediment sequence.
The dating revealed that the very oldest layer of the sequence was deposited around 45,000 years ago. And the analysis of the artifacts revealed a range of technological skills, such as the Levallois technique for knapping stone, developed in Europe around 250,000 years ago.
https://www.sciencealert.com/45000-...iest-evidence-of-homo-sapiens-in-eastern-asia
ramonmercado
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Why Paleolithic prey was hunted close to Paleolithic stone quarries.
Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have uncovered the mystery surrounding extensive Paleolithic stone quarrying and tool-making sites: Why did Homo erectus repeatedly revisit the very same locations for hundreds of thousands of years? The answer lies in the migration routes of elephants, which they hunted and dismembered using flint tools crafted at these quarrying sites.
The research, published in the journal Archaeologies, was led by Dr. Meir Finkel and Prof. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures
Prof. Ran Barkai explains, "Ancient humans required three things: water, food, and stone. While water and food are necessities for all creatures, humans relied on stone tools to hunt and butcher animals, as they lacked the sharp claws or fangs of other predators. The question is, why do we find rock outcrops that were used for the production of flint tools surrounded by thousands of stone tools, and next to them, rock outcrops containing flint that was not used for the production of tools?"
"A study of indigenous groups that lived until recently, with some still alive today, shows that hunter-gatherers attribute great importance to the source of the stone—the quarry itself—imbuing it with potency and sanctity, and hence also spiritual worship."
"People have been making pilgrimages to such sites for generations upon generations, leaving offerings at the rock outcrop while adjacent outcrops, equally suitable for stone tool production, remain untouched. We sought to understand why; what is special about these sites?"
For nearly 20 years, Prof. Barkai and his colleagues have been researching flint quarrying and tool-making sites in the Upper Galilee. These sites are characterized by large nodules of flint convenient for crafting and are located within walking distance of the major Paleolithic sites of the Hula Valley—Gesher Benot Ya'akov and Ma'ayan Baruch.
These sites boast thousands of quarrying and extraction localities where, until half a million years ago, in the Lower Paleolithic period, prehistoric humans fashioned tools and left offerings despite the presence of flint in other geological formations in various places. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-elephant-early-humans-proximity-extensive.html
Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have uncovered the mystery surrounding extensive Paleolithic stone quarrying and tool-making sites: Why did Homo erectus repeatedly revisit the very same locations for hundreds of thousands of years? The answer lies in the migration routes of elephants, which they hunted and dismembered using flint tools crafted at these quarrying sites.
The research, published in the journal Archaeologies, was led by Dr. Meir Finkel and Prof. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures
Prof. Ran Barkai explains, "Ancient humans required three things: water, food, and stone. While water and food are necessities for all creatures, humans relied on stone tools to hunt and butcher animals, as they lacked the sharp claws or fangs of other predators. The question is, why do we find rock outcrops that were used for the production of flint tools surrounded by thousands of stone tools, and next to them, rock outcrops containing flint that was not used for the production of tools?"
"A study of indigenous groups that lived until recently, with some still alive today, shows that hunter-gatherers attribute great importance to the source of the stone—the quarry itself—imbuing it with potency and sanctity, and hence also spiritual worship."
"People have been making pilgrimages to such sites for generations upon generations, leaving offerings at the rock outcrop while adjacent outcrops, equally suitable for stone tool production, remain untouched. We sought to understand why; what is special about these sites?"
For nearly 20 years, Prof. Barkai and his colleagues have been researching flint quarrying and tool-making sites in the Upper Galilee. These sites are characterized by large nodules of flint convenient for crafting and are located within walking distance of the major Paleolithic sites of the Hula Valley—Gesher Benot Ya'akov and Ma'ayan Baruch.
These sites boast thousands of quarrying and extraction localities where, until half a million years ago, in the Lower Paleolithic period, prehistoric humans fashioned tools and left offerings despite the presence of flint in other geological formations in various places. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-elephant-early-humans-proximity-extensive.html
ramonmercado
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More about the vegan hunter gatherers: did they being down runner beans?
Anyone indulging in a paleo-style diet might want to think about adding a few more vegetables.
The teeth and bones of pre-agricultural human hunter-gatherers who lived some 15,000 years ago in what is now Morocco reveal that their diet – long thought to have been significantly loaded with animal protein – was actually weighted much further in the direction of plant-based food. It seems plants may have even been used to wean infants, the study found.
"Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers," write a team led by anthropologist Zineb Moubtahij of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.
"This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions."
It's assumed that before the rise of agriculture, ancient humans ate a lot of meat and animal products. We know they ate some; archaeological sites have been found littered with animal remains that bear evidence of being processed for consumption. Since plant matter is less likely to remain intact through the millennia, it's less clear how much of the diet of ancient humans and their relatives consisted of roots, fruits, stems, flowers, and leaves.
We now have sophisticated ways of finding out, which Moubtahij and her colleagues used on human remains associated with the Iberomaurusians – a culture that inhabited Taforalt cave in Morocco during the tail end of the Pleistocene 15,000 years ago.
Even the most robust of a person's remains tend to be bereft of soft tissue after thousands of years in the dust. Fortunately traces of their diet can still be recovered. In particular, ratios of various isotopes record surprisingly detailed specifics about the nature of the foods they consumed. ...
https://www.sciencealert.com/not-al...atherers-were-big-into-meat-new-study-reveals
Anyone indulging in a paleo-style diet might want to think about adding a few more vegetables.
The teeth and bones of pre-agricultural human hunter-gatherers who lived some 15,000 years ago in what is now Morocco reveal that their diet – long thought to have been significantly loaded with animal protein – was actually weighted much further in the direction of plant-based food. It seems plants may have even been used to wean infants, the study found.
"Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers," write a team led by anthropologist Zineb Moubtahij of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.
"This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions."
It's assumed that before the rise of agriculture, ancient humans ate a lot of meat and animal products. We know they ate some; archaeological sites have been found littered with animal remains that bear evidence of being processed for consumption. Since plant matter is less likely to remain intact through the millennia, it's less clear how much of the diet of ancient humans and their relatives consisted of roots, fruits, stems, flowers, and leaves.
We now have sophisticated ways of finding out, which Moubtahij and her colleagues used on human remains associated with the Iberomaurusians – a culture that inhabited Taforalt cave in Morocco during the tail end of the Pleistocene 15,000 years ago.
Even the most robust of a person's remains tend to be bereft of soft tissue after thousands of years in the dust. Fortunately traces of their diet can still be recovered. In particular, ratios of various isotopes record surprisingly detailed specifics about the nature of the foods they consumed. ...
https://www.sciencealert.com/not-al...atherers-were-big-into-meat-new-study-reveals
ramonmercado
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Stone Age Cave Dwelling Found Exactly As It Was Left 17,000 Years Ago
Archaeologists in northern Spain have uncovered what they describe as one of the “best conserved Paleolithic dwellings in the world”. Dated to 16,800 years ago, the living space in the La Garma cave in Cantabria appears almost as it did when its ancient inhabitants abandoned the site, with tools and other artifacts strewn across the floor.
Originally discovered in 1995, La Garma was inhabited by humans throughout the Upper Paleolithic and contains one of the most complete collections of rock art in Europe, spanning the Old Stone Age all the way up to the site’s desertion in the Magdalenian period. It was at this time – around 17,000 years ago – that a rockfall blocked the entrance to the cave, sealing its contents like a prehistoric time capsule.
The oval-shaped space measures around 5 meters squared (54 square feet) and is delineated by a series of stone blocks and stalagmites, “which fixed to the ground a structure made of sticks and hides supported by a nearby ledge in the cave wall.” In the center of the living space is a hearth, surrounded by a multitude of items that would have been used in everyday life by the cave’s ancient inhabitants.
These include tools used to produce stone, antler and bone artifacts, as well as those utilized during the butchering of animals and the working of hides. Among the 4,614 items retrieved so far, researchers also found spears, needles, and a “proto harpoon”.
In addition to these utilitarian objects, the cave was found to contain a number of artistic pieces, including an aurochs bone engraved with the image of both an aurochs and a human face. According to the researchers, this is the only artifact of its kind ever discovered from Palaeolithic Europe.
https://www.iflscience.com/stone-ag...-exactly-as-it-was-left-17000-years-ago-71896
maximus otter
Stone needles this time.
World’s oldest stone needles unearthed on Tibetan Plateau
Objects may have been used for sewing tough fabrics—or possibly as ornaments
In 2020, archaeologists digging near the shore of Lake Xiada Co in western Tibet unearthed six unusual stone artifacts. Each was about half the length of a golf tee, with a pointed tip at one end and an eyelike opening at the other. They resembled thick sewing needles, says team member Yun Chen, a graduate student at Sichuan University. “I was shocked by their beauty.”
Now, in a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Chen and her colleagues conclude that the artifacts are indeed stone sewing needles—and, at as much as 9000 years old, the oldest on record. They are also the oldest stone tools made by grinding found on the Tibetan Plateau, where ancient people must have battled a harsh climate to survive.
It’s an “interesting and welcome” study, says Edward Jolie, an archaeologist at University of Arizona who was not part of the research. But not everyone agrees the objects are actually needles.
The advent of the “eyed” needle was a milestone in human civilization. It allowed our ancestors to craft far more durable and protective clothing and shelters, helping them explore new environments and live permanently in colder regions.
The oldest needles are made of bone. Archaeologists have excavated some dating back approximately 50,000 years in Russia’s Denisova Cave. But until now the oldest stone needles were only 2700 years old, found in Henan province in China. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-oldest-stone-needles-unearthed-tibetan-plateau
Piloton.it
Devoted Cultist
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- 240
Uhm ... perhaps these are not needles
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/28000-year-old-dildos/
The theory behind the use of these items is quite interesting
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/28000-year-old-dildos/
The theory behind the use of these items is quite interesting
ramonmercado
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Fascinating details revealed about paleo baby.
Scientists have unspooled the life history of an ice age baby who lived in southern Italy about 17,000 years ago, revealing the child most likely died from a congenital heart disease.
The tiny remains of the youngster also showed evidence of poor development and inbreeding, while a DNA analysis revealed that the child was male and likely had blue eyes, dark skin and curly dark-brown to almost black hair, according to a new study, published Sept. 20 in the journal Nature Communications.
Mauro Calattini, an archaeologist at the University of Siena and one of the study authors, found the child's grave in 1998 while excavating the Grotta delle Mura cave in Monopoli, a town in the southeastern Puglia region, or the "heel" of Italy's boot. The burial was covered by two rock slabs and held well-preserved and intact skeletal remains of the baby. There were no grave goods, and it was the only burial found in the cave.
https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...ains-of-blue-eyed-baby-boy-unearthed-in-italy
Scientists have unspooled the life history of an ice age baby who lived in southern Italy about 17,000 years ago, revealing the child most likely died from a congenital heart disease.
The tiny remains of the youngster also showed evidence of poor development and inbreeding, while a DNA analysis revealed that the child was male and likely had blue eyes, dark skin and curly dark-brown to almost black hair, according to a new study, published Sept. 20 in the journal Nature Communications.
Mauro Calattini, an archaeologist at the University of Siena and one of the study authors, found the child's grave in 1998 while excavating the Grotta delle Mura cave in Monopoli, a town in the southeastern Puglia region, or the "heel" of Italy's boot. The burial was covered by two rock slabs and held well-preserved and intact skeletal remains of the baby. There were no grave goods, and it was the only burial found in the cave.
https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...ains-of-blue-eyed-baby-boy-unearthed-in-italy
Kondoru
Beloved of Ra
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- 11,654
Stone needles this time.
World’s oldest stone needles unearthed on Tibetan Plateau
Objects may have been used for sewing tough fabrics—or possibly as ornaments
Needle 2, made of serpentine, has a tiny “eye” at the top.YUN CHEN/SICHUAN UNIVERSITY
In 2020, archaeologists digging near the shore of Lake Xiada Co in western Tibet unearthed six unusual stone artifacts. Each was about half the length of a golf tee, with a pointed tip at one end and an eyelike opening at the other. They resembled thick sewing needles, says team member Yun Chen, a graduate student at Sichuan University. “I was shocked by their beauty.”
Now, in a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Chen and her colleagues conclude that the artifacts are indeed stone sewing needles—and, at as much as 9000 years old, the oldest on record. They are also the oldest stone tools made by grinding found on the Tibetan Plateau, where ancient people must have battled a harsh climate to survive.
It’s an “interesting and welcome” study, says Edward Jolie, an archaeologist at University of Arizona who was not part of the research. But not everyone agrees the objects are actually needles.
The advent of the “eyed” needle was a milestone in human civilization. It allowed our ancestors to craft far more durable and protective clothing and shelters, helping them explore new environments and live permanently in colder regions.
The oldest needles are made of bone. Archaeologists have excavated some dating back approximately 50,000 years in Russia’s Denisova Cave. But until now the oldest stone needles were only 2700 years old, found in Henan province in China. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-oldest-stone-needles-unearthed-tibetan-plateau
Are those drilled eyes?
I have been making bone needles, -must finish them one day.
But bone, of course, is rather brittle
maximus otter
Recovering policeman
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- 15,658
Earliest Known 3D Map Found in Prehistoric French Cavern, Say Experts
In the cramped confines of a small cavern to the south of Paris, scientists have 'read between the lines' on the floor and discovered what could be the oldest surviving three-dimensional map of a hunter-gatherer territory.
Around 20,000 years ago, the prehistoric people who sheltered in this cave carved and smoothed the stone floors to create what looks like a miniature model of the surrounding valley, according to geoscientists Médard Thiry and Anthony Milnes.
As water from the outside world trickled through the carefully laid-out channels, basins, and depressions in the cave, the surface would have come alive with rivers, deltas, ponds, and hills.
It's not a strict geographical tracing of the outside landscape – in fact, the sides of the surrounding valley seem to be inverted on the cave floor, probably to move with the natural slope – but the features "clearly evoke a cartography," argues Thiry.
https://www.sciencealert.com/earliest-known-3d-map-found-in-prehistoric-french-cavern-say-experts
maximus otter
In the cramped confines of a small cavern to the south of Paris, scientists have 'read between the lines' on the floor and discovered what could be the oldest surviving three-dimensional map of a hunter-gatherer territory.
Around 20,000 years ago, the prehistoric people who sheltered in this cave carved and smoothed the stone floors to create what looks like a miniature model of the surrounding valley, according to geoscientists Médard Thiry and Anthony Milnes.
As water from the outside world trickled through the carefully laid-out channels, basins, and depressions in the cave, the surface would have come alive with rivers, deltas, ponds, and hills.
It's not a strict geographical tracing of the outside landscape – in fact, the sides of the surrounding valley seem to be inverted on the cave floor, probably to move with the natural slope – but the features "clearly evoke a cartography," argues Thiry.
https://www.sciencealert.com/earliest-known-3d-map-found-in-prehistoric-french-cavern-say-experts
maximus otter