š§ Ancient Beat #13: Lost settlements, ancient turds (coprolites), and Hadrian's Wall
Hi folks, welcome to issue #13 of Ancient Beat!
I had a wonderful vacation and Iām back now, feeling refreshed. Instead of squeezing two weeksā worth of content into this Fridayās issue like I had planned, Iām sending last weekās news today. Some exciting things happened last week and itās too good to cram it all into one issue.
Exciting side note: Our small community of ancient news enthusiasts doubled in size last week! I watched with giddy excitement from the airport as we crossed 250 subscribers š„³ I am so grateful to you all ā thank you.
Ok, letās get into it. Hereās last weekās ancient news š
š Ancient News
āMind blowingā ancient settlements uncovered in the Amazon ā LIDAR technology has done it again. Urban centers that are thought to be 1,500 years old were discovered beneath the greenery of the Bolivian Amazon. Finds include 22-meter-tall earthen pyramids, reservoirs, canals, and kilometers of elevated roadways. We know little about the Casarabe people who lived in the region between 500 and 1400 CE, but itās clear that their impact was more extensive than previously thought. According to to Jonas Gregorio de Souza, āThis is the first clear evidence that there were urban societies in this part of the Amazon Basin.ā The article also explores the recent shift away from the belief that Amazonians lived in small, nomadic tribes with little impact on their surroundings until the Spanish arrived. If youād like to dig deeper into the discovery, hereās another in-depth article.
Ancient poop contains new clues about feasts eaten at the construction of Stonehenge more than 4,500 years ago āĀ Coprolites (fossilized feces) dated to 4,500 years ago were found at the Durrington Walls settlement, 1.7 miles from Stone Henge. According to Piers Mitchell, "They didn't seem to live there continuously. They lived in southern Britain, they farmed their crops in the summer. And then they came to Durrington walls in the winter to not only put Stonehenge together but also to hold religious festivals there". Analysis of the feces showed parasites which likely came from the consumption of raw animal organs, presumably at ceremonial feasts. The study may also indicate that people were eating fish, which is unexpected due to their practice of putting their cremated dead into the rivers.
Rice cultivation recorded at Neolithic site from 8000 years ago ā Researchers believe theyāve found some of the earliest evidence of rice cultivation and domestication in the Huai River Valley in China. It was found at an 8,000-year-old Neolithic site. These ancient people survived through a combination of rice cultivation, hunting, fishing, and wild plant collection.
Research confirms eastern Wyoming Paleoindian site as Americasā oldest mine ā A red ocher mine in eastern Wyoming has been confirmed as the oldest known mine in the Americas. The study shows āunequivocalā evidence that the site was in use 12,840 years ago. It was used in two distinct periods, for a total of about 1,000 years. Animal bones and antlers found at the site were used to extract the red ochre. For those who donāt know, red ochre refers to various iron oxide pigments that were used all over the world in ancient times for rituals, art, and more.
Did Dog Jaws Adapt to a Domesticated Diet? ā A recent study showed that the lower jaws of the domesticated dogs have changed over time according to their (increasingly human) diet. By analyzing the jaws of dogs from up to 10,000 years ago, researchers have found that they ate tougher food in the past and, therefore, their jaws allowed for greater biting force. This shifted as the dogs began to eat plants provided by humans. They also became more able to digest starches.
Archaeology breakthrough: More than 100 new settlements found near Hadrian's Wall āĀ 134 previously unknown Iron Age settlements have been located north of Hadrianās Wall in the UK. Hadrianās wall is a 73-mile defensive structure that marked the northern border of the Roman Empire for a couple of decades before Rome went beyond it, and then got pushed back to it again. The study is an effort to understand the lives of ancient indigenous communities in the area, as opposed to the Romans who are more commonly studied.
Prehistoric Artifacts Discovered in a Vietnam Cave ā More than 700 artifacts were found in a cave in Vietnam. The cave is estimated to have been occupied for about 4,000 years, starting 5,000-6,000 years ago. The artifacts include stone tools made from river pebbles.
Archaeologists unearth exciting discovery in Blenheim pool ahead of massive dredging project āĀ A 14th century watermill complex was found while dredging the Queen Pool at Blenheim Palace in England.
Scientists Sequence First Human Genome From The Ruins of Ancient Pompeii āĀ The genome of a man who lived in Pompei at the time of Mount Vesuviusā eruption has been sequenced. The man was middle-aged, Italian, and had tuberculosis. None of the findings were overly surprising, except that the sequencing was possible at all, since the intense heat could have made the DNA unsalvageable.
The first Australians ate giant eggs of huge flightless birds, ancient proteins confirm ā With the help of proteins extracted from a prehistoric eggshell, scientists have found that Australiaās earliest humans ate eggs from a huge, extinct bird that stood over six feet tall. While they donāt appear to have hunted the Genyornis, they do appear to have raided their nests. According to Matthew Collins, āā¦the levels of exploitation of Genyornis eggs by early Australians may have ultimately proved more than the reproductive strategies of these extraordinary birds could bear."
Jews? Pagans? 2,100-year-old Discovery in the Galilee Reveals Huge Mystery ā A 2,100-year-old farmstead was unearthed in northern Israel, boasting pottery, iron picks, and scythes, all of which are remarkably intact. This leads the researchers to believe that the occupants left in a hurry. It is unknown who lived there, but there is speculation that they were pagans who had to flee Hasmonean forces.
ā¤ļø Recommended Content
This article discusses the fascination that humans have always had with the ancient past. We are not the first to look upon fossils with a sense of wonder. In fact, it may go back as far as Homo Heidelbergensis.
This video covers the oldest bread ever found ā itās 14,400 years old, which means that it predates agriculture. It really goes to show the ingenuity of hunter-gatherers. A tangentially important side note: More and more studies are showing that hunter-gatherers were (and are) easily able to obtain everything needed to survive ā without agriculture ā and indeed, they were often healthier for it.
This article, if you can call it that, shares beautiful photos and information about the culture of Australia's Yolngu people.
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-James
(newish twitter: @jamesofthedrum)
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