🧐 Ancient Beat #102: The Amazons, strategic quarrying, and the origin of language

Hi folks! Welcome to issue #102 of Ancient Beat. Some exciting discoveries this week! Let’s dive right in.

Here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• The 1.6 Million-Year-Old Discovery That Changes What We Know About Human Evolution — New research suggests that early humans developed rudimentary language around 1.6 million years ago in Africa. For reference, it was previously believed that this happened around 200,000 years ago, so that’s big. The study, combining archaeological, paleo-anatomical, genetic, neurological, and linguistic evidence, points to a time (1.5M-2M years ago) when significant brain development occurred, particularly in areas associated with language. This development likely played a crucial role in human evolution, enhancing group coordination for hunting and survival, and enabling complex knowledge transfer across space and time. Fascinating.

• ‘Truth Behind the Myths’: Amazon Warrior Women of Greek Legend May Really Have Existed — Excavations in Azerbaijan revealed Bronze Age graves of women with battle injuries, buried with weapons and jewelry, suggesting their high-status and combative lifestyle. This evidence aligns with ancient Greek tales of the Amazons, fierce female warriors who are generally thought to be mythical. The existence of these formidable women is further authenticated by similar discoveries across Russia and Armenia, showcasing a culture of female warriors stretching across the Caucasus and Steppe regions.

• Persian Plateau Unveiled as Crucial Hub for Early Human Migration Out of Africa — A new study revealed the Persian Plateau as a significant early settlement area for Homo sapiens migrating out of Africa between 70,000 to 45,000 years ago. This was apparently the place where all population waves went on their way to Eurasia at this time. This challenges prior theories about human dispersal across Eurasia. The research combines genetic, palaeoecological, and archaeological data to underscore the plateau's role in human history, potentially reshaping our understanding of ancient human movements and interactions.

• Fortified Settlements Containing Open-Air Temples Found in Türkiye — In Tunceli, Turkey, archaeologists have unearthed two fortified settlements dating to the Iron Age. They’re called Masumu-Pak and Aşağı Harik, and the latter also has some Medieval structures. They feature a new type of open-air temple. These temples, built around the 7th century BCE during the Urartu kingdom's reign, have outdoor prayer spaces and what appear to be rock-carved altars.

Image credit: IHA

• "Paleolithic Holy Trinity": Water, Elephants, Rocks — Archaeologists have identified a crucial connection between water sources, elephant migration routes, and stone tool production sites in Israel's Upper Galilee. There were plenty of sites with flint in the area, but researchers weren’t sure why early humans came to particular sites over and over again. What they found was that Homo erectus deliberately selected stone quarrying sites that were located near water sources and elephant migration routes for efficient hunting and tool-making. The consistent pattern across continents underscores the essential relationship between water, stone, and elephant hunting in early human survival 3.3 million years ago in the Lower Paleolithic.

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 19 stories and 8 recommended pieces of content covering megalithic burials, tunnel networks, codices, brains, tombs, and purple hair.

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

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🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive