🧐 Ancient Beat #146: Timber circles, early transportation tech, and 40,000-year-old boats

Ancient Beat just turned 3. Boatbuilding just turned 40,000.

It’s Ancient Beat’s bday! On Feb 26, 2022, I put out issue #1. Crazy.

Blood, sweat, and tears, folks. Blood, sweat, and tears. But in a good way. 😅

Here’s a bday discount (25% off) if you want to upgrade to premium on the cheap. And here’s how to give a subscription as a gift.

Now, if you’ll take a moment to sing along with me: Happy Birthday to you, Happy B…

No? Fine, here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• Ancient Seafarers in Southeast Asia May Have Built Advanced Boats 40,000 Years Ago — Archaeological evidence indicates that ancient inhabitants of the Philippines and Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) developed advanced seafaring technology as early as 40,000 years ago. Microscopic analysis of stone tools from sites in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste shows traces of plant fiber processing, essential for crafting ropes and bindings used in boatbuilding and deep-sea fishing. Remains of deep-sea fish like tuna and sharks, along with fishing implements such as hooks and net weights, suggest these early mariners possessed sophisticated knowledge of open-sea navigation and marine resource exploitation. Back-of-the-napkin math: That pushes boatbuilding back by, like, 20,000-35,000 years, folks. 🤯

• 22,000-Year-Old Footprints Reveal the Earliest Evidence of Human Transport Technology — In White Sands National Park, New Mexico, researchers have discovered fossilized human footprints dating back approximately 22,000 years. Accompanying these tracks are linear drag marks, suggesting the use of travois-like devices — simple sleds made from wooden poles — for transporting heavy loads. This evidence indicates that Ice Age humans developed and utilized primitive land transport technologies long before the advent of the wheel, showcasing their ingenuity in traversing vast landscapes. You might remember that the White Sands “ghost prints” were all the rage about a year ago, when they controversially pushed back the peopling of the Americas.

  

  Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto

• Neolithic Monument Resembling Woodhenge Uncovered in Denmark — Archaeologists in Aars, northeastern Jutland, Denmark, have discovered a 4,000-year-old timber circle akin to England's Woodhenge. Unearthed during housing development excavations, the monument features an oval formation approximately 98 feet in diameter, comprising 45 wooden posts spaced about 6.5 feet apart. Preliminary studies also identified traces of a Bronze Age settlement and a high-status burial containing a bronze sword. The monument is likely associated with the Bell Beaker culture, known for their distinctive pottery. Analysis reveals that the monument's axis aligns similarly to Stonehenge and Woodhenge, suggesting shared cultural practices and worldviews between Neolithic communities in Denmark and England, despite 600 miles of separation.

  

  Image credit: Vesthimmerland Museum

• Oldest Example of Writing in Northern Iberia — Archaeologists have uncovered a spindle whorl at the Iron Age settlement of La Peña del Castro in León, Spain, bearing one of the oldest known inscriptions in northern Iberia. Discovered in 2017 among seeds, cured beef, and tools, the talc-made artifact was recently found to feature a symbol from the Celtiberian alphabet, possibly serving as a property mark. This challenges the belief that alphabetic writing was absent in northern Iberia before the Roman conquest in the late first century BCE, suggesting some literacy existed earlier.

• Lasers Reveal 1,000-Year-Old Indigenous Road Near Chaco Canyon Aligned With Winter Solstice — Researchers have uncovered a sacred road system near Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, revealing the cosmological and spiritual significance of these ancient pathways. Using advanced lidar technology, a new road running parallel to an existing one at the Gasco site was identified. These roads, built over 1,000 years ago, align with significant celestial events, such as the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor, a mountain still sacred to Indigenous communities. The roads, up to 30 feet wide, were likely used for rituals rather than transportation, as the society didn’t have wheeled vehicles or pack animals. Horseshoe-shaped rock structures, or herraduras, found alongside the roads, suggest they served as shrines for ritual offerings. This discovery highlights the Chacoan people's integration of spiritual beliefs into their landscape.

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 14 discoveries and 5 recommended pieces of content covering rituals, divination, cults, crowns, and the Huns.

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

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🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive