🧐 Ancient Beat #152: Denisovans, inequality, and the Antikythera Mechanism

Hi folks! Welcome to issue #152 of Ancient Beat!

So here’s the scoop: I’m considering selling this newsletter, but only to someone with a passion for this stuff. Someone who can carry the torch. And I figured, who better than a member of our little community? So I’m curious — would you be interested in buying and running Ancient Beat? If so, just respond to this email.

Here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

---

---

🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• The Ocean Floor Jawbone That’s Redrawing Denisovan History — A fossilized jawbone, dubbed Penghu 1, was retrieved from the seabed off Taiwan's coast. Protein analysis of the jaw's tooth enamel revealed over 4,200 protein fragments, two of which carry distinctive Denisovan signatures. The jaw's robust structure and tooth root shape closely resemble a Denisovan jaw from Xiahe, China. This discovery suggests that Denisovans inhabited a broader range than previously thought, including the humid lowlands of what is now Taiwan. The fossil's age is uncertain due to the absence of collagen for radiocarbon dating, but geological context suggests it dates between 190,000 and 10,000 years ago.​

• Rethinking Inequality: What 50,000 Ancient Homes Tell Us About Power, Wealth, and Human Choices — Big study = big summary, hold tight. A comprehensive study analyzing over 50,000 ancient homes across six continents and 10,000 years reveals that economic inequality is not an inevitable outcome of societal development. By assessing house sizes as proxies for wealth and calculating Gini coefficients, researchers found that inequality varied widely, influenced by cultural norms and institutional choices rather than solely by agriculture or population growth. Early small farming communities were relatively egalitarian. As populations grew and settlements became more complex, disparities widened. But some large, complex societies maintained relative equality. This suggests that human decisions and social structures play pivotal roles in shaping economic disparities. Factors such as land ownership, inheritance, and the development of hierarchical settlements contributed to inequality. In fact, wealth inequality emerged in ancient societies when land became scarce and monopolized by a few. Interestingly, technological advancements like iron tools sometimes reduced disparities by making resources more accessible. Findings also indicate that settlements with greater internal disparities in house sizes tended to persist longer. This correlation suggests that both inequality and settlement endurance are outcomes of broader processes like increasing population density and technological complexity. However, the study emphasizes that inequality is not a prerequisite for sustainability. Instead, it highlights the importance of understanding the historical interplay between inequality and societal persistence, offering insights into how modern societies might achieve sustainability without exacerbating economic disparities.​

• Monumental Ruins Emerge Following Massive Myanmar Earthquake — A powerful earthquake in March 2025 caused extensive damage to Myanmar's cultural heritage sites. In Bagan, over 2,200 Buddhist monuments, including the 12th-century Thatbyinnyu Temple, suffered significant damage. The Yadana Hsemee Pagoda Complex in Inwa and the Kyaukthittar Pagoda in Kyaukse were also affected; the latter's stone chest pagoda tilted approximately 30 degrees. Initial plans to demolish the Kyaukthittar Pagoda were halted, and structural reinforcement using concrete was recommended instead.

  

  Image credit: Myanmar's Department of Archaeology and National Museum

• New Study Suggests Antikythera Mechanism Had Design Flaws — A recent study indicated that the Antikythera Mechanism, a 1st-century BCE Greek device for predicting astronomical events, may have suffered from mechanical issues. Computer simulations suggest that its triangular gear teeth could have caused frequent disengagements, leading to jams after approximately four months of operation. Researchers caution that corrosion over two millennia may have altered the original components, and current measurements might not accurately reflect the device's initial functionality.

• The Complex Origin Story of Domestic Cats: Research Points to Tunisia — New genetic and archaeological analyses suggest that domestic cats originated in Tunisia, challenging the belief that they spread with Neolithic farmers. One study indicates domestic cats appeared in Europe around the 1st century CE, introduced during the Roman Imperial period. Another identifies earlier introductions by the early first millennium BCE, with distinct mitochondrial haplogroups found in Britain by the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE. Two waves of introduction are noted: one bringing wildcats from Northwest Africa to Sardinia by the 2nd century BCE, and another during the Roman period introducing cats similar to modern domestic lines across Europe. Cultural and religious factors, such as the veneration of cats in Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Norse traditions, likely played roles in their domestication and spread. The studies also reveal interactions between domestic cats and European wildcats, leading to hybridization and a decline in wildcat populations beginning in the first millennium CE.​

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for more discoveries and recommended content!

Until next time, thanks for joining me.

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

P.S. Here’s my Buy Me A Coffee link if you’d like to support my efforts with a donation.

P.P.S. If you want access to the paid version but it’s a little too steep for you right now, just email me — I want this to be accessible.

P.P.P.S. Paid members, read on!

🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive