🧐 Ancient Beat #166: Heidelbergensis family outtings, new structures near Göbeklitepe, and the oldest burial (maybe)

Hi folks! Welcome to issue #166 of Ancient Beat.

Let’s get right into it this week — here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• Neolithic Structures Found at Site Near Göbeklitepe — At Sayburç, in southeastern Turkey’s Taş Tepeler region near Göbeklitepe, more than 50 Neolithic buildings dating to ~12,600 years ago have been found. Some of these are communal/public buildings—marked by multiple wall pillars and large central stones—while many are residential. Daily life is evident in the houses: food preparation and craftwork residues. The public halls differ in layout from the homes. All the structures show the distinctive T-shaped pillars typical of monumental architecture in this region. These discoveries help shed light on the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies in the Neolithic.

• New Homo Naledi Evidence Supports Intentional Burial Practices — The notion that that Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead has been contested for a year or two now. Here’s an update. In the Rising Star cave system (South Africa), new evidence strengthens the case that Homo naledi deliberately buried their dead around 240,000 years ago, well before most evidence of comparable practices. Fossil remains of multiple individuals (juveniles and adults) were found articulated and positioned in ways unlikely caused by natural processes: sediments show no major water transport; bones are in anatomical order; elements are clustered some distance from cave entrances; and there is lack of carnivore damage. The effort it would take to move bodies deep into narrow cave passages implies intentionality and ritual.

• Ancient Footprints In Germany Capture A Prehistoric Family Moment 300,000 Years Ago — You know I love me a good ichnite (fossil foot print)! At Schöningen in Lower Saxony, archaeologists uncovered fossilized footprints dating to about 300,000 years ago, the oldest human tracks ever found in Germany. Belonging to Homo heidelbergensis, the impressions include two made by children or adolescents and one by an adult, hinting at a family outing rather than a hunting party. Preserved alongside the tracks of elephants weighing up to 13 tons (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) and extinct rhinoceroses (Stephanorhinus species), the prints capture a vivid scene of humans living among Ice Age megafauna. The lakeshore setting, rich in birch and pine forests, fruits, shoots, and mushrooms, offered both resources and risks. This fleeting snapshot reveals not just the presence of early humans, but their social lives—children walking with adults along a muddy lakeshore shared with massive animals. It is the first time rhinoceros footprints have been documented in Europe, making the find a rare window into Middle Pleistocene life.

• 150 Burial Mounds of Unknown Civilization Located in Kazakhstan — Around 150 tombs (kurgans) centered in West Kazakhstan, some of unusual shape (ring-shaped, double rings, rectangular), have been documented. One mound features a very wide ditch about 140 meters (≈459 feet) across, likely marking a burial of high status. The cultural identity is currently unknown; some similarities suggest possible links with Sarmatian groups, but full excavations are needed. The site may be granted protected heritage status.

  

  Image credit: West Kazakhstan Region Inspectorate for the Protection of Monuments

• Burial Site Challenges Stereotypes of Stone Age Women and Children — At the Zvejnieki cemetery in northern Latvia, used over 5,000 years during the Stone Age with over 330 graves, grave goods studies show stone tools were buried not just with men but also—often—with women, children, and older adults. Tools included ones used to process animal hides. Some artifacts appear to have been made specifically for burial, and some were purposefully broken beforehand. These practices suggest symbolic significance rather than mere utility. The findings call into question long-standing gendered assumptions about who got what tools in prehistoric societies.

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 24 discoveries and 2 recommended pieces of content covering lost cities, new tablets, and viking hairdos.

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

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🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive