🧐 Ancient Beat #99: Andean hillforts, advanced material sourcing, and a lost city of gold

Ancient Beat is 2 years old!

Guess what? As of this week, I’ve been publishing Ancient Beat for 2 years! 🎉 We’re 3,235 strong, with folks reading in 86 countries. Wow. Thank you all for being here, I appreciate you!

Here’s 25% off the paid tier as a thanks.

Also, just a heads up that I’m out next week, so I’ll see you again after that.

Without further ado, here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• Study Uses Satellite Imagery to Identify Over 1,000 Andean Hillforts — Utilizing satellite imagery, researchers have identified over 1,000 hillforts, known as pukaras, in the Andean highlands, dating from the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1450 CE). These fortifications, built on natural barriers like hills and ridges, reflect a time of increased conflict, possibly due to social and environmental stressors. The comprehensive survey, covering nearly 100,000 square miles, reveals the pukaras' extensive distribution. It also challenges previous assumptions about their defensive purposes, thanks to their presence in high elevations and areas lacking defensible landforms. They may have had multiple purposes

  

  Image credit: Antiquity.

• Obsidian Blade Linked to Coronado’s Expedition to Find the Fabled City of Gold — An obsidian blade found in the Texas panhandle is believed to be linked to Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's 16th-century expedition in search of the fabled city of gold, Cibola. Spectrometer analysis indicates the blade's origin from Central Mexico's Sierra de Pachuca. This, along with its form, suggests it could have been dropped by a member of Coronado's expedition, including indigenous Mexicans.

• Reconstructed Plants From Biblical Goliath Hometown Shed Light On Philistine Rituals — Excavations in Gath have provided insights into Philistine rituals through the study of ancient plants found in two temples. The use of Mediterranean plants links the Philistines with rituals related to Greek deities. There is also evidence of psychoactive plants being used.

• Traces of Bronze Age Copper Mine Found in Oman — Archaeologists discovered evidence of ancient copper mining in Oman's Qumayrah Valley, dating from 2600 to 2000 BCE. The site contained stone tools for crushing ore and fragments of furnace walls for smelting, indicating long-term copper processing. Additionally, remains of an Iron Age settlement from 1300 to 300 BCE, featuring houses along a narrow street, suggest a more complex community than expected in such a rural, mountainous area.

• A Physical Model to Quantify the Quality of Stones Selected as Tools by Stone Age Hunter–Gatherers — Researchers developed a model to quantify the force needed to make stone tools. Using the model, they analyzed tools from Diepkloof Rock Shelter and found that hunter-gatherers in southern Africa selected stones with the best properties for each given tool. They knew these properties and selected stones in this way at least 60,000 years ago.

That’s it for the free Top 5! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 24 stories and 10 recommended pieces of content covering antler barricades, pipe-clay heads, seals, windmills, protests, and a bunch of newly discovered settlements.

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

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🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive