Photo: Gorodenkoff/Depositphotos

When thinking about prehistoric men and women, there are longstanding stereotypes. Men used to go out and hunt large creatures, while women gathered food—a clear-cut division of labor based on sex. However, the latest research points out that this was not entirely true. Not only did some women hunt as well, they also possessed certain physical traits that may have made them better hunters than their male counterparts.

These findings were shared by Cara Ocobock, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and director of the Human Energetics Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. As a human biologist studying physiology and prehistoric evidence, she found that many of the ideas regarding early humans–especially those pertaining to males being biologically superior—weren't looking at the big picture. “This was what everyone was used to seeing,” Ocobock said. “This was the assumption that we’ve all just had in our minds and that was carried through in our museums of natural history.”

With the help of Sarah Lacy, an anthropologist with expertise in biological archaeology at the University of Delaware, Ocobock found that not only did prehistoric women did practice hunting, but their anatomy and biology would have made better at it. But how so? Well, according to Ocobock, the female body is better suited for endurance activities due to the higher levels of two hormones, estrogen and adiponectin. By modulating glucose and fat, they enhance athletic performance—like running animals down into exhaustion before actually going in for the kill.

Additionally, the female anatomy has features that could have contributed to their hunting strength. “With the typically wider hip structure of the female, they are able to rotate their hips, lengthening their steps,” Ocobock explained. “The longer steps you can take, the ‘cheaper’ they are metabolically, and the farther you can get, faster. When you look at human physiology this way, you can think of women as the marathon runners versus men as the powerlifters.”

Lacy and Ocobock also found archaeological evidence that supports their theory. Female hunters from the Holocene period in Peru have been found buried with hunting weapons. “You don’t often get buried with something unless it was important to you or was something that you used frequently in your life,” Ocobock said.

The injuries sustained in both prehistoric female and male bodies also speak of enduring similar activities. “We have constructed Neanderthal hunting as an up-close-and-personal style of hunting, meaning that hunters would often have to get up underneath their prey in order to kill them,” Ocobock added. “As such, we find that both males and females have the same resulting injuries when we look at their fossil records.” These include head and chest injuries from being kicked by an animals, bite marks, and fractures. “We find these patterns and rates of wear and tear equally in both women and men,” she said. “So they were both participating in ambush-style hunting of large game animals.”

Ultimately, they both hope their findings challenge the notion of a “female physical inferiority” and gender biases. Ocobock concluded, “Rather than viewing it as a way of erasing or rewriting history, our studies are trying to correct the history that erased women from it.”

The latest research points out that not only did some prehistoric women hunt, breaking a longstanding stereotype, but they also possessed certain physical traits may have made them better hunters than their male counterparts.

Photo: Gorodenkoff/Depositphotos

Arguments include the presence of higher levels of estrogen and wider hip structure, as well as the finding of ancient women buried with their spears.

Photo: Gorodenkoff/Depositphotos

h/t: [IFL Science]

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READ: Latest Archeological Research Suggests Women May Be Better Hunters Than Men

The “Wakayama soryu” was a mosasaur the size of a great white shark, with a dorsal fin and long flippers. (Photo: TAKUMI)

It's hard to imagine what life was like when dinosaurs roamed the planet. However, by studying fossils, we are able to gain a better understanding of the kind of ancient creatures that used to exist. Although numerous species have been uncovered, there are still new discoveries being made all the time, such as a recent finding in Japan. Researchers uncovered 72-million-year-old fossils of a previously unknown species of mosasaur, which was a type of “sea dragon” native to the Pacific Ocean.

The fossils were unearthed near the Aridagawa River in Wakayama Prefecture in 2006. “In this case, it was nearly the entire specimen, which was astounding,” said University of Cincinnati Associate Professor Takuya Konishi. The skeletal remains make it the most complete mosasaur ever found in Japan or the northwestern Pacific. However, it is also unlike other mosasaur fossils found. The Japanese species has longer rear flippers than front ones, which measure longer than its head. “I thought I knew them quite well by now,” Konishi continued. “Immediately it was something I had never seen before.”

Mosasaurs lived during the era of the T-Rex and other well-known dinosaurs. However, while its contemporaries dominated land, the mosasaur hunted underwater. The new species, which measures about the same size as a modern great white shark, was placed in the subfamily Mosasaurinae and named Megapterygius wakayamaensis. Scientists believe the size of its rear flippers helped it propel through the water; however, this method of swimming is unusual for sea creatures, both ancient and modern. “We lack any modern analog that has this kind of body morphology—from fish to penguins to sea turtles,” Konishi explained. “None has four large flippers they use in conjunction with a tail fin. It opens a whole can of worms that challenges our understanding of how mosasaurs swim.”

Hopefully, in time, more fossils will be found that shed light on the diversity of this ancient underwater predator.

72-million-year-old fossils belonging to a previously unknown species of mosasaur were discovered in Japan.

Life restoration of a mosasaur—not the one found in Japan. (Photo: Dmitry Bogdanov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 DEED)

h/t: [Live Science]

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The elite of Ancient Rome lived lives of luxury and grandeur, enshrined with their families and servants in magnificent villas bedecked in luscious marble. It is these well-built, expansive homes which often appear thousands of years later in the archeological record. Uncovered on purposeful digs and even under city streets, the remains of these homes tell us a lot about their inhabitants and the time period in which they lived. A newly discovered “domus,” or townhome, in Colosseum Archeological Park in Rome has added to this rich history. It features a unique mosaic constructed of seashells, glass, and rich blue tiles, creating a delightful naval tableau.

The domus was built in the first or second century BCE during the Republican period of Roman history. It is located near the Palatine Hill and the Vicus Tuscus, an important commercial road. The domus has an atrium—an open columned area where inhabitants could get fresh air and which often contained pools and fountains. It was inside a specus aestivus—a type of vaulted room off the atrium where one could entertain—that the mosaic was discovered. Rising under the arched ceiling is the mosaic, which features its won depicted arches.

The mosaic is not merely made of pretty stone shards like many others. Instead, it includes iridescent glass, stunning blue Egyptian tiles, and tesserae of white marble. Seashells are interspersed throughout as design elements, and they are remarkably well-preserved. This is fitting, as the themes of the mosaic are heavily nautical. Two crossed, arching bows of boats frame a trident outlined in blue. There is a seaside scene and ships glide over stone waters. Shepherds in the fields, weapons for war, and even lotus flowers appear. This leads researchers to believe the owner may have had a military past.

While excavations continue on the domus, another room has yielded a beautiful fresco. The building is decorated in the Asia Luxuria-style, which was popular as the Roman elite conspicuously consumed after conquests by the empire in the east. “The archaeological excavation will conclude in the first months of 2024, and we will subsequently work intensely to make this place—among the most evocative of Ancient Rome—accessible to the public as soon as possible,” said Colosseum Archeological Park Director Alfonsina Russo. Rome is already full of incredible ancient sites, but this is one more to add to your travel must-see list.

A gorgeous mosaic made of tesserae and seashells forming horns and ships has been discovered in an ancient Roman home along the Vicus Tuscus, a thoroughfare of the ancient city.

A map of ancient Rome with Vicus Tuscus at the center. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

h/t: [Hyperallergic, Wanted in Rome]

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Deities on boats, Orion, Sothis/Sirius, and Anukis, create a New Years' scene, while above them the sky goddess Nut swallows the evening sun. (Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA)))

Archeology is often envisioned as a quest, whether it be digging for treasure or scouring caves. However, a significant amount of conservation goes into discovering and preserving the past. For a team of archeologists in Egypt, the last five years have been a cleaning mission. The group have been scrubbing dirt, soot, and bird droppings off the Temple of Esna's ceiling to reveal incredible ink inscriptions which were previously murky. Among these are a stunning New Year's scene of Egyptian gods—Orion, Sirius, and Anukis—onboard boats under the sky god.

The Temple of Esna is south of Luxor in Egypt. The part which remains standing is the vestibule or pronaos, which was built during the Roman period under Emperor Claudius (41–54 CE). Made of sandstone, it is 37 meters (88.6 feet) long, 20 meters wide (65.6 feet), and 15 meters (49.2 feet) high. It is unknown exactly what deity the temple was dedicated to but further cleaning of the walls may suggest an answer. Answers may be slow however, as it took the 30-person team five years to uncover the ceiling. According to a statement from the University of Tübingen, which partners with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on the project, the soot has receded across “hundreds of figures and astronomical representations, revealing them once more in their original colors.”

The ceiling has seven thematic sections. Among the panels is a New Year's scene, where Sothis, aka Sirius, is depicted by Orion. “Sirius is invisible in the night sky for 70 days a year until it rises again in the east,” Professor Christian Leitz of University of Tübingen explained. “That point was New Year's Day in ancient Egypt and also heralded the annual flooding of the Nile.” The goddess Anukis, also depicted, caused the Nile floodwaters to retreat about 100 days after this event. Also rendered on the ceiling were other figures, including a god with four rams' heads and a “representation of the south wind as a lion with four wings and a ram's head.”

However, there is still more work to be done in his historic site. “The completion of the ceiling restoration marks the project’s first and perhaps most important milestone,” Professor Leitz said. “In the next few years, we want to focus on removing soot from the interior walls of the Pronaos and the remaining columns.”

Archeologists are scrubbing away thousands of years of grime from the Temple of Esna, near Luxor, Egypt.

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

It took a team of 30 archaeologists five years to uncover the ceiling.

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

The ceiling includes an ancient Egyptian New Year's scene of Egyptian gods—Orion, Sirius, and Anukis—onboard boats under the sky god.

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

“Sirius is invisible in the night sky for 70 days a year until it rises again in the east,” Professor Christian Leitz of University of Tübingen explained.

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

“That point was New Year's Day in ancient Egypt and also heralded the annual flooding of the Nile.”

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

Photo: Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

h/t: [Live Science]

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MONSTER DISCOVERY: Naturalist David Attenborough is seen standing beside the over six-foot-long skull of a pliosaur, which was recently unearthed on England's Jurassic Coast. https://t.co/zR7x4Hs0rL pic.twitter.com/vzgyzUTpBh

— ABC News (@ABC) December 14, 2023

It's hard to imagine what life was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but every once in a while a new discovery helps us paint a picture of these ancient creatures. One of the most recent exciting finds happened along the Jurassic Coast in southern England—a popular site for fossil discoveries due to the erosion and weather. An enormous skull belonging to a giant sea monster was recovered from the cliffs and pieced together, revealing a previously unknown species of pliosaur.

While velociraptors and tyrannosaurus rexes were known as fearsome predators on land, pliosaurs were deadly underwater creatures. Some species are known to have been 39 feet in length, and the new skull that was found measures over 6 feet alone, prompting speculation about how big the rest of the body might be for this particular beast.

“It's one of the best fossils I've worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete,” says paleontologist Steve Etches, founder of The Etches Collection in the UK. “The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted—it's got every bone present.”

There are 130 teeth still attached to the jaw, with the ones in the back covered in ridges to help it chomp down on its prey. BBC compares the pliosaur's bite force of 33,000 newtons to the tyrannosaurus rex's mighty 45,000 and the present-day crocodile's bite force of 16,000 newtons. While not quite as strong as its land-bound neighbor, the pliosaur was certainly a force to be reckoned with, especially compared to predators today. Dr. Andre Rowe from Bristol University adds: “The animal would have been so massive that I think it would have been able to prey effectively on anything that was unfortunate enough to be in its space.”

There are other features aside from its sharp fangs that make the pliosaur so adept at hunting. The snout possesses numerous tiny pits that are believed to be where glands would have been, an attribute that would have helped the dinosaur detect changes in water pressure. There is also a hole on the head for a third eye—a trait shared by many present-day reptiles.

At the moment, just the skull has been recovered from the rocky cliffs, but experts believe that the rest of the fossil could be in the same location at the Jurassic Coast. With increasing erosion, the team hopes to find signs of other bones over the next few years.

The incredible fossil will be showcased in the BBC documentary Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster, which debuts on New Year's Day. People can see the pliosaur skull in person at The Etches Collection from January 2, 2024.

A 150-million-year-old fossil of a pliosaur skull was recovered from the Jurassic Coast in the UK.

We have been keeping a, not so little secret! Have you seen our BIG news?
https://t.co/RcKTbDkWqw pic.twitter.com/JdxE6PTFVL

— The Etches Collection (@TEC_Kimmeridge) December 11, 2023

It measures over 6 feet long, and is one of the most intact fossils of its type ever discovered.

A privilege to spend time with Steve Etches @TEC_Kimmeridge. The Dorset fossil collector has just bagged an extraordinary discovery – the complete skull of a Jurassic pliosaur. Coverage across the day on @BBCNews and an #Attenborough special at New Year. https://t.co/nt2nKFlxXD pic.twitter.com/GnFBxEonDl

— Jonathan Amos (@BBCAmos) December 10, 2023

Watch this video to learn more about pliosaurs:

The Etches Collection: Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
h/t: [NPR, IFL Science]

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A follis of Diocletian, circa 294 CE. (Photo: Valentinian364 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

In ancient days, seafaring was a difficult trade. It led to shipwrecks, and many years later to the discovery of long-lost treasures which once sailed above the waves. The Mediterranean Sea, in particular, is a rich repository of archeological evidence of intense trade routes and devastating warfare over centuries. The latest treasure to emerge is an enormous cache of ancient coins off the Italian coast near Sardinia. Discovered by a diver who noticed a shiny, metallic something, the site has yielded between tens of thousands of coins, making it one of the most significant finds in recent years.

At an undisclosed location in the nearby town of Arzachena, firefighter divers and police divers raised the treasure from its watery grave beneath sand and seaweed. The coins are still being sorted, but estimates of their numbers based on weight range from 30,000 to a whopping 50,000. A video from the Italian Cultural Ministry shows the laborious process of divers retrieving the coins by hand and placing them in bins to be raised to the service. The bronze coins are known as follis, a type of ancient coin which was common in the late Roman and early Byzantine period. According to the Ministry, they are in excellent condition, with even the most damaged still bearing legible inscriptions.

The coins date to about 324 to 340 CE. Constantine I has been spotted, and he ruled the Roman Empire from 306 to 337 CE. He was famous for his conversion to Christianity. Given its breadth, it is unsurprising that the coins were minted at different locations around the empire. According to Luigi La Rocca, the find is incredibly important, demonstrating the “richness and importance of the archaeological heritage that the depths of our seas, crossed by men and goods since the most ancient times, still guards and conserves.” Amphorae were also found nearby, suggesting a shipwreck may have dumped its ancient contents long ago, over stormy seas. If so, the wreck remains to be found.

Divers off the Sardinian coast discovered a cache of ancient bronze coins, known as follis, which may suggest a nearby shipwreck.

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine, AP]

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Representations carved into stone have a long history. From Roman busts to Victorian cameos, stone likenesses capture those who were loved and lost. Cameos in particular are a wearable reminder of loved ones or tributes to mythical figures and great leaders. Crafted since ancient days, they can be made out of a variety of materials. One exceptional first century CE example, discovered on the hand of a woman in a Roman tomb, is crafted of gold and rock crystal. However, rather than being carved into the outer face of the stone, the shockingly realistic cameo depiction of the woman's deceased son is carved behind the stone creating a “hologram” of life lost.

The ring belonged to Aebutia Quarta, a Roman noblemwoman. Her tomb is known as the Hypogeum of the Garland. Discovered in Italy in the year 2000 at the Grottaferrata site, it also contains the remains of her son Carvilius Gemellus. Both sets of remains were covered by floral garlands, hence the name of their tomb. The son clearly died shortly before the mother at the young age of 18. His body is remarkably well preserved, and indicates death from either an injury or poisoning.

On the mother's finger was found a gold and quartz ring befitting of her high social statement. Currently, the ring is held in the Museo Archeologica Nazionale di Palestrina in Italy. It features a gold band set with a cabochon of rock crystal. Behind that seems to glow a holographic face, that of Aebutia's son, buried nearby. Unlike a traditional cameo which is carved in bas-relief, the figure here is carved on the back of the stone into its volume to create the life-like 3D illusion. This token was likely created after the son's death and before his mother's as a reminder of her beloved and a token of grief. Today, the ring is a symbol of craftsmanship, grief, and love.

This ancient ring, created in the 1st century CE, immortalizes a woman's deceased son in a clever rock crystal cameo “hologram.”

h/t: [DSF Antique Jewelry]

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Photo: National Park Service

The longstanding theory is that humans arrived in the Americas about 16,000 years ago. They migrated down the Pacific Coast after crossing the Bering Strait on a land bridge that once existed. They may have then used boats to sail down the coast around glaciers which were still extant as the last Ice Age wound down. This timeline is considered by many to be the logical conclusion from existing archeological sites and the sheer amount of ice that would have existed prior to this period. However, a paper two years ago used carbon dating to rewrite this timeline according to sets of ancient footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Their bold, controversial claims were recently bolstered with additional testing, suggesting that the footprints are an impressive 23,000 and 21,000 years old. This puts into question when humans arrived in the Americas.

The footprints are visible and distinct, stamped into what was once mud on an ancient lakeshore in present day New Mexico. Frozen into stone by layering sediment, the first testing aimed at establishing the age of the prints through carbon dating. As footprints are not organic material, the scientists used seeds from a lake plant called Ruppia cirrhosa. The seeds were found in the surrounding layers of sediment around the prints. Testing of the seeds suggested a date range of about 23,000 to 21,000 years ago. However, these initial findings caused some doubt among scientists, especially given its radical revision of known migrations. Loren Davis, an archaeologist at Oregon State University who was not involved in the research, expressed concern to Science that older carbon-14 in the lake water could have been absorbed into the plants which produced the seeds.

To help settle these concerns, the researchers have now added two new dating methods that both agree with their former findings. They took pollen samples from the surrounding sediment layers and found that carbon dating once again agreed with the seeds. The pollen would not have imbibed carbon because the trees grew on land. Quartz grains were also collected and tested by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The results showed that these stone bits were last exposed to light 21,400 and 18,000 years ago. Despite this impressive corroboration, some scientists still think erosion may have moved older sediment on top of the prints. Even so, the newfound evidence certainly suggests that 16,000 years ago humans may have already been in North America. Hopefully, further testing will bring more answers to light.

These footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico are now thought to be 23,000 and 21,000 years old, over 5,000 years before humans were previously thought to have roamed the Americas.

Photo: National Park Service

h/t: [Science.org, Scientific American]

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The arrow has a quartzite arrowhead on a birch shaft. (Photo: Espen Finstad/Secrets of the Ice)

Climate change is impacting temperatures around the world. Collapsing ice shelfs and melting glaciers regularly make the news as indicia of a warming planet and shifting ecosystems. The receding of the planet's ice is also exposing remnants of the past which have lain preserved under cold temperatures for hundreds, even thousands, of years. The glaciers of Norway have yielded particularly interesting finds from past inhabitants of the region. In the Jotunheimen Mountains, archeological group Secrets of the Ice recently discovered an exciting Bronze Age arrow, complete with shaft, quartzite arrowhead, and even several fletching feathers.

The arrow was discovered on one of the group's regular patrols over regions where they know warming temperatures are melting ice. If an ancient item is missed, it may be destroyed by the elements once the ice that formerly sheltered it is melted. Luckily, the Bronze Age arrow, dating to about 3,000 years ago, was discovered in time. It has a birch wood shaft and three feathers at the tail, which are the fletchings which help arrows fly. Such delicate materials have been frozen preserved under the ice since they were dropped millennia ago.

The weapon also has an arrowhead of quartzite stone, cut into a point and covered in organic pitch. “The pitch was used for securing the arrowhead to the shaft and to smooth the front of the arrow, allowing for better penetration. Arrows with preserved arrowheads still attached are not uncommon during the Iron Age on our ice sites, but this early they are very rare,” says Lars Pilø, archaeologist for Secrets of the Ice. While the arrow was likely used for reindeer hunting, it was not discovered near the remains of any blinds, such as those that have been found elsewhere. Likely lost on an ancient hunt, the arrow is remarkable for its amazing preservation. Despite being broken into three parts from the weight of the ice, it is a fascinating remnant from a lost era.

This 3,000-year-old arrow has been well preserved for millennia by glaciers.

Even a feather remains preserved! (Photo: Espen Finstad/Secrets of the Ice)

h/t: [Live Science]

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The time capsule discovered in the statue base. (Photo: United States Military Academy)

West Point is known as a prestigious military academy, producing many of the nation's generals since its founding in 1802. Known officially as the United States Military Academy, it can also count two American presidents among its alumni. Such a long history is sure to come with good and bad moments, and even a few surprises. Recently, renovations uncovered a box hidden in the base of a statue of a Revolutionary War hero. It turned out to be a time capsule that West Point later opened during an assembly with great fanfare. The interior did not yield treasures at first, only silt. However, after some sifting, six historic coins and an Erie Canal commemorative medal were uncovered.

The statue which yielded the time capsule is of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish immigrant. While not a West Point alum, he fought with the Continental Army during the Revolution. He died in 1817, and shortly afterward his statue was erected on the dime of admiring cadets. Its stone base was completed in 1828, although the column and statue atop was added in 1913. It is thought cadets tucked the time capsule into the base of the statue around 1828, and its existence remained unknown for almost 200 years. It is still unclear why the capsule was hidden in the first place.

The find greatly excited the university, which began to hype a ceremonial first opening to be filmed and presented on stage. Current students speculated what might be inside. However, when Paul Hudson, a West Point archaeologist, opened the box the waiting crowd received a disappointing news flash. “We don’t want to think that they went to all of this trouble to put this box in the monument and not put anything in it,” he said. But it required detailed lab work to eventually discover what else the box might held apart from the obvious pile of silt that may have once been something organic, such as paper.

Sifting carefully through the silt with wire, Hudson and his team found six silver early American coins. They date from 1795 to 1828. There was also a small medal from 1826 that commemorated the finishing of the Erie Canal's construction in 1825. A pivotal moment in United States history, the canal connected the great waterways of the northeast to produce thriving industrial centers across upstate New York and fill the bustling ports of New York City, down the Hudson River. The coins and the medals were clearly chosen for the time capsule for their meaning to the historic cadets. Brigadier general Shane Reeves, a dean, said in a statement, “There is no better opportunity to take a moment and be inspired by our Army and academy’s connection through time that is represented by that capsule and one of our nation’s true heroes.”

A 200-year-old time capsule found in a West Point statue turned out to be full of silt and surprises.

A historic coin found in the silt inside the time capsule. (Photo: United States Military Academy)

Eventually, six coins from the late 18th and early 19th centuries emerged, along with a medal.

The statue of Thaddeus Kościuszko. (Photo: United States Military Academy)

The dedication to the Revolutionary War
hero. (Photo: United States Military Academy)

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

All images via United States Military Academy.

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