Tag: Archeology

1.2 Million-Year-Old Workshop Reveals Early Humans Were Skilled Crafters Earlier Than Believed

Link — Culture

In Melka Kunture, Ethiopia, researchers found 575 obsidian hand-axes that are 1.2 million years old and believed to have come from a dedicated workshop. The discovery means that hominins (early humans and ancestors) may have been skilled craftspeople capable of working with obsidian some 500,000 years earlier than scientists believed. A volcanic glass that is fragile and sharp, obsidian requires a certain level of skill to …

Via vice.com

Posted on

Laser-Based Technology is Making Archeology More Accessible

Link — Tech

Souterrains are subterranean passageways in the Scottish Highlands from the Iron Age. Nobody, however, has seen one fully intact or understands what function they served. While surveying them has been a lengthy and difficult process, archeologists are now using laser scanners (the Leica BLK360, in particular) to make them more accessible. This new equipment can scan the walls of souterrains at 10,000 times a second, …

Via wired.com

Posted on

7,000-Year-Old Structure That Predates Stonehenge Discovered

Link — Culture

In the Czech Republic, archeologists discovered a 7,000-year-old circular structure from the Neolithic period that is believed to have been constructed between 4,900 BCE and 4,600 BCE. This is 1,000 years before the construction of Stonehenge and several thousand years earlier than the Pyramids of Giza. Measuring 180 feet in diameter, the structure—called a roundel—may have been built by people from the Stroked Pottery culture …

Via artnews.com

Posted on