This week in archaeology

Independent.uk: Researchers have found signs of ritual violence on skeletons from an ancient civilization in the Andes.

Skeletal remains uncovered from a ritual platform in the Peruvian highlands at the site now known as Pacopampa show that people buried there suffered violent injuries, likely as part of ceremonial rituals, according to an archaeological study published earlier this month. The scientists behind the discovery wrote that it looks like individuals suffered ceremonial blows to the head that fractured their skulls -- perhaps willingly -- though those blows likely didn't kill them.

Sauce: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/pacopampa-peru-andes-archaeology-ritual-violence-skeletons-ancient-civilization-discovery-torture-a8011076.html

Tornos News: Santorini island excavation unearths Bronze Age settlement

Excavation work that was carried out at the Dormition site at the southeastern end of the island of Therasia, an islet of the Santorini island cluster in Greece, has brought to light a Bronze Age settlement, the Greek culture ministry announced.“A section of the settlement was eroded and dragged into the cliff during the geological detachment of the island of Thirassia from Aspronissi as a result of the great volcanic eruption. The Koimisi settlement provides important data into the Thira-Thirassia complex during the early phases of the Bronze Age and also offers insight into the formation of the southeastern boundary of the pre-eruption caldera,” the Ministry noted in a statement.

Sauce: http://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/27727-santorini-island-excavation-unearths-bronze-age-settlement.html

Science.org: Was this ancient person from China the offspring of modern humans and Neandertals?

When scientists excavated a 40,000-year-old skeleton in China in 2003, they thought they had discovered the offspring of a Neandertal and a modern human. But ancient DNA now reveals that the “Tianyuan Man” has only traces of Neandertal DNA and none detectable from another type of extinct human known as a Denisovan. Instead, he was a full-fledged member of our species, Homo sapiens, and a distant relative of people who today live in East Asia and South America. The work could help scientists retrace some of the earliest steps of human migration. “The paper is very exciting because it is the first genome to fill a really big gap, both geographically and temporally, in East Asia,” says paleogeneticist Pontus Skoglund of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who was not involved in the work.

Sauce: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/10/was-ancient-person-china-offspring-modern-humans-and-neandertals

The Irish Post: Iron Age skeletal remains discovered on Irish coast after Storm Ophelia

Skeletal remains believed to date back to the Iron Age have been uncovered on the east coast of Ireland.
The remains, found at Forlorn Point near Kilmore Quay in Co Wexford, are believed to be over 1,500 years old, according to the State Pathologist. The discovery of the complete human skeleton was made just one day after Storm Ophelia raged across Ireland.

Sauce: http://irishpost.co.uk/iron-age-skeletal-remains-discovered-on-irish-coast-after-storm-ophelia/

The Atlantic: The Strangely Revealing Debate Over Viking Couture

A researcher at a Swedish university says that Viking burial clothes bear the word “Allah”—and some people really want to believe her. Annika Larsson, a textile researcher at Uppsala University who was putting together an exhibit on Viking couture, decided to examine the contents of a Viking woman’s boat grave that had been excavated decades ago in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Inspecting the woman’s silk burial clothes, Larsson noticed small geometric designs. She compared them to similar designs on a silk band found in a 10th-century Viking grave, this one in Birka, Sweden. It was then that she came to the conclusion that the designs were actually Arabic characters—and that they spelled out the name of God in mirror-image. In a press release, she described the find as “staggering,” and major media outlets (including The New York Times, The Guardian, and the BBC) reported the story last week.
But other experts are not sure the silk bears Arabic script at all, never mind the word “Allah.” They warn that people being credulous of Larsson’s claim may be guided less by solid evidence than by a political motivation: the desire to stick it to white supremacists.

Sauce: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/viking-couture-allah/543045/?utm_source=feed

CBC News Montreal: Archeological dig at Montreal's pre-Confederation Parliament yields handstamps, charred books

A dig at the remains of Canada's pre-Confederation Parliament in Old Montreal has yielded thousands of items, including handstamps, charred books, dishes and bowls dating back to the 19th century.
The project began in July at the Pointe-à-Callière archeological and historic site that housed the Parliament of the United Province of Canada between 1844 and 1849, when it was burned to the ground during a riot. "The results of the 2017 archaeological digs exceeded our expectations, in terms of the number of items found and their nature and historic importance," said Francine Lelièvre, executive director of Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal's history museum. "These discoveries add to our historical knowledge about this site and the building's layout, and it is essential that it be preserved for future generations."

Sauce: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pointe-a-calliere-parliament-montreal-archeological-dig-1.4357319

The Siberian Times: Mountainside gallery where all civilizations added their own art from Bronze Age to medieval times

On the border between Russia and Mongolia, we reveal awe-inspiring Kara-Turug petroglyphs, and they contain a BIG secret about ancient Siberia. There are 500 or so exhibits and the artwork here spanning some 4,000 years until the end of the first millennium AD. Every major civilization added their own distinct imprint to the collection of rock art at Dus-Dag mountain in modern-day Tuva Republic, literally from the age of the spear until well into medieval times. Archaeologist Dr Marina Kilunovskaya said: 'This way they were marking their presence, showing that they were now the owners here.' To their credit, successive civilizations coming here did not destroy the jottings of those who went before them.

Sauce: http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/features/mountainside-gallery-where-all-civilisations-added-their-own-art-from-bronze-age-to-medieval-times/

Science Daily: Study reshapes understanding of climate change's impact on early societies

A new study linking paleoclimatology -- the reconstruction of past global climates -- with historical analysis by researchers at Yale and other institutions shows a link between environmental stress and its impact on the economy, political stability, and war-fighting capacity of ancient Egypt.

Sauce: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171017124335.htm

Science Daily: Paleogenomic analysis sheds light on Easter Island mysteries

Easter Island is a place of mystery that has captured the public imagination. Famous for ancient carved statues and a location so remote it boggles the mind, the island presents a captivating puzzle for researchers eager to understand how and when it became inhabited, and by whom.

Sauce: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171012123046.htm

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