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'No single center where modern day humans originated, even within Africa'- anthropologist

Sarah Neary
Voice of Russia
Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:37 UTC
Ancient Humans
© YouTube Screenshot
Homo sapiens were not the only kind of humans to reside on this planet. Two experts in the field exposed to the Voice of Russia that other forms of humans died out due to poor social networking and climate. Interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals went on hundreds and thousands of years ago, making modern humans around one percent Neanderthal according to the newest book on evolution, Lone Survivors.

"There is no single center where we originated even within Africa, our origins were kind of composite, a patchwork, Professor Chris Stringer, author of Lone Survivors and Researcher at the Natural History Museum in London said and added, "So different bits of Africa contributed to what we call today modern humans."

The new theory on how present day humans came to be, according to the book Lone Survivors, is that we came from Africa and then journeyed from there. However, we are not full bred modern humans, as we all have a microscopic percentage of Neanderthal DNA in us, if originally from Europe.

Though, Australians and New Guineans have an extra ingredient in their DNA, from an archaic human known as the Denisovans. This group was discovered in a cave in Siberia, and those with the Denisovan gene, also have Neanderthal and modern human roots tied to them.

It was more than likely that interbreeding made it possible for certain humans, who were not used to the environment, to have offspring that would survive through disease and other possible debilitating factors of the region.
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8 rulers of ancient Egypt: Most precise timeline revealed

Laura Poppick
LiveScience
Tue, 03 Sep 2013 19:01 UTC
Royal Cemetery at Abydos
© M DeeMonumental tombs of the Royal Cemetery at Abydos, Upper Egypt, where the First Dynasty kings of Egypt are buried.
The most precise chronology of Early Egypt yet suggests the country formed much more quickly than previously thought.

The new finding reveals a robust timeline for the first eight kings and queens of Egypt, including, in order of succession Aha, Djer, Djet, Queen Merneith, Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet and Qa'a. The accession of King Aha to the throne is often thought to define the start of the Egyptian state, with the new study suggesting (with 68 percent probability) that he became king between 3111 B.C. and 3045 B.C.

Existing timelines of Egypt's transition from a nomadic community along the Nile River to a permanent state are mainly based on changes in pottery artifacts found at various locations around the country. However, such timelines are flawed due to the subjectivity required to distinguish one pottery style from another, and because styles might vary from site to site without signifying a change in time period.

To create a more reliable timeline, archaeologists based at the University of Oxford have developed the most comprehensive chronological analyses of Early Egypt artifacts yet based on a computer model of existing and newly measured radiocarbon dates.

The analyses suggest the rise to statehood occurred between 200 and 300 years faster than previously thought, beginning between 3800 B.C. and 3700 B.C., rather than the past estimate of 4000 B.C. The findings, which also suggest the preceding Neolithic period lasted longer than thought, are detailed Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
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Cause of Yuri Gagarin death finally revealed by fellow cosmonaut

Lawrence LeBlond
Red Orbit
Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:41 UTC
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© NASA Yuri Gagarin before launch of Vostok-1 on April 12, 1961.
For more than 45 years, the death of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human to cross the Earth´s threshold and venture into space, has been shrouded in secrecy. But now, details of his 1968 death have been released by none other than the first man to walk in space, Aleksey Leonov.

Gagarin, who became the first man to travel into space on April 12, 1961, was killed when his MiG-15 aircraft crashed on March 27, 1968. Gagarin was just 34 years old. The details of that crash and his death have long been a confusing and controversial subject, with many theories coming forward on the actual cause of his death.

Now, Leonov, who conducted the first ever extra-vehicular spacewalk in 1965, has delved deeper into the touchy subject of the Gagarin death mystery. Leonov has been fighting for 20 years or more to gain permission to disclose the details of what happened that tragic day in 1968.
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Remains of iron age Scottish village discovered in rural area is hailed as 'exciting and unexpected'


Daily Record, UK
Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:46 UTC
Iron Age Village_1
© Historic ScotlandThe remains of an iron age settlement were discovered in Wigtownshire.
The remains of an extensive iron age "loch village" have been uncovered by archaeologists in the first discovery of its kind in Scotland.

The ancient site in Wigtownshire appears to have been a settlement of at least seven houses built in wetlands around a small loch, Historic Scotland said.

Experts believe the significant find could be "Scotland's Glastonbury", a reference to the lake village in Somerset, said to be a spot of international significance.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the discovery at the Black Loch of Myrton was an "exciting and unexpected" find.

Historic Scotland said the dig began as a small-scale pilot excavation of what was initially thought to be a crannog in the now-infilled loch, which was under threat of destruction as a result of drainage work.
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Neolithic skull fragment discovered on banks of Avon


The Guardian, UK
Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:35 UTC
Ancient Skull
© Richard Vernalls/PAPart of a 5,000-year-old skull found on the banks of the Avon. Archaeologist says that where the fragment was found was unlikely to be where it was buried.
A 5,000-year-old mystery has been sparked after part of a human skull was found on a riverbank. Archaeologists said the unbroken piece of upper skull was in "fabulous" condition with the intricate marks from the blood vessels still visible on the inner surface.

There are suggestions it may have belonged to a middle-aged woman from the neolithic period - around the time Stonehenge was built. The skull is also prompting questions about where it may have come from.

A dog walker stumbled across the fragment, which measures 15cm by 10cm (6in by 4in), this year but initially thought it was part of a ball or a coconut shell. The next day he returned to the site on the banks of the Avon near Pershore, Worcestershire, for a closer look and, realising what it was, called police.

West Mercia police contacted experts at Worcestershire Archaeology, who sent the skull to be radiocarbon dated.
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Mystery of the ancient kingdom discovered in Nepal where thousands of caves are carved 155ft off the ground

Anthony Bond
The Daily Mail, UK
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:04 UTC
  • An estimated 10,000 of the caves have been found in the former Kingdom of Mustang in North, Central Nepal
  • They have either been dug into the cliffside or tunnelled from above
  • Caves are thousands of years old but who built them and why remains a mystery
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Mystery: Thousands of man-made caves 155ft from the ground lie hidden within the Himilayas in a gorge so large it dwarfs the Grand Canyon
Hidden within the Himalayas, 155ft from the ground, these man-made caves are one of the World's greatest archaeological mysteries.

Thousands of holes are carved into the fragile, sandy-coloured cliff in a gorge so large it dwarfs the Grand Canyon.

The astonishing number of caves, some dug into the cliffside, others tunnelled from above are thousands of years old but who built them and why remains a mystery.


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Bizarre: With dozens of holes carved into the fragile, sandy-coloured cliff face this unusual 'neighbourhood in the sky' looks like a giant sandcastle
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10,000-year-old remains of settlements are unearthed in Bolivia - making it the oldest archaeological site in the Amazon

Sarah Griffiths
The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 29 Aug 2013 06:51 UTC
Swiss researchers from the University of Bern said mounds of seashells were left by settlers in the early Holocene period, around 10,400 years ago

Experts once thought the previously unexplored area had been rarely occupied by communities due to poor environmental conditions

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Swiss archaeologists analysed forest islands - small forested mounds of earth - which are found throughout Amazonia (pictured). Dashed lines and the grey arrow highlight the onion-like growth of the midden. The black triangles above mark the coring locations used to examine the contents of the mound
Ten thousand-year-old remains of human settlements have been found in Bolivia and is now the oldest archaeological site in the Amazon region.

The find came as a surprise to experts as it was thought the previously unexplored area had been rarely occupied by communities due to poor environmental conditions.

Swiss archaeologists made the discovery after analysing forest islands - small forested mounds of earth - which are found throughout Amazonia.
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Beautiful ancient ring found by archeologists on the Arctic Circle was not for a woman...but a bear


The Siberian Times
Fri, 16 Aug 2013 07:35 UTC
The find, as old as Christ, is the latest treasure from the sacred and mysterious site of Ust-Polui in Salekhard, say experts.

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'I'm writing still under the impression, as I've just seen these things. This is literally a world scale discovery'. Picture: Bear ring, bronze, finding of 2013, by Andrey Gusev
The 2,000 year old ring is seen as proof of a bear cult among these ancient polar people who left no written records but whose intricate artefacts, now the subject of intense interest by archeologists, are as artistic as they are valuable.

Made of high quality bronze, this ancient Arctic jewellery features an image of a bear's head and paws.

Archeologist Andrey Gusev, from the Scientific Research Centre of the Arctic in Salekhard, said: 'It is important to understand that bronze items for this period, and this area of Northern Siberia, are sparse and each bronze thing is a significant addition to our database.

'Ust-Polui is rich in such objects. More than this, many of them have genuine artistic value and help us understand something about the beliefs of these ancient inhabitants. This is the case with this ring showing the head and paws of a bear, which we have found this year.
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India's caste system origin may be in genetic roots; New analysis shows genetic history


Design & Trend
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 14:24 UTC
Caste System
© Reuters PhotographerThese two young boys greeted by their grandmother belong to the Dalit or "untouchable" class, the lowest caste in the Hindu system.The caste system probably arrived in India about 3,500 years ago.
Throughout India and Southeast Asia, the caste system carries on as an age-old method of social separation between high, middle, and lower classes - and according to Live Science, a new genetic analysis suggests that it was enacted around 2,000 years ago.

Researchers have found that people from different genetic populations have been intermingling in the Indian subcontinent about 4,200 years ago, but the mingling stopped about 1,900 years ago.

The genetic information along with ancient texts show that distinction classes had been forming from about 3,000-3,500 years ago, and the caste system came into place around 2,000 years ago.

According to Time, researcher Kumarasamy Thangaraj traveled to the Andaman Islands 840 miles off of the eastern coast of India to collect blood samples from an isolated tribe of hunter-gatherers, which helped them find "pivotal" information in India's genetic history after Thangaraj deposited the blood to a blood bank along with 32,000 other samples of Indian countrymen.

The bloodlines pose a puzzle for Indian researchers, where traces can be seen in Eurasian and African descent. However, at one point in history the mingling stopped and different religious, linguistic, and tribal lines started to form, resulting in over 4,600 different genetic groups.

The find was recently published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, stirring up attention when it revealed that genetic mixing stopped nearly 2,000 years ago. Only historians can determine whether or not the castes stopped the mixing of bloodlines, or vice-versa.
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Stone Age hunters brought home the bacon


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:11 UTC
Domesticated Pig
© Getty ImagesAbout 6,600 years ago the Ertebølle Mesolithic hunter-gatherers acquired domesticated pigs.
Stone Age hunter-gatherers in Europe may have been trading with settled farmers as long as 7,000 years ago -- acquiring pigs to supplement their hauls of wild boar, scientists said Tuesday.

A study in the journal Nature Communications claims to provide the first evidence of live animal trade between the indigenous, nomadic Ertebolle hunters of northern Europe and more advanced, settled farmers who originally came from the Fertile Crescent -- today's Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

"Hunters and farmers were not only acquainted with each other but even traded live animals," said a statement from Germany's Kiel University, which contributed to the study.
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