Archaeologists discovered a solitary 4,000ya Kerma burial in Sudan's Bayuda Desert. His grave contained beads, an upside-down bowl (possibly symbolizing death's transformation), and a jar filled with bonfire remains that reveal the region once had grasslands and forests medium.com/science-spec...

Scientists have confirmed that sticky brown substances in Egyptian alabaster vessels were opium. Only a handful of vessels are known, including in King Tut's tomb. These were gifted to Persian elites & prized enough to take into the grave, where the opium was often looted medium.com/the-academic...

🐟Scientists discovered the only fossils of their kind: decapitated fish heads from 150 million years ago with their digestive tracts still attached. These Aspidorhynchus predators were violently beheaded by larger hunters, preserving their last meals frozen in time. medium.com/fossils-et-a...

Scientists discovered that repeated tail fractures in hadrosaurids were likely caused by aggressive mating with heavier males crushing females' vertebrae. This could help paleontologists identify female duck-billed dinosaurs in the fossil record 🦕 medium.com/fossils-et-a...

Archaeologists discovered a unique patolli game board at a Maya site in Guatemala but unlike typical scratched boards, this one was crafted as a mosaic. The board was intentionally built into the floor during construction before being built over. medium.com/the-academic...

Scientists have confirmed that sticky brown substances in Egyptian alabaster vessels were opium. Only a handful of vessels are known, including in King Tut's tomb. These were gifted to Persian elites & prized enough to take into the grave, where the opium was often looted medium.com/the-academic...

🐟Scientists discovered the only fossils of their kind: decapitated fish heads from 150 million years ago with their digestive tracts still attached. These Aspidorhynchus predators were violently beheaded by larger hunters, preserving their last meals frozen in time. medium.com/fossils-et-a...

Isotope analysis proves Andean condors once thrived on Peru's northern coast during the Wari Empire (600-1000 CE), feeding almost entirely on marine carrion. This archaeological evidence could support conservation efforts to reintroduce condors to their ancestral habitats medium.com/the-academic...

Bronze Age cultures in northwest China were brewing alcohol 4,000+ years ago using rice and Monascus mold in a fermentation method called "qu." Archaeologists found evidence in 42 pottery vessels from burial sites it seems the ancient dead got one last drink for the road. medium.com/teatime-hist...

New study reveals rats, not just humans, drove Easter Island's deforestation. The invasive rodents devastated palm forests through relentless seed predation. The real lesson is about unintended consequences when invasive species enter vulnerable island ecosystems medium.com/the-academic...

New study finds that "juvenile T. rex" fossils actually belong to a separate species called Nanotyrannus, settling a decades-long debate in paleontology. This discovery completely rewrites what we thought we knew about T. rex development and behavior. medium.com/fossils-et-a...

In 2022, Norwegian police seized 30 ancient Carthaginian coins from a smuggler who claimed they were part of a massive 200kg hoard looted from Tunisia's coast. Scientists traced the bronze coins back to Carthage around 205 BC, likely minted during the Second Punic War 🪙 medium.com/the-academic...

Sarmatians once ruled the Hungarian plains for 400+ years & battled Rome, yet no modern nation claims them as ancestors. New DNA study of 156 genomes reveals the origins of these steppe warriors. How does an entire warrior civilization just vanish from collective memory? medium.com/teatime-hist...

The "Plague of Akhetaten" that supposedly devastated ancient Egypt's sun god city, likely never happened. New evidence shows normal burial practices, expected death rates, and orderly abandonment, not the chaos of an epidemic.🏺 medium.com/science-spec...

Early Scythian art looked nothing like its famous golden successors. The earliest art was only rams, snakes, birds & felines rendered in bronze & bone, all functional horse gear & weapons, no personal adornment. The iconic "Scythian style" we know today evolved much later medium.com/the-academic...

New research dated the Mitchell Log from ancient Cahokia to exactly 1124 CE, a massive ~4 ton tree pole that had to be transported at least 180 km without modern technology. At its peak, Cahokia was larger than London making it the largest city north of Mexico at the time. medium.com/the-academic...

Archaeologists discovered a complete Late Classic Maya residential compound preserved underwater in Belize's mangroves. These invisible sites suggest Maya populations were significantly larger than current estimates based on stone structures alone medium.com/teatime-hist...

Archaeologists uncovered a Byzantine child whose bones had swollen to twice their normal size from a disease that baffles even modern doctors. The rare condition, ICH, vanishes completely by age 3, leaving no trace. This child is one of only a few archaeological cases medium.com/the-academic...

Scientists discovered the world's first fossilized buttock-drag mark & it was made by a dassie (rock hyrax) 126,000 years ago in South Africa. The 95cm groove in ancient sand dunes also contains what may be fossilized dung, making it one of ichnology's most unusual finds. medium.com/teatime-hist...

A new study of 189 ancient Patagonian hunter-gatherers reveals that even the severely injured were cared for, not abandoned. 💔❤️ 3,000 years ago, survival wasn’t just of the fittest, it was of the kindest. medium.com/the-academic...

5,000 ya, the Liangzhu were the only Neolithic Chinese society to work human bones. Research suggests they belonged to anonymous lower-class strangers, discarded like waste in moats. A haunting reflection on what happens when progress creates cities of forgotten people medium.com/the-academic...

Scientists reconstructed a 1mya skull that's rewriting human evolution. The findings suggest modern humans didn't originate 500-700kya, but over 1.3 mya. This pushes back our evolutionary timeline by more than half a million years, if the controversial theory holds up medium.com/teatime-hist...

2,000 yo Siberian ice mummy tattoos were so advanced they'd challenge modern artists. New infrared imaging revealed intricate details showing a master tattooist and apprentice at work. The tattoos were cut during burial, suggesting they served the living, not the dead medium.com/teatime-hist...

Researchers find a Parthian man with an arrowhead still lodged deep in his leg. Remarkably, his bones show signs of healing, meaning he survived the wound despite the arrow never being removed. The find reveals both the precision of their weaponry & their medical knowledge medium.com/the-academic...

🌠New evidence suggests a comet fragment exploding 12,800 years ago wiped woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and an entire human culture. Researchers found shocked quartz at three archaeological sites, the same signature seen at the crater that killed the dinosaurs. medium.com/science-spec...

🐘Study overturns long-held assumptions about ancient ivory trade! For 1000 years, ivory artifacts in the Southern Levant came from Sudan, not Egypt. The real power players? Nubian merchants who maintained this lucrative trade network even when empires collapsed around them medium.com/the-academic...

A 4,800-year-old family statue from Saqqara is rewriting what we know about Old Kingdom art. Unlike any other, it shows a father and mother in the round—but the daughter carved in bas-relief, holding a goose. Was it symbolism, innovation, or just a sculptor’s workaround? medium.com/teatime-hist...

Archaeologists identified the first bone whistle ever found in dynastic Egypt. The whistle was likely used to communicate between guard posts protecting the royal tombs from looters. This humble artifact reveals aspects of daily life in Egypt beyond the famous pyramids medium.com/the-academic...

Scientists discovered the world's oldest mummies in Southeast Asia: smoke-dried bodies dating back 12,000 years. Pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers would bind bodies & smoke them over low fires, preserving them before eventual burial. Since decayed, only their bones remain medium.com/science-spec...

The world's oldest ankylosaur had 3-foot-long spikes & lived 165 Ma! Scientists now think these massive spikes weren't for defense; they were for showing off to potential mates, like peacock feathers. Later species traded these displays for practical armor medium.com/fossils-et-a...

Researchers discovered the earliest known mention of the Shroud of Turin from 1370-1382 by scholar Nicole Oresme. He called it "lies forged by churchmen" and used it as a prime example of clerical fraud to generate church donations. medium.com/the-academic...

🪲 Archaeologists in Poland discovered a 2,500-year-old child's grave containing a necklace made from 17 green beetle shells strung on grass. The delicate ornament survived because bronze corrosion naturally preserved the organic materials. medium.com/teatime-hist...

New research shows how Europe's last hunter-gatherers buried their children. 3 recently discovered child burials show remarkably individualized practices. Hunter-gatherer communities treated each young person's death as unique rather than following rigid burial traditions medium.com/the-academic...

New research reveals how the palmette symbol evolved from elite status marker to royal emblem in ancient Judah, then was deliberately buried during King Josiah's reforms. The motif shows how rulers adopt familiar symbols to speak to both local traditions & imperial powers medium.com/the-academic...

First-ever infant burial found in a Roman military camp in Iberia. The baby was buried in a workshop floor, defying Roman laws that banned women & children from military camps. Was it a protective foundation ritual, or evidence that imperial regulations were ignored medium.com/teatime-hist...

Recent analysis of thousands of years of ibex imagery reveals these wild goats weren't just animals to ancient Near Eastern cultures, they were cosmic symbols. From cave art to goddess myths, ibex symbolized fertility, lunar cycles, and connected earth to stars medium.com/teatime-hist...

New DNA study reveals two 7th-century individuals buried in England had West African ancestry, a young girl & a man, each with a ca 20-40% sub-Saharan African heritage. Their ancestors likely traveled along Byzantine trade routes from the Sahel region to Britain open.substack.com/pub/archaeol...

Just launched Archaeology Teahouse! Weekly deep dives into recent archaeological discoveries - from ancient DNA to prehistoric art to fossilized mysteries. Free subscription at archaeology-teahouse.ghost.io Help me grow this history-loving community! ☕📚

New isotope study reveals ancient Andeans at Vichama chose farming over fishing despite living next to one of the world's richest marine ecosystems🌊🌾Even during periods of increased ocean productivity, agricultural products still dominated their diets medium.com/teatime-hist...

Scientists discovered the oldest member of the Docodonta, Nujalikodon cassiopeiae. This fossil narrows a 40Myr gap in the fossil record. The species is named after an Inuit goddess and the Cassiopeia constellation, reflecting its Greenlandic origin and star-tooth pattern medium.com/the-academic...

New study reveals how Plains Indians adapted their adornment practices in early post-European contact period (1700-1750). Researchers analyzed 5,000+ artifacts from Wyoming's River Bend site, shedding light on complex cultural continuity and adaptive new craft techniques medium.com/teatime-hist...

A recent study analyzed the richest Bronze Age burial from Iran's Tepe Chalow site - a young woman under 18 buried with artifacts including gold jewelry, bronze mirrors, & carved chlorite containers. Female burials were typically more richly furnished than male ones medium.com/teatime-hist...

🦊 A fully translated a ~4,400-year-old Sumerian tablet revealing the world's FIRST "cunning fox" story. The myth tells of a fox who outsmarts the underworld to rescue the storm god Iškur thus establishing the "trickster fox" trope that still appears in stories today 🧪 medium.com/the-academic...

Archaeologists uncover the first sperm whale tooth from Iberian Copper Age, found carefully split and deposited in a ritual pit at Valencina, Spain. This rare discovery offers a glimpse into the mysterious relationship between prehistoric people and these marine creatures🧪 medium.com/the-academic...

Scientists sequenced the first complete ancient Egyptian genome from 4,800-year-old teeth! 🧬 The man from early Dynastic Egypt was of North African (78%) and Middle Eastern ancestry (22%). Interestingly, ADMIXTURE clustering excluded substantial Sub-Saharan ancestry🧪 medium.com/the-academic...

💀New analysis of the 140,000-year-old Skhūl I child skull - one of the world's oldest known burials - reveals it may NOT be fully Homo sapiens after all. The ancient remains show a puzzling mix of Neanderthal, early human, and other archaic features 🧪 medium.com/the-academic...

New study reveals 152-million-year-old Tharsis fish that choked to death on belemnites - squid-like animals they couldn't swallow. Found in Germany's famous Solnhofen limestone, these rare fossils show prehistoric predators sometimes bit off more than they could chew 🧪🐟 medium.com/fossils-et-a...

Archaeologists have discovered the first-ever hominin fossils from submerged Sundaland! Two Homo erectus skull fragments, dating to ~140,000 years ago, were found after dredging operations to create an artificial island in Indonesia's Madura Strait. 🧪 medium.com/teatime-hist...

Study maps murders in 14th-cent England and found Oxford students killed each other over "Northern vs Southern" rivalries. Most murders happened on Sundays. And one noblewoman even orchestrated a priest's murder after he exposed their affairs to the archbishop medium.com/the-academic...

Archaeologists trace the transformation of the ritual cleansing area at the Phoenician Tel Dan temple from a private priests' bathing area to a public fountain house serving pilgrims of an unknown god. The study shows how religious practices adapted over nearly 500 years 🧪 medium.com/teatime-hist...