One of the most profound shifts in human prehistory occurred around 10,000 years ago. Our ancestors figured out that the plants they were eating did not need to grow where they were found: with the right approach they could grow anywhere you chose to grow them. And then everything began to change. This is known
Archaeologists working in the Manot Cave system in Galilee have found a mysterious carving deep within the darkness. The sculpture, apparently of a tortoise or turtle, is extremely unusual. For one, it is incredibly old, a Paleolithic relic thought to date back 35,000 years. Perhaps even more intriguingly, we do not know whose god this
A new discovery in Gibraltar may finally confirm a long held theory about Neanderthals. While we know they knew how to make fire, now we know to make ovens too. Existing theories abound about neanderthal hearths and the structures built around them to capture and enhance their heat, primarily for extracting tar which they used
The wheel and axle is among the most important invention in human history. It transformed our ability to carry heavy loads, allowing for the large-scale transportation of goods from farmlands to cities. It directly supported the rise of urban centers, and through them the birth of civilization. Traditionally it has been thought that the wheel
A team of researchers from St Andrew’s University in Scotland have made an astonishing discovery regarding an ancient ruin at the other end of the country. The rectangular earthworks known locally as “King Arthur’s Hall” on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor have been found to be much older than had been thought. The name itself was always
Archaeologists excavating a site in the Maghreb desert in north western African known as Oued Beht have uncovered evidence of a farming society from the Neolithic that was completely unknown, according to a paper in the journal Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The culture appears to have been complex and is, at this time,