Ancient
A mysterious ancient grave with a sword and mirror belonged to a woman
A roughly 2,000-year-old woman with a potentially violent streak has emerged from skeletal rubble found on an island off southwestern England’s coast. A jumble of tooth and bone fragments in a Late Iron Age grave belonged to a young woman who was interred with items that include a sword, shield and bronze mirror, researchers report…
Ancient Maya power brokers lived in neighborhoods, not just palaces
Pots with fancifully molded eyes, noses and mouths were one of the tip-offs. Adrian Chase already had a growing sense that Maya society wasn’t quite what it’s been traditionally portrayed as: powerful rulers reigning while powerless commoners obeyed — or perhaps lived far enough from seats of power to operate largely on their own. Work…
How the rules of long-lost board games take us inside ancient minds
In ancient Egypt, royals and subjects alike played a board game called Senet Granger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo A FEW years ago, while excavating the 5000-year-old burial mound of Basur Hoyuk in south-east Turkey, archaeologists unearthed a collection of 49 tiny stone figures: pigs, dogs, pyramids and pillars, all elaborately carved and painted. They…
The US needs to do more to preserve its ancient sites
IN OCTOBER, the US Department of Homeland Security made an urgent announcement. New barriers and roads were needed along the Texas-Mexico border – but construction was impeded by federally mandated surveys and permits. These protect the environment and archaeological sites. They also take time to complete. To speed construction, the Biden administration waived compliance with…
Ancient climate analysis suggests CO2 causes more warming than thought
Illustration of Earth 65 million years ago, when CO2 levels were much higher than those of today CHRIS BUTLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY It is possibly the toughest question in climate science: how much warming does carbon dioxide cause? A new analysis of 66 million years of Earth’s climate history suggests the planet is much more sensitive…