Thursday, October 8, 2026
Charcoal Analysis Suggests Any Wood Would Do for Early Hominins
Ancient Engineering

Charcoal Analysis Suggests Any Wood Would Do for Early Hominins

Transverse section of a fragment of charcoal ash observed under an environmental scanning electron microscope JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—Analysis of charcoal found at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in northern Israel shows that early hominins used readily available tree species for firewood, according to a statement released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For tens of…

Hairless Dogs Identified at Wari Site in Peru

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE—According to a Phys.org report, Weronika Tomczyk of Dartmouth College and her colleagues examined more than 300 dog bones recovered from the site of El Castillo de Huarmey in northern Peru, where a royal tomb of the Wari Empire was uncovered. “Only some remains were found in undisturbed contexts, while most came from…

Exact Location of Shakespeare’s London House Found
Ancient Engineering

Exact Location of Shakespeare’s London House Found

LONDON, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by King’s College London, the location of a property purchased by William Shakespeare in 1613 has been pinpointed on a previously unknown plan identified by Lucy Munro of King’s College London. Located in the Blackfriars neighborhood of central London, the property was situated in the gatehouse of the medieval…

U.S. Museum Repatriates Marble Head to Turkey
Ancient Engineering

U.S. Museum Repatriates Marble Head to Turkey

Marble head of a bearded man from Smyrna, Turkey İZMIR, TURKEY—The Denver Art Museum has repatriated a marble sculpture head of a bearded man taken from the site of the ancient city of Smyrna to Turkey, according to a Yeni Şafak report. Records show that the sculpture, thought to have been carved in the fifth…

Rock Art Discovered in Central Mexico
Ancient Engineering

Rock Art Discovered in Central Mexico

HIDALGO, MEXICO—According to a Mexico News Daily report, 16 paintings and petroglyphs have been discovered on cliffs near the Tula River and the La Requena Dam, at central Mexico’s El Venado site, which is named for the depictions of deer on rock faces there. Archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History investigated the…

Nazi Ammunition Depot Identified in Slovakia
Ancient Engineering

Nazi Ammunition Depot Identified in Slovakia

Concrete mine BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA—According to a report in The Slovak Spectator, the site of an ammunition depot dating to World War II has been identified outside of the city of Bratislava in the Little Carpathian Mountains. “Based on the composition of the finds, the terrain, and their distribution, we were able to determine that this…

Shipwrecks Mapped in the Bay of Gibraltar
Ancient Engineering

Shipwrecks Mapped in the Bay of Gibraltar

Nit comb found in the Puente Mayorga IV wreck, Bay of Gibraltar, Spain MADRID, SPAIN—The Guardian reports that more than 130 shipwrecks have been found in the Bay of Gibraltar by Project Herakles, a team of researchers from the University of Cádiz and the University of Granada. “It’s one of those bottlenecks through which ships…

This 31-foot “terror croc” ate dinosaurs. Now it’s back

A massive, bus-sized “terror croc” that once preyed on dinosaurs has been brought back to life in stunning detail with the first scientifically accurate full skeleton of Deinosuchus schwimmeri. Stretching over 30 feet long, this ancient apex predator ruled the southeastern U.S. more than 75 million years ago—and now visitors can see it up close…

Tombs Yield Clues to Neolithic Family Structure

CARDIFF, WALES—An international team of researchers has conducted a genetic study of human remains recovered from early Neolithic tombs in northern Scotland and confirmed that the families buried there were organized through the male line, according to a Live Science report. The DNA samples were taken from 22 individuals interred in five different tombs in…