Oxford Experience 2014

The programme for the Oxford Experience Summer School is now online.  Registration will not begin until late September, but now is the time to start planning your courses for next summer.

You can find the programme here...

Badger digs up medieval warrior graves

A badger has led German archaeologists to a stunning find of medieval warrior graves, complete with one skeleton still clutching a sword and a wearing snake-shaped buckle on his belt. 

Scientists are now examining the burial site where at least eight people were buried.

Artist and voluntary monument maintenance man Lars Wilhelm said he was watching badgers near his home in Brandenburg, north Germany, when he realized they were digging into an ancient grave. 

He said he had been watching the progress of an enormous badger sett for five years. "My wife and I - we are both sculptors - wanted to put artworks in there." 

But this was now out of the question, he said. "The bones changed everything," he added. 

Read the rest of this article...

Roman temple clues found during dig in Conwy Valley

The site of the dig at Llwydfaen Farm where the Roman temple was found

The remains of what is suspected to be a Roman temple have uncovered by archaeologists who had been searching for a lost 11th Century church.

Archaeologists had been trying to find a Norman church on farmland in the Conwy Valley after baked remains became apparent during the hot summer of 2006.

But as the dig got under way the team realised there was a much older building on the site.

Researchers are trying to establish if it was a temple used by Roman soldiers.

The dig, which was being filmed for a Welsh-language television series, had been to try and uncover the remains of a church but instead artefacts dating back to Roman times were unearthed.

Read the rest of this article...

Late Roman ring to ward-off 'evil eye' found in Croatia

Archaeologists in Croatia have found an interesting ring from the 3rd century. At the depth of two metres in the soil in eastern town of Vinkovci they have found the ring with an "eye" that was, according to experts, used to protect the holder from spells.

The ring's "eye" protected the holder from spells [Credit: Croatian Times]

Researchers have at the same place found a lot of ceramics that date from first to sixth century.

"The ring has a drawn rabbit that tastes a flower and that was seen as a symbol of happiness, while the "eye" represents protection against disasters and spells", Vinkovci City Museum director Hrvoje Vulic has told to local news website Cibalia.info.

Read the rest of this article...

Earliest Specialized Neanderthal Bone Tools Discovered

Excavations at two cave sites in southwestern France have yielded bone fragments that show intentional shaping, likely by Neanderthals, to create specialized tools. Dated to before the known advent of modern humans in Europe, researchers suggest that they are the earliest specialized bone tools produced by Neanderthals, implying the need to re-assess elements of current theoretical models of Neanderthals and modern humans in Europe.   

Excavating at the Pech-de-l’Azé I and Abri Peyrony sites, both located at separate tributaries of the Dordogne river in southwestern France, co-leader Shannon P. McPherron of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and colleagues recovered and analyzed assemblages of Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition (MTA) stone artifacts, which also included specially shaped deer rib bone artifacts known as Lissoirs not usually associated with MTA finds. Lissoirs are a specialized tool type made by grinding and polishing, and are thought to have been used on hides to make them tough, impermeable, and lustrous. Three specimens were found at Abri Peyrony and were dated to 47,710 - 41,130 Cal BP using radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry, and one specimen at Pech-de-l’Azé I, dated to 51,400 ka using optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques. The researchers identified the rib bone fragments as coming from medium-sized ungulates, specifically red deer or reindeer.

Read the rest of this article...

ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT GLASS BEADS FROM CULT SITE IN GERMANY

The raw materials for ancient glass beads found in former Rhaetian settlements in Bavaria clearly did not originate from this region. This is the conclusion following an analysis of the beads at the TRIGA research reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).

A total of 42 glass beads from four different sites were examined, 38 of them dating to the early Roman imperial period (30-60 A.D.) and four from the late Roman period (4th century A.D.). “We were able to clearly demonstrate that all of the glass beads from the four sites are made of soda-lime glass,” stated Barbara Karches of the JGU Institute of Nuclear Chemistry. The use of sodium to manufacture the glass indicates that the raw glass must have been produced in the vicinity of soda lakes. The investigations have also provided important information for historians on industry and technology, trade routes, and the lifestyle of people at that time.

Read the rest of this article...

Drought drove collapse of Late Bronze Age civilizations

Climate change may have driven the collapse of once-flourishing Eastern Mediterranean civilizations towards the end of the 13th century BC, according to research published August 14 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by David Kaniewski from the University of Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France and colleagues from other institutions.

This is the region where the study was performed (Salt Lake and the Hala Sultan Tekke in the background) [Credit: Geological Survey of Belgium/ David Kaniewski]

Ancient civilizations flourished in regions of the Eastern Mediterranean such as Greece, Syria and neighboring areas, but suffered severe crises that led to their collapse during the late Bronze Age. 

Here, researchers studied pollen grains derived from sediments of an ancient lake in the region to uncover a history of environmental changes that likely drove this crisis. 

Shifts in carbon isotopes in the Eastern Mediterranean and in local plant species suggest that this lake was once a flourishing harbor that gradually dried into a land-locked salt lake. 

Read the rest of this article...

Laois ‘bog body’ said to be world’s oldest

The bog body found by Jason Phelan at the Bord Na Mona Cashel Bog, in Co Laois. The body is estimated to be over 4,000 years old, and is possibly the result of a human sacrifice. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times.

The mummified remains of a body found in a Laois bog two years ago have been found to date back to 2,000BC, making it the oldest “bog body” discovered anywhere in the world.

The 4,000-year-old remains, which predate the famed Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun by nearly 700 years, are those of a young adult male.

He is believed to have met a violent death in some sort of ritual sacrifice.

The body was unearthed in the Cúl na Móna bog in Cashel in 2011 by a Bord na Móna worker operating a milling machine.

Initially, experts thought it dated from the Iron Age period (500BC-400AD), placing it on a par with similar finds in other Irish bogs.

Read the rest of this article...

Mini-Colosseum of 'Gladiator' Emperor Found

The Roman emperor Commodus might have cultivated the skills showcased in Ridley Scott’s blockbuster film “Gladiator” in a personal miniature Colosseum on his estate near Rome.

Archaeologists from Montclair State University, in New Jersey, believe that a large oval area with curved walls and floors made of marble is, in fact, the arena where the emperor killed wild beasts, earning the nickname “the Roman Hercules,” as recorded in historical writings.

Found in Genzano, a village southeast of Rome which overlooks Lake Nemi, a crater lake in the Alban Hills, the oval structure measures 200 feet by 130 feet and dates to the 2nd century.

It was found by the U.S. team as they excavated thermal baths at an estate known as the Villa of Antonines.

Read the rest of this article...

Archaeologist locates the real location of the Battle of Bosworth

A new book, co-authored by Dr Foard and the historian Professor Anne Curry, describes the background to the battle and the archaeological project to find out where it was actually fought.
Credit: University of Huddersfield

A new book, co-authored by Dr Foard and the historian Professor Anne Curry, describes the background to the battle and the archaeological project to find out where it was actually fought.

For generations it was thought that the Battle of Bosworth – which changed the course of English history - took place at a site in Leicestershire called Ambion Hill. There is a battlefield heritage centre there.

However, historians began to cast doubt on the traditional location for the battle. In 2005 Dr Foard was called in by the Leicestershire County Council to settle the matter. It was to be a long and difficult project but in March 2009, a single 30mm lead ball was found. Many more finds followed and Bosworth would yield more round shots than archaeological surveys on any other late medieval European battlefield.

Read the rest of this article...

Head of a goddess statue discovered in Aegean province

The head of a mother goddess statue is the first of its kind in Turkey. AA photo

The head of an 8,000-year-old statue of a goddess has been found during excavations in İzmir’s Yeşilova tumulus. 

Associate Professor Zafer Derin said they had found very important pieces during this year’s excavations, adding that the four-centimeter head of the statue had a special meaning as it was the first of its kind discovered in Turkey. 

Women and fertility were sacred in western Anatolian culture, Derin said, adding that the area was the center of the mother goddess culture. “We have the head of a mother goddess figure. We know that worship of mother goddesses was common in this region in the past, but we have found the four-centimeter head of a goddess statue for the first time in Turkey. People used to put this statue in their home to have healthier children. This small piece is a very beautiful one from 6000 B.C.”

Read the rest of this article...

5,000-year-old gaming tokens found in Turkey

Small carved stones unearthed in a nearly 5,000-year-old burial site could represent the earliest gaming tokens ever found, according to Turkish archaeologists who are excavating early Bronze Age graves.

These sculpted stones unearthed from an early Bronze Age grave in Turkey could be the earliest gaming tokens ever found [Credit: Haluk Sağlamtimur]

Found in a grave at Başur Höyük, a 820- by 492-foot mound near Siirt in southeast Turkey, the elaborate pieces consist of 49 small stones sculpted in different shapes and painted in green, red, blue, black and white.

"Some depict pigs, dogs and pyramids, others feature round and bullet shapes. We also found dice as well as three circular tokens made of white shell and topped with a black round stone," Haluk Sağlamtimur of Ege University in İzmir, Turkey, told Discovery News.

Read the rest of this article...

Uraltes Erbe: Heutige Schleifwerkzeuge zur Lederbearbeitung wurden in ähnlicher Form schon von den Neandertalern gefertigt

Vier Ansichten des am vollständigsten erhaltenen Lissoirs, der bei Ausgrabungsarbeiten in der Neandertalerfundstätte Abri Peyroni entdeckt wurde. © Abri Peyrony & Pech-de-l’Azé I Projects

Noch heute, 50.000 Jahre nach den Neandertalern und der Ankunft der ersten anatomisch modernen Menschen in Europa, werden sogenannte Lissoirs zur Verarbeitung von Tierhäuten benutzt. Die aus den Rippen von Rehwild hergestellten Schleifgeräte machen Leder weicher, glatter und wasserbeständiger. Wissenschaftler vom Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig und von der Universität Leiden in den Niederlanden haben in zwei einander benachbarten altsteinzeitlichen Ausgrabungsstätten im Südwesten Frankreichs Neandertaler-Werkzeuge aus Knochen entdeckt, die solchen Lissoirs sehr ähnlich sind. Die Werkzeuge unterscheiden sich von allen zuvor in Neandertaler-Stätten gefundenen Geräten.

Read the rest of this article...

Crossrail project uncovers Bedlam burial ground

Crossrail, Britain's biggest construction project and the biggest archaeological dig in London for years, has uncovered everything from a Roman road to a 2,000-year-old horseshoe. And now the bones of long-dead Londoners have been added to the haul.

An archaeologist digs out a skull from the site of the graveyard of the Bethlehem,
or Bedlam, hospital [Credit: Reuters]

And some of the archaeologists' most delicate work involves remains from the Bedlam burial ground, established in the 16th century underneath where Liverpool St station now stands.

Thousands of Londoners were buried in the grounds for a period of about 150 years, from paupers to religious nonconformists to patients at the adjacent Bedlam Hospital, the world's first psychiatric asylum. Its name, a corruption of Bethlehem, became a synonym for chaos.

Read the rest of this article...

Suspected family tomb of Mona Lisa opened

Researchers opened a centuries-old Florence tomb on Friday in a search for remains that could confirm the identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalized in the "Mona Lisa", one of the world's most famous paintings.

A researcher looks up from the family tomb of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, after it was opened at the Santissima Annunziata church in Florence, Italy [Credit: Maurizio Degl' Innocenti/EPA]

A round hole, just big enough for a person to wriggle through, was cut in the stone church floor above the family crypt of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, whose wife Lisa Gherardini is thought to have sat for the Renaissance master in the early 16th century.

Theories abound about who the real Mona Lisa was, but Silvano Vinceti, a writer and researcher who heads Italy's National Committee for the Promotion of Historic and Cultural Heritage, plans to test DNA in the bones in the dank space and try to match it with those of three women buried at a convent nearby.

Read the rest of this article...

Paderborner Stadtgeschichte unterm Fachwerkhaus

Der Ausgräber Sanin Dautovic legt die Fundamente eines im Stadtbrand von 1616 untergegangenen Hauses frei. Teilweise sind noch deutliche Brandspuren des Stadtbrandes erkennbar: verziegelter Lehmboden rechts und Rußspuren auf dem Plattenboden hinten links. Foto: LWL/S. Spiong

Im unterirdischen Paderborn steckt ein wichtiges Stück Stadtgeschichte, wie sich bei aktuellen Ausgrabungen der Stadtarchäologie wieder einmal zeigte. Unter einem historischen Fachwerkhaus verbirgt sich ein mittelalterlicher Vorgängerbau, der viel über die Stadtentwicklung und den Alltag der Paderborner in dieser Zeit verrät.

Read the rest of this article...

Hot summer unearths Roman discoveries in Wales

A tip-off from Dr Jeffrey Davies studying coin finds in central Wales led to this discovery of a previously unrecorded Roman fort complex

A rare Roman fort and marching camp have been discovered in Wales by aerial archaeologists during the hot summer.

The major Roman fort complex was spotted on parched grassland near Brecon, Powys, and the marching camp near Caerwent in Monmouthshire.

Aerial archaeologist Toby Driver said he could not believe his eyes when he spotted the fort from the air.

Scores of Iron Age farms and forts were also found in Pembrokeshire and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The crop of summer discoveries follow similarly exciting Bronze Age ones made during last winter's snow.

Read the rest of this article...

The day before death: A new archaeological technique gives insight into the day before death

This image shows the remains of a 10-13 year old child from the cemetery Lindegaarden in Ribe, Denmark. The grave is from ca. 1200-1250 and has been excavated by Sydvestjyske Museer in Ribe.

The day before the child's death was not a pleasant one, because it was not a sudden injury that killed the 10-13 year old child who was buried in the medieval town of Ribe in Denmark 800 years ago. The day before death was full of suffering because the child had been given a large dose of mercury in an attempt to cure a severe illness.

This is now known to chemist Kaare Lund Rasmussen from University of Southern Denmark – because he and his colleagues have developed a new methodology that can reveal an unheard amount of details from very shortly before a person's death. Mercury is of particular interest for the archaeologists as many cultures in different part of the world have been in contact with this rare element.
"I cannot say which diseases the child had contracted. But I can say that it was exposed to a large dose of mercury a couple of months before its death and again a day or two prior to death. You can imagine what happened: that the family for a while tried to cure the child with mercury containing medicine which may or may not have worked, but that the child's condition suddenly worsened and that it was administered a large dose of mercury which was, however, not able to save its life", says Kaare Lund Rasmussen.

The detailed insight into the life of the child did not come from analyses of the child's bones. Instead Kaare Lund Rasmussen and his colleagues have developed a method to extract information from the soil surrounding the body of the dead child in the cemetery in Ribe, Denmark.

Read the rest of this article...

Medieval tithe barn uncovered in Southam

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe to be a medieval tithe barn in Warwickshire. Foundations from three sides of a stone building were found in Little Park, Southam.

Aerial photo showing the remains of the medieval tithe barn in Southam [Credit: Ariel-cam]

The excavation is being carried out on behalf of Orbit Homes, ahead of the construction of homes for the elderly plus a library and office.

Tithe barns were used to store a tenth of a farmer's produce so it could be given to the Church. This could include wheat or barley.

Demolished

Andrew Mann, an archaeologist working on the site, said: "Tithe barns played a significant part in medieval life and the Southam barn would have been an important and prominent building in the town.

Read the rest of this article...

Ancient treasures found at Russian burial site

Archaeologists have found the intact burial chamber of a noble woman from a powerful tribe that roamed the Eurasian steppes 2,500 years ago in southern Russia, an official said Tuesday.

The woman's skeleton covered with jewelry and decorations [Credit: State Teachers
Training University of Bashkortostan]

The Sarmatians were a group of Persian-speaking tribes that controlled what is now parts of southern Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia from around 500 BC until 400 AD. They were often mentioned by ancient Greek historians and left luxurious tombs with exquisite golden and bronze artifacts that were often looted by gravediggers.

But the burial site found near the the village of Filippovka in the Orenburg region has not been robbed – and contained a giant bronze kettle, jewelry, a silver mirror and what appears to be containers for cosmetics, said history professor Gulnara Obydennova who heads the Institute of History and Legal Education in the city of Ufa.

Read the rest of this article...

Crossrail unearths evidence humans lived on Thames in 7,000 BC

Lead archaeologist Jay Carver said the flint factory was an "exciting find"

Rare evidence that humans lived on the River Thames 9,000 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists working on the Crossrail project.

A Mesolithic tool-making factory featuring 150 pieces of flint was found at the tunnelling worksite in Woolwich.

Archaeologists said prehistoric Londoners were using the site to prepare river cobbles which were then made into flint tools.

Gold has also been discovered at its site in Liverpool Street.

Archaeologists said they were mystified as to how such a precious and expensive gold item made its way to what was then regarded as a deprived area.

Read the rest of this article...

Medieval boat unearthed in Norfolk marshland

A 600-year-old medieval boat has been uncovered by archaeologists working on a flooding project in the Norfolk Broads.

A six-metre oak timber boat, thought to date from 1400, has been discovered along
the River Chet near Loddon by archaeologists [Credit: ITV News]

The remains of the oak timber frame boat, said to have been well-preserved, have been hailed as a 'rare and important' find by the team.

The six-metre boat, thought to date back to 1400, was found by archaeologists excavating a drainage dyke along the River Chet, near Loddon.

The 'significant' find contains wooden pegs, iron nails and copper alloy nails and looks to have been waterproofed with a mixture of animal hair and tar.

Archaeologist Heather Wallis told the BBC: 'No boats of this date have previously been found in Norfolk.

Read the rest of this article...

Vikings ‘ransacked Church gold for jewellery’

Pagan Vikings, who ransacked early Irish churches, melted and transformed sacred objects into jewellery.

Research by a University College Cork scholar has made new discoveries about the “Viking loot” from Ireland. 

He traced how sacred objects were turned into jewellery by Vikings in Norway, Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. 

There are no plans, however, to seek to have returned to Ireland the crosiers that were turned into brooches and chalices that became jewellery boxes, ransacked over two centuries from the “soft targets” of the churches. 

However Dr Griffin Murray of the Department of Archaeology at UCC will tell an international Viking Conference in Shetland this week that he would like to see Irish treasures “taken by the armful” returned in the form of a temporary exhibition. 

Read the rest of this article...

Archaeologists find treasures at ancient Russian burial cite

Archaeologists have found the intact burial chamber of a noble woman from a powerful tribe that roamed the Eurasian steppes 2,500 years ago in southern Russia, an official said Tuesday, Aug 6, according to RIA Novosti.

The Sarmatians were a group of Persian-speaking tribes that controlled what is now parts of southern Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia from around 500 BC until 400 AD. They were often mentioned by ancient Greek historians and left luxurious tombs with exquisite golden and bronze artifacts that were often looted by gravediggers.

But the burial site found near the village of Filippovka in the Orenburg region has not been robbed – and contained a giant bronze kettle, jewelry, a silver mirror and what appears to be containers for cosmetics, said history professor Gulnara Obydennova who heads the Institute of History and Legal Education in the city of Ufa.

Read the rest of this article...

Tithe barn foundations found in Little Park in Southam

Tithe barns were used to store farmers' produce such as wheat or barley

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe to be a medieval tithe barn in Warwickshire.

Foundations from three sides of a stone building were found in Little Park, Southam.

The excavation is being carried out on behalf of Orbit Homes, ahead of the construction of homes for the elderly plus a library and office.

Tithe barns were used to store a tenth of a farmer's produce so it could be given to the Church.

This could include wheat or barley.

Read the rest of this article...

Bulgarian Archeologists Uncover Large Votive Relief of Zeus

A team of Bulgarian archeologists led by Dr. Ivan Hristov has discovered an unusually large votive relief of the ancient Greek God Zeus near the Bulgarian village of Starosel.

The news was announced by the National History Museum for the Bulgarian News Agency Focus.

The archeological team uncovered the votive relief which was much bigger than the ordinary ones and thus it was allegedly the center part of an ancient temple.

A large rock eagle appeared flying round when the archeological team was about to uncover the artifact. As the ancient Greek god Zeus was commonly featured as a rock eagle, some of the archeologists jokingly concluded that god Zeus should have come to look over his sanctuary.

Read the rest of this article...

Neanderthals Found in Greece

Scientists have uncovered new evidence of Neanderthal occupation at the Kalamakia cave site on the western coast of the Mani peninsula in Greece, adding to previously recovered finds at other sites in the area. The finds lend additional support to the theory that Greece and the Southern Balkans served as a dispersal corridor and refugium for Pleistocene era human populations.

The Middle Paleolithic (300,000 to 30,000 BP) cave site was excavated in 1993 - 2006 by an interdisciplinary team from the Ephoreia of Paleoanthropology and Speleology (Greek Ministry of Culture) and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris). The cave yielded lithic (stone tool) remains, an abundance of fauna (animal remains), and human remains of at least 8 and possibly 14 individuals consisting of 10 isolated teeth, a cranial (skull) fragment and three postcranial (other skeletal) elements, as well as several hearths. 

Read the rest of this article...

Oldest Human Fossil in Western Europe Found in Spain

An international team of researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest hominin (early or archaic human) fossil ever found in Western Europe, pushing back the clock on when early humans first colonized Western Europe after their exodus from Africa.

The find, a fossil tooth (molar) uncovered through excavations at the site of Barranco León in the Orce region of southeastern Spain, was dated to about 1.4 million years ago using several combined dating techniques, including Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) in combination with paleomagnetic and biochronological data.  

"While the range of dates obtained from these various methods overlaps with those published for the Sima del Elefante hominin locality (1.2 Ma), the overwhelming majority of evidence points to an older age," reports study author Dr. Isidro-Moyano and colleagues. "Thus, at the moment, the Barranco León hominin is the oldest from Western Europe."* Until now, Sima del Elefante, a rockshelter located in the Sierra de Atapuerca mountain range of northern Spain, held the record for the earliest human fossils in Western Europe.

Read the rest of this article...

Researchers Shed New Light on Genetic Adam and Eve

Previous genetic research has indicated the existence of two ancient modern human individuals who passed their genes along to all humans living today, what scientists have referred to as our most recent common ancestors, or MRCAs. The first, designated "Mitochondrial Eve", lived between 190,000 and 200,000 years ago, and the second, "Y-chromosomal Adam", between 50,000 and 115,000 years ago.

Now, a team of researchers led by Stanford University's Carlos Bustamente and David Poznik have redefined the ranges for Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve, placing them at 120,000 to 156,000 years ago and 99,000 to 148,000 years ago, respectively. The most significant finding relates to the relative timing of their existence.

Read the rest of this article...

Irish 'bog body' may be world’s oldest

The mummified remains of a body found in a Laois bog two years ago have been found to date back to 2,000BC, making it the oldest “bog body” discovered anywhere in the world.

The bog body found by Jason Phelan at the Bord Na Mona Cashel Bog, in Co Laois. The body is estimated to be over 4,000 years old, and is possibly the result of a human sacrifice [Credit: Alan Betson/The Irish Times]

The 4,000-year-old remains, which predate the famed Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun by nearly 700 years, are those of a young adult male. He is believed to have met a violent death in some sort of ritual sacrifice.

The body was unearthed in the Cúl na Móna bog in Cashel in 2011 by a Bord na Móna worker operating a milling machine.

Read the rest of this article...

5,000-year-old art found in Orkney dig

An intricately-inscribed stone was discovered by excited archaeologists at the Ness of Brodgar on Wednesday.

The carved stone unearthed from the Ness of Brodgar site
in Orkney [Credut: Nick Card]

Nick Card, the excavation team director at the dig – which lies in the heart of Neolithic Orkney, between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Strenness – said the latest find had created a “huge buzz” on the site. The stone is unusual as it is artistically decorated on both sides and has impressive deep incisions.

Mr Card, of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology and based at the University of the Highlands and Islands in the islands, said: “It is perhaps the finest piece of art we have recovered from the site, and one of the finest from the UK ever – amazing and awe-inspiring.”

Read the rest of this article...

Selfish traits not favoured by evolution, study shows

Humans and animals could not evolve in a co-operative environment by being selfish, scientists say

Evolution does not favour selfish people, according to new research.

This challenges a previous theory which suggested it was preferable to put yourself first.

Instead, it pays to be co-operative, shown in a model of "the prisoner's dilemma", a scenario of game theory - the study of strategic decision-making.

Published in Nature Communications, the team says their work shows that exhibiting only selfish traits would have made us become extinct.

Game theory involves devising "games" to simulate situations of conflict or co-operation. It allows researchers to unravel complex decision-making strategies and to establish why certain types of behaviour among individuals emerge.

Read the rest of this article...

Ice core data supports ancient space impact idea

New data from Greenland ice cores suggest North America may have suffered a large cosmic impact about 12,900 years ago.

A layer of platinum is seen in ice of the same age as a known abrupt climate transition, US scientists report.

The climate flip has previously been linked to the demise of the North American "Clovis" people.

The data seem to back the idea that an impact tipped the climate into a colder phase, a point of current debate.

Rapid climate change occurred 12,900 years ago, and it is proposed that this is associated with the extinction of large mammals - such as the mammoth, widespread wildfires and rapid changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation.

Read the rest of this article...