Weekly Archaeology Journal

Week of August 31: 476,000-Year-Old Wooden Structure Found, Dire Wolf Pups Born, and More

Archaeologists at Kalambo Falls on the Zambia-Tanzania border uncovered the oldest known wooden structure, with two interlocking notched timbers dated to approximately 476,000…

Week of August 24: 25 Turtle Figurines in Turkish Cave, World's First Brand, and More

Archaeologists recovered 25 turtle figurines from Turkey's Gedikkaya Cave suggesting a 14,500-year-old Epipaleolithic ritual site, while researchers identified Qurayyah Painted…

Week of August 17: Denisovan Leg Bones Reveal Exceptional Height, Sayburç Chamber, and More

Penghu 2 and 3, Denisovan leg bones dated to 43,000–45,000 years ago and identified via palaeoproteomic analysis, rank among the largest known from any Pleistocene Homo individual…

Week of August 10: 1,240-Ton Baalbek Monolith Found, Yukon Horse DNA Persists, and More

A second monolith weighing approximately 1,240 tons has been identified in the western quarry at Baalbek, distinct from the Stone of the Pregnant Woman. Sedimentary ancient DNA…

Week of August 3: 2,600-Year-Old Picene Chariot Burial, Hiawatha Crater Redated, and More

A 2,600-year-old Picene funerary complex organized around a prince's tomb containing a two-wheeled chariot, helmet, axe, and weapons has been identified near Sirolo on Italy's…

Week of July 27: 432 Amazon Earthworks Found by LiDAR, Shroud Dating Reassessed, and More

A LiDAR survey in Acre, Brazil documented 432 earthworks—396 of them newly identified—leading researchers to estimate 24,000–30,000 such structures across the Amazon linked to the…

Week of July 20: 1,600 Mustatils Found in Saudi Arabia, Pompeii Shanty Towns, and More

Over 1,600 mustatils dating to 5,300–5,000 BC have been documented across northern Saudi Arabia, predating Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza. Excavations at Pompeii's Insula…

Week of July 13: Sanctuary of Odysseus Identified on Ithaca, Oldest Known Bedding, and More

Archaeologists identified a Hellenistic sanctuary of Odysseus on Ithaca through inscribed dedications and tile stamps from the School of Homer site. The earliest known constructed…

Week of July 6: Olmec Heads Were Royal Portraits, Khmer Capital Rediscovered, and More

New analysis of the Olmec colossal heads—ranging from 1.47 to 3.4 meters tall and weighing up to 28 metric tons—reveals distinctive elite markers like artificial cranial…

Weekly Archaeological Digest

Week of June 22: Kailasa Temple's Monolithic Marvel, Chinkultic's Sacred Cenote, and More

The Kailasa Temple at Ellora, the world's largest monolithic structure, was carved entirely from a single basalt rock during the 8th century CE under the Rashtrakuta dynasty's…

Week of June 8: Archaeology's Scientific Status Debated, Radiocarbon Dating's Predictive Power, and More

A DeDunking video frames archaeology's scientific standing around the distinction between replicability and prediction, citing radiocarbon dating's reliance on the predictable…

Week of June 1: 59,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Dental Drilling, Easter Island Crops, and More

A lower second molar from Chagyrskaya Cave in Siberia shows Neanderthals performed deliberate dental drilling 59,000 years ago—the earliest evidence of such treatment in human…

Week of May 25: Great Pyramid's Natural Earthquake Protection, Pompeii Construction Site, and More

Researchers discovered the Great Pyramid of Giza vibrates at 2.3 Hz while its foundation oscillates at 0.6 Hz, providing natural earthquake protection through this frequency…

Week of May 18: 12,890-Year-Old Towers Found at Tell Qaramel, Natufian Art, and More

Excavations at Tell Qaramel have uncovered five round stone towers predating even Jericho's famous tower, with radiocarbon dating establishing they were built 12,890-10,870 years…

Week of May 11: 31,000-Year-Old Amputation Found in Borneo, Hawara Labyrinth Wall, and More

A 31,000-year-old surgical amputation in Borneo rewrites medical history, with the patient surviving 6-9 years post-procedure, predating previous estimates by over 20,000 years.…

Week of April 20: Osirion Megalithic Architecture Revealed, Olmec Sculptures Reinterpreted, and More

Margaret Murray's 1902 excavation of Egypt's Osirion at Abydos uncovered 10 monolithic rose granite columns standing 4 meters high, surrounding a subterranean moat designed to…

Week of April 27: 900K-Year-Old Near-Extinction Event Discovered, Lost Spanish Colony Found, and More

A genomic study reveals human ancestors experienced catastrophic population collapse approximately 930,000 to 813,000 years ago, declining by 98-98.7% to roughly 1,280 breeding…

Week of April 13: 70,000-Year-Old Botswana Python Cave Ritual, 35m Pelusium Temple, and More

The 70,000-year-old Python Cave in Botswana reveals what may be the world's earliest known Homo sapiens ritual, featuring thousands of deliberately burned spear points and stone…

Week of April 6: 42,000-Year-Old Horse with Liquid Blood, Sohag Ostraca Find, and More

Scientists extracted liquid blood from a 42,000-year-old prehistoric horse foal discovered in Siberia's Batagaika crater—the oldest liquid blood ever recorded. An Egyptian-German…

Week of March 9: 2,300-Year-Old Crystal Cup Defies Replication, Oldest Solstice Alignment, and More

The Warring States Crystal Cup, discovered in 1990 near Hangzhou, remains an archaeological enigma—carved from a single quartz block during China's 4th–3rd century BC, it has yet…

Week of March 23: 303 New Nazca Geoglyphs Discovered, 7-Foot-Tall Skeleton Found in Poland, and More

AI-powered analysis revealed 303 previously unknown figurative geoglyphs in Peru's Nazca Desert, nearly doubling the known total from approximately 430 to 733, with smaller…

Week of March 30: 12th Century Sword in Stone Verified Genuine, Göbekli Tepe Porthole Door, and More

Material analysis has confirmed that the sword embedded in stone at Tuscany's Chapel of Montesiepi dates to the 12th century, with Saint Galgano (1148-1181) attributed as the…