Paleoanthropologists have identified a trove of Denisovan fossils from a cave in China’s Yunnan province, extending the known range of the elusive human relative and providing the first-ever direct evidence of what its forearm bones looked like.
The post Denisovans Once Roamed Southwest China, New Fossils Reveal appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Neanderthals and modern humans did not simply occupy the same landscape and disappear from one another’s story. A study of Üçağızlı II Cave in southern Türkiye points to a longer period of cultural continuity in the northern Levant, where stone tools, shell ornaments and other remains appear across a sequence spanning more than 20,000 years. […]
The post Did Neanderthals and Modern Humans Share a Culture for 20,000 Years? appeared first on Curiosmos.
Archaeologists in southwestern Germany have unearthed two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, among the smallest and most delicate examples of Ice Age art ever found.
The post 40,000-Year-Old Bird Figurines Found in German Cave appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Ararat-1, a modest limestone cave that lies at an elevation of 1,034 m on the eastern flanks of the Ararat Depression in central Armenia, has yielded a striking puzzle about how Middle Paleolithic humans moved across their landscape.
The post Stone Tools from Armenian Cave Reveal Split Strategy for Survival 50,000 Years Ago appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
New analysis of microscopic plant remains collected from ashy pits within Cloggs Cave on Australian Aboriginal nation land confirms that local ancient inhabitants burned chosen grasses for magic and spiritual rituals dating back 25,000 years before present.
The research team behind the new analysis said the evidence also suggests that the ancient cave has been in continuous use throughout the entire timespan, offering scientists a rare glimpse into the magic and spiritual beliefs of Australia’s ancient inhabitants.
According to a statement announcing the ‘magical’ discovery, 19th-century ethnographic reports recorded a network of caves in Gippsland and the Southern Victorian Alps. Those same reports also noted that local oral traditions suggested that the caves were used by powerful women and men called “mulla-mullung” and other spiritual practitioners for magic, healing, and “cursing” rituals.
Previous archaeological expeditions determined that these caves, including the study site at Cloggs Cave, were occupied throughout the past 25,000 years. However, little direct evidence has been provided to support the oral traditions of magic and healing taking place within the caves.
Instead of cave art or other magical relics that may not have survived the passage of time, the research team, led by Dr Elle Grono, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, focused on phytoliths, which are microscopic silica bodies from plants recovered from Cloggs Cave. To gain insight into the potential uses of Cloggs Cave, the studied phytoliths were recovered from its buried deposits.
When detailing the process, Dr. Grono said that phytoliths have the advantage of mostly accumulating where a plant decays. Conversely, plant pollen can be dispersed by winds or insects, diminishing some of their historic site value. This difference is critical, Grono said, because phytoliths found inside Cloggs Cave must have come from humans or other animals bringing them inside.
“No plants grow inside the cave due to a lack of light, so the phytoliths must have been carried in by people or by animals such as possums on their fur or through their scats,” the team leader explained.
To determine the taxonomic groups of the thousands of recovered phytoliths, the team examined the samples under a microscope. To ensure the samples were from plants brought into the cave by humans and not animals, the team used specimens collected from one pit that was 1.5 meters deep and a second that was 2.3 meters deep.
Grono said the team also exclusively studied half-burnt phytoliths from “ashy” layers within the pits. The researcher noted that this extra selection criterion also helps ensure the samples came from samples brought into the caves by humans, “as unburnt ones might have arrived through either means.”
The top layer of the two pits consisted of 73 thin, ashy layers of burnt plant material. When the research team performed optically stimulated luminescence and carbon dating tests to establish when the material was laid down, the latter via accelerator mass spectrometry, the results placed the deposition of the material between 4,400 and 1,600 years ago.
When searching through the ashy pits, the team found a 28-cm-high “standing” stone. They note that subsequent analysis showed that the stone was likely erected in Cobbs Cave “by Old Ancestors for ritual purposes around 2,000 years ago.”
When the analysis was complete, the team had identified 29 different phytolith types representing a wide range of plants. This included woody plants, herbs, and grasses.
The team determined that as much as 97% of the burnt matter came from grass. This included disparate species, such as grasses that prefer temperate or cooler climates and grasses that prefer warm and humid conditions to thrive, deposited in the same ash layer.
“Here we show that the Old Ancestors selected whole grasses from the wider landscape and carried them into Cloggs Cave to spread out in thin layers and burn,” Dr. Grono said. “Over time, sediments covered these burnt layers, preserving each layer on top of another over thousands of years.”
The researchers said the taxonomic analysis revealed that the “Old Ancestors” were selective of which grass types they brought into the cave and which ones they omitted. For example, they avoided what the team noted were “diverse species” of grasses still plentiful in nearby riparian forest and open woodland before European settlement.
“The phytoliths found at Cloggs Cave were from different parts of grass plants such as stems, leaves, flowers, and roots, indicating that whole grasses were brought in, including the inedible parts,” Grono explained.
Although there is no direct record of the reason the ancient people selected and burned grass inside of Cobbs Cave, dating back thousands of years, Professor Bruno David from Monash University, who co-led the excavations with GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Corporation, said the behavior is “consistent with GunaiKurnai traditional practices of using ash to perform magic and rituals.” Professor David also noted the practice could allow the participants to track the footsteps of anyone entering the cave, “including spirit beings.”
The team also found macro-botanical evidence, including fat-smeared trimmed wooden sticks from Casuarina trees, in deeper and older pit deposits. Professor David said this discovery suggests that “other kinds of rituals using woody plants” were also performed in Cobbs Cave.
When discussing the historical significance of the discovery, the researchers said that finding partially or completely burned phytoliths “throughout the dated deposits” suggests that humans intentionally brought selected plants and grasses into the cave and burned them “over the entire timespan of the past 25,000 years.”
The study “Phytoliths from Cloggs Cave, GunaiKurnai Country (southeastern Australia) reveal the gathering of whole grasses for burning practices inside the cave” was published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org
In Israel’s Qafzeh cave, archaeologists have discovered an intriguing set of ancient human remains that reveal a story of illness, violence, death, and survival in the remote past.
The international team of archaeologists from Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) and Tel Aviv University revealed their analysis of ancient human fossil remains, known as Qafzeh 25, in a recent paper published in Scientific Reports.
The findings provide rare evidence of interpersonal violence, care for the injured, and early funerary practices in a human population that lived between 92,000 and 145,000 years ago.
The researchers used a range of techniques to examine one particularly intriguing skull, including high-resolution micro-computed tomography (microCT) alongside macroscopic and microscopic analyses. Their investigation revealed a linear lesion across the mandible and lower premolars, with characteristics consistent with trauma inflicted by a sharp object.
Despite the severity of the injury, the researchers concluded that the individual survived the ordeal based on evidence of bone remodeling. The extent of healing suggests the person lived for a considerable period after suffering the wound.
Although the available evidence does not allow archaeologists to determine exactly how the injury occurred, they consider interpersonal violence the most likely explanation. The discovery is particularly significant because evidence of sharp-force trauma in Middle Paleolithic human remains is exceedingly rare.
Beyond the apparent head injury, the Qafzeh 25 skull yielded another remarkable discovery. Detailed examination of the teeth revealed dental conditions that had not previously been documented in humans of this antiquity.
The microCT scan revealed a hidden carious lesion in a lower premolar, along with enamel defects. These sorts of tooth decay issues are uncommon in early homo sapiens, as they are largely caused by bacteria that thrive on sugars. Before the advent of agriculture and later processed carbohydrates and refined sugars, such tooth decay was rare due to diets high in meats, nuts, and fibrous vegetables, which helped clean the teeth.
Looking beyond the skull, the researchers also examined the broader funerary context of the skeleton in an effort to reconstruct the burial practices of these ancient humans.
A broader analysis of the entire skeleton suggests it was deliberately buried, as it lacks evidence of carnivore predation or damage consistent with exposure to the elements. According to the researchers, this makes Qafzeh Cave one of the most important sites in the world for studying Homo sapiens’ earliest internment practices and the relationship not just between the living and the dead, but also between the living and the dying.
“These findings provide new evidence in the ongoing debate about the origins of complex behaviours such as interpersonal violence, the care of injured or ill individuals, and funerary practices—fundamental aspects for understanding the social and cultural evolution of our species,” said lead author Ana Pantoja Pérez, a member of the DEATHREVOL research group.
The find represents one of the earliest known well-preserved human populations outside of Africa at this time, residing in the Levant at least 90,000 years ago. With evidence of a healed traumatic injury, unusual dental disease, and intentional burial, the Qafzeh 25 skeleton offers a rare glimpse into the lives—and deaths—of some of our earliest ancestors.
The paper, “A Taphonomic Reassessment of Qafzeh 25 and Its Implications for Violence, Health and Funerary Practices,” appeared in Scientific Reports on June 30, 2026.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
The discovery offers one of the oldest known examples of interpersonal violence.Üçağızlı II Cave on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast has yielded a rare and detailed record of two Homo species living the same way of life, one after the other, over more than 20,000 years, offering new evidence that the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans in the region was far more culturally seamless than previously understood.
The post Ancient Turkish Cave Reveals Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Shared Same Way of Life appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
A team of researchers examined 23 teeth from at least 20 individuals from South Africa‘s Rising Star Cave system and found no evidence of the male-specific Amelogenin-Y protein.
A recent study, published in Cell, marks the first ancient protein analysis of Homo naledi and raises the possibility that the Dinaledi Chamber may contain predominantly, or possibly exclusively, female individuals. If confirmed, Homo naledi would become the first known non-human species to practice sex-specific burial.
Since its discovery in 2013, Homo naledi has puzzled paleoanthropologists. This extinct human relative lived between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago and combined ape-like anatomy with distinct human features. So far, Homo naledi remains have only been found in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa.
For over a decade, scientists noted that the adult fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber were nearly identical, lacking the skeletal variation usually seen between males and females. The reason for this similarity remained unclear.
To investigate further, a team from the University of York, the University of Copenhagen, and additional institutions analyzed the remains at the molecular level. They used a minimally destructive acid-etching method to extract protein fragments, or peptides, from the enamel of the 23 teeth.
“Unlike those found in other remains like bone fragments, proteins in tooth enamel are preserved because dental enamel—the hardest tissue in the human body—shields proteins from environmental contamination even for millions of years. This makes them ideal carriers of genetic information from deep time. Our study helps explain the long-standing mystery of why Homo naledi lacked significant variation; it’s probably because they could have all belonged to one sex,” said Palesa Madupe, who conducted the research during her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Copenhagen.
The researchers specifically searched for Amelogenin-Y, a protein produced only by the male Y chromosome, but detected none of it in the sampled teeth. To make sure the results were not due to modern contamination, a specialized chemistry team at the University of York independently confirmed that the amino acids were genuinely ancient. The findings remained consistent.
“The lack of male markers within the group is truly fascinating. It is incredibly exciting to gain a window not only into the biology of our ancestors, but also into how they lived. These findings offer rare insights into a culture that has, until now, been difficult to access directly. Advances in ancient protein analysis are opening the door to a far richer and more nuanced understanding of ancient hominins,” said Dr. Marc Dickinson from the university’s Department of Chemistry.
The findings allow for two possible explanations. One is cultural: if the chamber were reserved for females, it could indicate that Homo naledi practiced sex-specific, symbolic mortuary behavior, a trait previously thought to be unique to modern humans.
The second explanation is biological. The researchers note that a small, isolated Homo naledi population could have lost or mutated the Amelogenin-Y gene, leaving males without the protein marker typically used to identify male remains.
Either explanation could reshape what scientists know about Homo naledi. If researchers confirm the site as an all-female burial chamber, it would suggest that symbolic behavior emerged earlier in the human lineage than previously believed. On the other hand, a genetic change across the population would show how isolation can shape a species’ biology in ways that fossils alone cannot reveal. This study shows how ancient protein analysis from teeth can open new windows into human evolution.
Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.
From space-surviving tardigrades to ghostly deep-sea fish, these creatures make Earth’s impossible places look alive.Scientists have uncovered compelling new evidence that early human ancestors, likely Homo erectus, were deliberately bringing fire into Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa as far back as 1.79 million years ago.
The post Evidence of Fire Use by Early Humans May Date Back Nearly 1.8 Million Years appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Archaeologists working with the Israeli Antiquities Authority have announced the discovery and excavation of a cave located just outside the town of Fureidis, which has revealed signs of early human presence dating back to between 250,000 and 400,000 years ago.
The team of researchers behind the ongoing excavation said the fortuitous discovery could represent a “time capsule” that has remained sealed for hundreds of thousands of years, offering researchers an unprecedented glimpse into a critical period in human evolution.
According to a statement emailed to The Debrief, the ancient cave, which lies south of Haifa, near the Zikhron Ya’akov interchange, likely dates back to sometime between 400,000 and 250,000 years before present. The team notes that the range would mean it was sealed since the time of the Acheulo-Yabrudian culture, a period when ancient human ancestors began to display several complex tool-making skills, including various stone blade designs which were in use by hominins until around 300,000 years ago, marking the end of the Lower Paleolithic period.
“The culture we are investigating here was characterized by a variety of advanced methods for producing flint tools, including small sharp handaxes, scrapers, and blades,” explained Dr. Kobi Vardi, head of the Prehistory Branch at the Israel Antiquities Authority and the study’s co-director.
Most archaeologists put the African departure date of the last common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals between 700,000 and 500,000 years ago, and the first genetic interbreeding between the two species around 130,000-1,000,000 years ago. Therefore, finding a sealed cave containing relics from the period between these two critical evolutionary junctures offers the research team an unprecedented opportunity.
“We have been fortunate to excavate a unique site of global importance that has been protected from the ravages of time thanks to the exceptional conditions that existed here,” said team member Professor Ron Shimelmitz of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa.
Dr. Vardi agreed, noting that “It is very rare to find a site in such a state of preservation.”
“Every prehistorian who visits the site is absolutely thrilled,” he added.
In that same statement, Prof. Shimelmitz noted that the end of the Lower Paleolithic was a “unique time period” before Neanderthals and modern humans became the dominant hominids of the era and spread across “many regions.”
“Only a handful of sites from this important phase have been uncovered in Israel, and the wider Levant, and most of them are inaccessible for research,” the professor explained, adding that marked changes in human physiology, technology, and social organization “foreshadowed the traits and complex behavioral patterns that developed later and characterize both Neanderthals and modern humans.”
One component that helped facilitate the development of complex culture, highlighted by Prof. Shimelmitz, is the transition from ancient humans living in larger groups. He also emphasized the advent of human ancestors “spending longer periods at the same sites.”
Early excavations have already uncovered evidence of what the researcher termed “intensive use of fire.” These early forays have also found signs of prolonged human activity. Prof Shimelmitz said these signs suggest a “complex and rich camp life.”
Dr Vardi said that the ongoing excavation is uncovering animal bones, including ancient specimens of fallow deer, gazelle, and an ancient variety of horse.
Dr. Vardi also noted that these finds were discovered “alongside evidence of the presence of water,” which he suggests may have made the ancient cave an attractive location for hunter-gatherer groups inhabiting the region at the time.
When discussing the implications of their findings, Prof. Shimelmitz first expressed the team’s appreciation for the financial support and enthusiasm shown by the project’s sponsor, the Ayalon Highways Company, “in enabling us to undertake the excavation.”
As for the scientific value of their initial discoveries and the potential for further insights into this period in human history, the professor noted that findings to date are typically associated with “the development of social cooperation and the transmission of knowledge, as part of the processes of human evolution.”
Dr. Vardi echoed those sentiments, while also noting that the ancient cave’s archaeological value “is no less important” than that of the well-known Nahal Me’arot site from the same evolutionarily critical period.
“(This site) will allow us to study in high resolution how humans lived at that time,” the researcher added.
Given the importance the research team put on the site, which included co-leader Amit Gabbay, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Haifa are already putting forth what they describe as a “large-scale research program that seeks to reconstruct how humans lived, adapted to their environment, and developed new lifestyles and technologies over the course of human evolution.”
Along with heralding the site’s scientific value, the researchers highlighted its cultural importance by declaring their goal to make the site “open and accessible to all: to the residents of Fureidis, students at the nearby school, and anyone interested in the prehistory of the region,” once the formal excavations are completed.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
New radiocarbon dates from Sala Keimada, a hard-to-reach chamber of Cueva Palomera in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, suggest that generations of people returned to the sacred space from the end of the Ice Age through the Iron Age, leaving behind art, structures and offerings.
The post Spanish Cave Sanctuary Reveals More Than 11,500 Years of Activity appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Strange green stones, evidence of repeated ancient expeditions, hidden burials, and other discoveries have been made in a remote cave high in the Pyrenees mountains.
The findings were made in a cave located more than 7,300 feet above sea level, revealing evidence that ancient visitors repeatedly endured the hardships of climbing to such altitudes for a period spanning 2,000 years. The question for archaeologists had been why this cave seems to have held such importance.
Now, discoveries at the remote site could potentially alter our understanding of ancient European uses of mountain landscapes in prehistoric times. Of key importance, archaeologists have uncovered ancient hearths that contain small samples of green minerals, which point to ancient mining activities that likely supported ancient metallurgy in the region.
For more than 2,000 years, ancient Europeans repeatedly traveled to this remote cave, leaving behind evidence of their visits that includes ancient hearths and even a child’s tooth, suggesting the possibility that there may even be hidden graves at the site.
Professor Carlos Tornero, a researcher with the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, says these discoveries are surprising, since past research suggested such areas would only have been occasionally traversed by humans during periods of migration, rather than becoming destinations.
“For a long time, high-mountain environments were seen as marginal, places prehistoric communities passed through occasionally,” said Tornero, who is the lead author of a new study detailing the findings.
That wasn’t the case with this Cave 338, as archaeologists now call it, which turned out to be a far more unique site.
“We found a really rich archaeological sequence, including multiple combustion structures and a very large number of green mineral fragments,” Tornero recently said. “We can’t say exactly how long people stayed each time, but the repeated use of the space and the density of remains suggest occupations that were short to medium in duration, but happening again and again over long periods of time.”
At Cave 338, initial excavations began with a small area spanning six square meters near the cave’s entrance. There, Tornero and the team uncovered evidence of human activity temporally associated with four distinctive layers.
In the most recent layer of human occupation, artifacts from historical periods were found, although in smaller numbers, which suggested that the cave’s use had likely decreased gradually with time. Similar limited use was evidenced in the cave’s deepest layers, where charcoal fragments were discovered with dates indicating human activity as far back as 6,000 years ago.
Within layers two and three, significantly more activity was discernible. Discoveries within these layers included nearly two-dozen hearths, many of which contained burned fragments of a green mineral that researchers believe may be malachite.
If confirmed, this is significant, since malachite is rich in copper and can be processed to extract the metal, meaning that ancient visitors to the cave may have visited the site specifically to mine this unique green mineral. Cave 338 would therefore represent a very high-altitude mining camp, which ancient Europeans somehow discovered and repeatedly visited.
Based on radiocarbon dating, hearths located in the site’s second layer are approximately 3,000 years old, while those in the layer directly beneath it date to between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago.
Dr. Julia Montes-Landa of the University of Granada, who was a co-author of the new paper, says that evidence suggests many of the fragments were thermally altered—in other words, they were intentionally exposed to fire—while some of the samples found at the site were not.
This, she argues, “clearly suggests that fire played an important role in their processing and that there was a deliberate intention behind it.”
“They weren’t burned by accident,” Montes-Landa says.
Another indication of ancient industrial activity at the site involves the placement of the hearths in layers two and three, many of which overlap, which strongly suggests reuse. However, more than one area containing overlapping hearths is present, which also suggests that while reuse occurred, it took place in successive periods of visitation throughout time.
In addition to ancient evidence of mining and thermal alteration of stone, within the site’s third layer, a small amount of human remains—an ancient baby tooth and a finger bone believed to have belonged to a child—were found.
Such scant remains do not provide context for the cause of death or whether the remains came from the same individual. However, it does point to the possibility of hidden burials that may exist in other portions of the cave.
In addition to human remains, prehistoric artifacts were found at the site, which date to the second millennium BC, including a shell pendant and another made from a bear’s tooth.
“The shell pendant is interesting because it has parallels in other sites in Catalonia, which suggests shared traditions or connections between different communities,” Tornero said. “The bear tooth pendant is much less common.”
“That might point to something more specific or symbolic, possibly linked to the local environment,” Tornero suggests.
Obviously, 338 held significance to ancient inhabitants of the region, since, despite the daunting trek reaching it would have required, humans clearly returned there over and over again for a period of at least two thousand years, although evidence of human presence at the location extends to as much as double that amount of time.
Going forward, Tornero, Montes-Landa, and their colleagues hope that future excavations may reveal additional clues about who had been coming here for so long, and what specifically attracted them to the cave.
Of key significance will also be confirmation that the mineral contains copper.
“The identification of the green mineral as malachite is still preliminary,” Tornero says, adding that ongoing research “will provide final answers shortly.”
Much work remains to be done at the site, and Tornero and his team plan to resume excavations there later this year.
“The excavation hasn’t yet reached the full depth of the site,” Tornero said, “so the sequence is not completely documented.”
“This summer we will continue the archaeological work,” Tornero added.
For now, Cave 338 already shows that even some of the most remote areas of the Pyrenees could have played significant roles in the way ancient humans utilized the land and its resources.
“As such, the site provides a key reference framework for understanding high-mountain occupation, resource exploitation and mobility dynamics in the Pyrenees during later prehistory,” the authors write in their recent paper.
The team’s paper, “Beyond 2,000 meters, first evidence of intense prehistoric occupation in the Pyrenees,” appeared in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
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