Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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caltrek
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Bering Land Bridge Formed Surprisingly Late During Last Ice Age
December 27, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) A new study shows that the Bering Land Bridge, the strip of land that once connected Asia to Alaska, emerged far later during the last ice age than previously thought.

The unexpected findings shorten the window of time that humans could have first migrated from Asia to the Americas across the Bering Land Bridge.
The findings also indicate that there may be a less direct relationship between climate and global ice volume than scientists had thought, casting into doubt some explanations for the chain of events that causes ice age cycles. The study was published on December 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This result came totally out of left field,” said Jesse Farmer, postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University and co-lead author on the study. “As it turns out, our research into sediments from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean told us not only about past climate change but also one of the great migrations in human history."

Further Extract:
But the new data show that sea levels became low enough for the land bridge to appear only 35,700 years ago. This finding was particularly surprising because global temperatures were relatively stable at the time of the fall in sea level, raising questions about the correlation between temperature, sea level and ice volume.
Read more of the EurekAlert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/975362
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Tiny creature unlocks life before the ice age

1 hour ago

A cave in Canada has been declared a globally significant location to preserve a rare amphipod.

Stygobromus canadensis is believed to have survived since before the glaciation of the surrounding landscape during the last ice age.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-64377367


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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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caltrek
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Cult, Herding, and ‘Pilgrimage’ in the Late Neolithic of North-west Arabia: Excavations at a Mustatil East of AlUla
March 15, 2023

Abstract:
(PLOS One) Since the 1970s, monumental stone structures now called mustatil have been documented across Saudi Arabia. However, it was not until 2017 that the first intensive and systematic study of this structure type was undertaken, although this study could not determine the precise function of these features. Recent excavations in AlUla have now determined that these structures fulfilled a ritual purpose, with specifically selected elements of both wild and domestic taxa deposited around a betyl. This paper outlines the results of the University of Western Australia’s work at site IDIHA-0008222, a 140 m long mustatil (IDIHA-F-0011081), located 55 km east of AlUla. Work at this site sheds new and important light on the cult, herding and ‘pilgrimage’ in the Late Neolithic of north-west Arabia, with the site revealing one of the earliest chronometrically dated betyls in the Arabian Peninsula and some of the earliest evidence for domestic cattle in northern Arabia.
Introduction:
Since the 1970s, monumental structures now called mustatil (previously known as ‘gates’) have been documented across Saudi Arabia [1–3]. Mustatil is the Arabic for rectangle (مستطيل), plural has been anglicised to mustatils. However, it was not until 2017 that the first intensive and systematic study of this structure type was undertaken by David Kennedy [4]. Kennedy’s [4] study was based on remote sensing data and was focused primarily upon the Harrat Khaybar and areas to the east. Due to the nature of the data-set, Kennedy was unable to hypothesise a precise function for these enigmatic structures. However, subsequent studies based on ground survey and preliminary excavation data revealed that the mustatil served a ritual purpose during the Arabian Late Neolithic [5–7]. In 2018, under the auspices of the Royal Commission for AlUla, the first mustatil was excavated by Wael Abu-Azizeh with Oxford Archaeology, with these excavations revealing offering chambers with in situ ritual faunal deposits [7].
Read more here (including footnotes): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/arti ... e.0281904
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caltrek
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Ancient DNA Sheds Light on Wooly Mammoth Evolution, And They Weren't Always So Fluffy
by Russell McLendon
April 19, 2023

Introduction:
(Science Alert) As wooly mammoths grazed frigid Siberian steppes for more than half a million years, they evolved increasingly fluffy fur, large fat deposits, and smaller ears, according to a new study.

By comparing the genomes of modern elephants with those of multiple wooly mammoths – including individual mammoths that lived 600,000 years apart – researchers gained new insight into the evolution of these ice-age icons.

Distinctive features like fluffy fur and fat deposits were already genetically encoded in early wooly mammoths, the study found, but these and other characteristics seem to have grown more pronounced as the mammoths adapted to Siberia over hundreds of millennia.

"We wanted to know what makes a mammoth a wooly mammoth," says paleogeneticist and first author David Díez-del-Molino from the Center for Paleogenetics in Stockholm.

In addition to finding genetic evidence of fluffier fur and small ears, "there are also many other adaptations like fat metabolism and cold perception that are not so evident because they're at the molecular level," he adds.

Read more of the Science Alert article here: https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-d ... so-fluffy

Read a lengthier presentation of the full study as presented in Current Biology here: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/f ... 3)00404-9
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Nanotechandmorefuture
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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wjfox wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 3:29 pm
This is where space travel gets interesting. Presuming humanity achieves in 100 years within solar system space travel even our own neighborhood will be different when we get there in real time. Wormhole instant travel like Mass Effect series presumes instant and very small lost time preserving how a galaxy is currently. The dangers of course would be like in Mass Effect 2 which is going to uncharted areas of space and not knowing what you will find!
weatheriscool
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Ancient Woman’s DNA Recovered From 20,000-Year-Old Deer Tooth Pendant
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https://scitechdaily.com/ancient-womans ... h-pendant/
By Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology May 7, 2023
Pierced Deer Tooth

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic deer tooth pendant, paving the way for directly identifying the users of artifacts from the deep past and gaining deeper insights into Paleolithic societies.

An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artifact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artifact, they developed a new, non-destructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.
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caltrek
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Re: Human Prehistory (3.3 million years BC – 3500 BC)

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Road Built 7,000 Years Ago Found at The Bottom of The Mediterranean Sea
by Rebecca Dyer
May 10 , 2023

Introduction:
(Science Alert) Archaeologists have unearthed the remnants of a 7,000-year-old road hidden beneath layers of sea mud off the southern Croatian coast.

Made at the sunken Neolithic site of Soline, this exciting find may once have linked the ancient Hvar culture settlement to the now isolated island of Korčula.

Once an artificial island, the ancient site of Soline was discovered in 2021 by archaeologist Mate Parica of the University of Zadar in Croatia while he was analyzing satellite images of the water area around Korčula.

After spotting something he thought might be human-made on the ocean floor, Parica and a colleague dove to investigate.

At a depth of 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) in the Mediterranean's Adriatic Sea, they found stone walls that may have once been part of an ancient settlement. The landmass it was built upon was separated from the main island by a narrow strip of land.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/road-buil ... nean-sea

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