Roman-Era Medical Tools From Turkey Identified
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—Live Science reports that hundreds of 1,800-year-old artifacts linked to the practice of medicine have been identified among the objects unearthed during rescue excavations at Allianoi, an ancient spa town in western Anatolia that was flooded in 2011 after dam construction. Most of the implements came from two buildings within a larger complex. Sarah Yeomans of St. Mary’s College of Maryland suggests the structure housed dozens of practitioners who conducted relatively sophisticated surgical procedures. Some of the instruments were used to remove hemorrhoids, while others were used to extract bladder or kidney stones, remove cataracts from the eyes, and suture wounds, she concluded. To read about another ancient spa town, go to "The Pursuit of Wellness."
Impact of Industrial Revolution on Children’s Health Investigated
DURHAM, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by Durham University, an examination of the teeth of children who were buried in a Quaker cemetery in northeastern England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has detected evidence of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D can be consumed in foods such as fish and eggs, and produced by the body through exposure to sunlight. A lack of vitamin D can cause rickets, a condition characterized by weak bones that can cause pain, poor growth, bowing deformities, and fractures. Anne Marie E. Snoddy of the University of Otago, Heidi Shaw of Durham University, and their colleagues found that three quarters of the 25 children examined suffered from lack of vitamin D. The researchers determined that the condition was worse in the winter months, when there are fewer hours of sunlight. The study also suggests that boys were more likely to experience a vitamin D deficiency, perhaps because of as-yet-undetermined work practices. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. For more on how the Industrial Revolution affected health in nineteenth-century England, go to "Haunt of the Resurrection Men."
When Did Modern Humans Arrive in Northern Europe?
RANIS, GERMANY—A new excavation in an untouched area of Ilsenhöhle, a cave in central Germany, has uncovered the 47,400-year-old bones of modern humans, according to a Cosmos Magazine report. An international team of researchers led by Dorothea Mylopotamitaki, Marcel Weiss, Helen Fewlass, and Elena Irene Zavala of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology identified the modern human bones through genetic and proteomic analysis. It had been previously thought, based upon an excavation conducted in the 1930s, that the cave and surrounding area had been occupied by Neanderthals alone. “It turns out that stone artifacts that were thought to be produced by Neanderthals were in fact part of the early Homo sapiens tool kit,” said Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Collège de France. “This fundamentally changes our previous knowledge about this time period: Homo sapiens reached northwestern Europe long before Neanderthal disappearance in southwestern Europe,” he explained. The bones of other mammals in the cave were also identified, including reindeer, horses, and woolly rhinoceros likely hunted by modern humans, and denning hyenas and hibernating cave bears. Read the original scholarly articles about this research in Nature Communications and Nature Ecology & Evolution. To read about the domestic spaces of Europe's earliest modern humans, go to "Letter from France: Structural Integrity."
Upper Paleolithic Ivory Tool May Have Made Rope
TÜBINGEN, GERMANY—Science News reports that 15 pieces of mammoth ivory recovered from southwestern Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave have been assembled into an object measuring almost eight inches long. The implement, which has been dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years old, was equipped with four holes lined with carved spiral grooves. Microscopic wear and tear and the presence of plant residue have been detected on the tool. Archaeologists Nicholas Conard of the University of Tübingen, Veerle Rots of the University of Liège, and their colleagues think that the object was used to make rope, and tested their idea with replicas made from wood, animal bone, a warthog’s split tooth, and bronze. One person held thin, hand-twisted ropes made from animal sinews and five different types of plant fibers, and fed them through the holes of the tool, held by another person. A third person pulled and twisted the fibers as they passed through the holes in the replica tool and twisted them into a single piece of rope. The study suggests that four of five people working together could produce about 16 feet of rope in 10 minutes. The researchers also determined that cattail leaves worked particularly well in this rope-making process. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about recent research on a carved ivory figurine found in the cave nearly 25 years ago, go to "A Horse Is a Horse?"
Ancient Egyptian Woman Diagnosed With Rheumatoid Arthritis
ASWAN, EGYPT—According to an Ahram Online report, the incomplete skeletal remains of a woman, who lived between 1800 and 1500 B.C. and suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, were uncovered in Aswan during an excavation conducted by the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project. This chronic inflammatory autoimmune condition is characterized by aches, stiffness, and swelling of the joints, and was identified by the erosive lesions with smooth edges that were found outside the surface of the woman’s joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also damage the lining of the joints, skin, eyes, mouth, heart, and lungs. Abdel-Monem Said, General Director of Aswan Antiquities, said that joints on both sides of the woman’s body had been affected, including her hands, feet, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles, and would have made it difficult for her to carry out daily activities. Because mention of rheumatoid arthritis has not been found in any ancient Egyptian medical texts, it had been previously thought that the condition did not exist in its present form at the time. To read about how people of the ancient world attended to their well-being, go to "The Pursuit of Wellness."
Fossilized Ear Bones Offer Clues to Bipedalism
YUNNAN, CHINA—According to a Discover Magazine report, Xijun Ni and Yinan Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Terry Harrison of New York University, and their colleagues reconstructed the inner ears of Lufengpithecus, a six-million-year-old ancestor of modern orangutans that lived in what is now China, using 3-D CT scans of fossilized inner ear bones. They then compared these reconstructions with the inner ears of other extinct apes, modern-day apes, and modern humans from Asia, Europe, and Africa in order to look for clues to the evolution of bipedalism. In modern humans, the vestibular system in the inner ear sends information about balance and motion to the brain through loop-shaped structures called semicircular canals. “The size and shape of the semicircular canals correlate with how mammals, including apes and humans, move around their environment,” Zhang explained. The study suggests that early apes were able to swing through trees with their arms like modern gibbons. Eventually, the last common ancestors of apes and humans were able to use their limbs to hang from trees, and could stand on their feet while hanging from trees, in a similar manner to Lufengpithecus. When on the ground, this last common ancestor likely walked on all fours, Harrison said. “Later, the human lineage diverged from the great apes with the acquisition of bipedalism, as seen in Australopithecus, an early human relative from Africa,” Ni said. Cooler temperatures and the growth of glacial ice sheets some 3.2 million years ago correlate with a rapid increase in the rate of change observed in bony ear structures, Harrison added. Walking upright may therefore have offered an advantage as the environment transformed. To read more about the development of bipedalism, go to "The Human Mosaic."
Hunter-Gatherer’s Atlatl Discovered in Cave in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO—An atlatl and two wooden darts have been recovered from a remote room in central Mexico’s Cueva del Tesoro, or Treasure Cave, according to a Newsweek report. Some modified logs found in the room may have also been used as tools. The hunting weapons, radiocarbon dated to 1,900 years ago, were discovered by members of a cavers’ association who notified officials at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. Archaeologist Carlos Viramontes said that hunter-gatherers lived in the area as early as 9,000 years ago, and survived for about 200 years after the arrival of Europeans. No other artifacts of this age have been recovered from the cave. Further investigations may provide additional clues, however, Viramontes explained. For more on atlatls and ancient spear-throwing weapons that predate them, go to "Weapons of the Ancient World: Hunting Equipment."
Iron Age Blacksmith Shop Found in England
OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—The Oxford Mail reports that a 2,700-year-old blacksmith shop has been discovered in an Iron Age settlement site complete with roundhouses, an Iron Age pantry, ceremonial animal burials, and traces of a Roman villa in southeastern England. The smithy was identified through traces of a hearth; hammerscale, the byproduct of forging iron; an iron bar; and a tuyere, a tool used to blow air into a hearth. “It’s exceptionally rare to find a complete tuyere, especially one that’s as old as this,” said archaeometallurgical specialist Gerry McDonnell. He explained that the tool dates to the first few centuries of ironworking in Britain, and noted that the size of the tuyere suggests that the hearth was much larger than one found in an average village blacksmith shop. This shop may have been run by a master blacksmith, he surmised. “The only reason a blacksmith would need a bigger hearth would be if they were forging something long like swords or trade bars, or big like cart wheels,” McDonnell concluded. To read about copper production on Bronze Age Cyprus, go to "In the Time of the Copper Kings."
Mission Sites of French Polynesia Explored
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—According to a statement released by the University of Sydney, excavations in the Mangareva Islands have uncovered nineteenth-century artifacts related to the period of French colonization. James Flexner of the University of Sydney, working with the cultural association Te Ana Pouga Magareva, uncovered more than 1,500 artifacts at six sites on the islands of Aukena and Akamaru, including the homes of Roman Catholic priests and a missionary school for boys. In the priests’ house at the Church of Notre Dame de la Païx at Akamaru, the researchers found fragments of gin, champagne, and wine bottles; and perfume and medicine bottles imported from France, Britain, and the Netherlands. Fragments of pearl shells were also uncovered at the sites. Before the arrival of the colonists, such shells were used to make fishing lures, tattooing needles, pendants, and figurines. By the 1840s, however, thousands of tons of the shells were harvested for export to make buttons and decorative inlays. Flexner said that the team also uncovered a small bronze crucifix at the site of the boys’ school at Aukena. He thinks it was likely an ornament that was worn daily. In addition, three complete pearl shells were discovered at the boys’ school, underneath an iron ax head. Excavation of the mission sites will continue, Flexner concluded. To read about the arrival of French Polynesian settlers in Hawaii, go to "Off the Grid: The Hawaiian Fishing Village of Lapakahi."
Jade Mask Discovered in Maya Tomb in Guatemala
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA—According to a statement released by Tulane University, a mosaic jade mask, 16 spondylus shells, and carved human femurs have been discovered in a 1,700-year-old tomb at Guatemala’s Maya site of Chochkitam by archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli. He and his colleagues spotted looters’ tunnels in the ancient city while conducting a survey of the site using lidar, a process employing an airplane or drone carrying lasers that can detect features on the ground hidden by dense jungle foliage. The intact tomb was situated just six feet from where the looters had stopped digging. Estrada-Belli said that the carvings on one of the bones depicts a man thought to be a king holding a jade mask like the one found in the tomb. Hieroglyphs accompanying these images may identify the king’s father and grandfather, and link the ruler to Tikal and Teotihuacan. The spiny oyster shells, he added, were used by royalty as jewelry, currency, and in sacrificial offerings. Future work will include DNA testing of the bones. For more on Maya rulers, go to "Jungle Realm of the Snake Queens."
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