Possible Ritual Deposits at Palenque Investigated

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO—According to a statement released by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), tiny pieces of green stone, animal remains, seeds, charcoal, and small beads made of shell and other materials were recovered when earth from deposits discovered in houses B and E in the palace at Palenque was passed through water and a fine sieve. Carlos Miguel Varela Scherrer said that the flotation process revealed the remains of fish, mussels, snails, freshwater crabs, quail, bass, turtle, armadillo, dog, crocodile, turkey, and deer. Varela Scherrer and his colleagues Arnoldo González Cruz and Haydeé Orea Magaña suggest the food waste and other objects used at a banquet had been placed in cavities at the site and then burned and buried, perhaps at the beginning of the construction of a building or as a religious rite during the Classic period, from about A.D. 200 to 900. To read about excavations of a royal palace at Palenque, go to "House Rules."

Sixth-Century A.D. Mosaic Unearthed in Italy

MONTORIO, ITALY—ANSA.it reports that a floor mosaic dated to the sixth century A.D. was unearthed during work to replace gas pipes in northern Italy. The size and quality of the mosaic suggests it may have been part of a villa that belonged to Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, or one of his ministers. “Bits of mosaic, thermal facilities, and residential complexes have been emerging in a scattered way at Montorio over the past decades and it is now time to systematize them,” said Verona cultural heritage superintendent Vincenzo Tinè. To read about a Visigothic capital city that was built in central Spain amid the final collapse of the Roman Empire, go to "The Visigoths' Imperial Ambitions."

Fragments of Early Maya Calendar Found in Guatemala

SAN BARTOLO, GUATEMALA—Science News reports that two fragments of a mural recovered from Guatemala’s Las Pinturas pyramid have been dated to between 300 and 200 B.C., making them the earliest known record of the 260-day Maya calendar. The intricate images depict the date “7 Deer,” according to archaeologist David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin. Heather Hurst of the San Bartolo-Xultun Regional Archaeological Project explained that the mural fragments were found in one of the layers created by the razing and rebuilding of the pyramid seven times between 400 B.C. and A.D. 100. These well-defined layers allowed Stuart, Hurst, and their colleagues to radiocarbon date the mural to such a narrow window of time. Other fragments of plaster in the layer bear different styles of handwriting, suggesting that multiple scribes were at work. To read more about the Maya calendar, go to "The Maya Sense of Time."

Did Climate Change Impact Hominin Evolution?

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA—In a controversial new study, researchers led by climate physicist and oceanographer Axel Timmermann of Pusan National University evaluated data from known hominid fossil and archaeological sites in light of a computer simulation of possible climate and habitat conditions in Africa, Asia, and Europe over a period of two million years, according to a Science News report. The study suggest that Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and Homo sapiens were able to adapt to a diverse range of temperatures, levels of rainfall, and plant growth as they migrated out of Africa and into unfamiliar environments. The climate model indicates that these migrations coincided with the warmer climate shifts that occur every 20,000 to 100,000 years due to variations in the Earth’s orbit and tilt of its axis. The travel, Timmermann said, stimulated brain growth and cultural innovation. In this scenario, he added, H. heidelbergensis may have given rise to the Denisovans in Eurasia some 430,000 years ago, while the recurring Ice Ages in Europe brought about the evolution of Neanderthals between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago. Timmerman also suggests that H. sapiens emerged in the harsh conditions in southern Africa between 310,000 and 200,000 years ago. Modern humans were then able to adjust to the hot, dry climate found in northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula when they later traveled out of Africa To read more about Homo heidelbergensis, go to "A Place to Hide the Bodies."