First Europeans were cannibals: archaeologists
Posted Wed Jul 1, 2009 5:32pm AEST
Updated Wed Jul 1, 2009 5:31pm AEST
The remains of the "first Europeans" discovered at an archaeological site in northern Spain have revealed that the prehistoric men were cannibals, who particularly liked the flesh of children.
"We know that they practised cannibalism," said Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro, a co-director of the Atapuerca project, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A study of the remains revealed that they turned to cannibalism to feed themselves and not as part of a ritual, that they ate their rivals after killing them, mostly children and adolescents.
"It is the first well-documented case of cannibalism in the history of humanity, which does not mean that it is the oldest," he said.
The remains discovered in the caves "appeared scattered, broken, fragmented, mixed with other animals such as horses, deer, rhinoceroses, all kinds of animals caught in hunting" and eaten by humans, he said.
"This gives us an idea of cannibalism as a type gastronomy, and not as a ritual."
The Atapuerca caves were first discovered in the late 19th century, when a tunnel was blasted through the mountain for a railway line.
"But at the time in Spain, there was not enough scientific knowledge to begin research," said another co-director, Eudald Carbonell.
The first excavations did not take place until 1978, then "in 1984, we found 150 human remains".
In 1992, they found a complete intact skeleton, and two years later, they discovered remains dating back more than 800,000 years.
Source
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Picture of the bird bone at the citation/cite. Ore theorist thinks
(sic) that the holes are the result of a carnivore's bite. Probable
fortunate that the thing still plays, as per the recorded sample.
The Divje Babe flute, that is dated at around 43,000 years ago, has
been suggested as Neanderthal made.
"Music did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy
and greater reproductive success, he concluded, but it might have
fostered social cohesion and new forms of communication, which
indirectly contributed to expansion of modern humans to the detriment
of the culturally more conservative Neanderthals." Then again, he
never saw what went on the back of the cave when the flutist really
put on the sounds.
July 6, 2009
Golden oldies
Discovery of the world's oldest known musical instrument, a 35,000-
year-old flute, suggests the first Europeans had a fairly
sophisticated culture.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Los Angeles Times
The wing bone of a griffon vulture with five precisely drilled holes
in it is the oldest known musical instrument, a 35,000-year-old relic
of an early human society that drank beer, played flute and drums and
danced around the campfire on cold winter evenings, researchers said.
Excavated from a cave in southwest Germany, the nearly complete flute
suggests that the first humans to occupy Europe had a fairly
sophisticated culture, complete with alcohol, adornments, art objects
and music that they developed there or even brought with them from
Africa when they moved to the new continent 40,000 years or so ago.
"It is not too surprising that music was a part of their culture,"
said archaeologist John J. Shea of Stony Brook University, who was not
involved in the research. "Every single society we know of has music.
The more widespread a characteristic is today, the more likely it is
to spread back into the past."
The making of music probably extended even further back into the past,
he said, but the flute may represent "the first time that people
invested time and energy in making instruments that were (durable
enough to be) preserved."
The flute was discovered last summer in the Hohle Fels cave, about 14
miles southwest of the city of Ulm, by archaeologist Nicholas J.
Conard of the University of Tubingen in Germany. Conard described the
find in a report published online by the journal Nature
(www.nature.com).
"It's unambiguously the oldest instrument in the world," Conard told
The Associated Press.
Other archaeologists agreed with Conard's assessment.
April Nowell, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the University of
Victoria in Canada, said the flute predates previously discovered
instruments, "but the dates are not so much older that it's surprising
or controversial." Nowell was not involved in Conard's research.
In 1995, archaeologist Ivan Turk excavated a bear bone artifact from a
cave in Slovenia, known as the
But other archaeologists, including Nowell, have challenged that
theory, suggesting instead that the twin holes on the 4.3-inch-long
(11-centimeter-long) bone were made by a carnivore's bite.
Turk did not respond to an Associated Press e-mail seeking comment.
The cave is the same one where Conard found the recently described
40,000-year-old Venus figurine in the same layer of sediment, the
oldest known representation of the female form, and a host of other
artifacts.
The cave, which had been occupied for millennia, "is one of the most
wonderfully clear windows into the past, where conditions of
preservation are just right," Shea said.
The reconstructed flute, a little under 9 inches long, was found in 12
pieces in a layer of sediment nearly 9 feet below the cave's floor.
The surfaces of the flute are in excellent condition and reveal many
details about its manufacture. The maker carved two deep, V-shaped
notches into one end, presumably to form the end into which the
musician blew, and four fine lines near the finger holes. The other
end is broken off, but Conard estimates the intact flute was probably
2 to 3 inches longer.
In 2004, Conard found a 30,000-year-old, 7-inch, three-holed ivory
flute at the nearby Geissenklosterle cave, and he has found fragments
of others. Combined, the finds indicate the development of a strong
musical tradition in the region, accompanied by the development of
figurative art and other innovations, Conard said.
Music did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy
and greater reproductive success, he concluded, but it might have
fostered social cohesion and new forms of communication, which
indirectly contributed to expansion of modern humans to the detriment
of the culturally more conservative Neanderthals.
Source
(sic) that the holes are the result of a carnivore's bite. Probable
fortunate that the thing still plays, as per the recorded sample.
The Divje Babe flute, that is dated at around 43,000 years ago, has
been suggested as Neanderthal made.
"Music did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy
and greater reproductive success, he concluded, but it might have
fostered social cohesion and new forms of communication, which
indirectly contributed to expansion of modern humans to the detriment
of the culturally more conservative Neanderthals." Then again, he
never saw what went on the back of the cave when the flutist really
put on the sounds.
July 6, 2009
Golden oldies
Discovery of the world's oldest known musical instrument, a 35,000-
year-old flute, suggests the first Europeans had a fairly
sophisticated culture.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Los Angeles Times
The wing bone of a griffon vulture with five precisely drilled holes
in it is the oldest known musical instrument, a 35,000-year-old relic
of an early human society that drank beer, played flute and drums and
danced around the campfire on cold winter evenings, researchers said.
Excavated from a cave in southwest Germany, the nearly complete flute
suggests that the first humans to occupy Europe had a fairly
sophisticated culture, complete with alcohol, adornments, art objects
and music that they developed there or even brought with them from
Africa when they moved to the new continent 40,000 years or so ago.
"It is not too surprising that music was a part of their culture,"
said archaeologist John J. Shea of Stony Brook University, who was not
involved in the research. "Every single society we know of has music.
The more widespread a characteristic is today, the more likely it is
to spread back into the past."
The making of music probably extended even further back into the past,
he said, but the flute may represent "the first time that people
invested time and energy in making instruments that were (durable
enough to be) preserved."
The flute was discovered last summer in the Hohle Fels cave, about 14
miles southwest of the city of Ulm, by archaeologist Nicholas J.
Conard of the University of Tubingen in Germany. Conard described the
find in a report published online by the journal Nature
(www.nature.com).
"It's unambiguously the oldest instrument in the world," Conard told
The Associated Press.
Other archaeologists agreed with Conard's assessment.
April Nowell, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the University of
Victoria in Canada, said the flute predates previously discovered
instruments, "but the dates are not so much older that it's surprising
or controversial." Nowell was not involved in Conard's research.
In 1995, archaeologist Ivan Turk excavated a bear bone artifact from a
cave in Slovenia, known as the
But other archaeologists, including Nowell, have challenged that
theory, suggesting instead that the twin holes on the 4.3-inch-long
(11-centimeter-long) bone were made by a carnivore's bite.
Turk did not respond to an Associated Press e-mail seeking comment.
The cave is the same one where Conard found the recently described
40,000-year-old Venus figurine in the same layer of sediment, the
oldest known representation of the female form, and a host of other
artifacts.
The cave, which had been occupied for millennia, "is one of the most
wonderfully clear windows into the past, where conditions of
preservation are just right," Shea said.
The reconstructed flute, a little under 9 inches long, was found in 12
pieces in a layer of sediment nearly 9 feet below the cave's floor.
The surfaces of the flute are in excellent condition and reveal many
details about its manufacture. The maker carved two deep, V-shaped
notches into one end, presumably to form the end into which the
musician blew, and four fine lines near the finger holes. The other
end is broken off, but Conard estimates the intact flute was probably
2 to 3 inches longer.
In 2004, Conard found a 30,000-year-old, 7-inch, three-holed ivory
flute at the nearby Geissenklosterle cave, and he has found fragments
of others. Combined, the finds indicate the development of a strong
musical tradition in the region, accompanied by the development of
figurative art and other innovations, Conard said.
Music did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy
and greater reproductive success, he concluded, but it might have
fostered social cohesion and new forms of communication, which
indirectly contributed to expansion of modern humans to the detriment
of the culturally more conservative Neanderthals.
Source
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ancient river found beneath the Channel during Olympics survey
Very good color illustrations of this river at the citation/cite.
Ancient river found beneath the Channel during Olympics survey
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:54 PM on 26th June 2009
An ancient river bed that has lain unseen for 185,000 years has been
uncovered by scientists mapping the parts of the English Channel in
the run up to the 2012 Olympics.
The groundbreaking discovery was made during a two-year £300,000
project to map 500 square miles of seabed off the Jurassic coast in
Dorset.
Using new and incredibly accurate mapping techniques, experts traced
the river that may have once been used as a watering hole by woolly
mammoths that roamed the area.
Enlarge riverbed
Enlarge river course
An amazing river course on the bottom of the English channel has been
revealed (above). The prehistoric river bed is 8 miles from the
present day shoreline (below)
The mysterious river bed cuts through bedrock at the bottom of the
ocean and is eight miles long, ranges between 90 to 150 yards wide and
up to 30ft deep Scientists believe it would have flowed when Britain
was still attached to the continent.
As ice melted and refroze, it was washed over and uncovered a second
time, before finally being hidden at the bottom of the sea during the
last Ice Age 12,000 years ago.
As well as the river bed, shipwrecks, rugged cliffs and massive gravel
dunes have also been highlighted using the new techniques which can
pinpoint objects to within six inches.
Scientists are aiming to construct a complete and definitive map ahead
of the 2012 Olympics as thousands of boats are due to descend upon
Dorset for the sailing events.
Smaller yachts have recently come a cropper on submerged rocks that
maritime officials knew nothing about and they don't want this
happening in 2012.
The newly-found river bed poses no such danger as it lays 130ft
underwater.
The project has been lead by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which hopes
the new information will be invaluable in its conservation work.
Jurassic Coast
Dorset's Jurassic Coast is famous for its fossils
Dr Simon Cripps, director of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: 'On land
you can just look out of the window and see what's around, but we have
no real idea what goes on under the sea.
'This study will give us an understanding of what is actually
physically down there - it's very exciting.
'It's like putting a 3D jigsaw together in three layers and the
results will be quite spectacular.'
Now the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is planning to re-chart
nautical maps of the Channel. Some current charts are based on surveys
carried out 75 years ago.
The maps have been created using a high resolution multi-beam sonar,
which sends out 40 'pings' per second to the seabed.
The sonar has 500 beams which give 20,000 readings per second,
allowing scientists to gauge the depth of the ocean, with an accuracy
of six inches.
Not only can it tell how deep the sea goes, but the variation of
sounds created by the beams can identify the type of surface it is
hitting.
The 'pings', which sound like the clicks made by dolphins to the human
ear, differ depending on whether they hit sand, hard rock, or any
matter in between.
The Dorset Integrated Seabed Study, or DORIS for short, is now one
year in and moving on to a second phase of video and photography.
Experts will use the maps to identify patterns in the seabed before
using cameras to take shots of underwater life.
Enlarge survey
The unique new underwater survey that has an accuracy of 15cm
They will visit a range of depths to study the animal and plant life,
taking still and moving images to create an elaborate picture of
previously hidden habitats.
Richard Edmonds, science manager for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage
Site, said: 'The pictures the study has produced are hugely exciting,
I was absolutely blown away when I first saw them.
'We now know that all the fascinating structures we see on the
Jurassic Coast, which are created by the hard and soft rocks eroding
at different paces, happen exactly the same on the seabed.
'When the river bed was uncovered, the land would have been used by
woolly mammoths, reindeer and wolves as well as early humans.'
Source
Ancient river found beneath the Channel during Olympics survey
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:54 PM on 26th June 2009
An ancient river bed that has lain unseen for 185,000 years has been
uncovered by scientists mapping the parts of the English Channel in
the run up to the 2012 Olympics.
The groundbreaking discovery was made during a two-year £300,000
project to map 500 square miles of seabed off the Jurassic coast in
Dorset.
Using new and incredibly accurate mapping techniques, experts traced
the river that may have once been used as a watering hole by woolly
mammoths that roamed the area.
Enlarge riverbed
Enlarge river course
An amazing river course on the bottom of the English channel has been
revealed (above). The prehistoric river bed is 8 miles from the
present day shoreline (below)
The mysterious river bed cuts through bedrock at the bottom of the
ocean and is eight miles long, ranges between 90 to 150 yards wide and
up to 30ft deep Scientists believe it would have flowed when Britain
was still attached to the continent.
As ice melted and refroze, it was washed over and uncovered a second
time, before finally being hidden at the bottom of the sea during the
last Ice Age 12,000 years ago.
As well as the river bed, shipwrecks, rugged cliffs and massive gravel
dunes have also been highlighted using the new techniques which can
pinpoint objects to within six inches.
Scientists are aiming to construct a complete and definitive map ahead
of the 2012 Olympics as thousands of boats are due to descend upon
Dorset for the sailing events.
Smaller yachts have recently come a cropper on submerged rocks that
maritime officials knew nothing about and they don't want this
happening in 2012.
The newly-found river bed poses no such danger as it lays 130ft
underwater.
The project has been lead by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which hopes
the new information will be invaluable in its conservation work.
Jurassic Coast
Dorset's Jurassic Coast is famous for its fossils
Dr Simon Cripps, director of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: 'On land
you can just look out of the window and see what's around, but we have
no real idea what goes on under the sea.
'This study will give us an understanding of what is actually
physically down there - it's very exciting.
'It's like putting a 3D jigsaw together in three layers and the
results will be quite spectacular.'
Now the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is planning to re-chart
nautical maps of the Channel. Some current charts are based on surveys
carried out 75 years ago.
The maps have been created using a high resolution multi-beam sonar,
which sends out 40 'pings' per second to the seabed.
The sonar has 500 beams which give 20,000 readings per second,
allowing scientists to gauge the depth of the ocean, with an accuracy
of six inches.
Not only can it tell how deep the sea goes, but the variation of
sounds created by the beams can identify the type of surface it is
hitting.
The 'pings', which sound like the clicks made by dolphins to the human
ear, differ depending on whether they hit sand, hard rock, or any
matter in between.
The Dorset Integrated Seabed Study, or DORIS for short, is now one
year in and moving on to a second phase of video and photography.
Experts will use the maps to identify patterns in the seabed before
using cameras to take shots of underwater life.
Enlarge survey
The unique new underwater survey that has an accuracy of 15cm
They will visit a range of depths to study the animal and plant life,
taking still and moving images to create an elaborate picture of
previously hidden habitats.
Richard Edmonds, science manager for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage
Site, said: 'The pictures the study has produced are hugely exciting,
I was absolutely blown away when I first saw them.
'We now know that all the fascinating structures we see on the
Jurassic Coast, which are created by the hard and soft rocks eroding
at different paces, happen exactly the same on the seabed.
'When the river bed was uncovered, the land would have been used by
woolly mammoths, reindeer and wolves as well as early humans.'
Source
Female Hands in Cave Paintings
Lotsa pretty pictures at the citation. National Geographic , you know.
June 16, 2009--Inside France's 25,000-year-old Pech Merle cave, hand
stencils surround the famed "Spotted Horses" mural.
For about as long as humans have created works of art, they've also
left behind handprints. People began stenciling, painting, or chipping
imprints of their hands onto rock walls at least 30,000 years ago.
Until recently, most scientists assumed these prehistoric handprints
were male. But "even a superficial examination of published photos
suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there,"
Pennsylvania State University archaeologist Dean Snow said of European
cave art.
By measuring and analyzing the Pech Merle hand stencils, Snow found
that many were indeed female--including those pictured here. (Also
see: pictures of hand stencils through time.)
Analyzing hand stencils dating back some 28,000 years in Spain's El
Castillo cave, archaeologist Dean Snow concluded many of El Castillo's
artists had been female.
"The very long ring finger on the left is a dead giveaway for male
hands," he said. "The one on the right has a long index finger and a
short pinky--thus very feminine."
His findings suggest women's role in prehistoric culture may have been
greater than previously thought.
Just as in prehistoric times, visitors today can leave behind
handprints at Spain's Maltravieso cave, a Paleolithic site dating back
more than 20,000 years. "Elena's hand [pictured] was typical for
little girls," said Snow.
Hand proportions vary across populations. To assess prehistoric
handprints from Europe, Snow used modern hands for comparison.
"I had access to lots of people of European descent who were willing
to let me scan their hands as reference data," said Snow, whose
research was supported by the National Geographic Society's Committee
for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns
National Geographic News.)
In France's Gargas cave, a late Paleolithic left-hand stencil glows
green from a night vision camera. Archaeologist Dean Snow concluded
the hand was female.
"We don't know what the roles of artists were in Upper Paleolithic
society [roughly 40,000 to 20,000 years ago] generally," he said. "But
it's a step forward to be able to say that a strong majority of them
were women."
Snow's research was limited to Europe, but he hopes others will do
similar studies at prehistoric sites elsewhere.
(Also see: pictures of hand stencils through time.)
Nat Geo
June 16, 2009--Inside France's 25,000-year-old Pech Merle cave, hand
stencils surround the famed "Spotted Horses" mural.
For about as long as humans have created works of art, they've also
left behind handprints. People began stenciling, painting, or chipping
imprints of their hands onto rock walls at least 30,000 years ago.
Until recently, most scientists assumed these prehistoric handprints
were male. But "even a superficial examination of published photos
suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there,"
Pennsylvania State University archaeologist Dean Snow said of European
cave art.
By measuring and analyzing the Pech Merle hand stencils, Snow found
that many were indeed female--including those pictured here. (Also
see: pictures of hand stencils through time.)
Analyzing hand stencils dating back some 28,000 years in Spain's El
Castillo cave, archaeologist Dean Snow concluded many of El Castillo's
artists had been female.
"The very long ring finger on the left is a dead giveaway for male
hands," he said. "The one on the right has a long index finger and a
short pinky--thus very feminine."
His findings suggest women's role in prehistoric culture may have been
greater than previously thought.
Just as in prehistoric times, visitors today can leave behind
handprints at Spain's Maltravieso cave, a Paleolithic site dating back
more than 20,000 years. "Elena's hand [pictured] was typical for
little girls," said Snow.
Hand proportions vary across populations. To assess prehistoric
handprints from Europe, Snow used modern hands for comparison.
"I had access to lots of people of European descent who were willing
to let me scan their hands as reference data," said Snow, whose
research was supported by the National Geographic Society's Committee
for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns
National Geographic News.)
In France's Gargas cave, a late Paleolithic left-hand stencil glows
green from a night vision camera. Archaeologist Dean Snow concluded
the hand was female.
"We don't know what the roles of artists were in Upper Paleolithic
society [roughly 40,000 to 20,000 years ago] generally," he said. "But
it's a step forward to be able to say that a strong majority of them
were women."
Snow's research was limited to Europe, but he hopes others will do
similar studies at prehistoric sites elsewhere.
(Also see: pictures of hand stencils through time.)
Nat Geo
Friday, June 26, 2009
Bow and Arrow PreDate Modern Man
Abstract for an article that surmises that the use of the bow and
arrow predate modern man.
Experimental Use and Quantitative Performance Analysis of Triangular
Flakes (Levallois points) used as Arrowheads
Matthew L. Siska, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The
Corresponding Author and John J. Sheab, E-mail The Corresponding
Author
aInterdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony
Brook University SBS-S501, Stony Brook NY, 11794-4364
bDepartment of Anthropology, Stony Brook University SBS-S501, Stony
Brook NY, 11794-4364
Received 29 March 2009;
revised 11 May 2009;
accepted 21 May 2009.
Available online 28 May 2009.
Abstract
The invention and widespread use of projectile weaponry is a
characteristic presumed to exist only with Homo sapiens. However, as
finds of wooden material during the early development of projectile
weapons are extremely rare, this remains a contentious topic. Recent
work has proposed a series of ballistically-significant morphological
characteristics of stone points that yield information about their
potential use. Here we report on initial experimental approaches to
quantifying the performance of relatively simple stone points as arrow
armatures. Two experimental trials were performed using a series of 51
Levallois points. The first, against a uniform density target, was
designed to give an overall indication of performance. The second,
against a simulated animal carcass, demonstrated the durability of
these points. The results of this study suggest that small Levallois
points could have functioned as arrowheads, albeit ones likely to
break after limited use. They also suggest that these points'
penetrating power is strongly controlled by their morphometric
characteristics, most notably their perimeter. This latter finding
refines a method for assessing hypothetical Paleolithic stone points
on the basis of tip cross-sectional area previously proposed by
others.
Source
arrow predate modern man.
Experimental Use and Quantitative Performance Analysis of Triangular
Flakes (Levallois points) used as Arrowheads
Matthew L. Siska, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The
Corresponding Author and John J. Sheab, E-mail The Corresponding
Author
aInterdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony
Brook University SBS-S501, Stony Brook NY, 11794-4364
bDepartment of Anthropology, Stony Brook University SBS-S501, Stony
Brook NY, 11794-4364
Received 29 March 2009;
revised 11 May 2009;
accepted 21 May 2009.
Available online 28 May 2009.
Abstract
The invention and widespread use of projectile weaponry is a
characteristic presumed to exist only with Homo sapiens. However, as
finds of wooden material during the early development of projectile
weapons are extremely rare, this remains a contentious topic. Recent
work has proposed a series of ballistically-significant morphological
characteristics of stone points that yield information about their
potential use. Here we report on initial experimental approaches to
quantifying the performance of relatively simple stone points as arrow
armatures. Two experimental trials were performed using a series of 51
Levallois points. The first, against a uniform density target, was
designed to give an overall indication of performance. The second,
against a simulated animal carcass, demonstrated the durability of
these points. The results of this study suggest that small Levallois
points could have functioned as arrowheads, albeit ones likely to
break after limited use. They also suggest that these points'
penetrating power is strongly controlled by their morphometric
characteristics, most notably their perimeter. This latter finding
refines a method for assessing hypothetical Paleolithic stone points
on the basis of tip cross-sectional area previously proposed by
others.
Source
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