Artefacts suggest Australia's first people lived in mountains
The study was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour and makes the case that humans once lived above 700m in Australia - with this particular cave being 1073m above sea level.Scientists say the area would be been much cooler during the last Ice Age and there wouldn't have been as much vegetation as now.They also say there wouldn't have been much firewood available at that time and sources of water would likely have been frozen during the winter.The study has raised questions about how some of the continents first people managed to adapt to the difficult conditions.
Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University worked together with First Nations community members to unearth the artefacts during a digs at the site - they found almost 700.Lots of these items were prehistoric tools which researchers believe people used for cutting or scraping.It is thought that most of those tools were made locally to the cave site, but not all.Researchers say that some seem to have come from an area around 31 miles away.
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The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Terrifying ‘shark whale' with mouth full of razor sharp teeth from 26million years ago is discovered in Australia
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The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
DNA testing of 1,400-year-old skeletons reveals ethnic diversity of early England
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of people of sub-Saharan African descent living in Britain more than 1,300 years ago. It's not only the earliest evidence in Britain of people with recent Black African ancestry – it is also the earliest genetic evidence anywhere in Europe. Because only a tiny percentage (probably less than 1 per cent) of Roman and early medieval British and continental European skeletons have been DNA-tested, it is conceivable that there were dozens of sub-Saharan African descendants living in Anglo-Saxon England. The newly discovered evidence of Black Africans' descendants living in early Anglo-Saxon era Britain comes from DNA tests (carried out as part of a mainly Anglo-German study) on two 7th century children buried in two separate early medieval cemeteries – one in Kent, the other in Dorset. Although the two individuals do not appear to have been related to each other, both had a Black African grandparent and both of those grandparents came from what is now southern Nigeria. Although there is no genetic indication of the sex of either the Kent or the Dorset child's Nigerian grandparents, some more general historical information, from other totally separate research by other scholars, does suggest that both Nigerians are, on balance of probabilities, likely to have been female. The Anglo-German study (published on Wednesday in the UK archaeological journal Antiquity) makes it clear that It's not known for sure how the two Nigerians crossed the Sahara and ended up in late 6th century Europe. However, evidence from other investigations into African trade by other academics suggest that one of the options – and perhaps the most likely – is that they were trafficked as slaves. Although the transatlantic slave trade was more than 1,000 years later and although the Arab slave trade was 100 years in the future, there was nevertheless a significant Saharan slave trade carried out by at least two powerful pre-Arab Sahara region states (the Garamantes of southern Libya, and probably also the Gaetuli of southern Morocco). Surveys of Sahara region rock art (including images of chariots and armed horsemen) have, over recent years, been advancing archaeologists ' appreciation of the ultra-mobile armed nature of warriors and potential slave-raiders associated with such Saharan states. It is therefore likely that slave traders and raiders from those or similar states were the trans-Saharan slave traffickers involved in bringing slaves from West Africa to Europe. Of great potential significance is the fact that the Kent child (the granddaughter of a Nigerian) was buried in an almost certainly royal-connected cemetery, located just 900 metres south of a royal palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent. She was buried with a knife, a spoon, a bone comb and a fine, wheel-turned decorated pot, similar to ceramics imported from France. Several of these grave goods suggest that she was from a socially relatively elite family. What's more, her aunt, one of her grandmothers and one of her great-grandfathers were also buried in that same royal cemetery. All these factors suggest that the family was part of, or somehow associated with, the early medieval Kingdom of Kent's ruling elite. The Kent child's Nigerian grandparent (whose burial location is as yet unknown) was probably trafficked from Nigeria to Europe in or around the late 6th century. The Kingdom of Kent was strongly influenced by France. 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The Kent child (and her recent ancestors' possible partly French cultural or other connections) is also significant because it may have formed an unexpected part of the story of Anglo-Saxon England's conversion to Christianity. It is likely that the child – a young girl aged just 12 – was born in the first half of the 7th century (in the period following the 597AD conversion of the Kingdom of Kent to Christianity). That conversion, one of the most important events in English history, took place courtesy of pro-papal French royalty and diplomats. It marked the beginning of the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England to the Christian religion. The child's mother or father (or indeed both) may therefore have been be part of the influx of royals and other members of the French elite who came to England in the run-up to the conversion or immediately following it. The other child with partly Nigerian ancestry, the one buried in Dorset, died aged around 16 in around the 630s. The cause of death is not yet known for either of them. However, plague had arrived in Britain in the mid-6th century and the consequent plague pandemic persisted in Europe and almost certainly in Britain for well over 100 years. It is therefore conceivable that both children had succumbed to that disease. The child burials were in early medieval cemeteries located at Updown (near Eastry) in the extreme east of Kent, and at Worth Matravers, near Swanage, Dorset. The Kent child's DNA was particularly well-preserved and it was revealed that she almost certainly had brown eyes, dark hair and a Mediterranean or North African complexion, which would have contrasted with the very pale skin colour, blue eyes and often blonde hair of most early Anglo-Saxons, especially members of the royal-associated elites, who mainly had ancestry in northern Germany and Denmark. The crucial DNA tests were carried at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, and at the University of Huddersfield. 'It is significant that it is human DNA – and therefore the movement of people, and not just objects – that is now starting to reveal the nature of long-distance interaction to the continent, Byzantium and sub-Saharan Africa,' said the paper's lead author, Professor Duncan Sayer of the University of Lancashire. 'What is fascinating about these two individuals is that this international connection is found in both the east and west of Britain. Updown is right in the centre of the early Anglo-Saxon cultural zone and Worth Matravers, by contrast, is just outside its periphery in the sub-Roman west.'
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Heatwave warning: Common home fan mistake could be deadly, causing heart attacks, scientists warn
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The study, which was outlined in a research letter published by journal Emergency Medicine, aimed to see whether hydration status changes the effect of fan use in hot, humid conditions—especially since it's known that fans can sometimes worsen heat stress. A series of temperatures were measured, including their heart rate, rectal temperature, whole body sweat rate, thermal discomfort, and thirst level. The data revealed that fan use while dehydrated can worsen heart strain, which can eventually lead to heart attacks. Furthermore, the researchers concluded that using a fan increased sweat losses by about 60 per cent, which might mean using a fan could be harmful if you're dehydrated. The study lead, Connor Graham PhD said: 'Most extreme heat decedents do not have air conditioning but often own electric fans. 'Fan use can reduce heat-related elevations in thermal and cardiovascular strain at temperatures up to approximately 39 to 40 °C. 'In hotter conditions, fans should be turned off, as they can worsen heat stress.' This, Mr Graham explained, is because the high temperature of the air causes the body to heat up faster than it can cool itself by sweating. This isn't the first link made between electric fans and death. Scientific studies have found that fan use can reduce heat and heart strain in temperatures up to around 39 (102.2F), but once the mercury edges past 40C (104F) it's better to turn them off. Researchers have also recommended only using fans when it's below 39C for healthy adults below 40 years old and 38C (100.4F) for older adults 65 or older. They also warned fans should only be used in temperatures above 37C in older adults on anticholinergic medications like oxybutynin for bladder control. Earlier this week, an amber heat-health warning was issued for five regions of England by the UK Health Security Agency (UKSA) and the Met Office. In response, Dr Paul Coleman, a public health expert at the watchdog, said: 'These temperatures can result in serious health outcomes across the population.' This is particularly a problem for, he said 'those who are vulnerable, such as the elderly or those with serious health conditions'. So he advised people to check in on friends, families or neighbours who are vulnerable to make sure they are coping well. To stay safe in the hot weather, the watchdog recommends, keeping your home cool by closing windows and curtains in rooms that face the sun. They also urged people to know the symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke and what to do if you know or someone else has them. Heat stroke occurs when the body loses its ability to cool itself, and its inner temperature—which usually hovers around 37C—rapidly increases to over 40C. The heart begins frantically pumping blood to try to cool it against the skin's surface. The increased temperatures can also damage internal organs, leading to irreparable damage, or even catastrophic failure. According to the NHS, tell-tale signs of the precursor to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, include tiredness, a high temperature, excessive sweating, being thirsty and weakness. Others include fast breathing, rapid heart rate, being headaches, nausea, vomiting, clammy and/or pale skin, as well as cramps in the arms, legs and stomach. While symptoms are often the same in adults and children, those under 18 may become irritable too. If someone is showing these signs, the NHS advice is to cool them down and give them fluids. They add that heat exhaustion will not typically need emergency medical help if you can cool down within 30 minutes. But if symptoms persist or worsen after 30 minutes, it may have turned into a heat stroke—which can be life threatening so you should call 999 immediately. It can be fatal because when your body's temperature regulation system fails, it can lead to dangerously high temperatures that can cause organ damage. Other signs of heat stroke are a very high temperature, hot skin that's not sweating and might look red, rapid heartbeat, fast breathing, shortness of breath, confusion, lack of coordination, seizures or fits, and loss of consciousness.
