Archaeologists Find Neanderthal Tools Dating Back 55,000 Years
Researchers from the University of Washington excavating a site in China have found Neanderthal tools dating back almost 55,000 years. Their findings were published March 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
According to the study, scientists found at the site, known as Longtan, 'compelling evidence of core exploitation, production of large and thick flakes, shaping and maintenance of scrapers exhibiting the whole Quina concept, typical of contemporary European Middle Paleolithic technologies developed by Neanderthal groups.'The site dates back roughly 55,000 years, which is when researchers believe the Longtan community was incorporated. It also lines up with similar tools discovered throughout Europe. This particular type of manufacturing has long been associated with Neanderthals, but it wasn't believed to have moved into the borders of Eastern Asia. The discovery challenges the popular belief that China was slower to develop than other regions.
'This is a big upset to the way we think about that part of the world in that period of time,' Ben Marwick, co-author and a professor of archaeology at the university, told Ancient Origins. 'It really raises the question of, what else were people doing during this period that we haven't found yet? How is this going to change how we think about people and human evolution in this area?'
Marwick believes this discovery is just being made because of recent advancements in archaeology throughout China. As local archaeologists become more aware of finds around the globe, they're able to more easily recognize what they uncover. 'The idea that nothing has changed for such a long time in East Asia also has a tight grip on people,' he said. 'They haven't been considering the possibility of finding things that challenge that. Now maybe there are some scholars who are interested in questioning those ideas.'The excavation will continue until, Marwick hopes, human remains are discovered. 'That could answer the question of whether these tools are the product of a modern human like you and me,' he asserted. 'There have never been any Neanderthals found in East Asia, but could we find a Neanderthal? Or, more likely, could we find a Denisovan, which is another kind of human ancestor? If we can find the human remains associated with this period, we might find something surprising — maybe even a new human ancestor that we don't know about yet.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
44 minutes ago
- Medscape
Supplements Boost Postmenopausal Serum Biomarkers
Postmenopausal women who took vitamin B 12 , fish oil, or flaxseed oil as dietary supplements had significantly higher levels of accompanying serum biomarkers than those who did not use these supplements, based on new data presented at American Society for Nutrition (ASN) 2025 Annual Meeting. Dietary supplement use in the US is common among older adults, but data on the health effects of dietary supplements remain relatively mixed, said presenting author Hannah T. Baillie, MS, RD, in an interview. Hannah T. Baillie, MS, RD 'One way to measure whether or not supplements could be getting to the intended targets in the body is to measure the amount of the supplement's nutrients in the blood. This could inform whether the supplements have their intended health effects in an objective manner,' said Baillie, a PhD student at the University of Washington, Seattle. To examine the associations between dietary supplements and higher serum concentrations of corresponding biomarkers, Baillie and colleagues enrolled 153 participants in the Women's Health Initiative in a 2-week controlled feeding study. The participants consumed an individualized menu, including a habitual diet, and continued use of their usual dietary supplements. After 2 weeks, the researchers measured serum vitamin B 12 , lutein plus zeaxanthin, and phospholipid fatty acids. In a multiple linear regression analysis, the geometric mean serum concentration of vitamin B 12 was 58% higher among women who used any type of vitamin B 12 dietary supplement than among nonusers ( P < .001). In addition, the geometric mean serum concentrations of phospholipid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) ranged from 38% to 46% higher among users of fish oil or flaxseed oil supplements than among nonusers ( P < .0001). Use of dietary supplements containing lutein plus zeaxanthin had no significant impact on serum concentrations ( P = .72). However, individuals who used two sources of a dietary supplement containing vitamin B 12 as well as two different sources of supplementation with lutein plus zeaxanthin had significantly higher serum biomarker levels than either individuals who took a single multivitamin containing B 12 and lutein plus zeaxanthin or individuals who took neither ( P < .0001 for both). 'I was surprised by how many different supplements participants were taking; I expected it to be high, but one participant was taking 18 supplements per day,' Baillie told Medscape Medical News . 'I was also surprised by the lack of association between use of lutein + zeaxanthin-containing supplements and serum lutein + zeaxanthin concentrations,' she said. The negligible increases in serum concentrations with supplement use point to potential issues with absorbing or utilizing these nutrients from supplemental sources, she noted. The study findings highlight the need for clinicians to ask patients not only about the use of dietary supplements but also about the dose of those supplements, said Baillie. The researchers also looked at serum concentrations in response to different doses of vitamin B 12 . 'We looked to see if those taking individual vitamin B 12 , just a multivitamin containing B 12 , both those supplements, or neither had different serum concentrations of vitamin B 12 ,' Baillie said. The researchers found that individuals taking > 1000 mcg in a supplement (an average amount in single B 12 supplements) did not have significantly higher serum concentrations than those taking both supplements (which would represent a larger dose). The unreliable and inadequate labeling of nutrient content on dietary supplement packaging was a main study limitation, Baillie told Medscape Medical News . 'Although the contents from labels of each dietary supplement were recorded into our database, prior research has shown there may be discrepancies in what is reported on labels and what each supplement contains,' she said. 'Additionally, labels are not consistent in how nutrient information is reported; for example, for fish oil supplements, omega-3 fatty acids are sometimes displayed as total omega-3 fatty acids, sometimes as EPA and DHA, and on other labels as total EPA + DHA,' Baillie said. This discrepancy makes consistent assessment of total nutrient intake a challenge and limits what conclusions that can be drawn from the data, she noted. Raising Awareness, Examining Intake 'Additional research investigating best practices for assessing nutrient intake from dietary supplements is needed, and this may require changes in the requirements around dietary supplement labeling,' Baillie told Medscape Medical News . Future research also should address assessing serum response among a more heterogeneous population, she added. Older women often take supplements without knowing their full effect, and the current study is important to help alert clinicians to ask patients about type, timing, and dose, said Christine M. Sager, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, in an interview. The findings were not unexpected, said Sager, who was not involved in the study. 'In clinical practice, we see similar elevations in B 12 when patients are taking B vitamins,' she said. The current study is too short and too small to make global recommendations on supplement intake, but the results suggest that the type, dose, and time of day matter for many supplements, just as with medications, although research on this topic is limited, Sager said. 'Also, serum levels do not always correlate with goals of therapy,' she noted. Looking ahead, the safety and efficacy of intravenous vitamins and supplements is an important question for additional research, Sager added.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Study finds football fan rituals can create emotional mob mentality
By Stephen Beech Football fans get more emotional in pre-match rituals than during the actual game, suggests new research. The study of Brazilian football supporters showed that the intense feelings of joy, unity and excitement that fans experience can be less about the game and more about coming together. The only time fans' emotions exceeded the "high" of the pre-match gathering was when their team scored a goal, according to the findings. The study was led by Dimitris Xygalatas, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut and a lifelong soccer fan. Xygalatas says that when his hometown team PAOK won the Greek Super League for the first time in 34 years in 2019, he cried tears of joy, adding: "Not what you might call a rational organism's behavior." But his emotional reaction was in keeping with the findings of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Xygalatas said: "Rituals are the kinds of things that, at first glance, don't make any sense in terms of human behavior, but are deeply meaningful to people." With the cooperation of die-hard Brazilian footie fans, Xygalatas and his team tracked the physiological arousal of fans before, during, and after a state championship final in Minas Gerais between local rival clubs. Using wearable heart monitors, they measured the emotional reactions of fans during the ritual of Rua de Fogo - "Street of Fire" - during which crowds gather near the stadium to welcome the team's bus. As it arrives, fans light flares, smoke bombs, and fireworks, wave flags, and chant to boost team morale and unify supporters. The research team fitted participants with EKG monitors hidden beneath their clothing. The devices measured heart rate fluctuations, which is an indicator of emotional arousal, as fans participated in the pre-game celebration, entered the stadium, and watched the match unfold. The research team found that the levels of shared excitement, or what the scientists call "collective effervescence," peaked not during the match itself, but during the pre-game fan rituals. Only when the home team scored a goal did the physiological markers exceed the emotional high of the pre-match gathering. Xygalatas said, "What we see is that, in fact, the pre-game ritual generates more emotional synchrony than the game itself. "There's a single moment in the entire game when they have more collective emotional synchrony than the pre-game ritual, and that's when they scored a goal." The findings underscore Xygalatas' broader work to understand how ritual shapes human behavior and identity. He said, "Rituals are the kinds of things that, at first glance, don't make any sense in terms of human behavior, but are deeply meaningful to people." His previous research has taken him to remote firewalking ceremonies and intense religious festivals. But he said football offers a "unique laboratory" as it's a "global obsession" that's rich in ritual and pageantry, but largely free from political or religious ideology. The physiological data from the new study showed that the ritualistic gathering that happens before a ball is even kicked produced "sustained arousal levels" comparable to the game itself. Xygalatas said, "People attribute a lot of meaning to sports. "Sports generate billions and billions of dollars globally, and they take up so much of people's attention. "And the reason they do that is not just because of what's happening on the pitch. It's because of these ritualized interactions that occur among the fans." He says the implications of the findings may extend beyond sports as ritualized group behaviors, such as concerts, religious ceremonies, or political rallies, may "powerfully shape" people's emotions and even their beliefs. Xygalatas said, "By going to these events, we're actually shaping our beliefs. "So sports is not just an excuse for people to get together. It's a driver of identity." He recalled, as a young man growing up in Thessaloniki, Greece, how one day he was wearing his team's scarf in the wrong neighborhood when he was ambushed by four men and brutally attacked. Xygalatas said the incident echoes the fatal beating of a 19-year-old in his hometown years later, also over team allegiance. He said: "I felt a blow to my head from behind, and next thing I knew, there were four men beating me, kicking me on the head, everywhere. "The reason I was able to escape is that another group of men was turning the corner, wearing my insignia, so they chased them away." Xygalatas says football is the only sport that regularly leads to deadly violence, a fact that leagues and governing bodies such as FIFA should take seriously. He says it's in the best interest of clubs to strike a balance between building loyalty, which Europeans and South Americans are excellent at doing, and making it safe for people to participate in. However, Xygalatas is not advocating for less passion and he hopes his work helps people understand why they care so deeply in the first place. He added: "If we look at what makes us human, we realize that it's our ability and our need to derive meaning from things that seem meaningless." The post Study finds football fan rituals can create emotional mob mentality appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Boston Globe
Marine heat waves are spreading around the world
Scientists define marine heat waves in different ways. But it's clear that as the planet's climate changes, the oceans are being fundamentally altered as they absorb excess heat trapped in the atmosphere from greenhouse gases, which are emitted when fossil fuels are burned. Hotter oceans are causing drastic changes to marine life, sea levels, and weather patterns. Advertisement Some of the most visible casualties of ocean warming have been coral reefs. When ocean temperatures rise too much, corals can bleach and die. About 84 percent of reefs worldwide experienced bleaching-level heat stress at some point between January 2023 and March 2025, according to a recent report. Last year, the warmest on record, sea levels rose faster than scientists expected. Research showed that most of that rise in sea levels came from ocean water expanding as it warms, which is known as thermal expansion, not from melting glaciers and ice sheets, which in past years were the biggest contributors to rising seas. Advertisement Excess heat in the oceans can also affect weather patterns, making hurricanes more likely to rapidly intensify and become more destructive. In the southwest Pacific, last year's ocean heat contributed to a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones hitting the Philippines. 'If we understand how global warming is affecting extreme events, that is essential information to try to anticipate what's going on, what's next,' said Marta Marcos, a physicist at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain. Marcos was the lead author of a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that found that climate change has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of marine heat waves in recent decades. Some of the earliest research on mass die-offs associated with marine heat waves, before there was a name for them, came from the Mediterranean, which has been warming three to five times faster than the ocean at large. Joaquim Garrabou, a marine conservation ecologist at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, started studying these events after witnessing a die-off of sponges and coral in 1999. He and other scientists believed that with climate change, these die-offs would reoccur. 'The reality is moving even faster than what we thought,' he said. 'Having these mass mortality events is the new normal, instead of something infrequent, which it should be.' In 2012, a marine heat wave in the Gulf of Maine highlighted the risk these events pose to fisheries. The Northern shrimp population went from an estimated 27.25 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion two years later, according to modeling by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Advertisement 'This disappearance of the shrimp was just shocking,' said Anne Richards, a retired research fisheries biologist who worked at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center at the time. Her research pointed to a significant culprit: Longfin squid, drawn north by warmer water, were eating the shrimp. The fishery has not yet reopened. By 2023, the Northern shrimp population was estimated to have dropped to around 200 million. Commercial fishing has always been difficult, but now, 'climate change is taking that to another level,' said Kathy Mills, a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Complicating matters is the fact that much of the research on marine heat waves comes from just a few countries, including Australia, the United States, China, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. 'There are lots of regions around the world where monitoring isn't as good as other places, and so we don't really know what's happening,' said Dan Smale, a community ecologist at the United Kingdom's Marine Biological Association. Eventually, parts of the ocean might enter a constant state of marine heat wave, at least by today's common definition. Some scientists see today's shorter-term spikes as practice for this future. Alistair Hobday, a biological oceanographer at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, has been conducting public briefings with marine heat wave forecasts months ahead of time. People are tuning in — and responding. The critically endangered red handfish lives off the coast of Tasmania, crawling along the seafloor on fins shaped like hands. These unusual fish have only been found within two small patches of rocky reef and sea grass meadow. Advertisement In late 2023, Hobday's forecast predicted potentially deadly marine heat waves. Researchers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, with support from the Australian Department of Climate Change, took a drastic step. They transferred 25 red handfish to an aquarium until the temperatures fell. Jemina Stuart-Smith, an ecologist at the University of Tasmania, described those weeks as the most stressful time of her life. 'If it all went wrong,' she said, 'you're talking about the potential extinction of an entire species.' After three months, 18 fish were returned to the ocean. Three had died, and four were enrolled in a captive breeding program. Scientists recognize that temporary fixes can only do so much in the face of long-term warming. 'It's kind of putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg,' said Kathryn Smith, a marine ecologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Marine Biological Association. But those studying today's extreme events still hope their work gives people some visibility into the future of the world's oceans, Hobday said. 'Clever people, if you tell them about the future,' he said, 'can think of all kinds of things to do differently.' This article originally appeared in
