
Massive tooth of marine mammal unearthed at ancient Spain site — 50 miles inland
In southwestern Spain, about 50 miles inland from the nearest coastal point, archaeologists discovered the 'remarkable' tooth of a marine mammal at the site of an ancient Copper Age settlement.
Buried at Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán, a site estimated to be about 5,300 years old, was an 'exceptional' and rare sperm whale tooth, according to a peer-reviewed May 14 study published in the journal PLOS One.
The large tooth with its 'massive' roots is 'the first of its kind ever found for Late Prehistoric Iberia,' the study said. At full size, it would have been nearly 10 inches long, according to researchers.
Researchers analyzed microscopic traces left by marine organisms — known as bioerosion — on the surface of the tooth to determine how the ancient people of Valencina acquired it.
The results suggest the whale was not hunted or harvested, but rather died and sank to the seafloor. As the whale's body decayed, a powerful weather event, like a storm, brought the tooth ashore, where it was discovered by people, according to the study.
This is supported by the fact that there is a notable absence of any other whale bones, which archaeologists would expect to find if that whale had been intentionally killed.
Researchers said the context in which the tooth was found 'is as interesting as the tooth itself.'
According to the study, the tooth was found in a non-burial pit, most likely as a 'highly-valuable and symbolically-charged' offering that had nothing to do with funerary practices.
The whale tooth was treated as a totem or sacred object, researchers said.
The archaeological site contains other examples of large animal remains such as elephant tusks, ostrich eggshells, deer antlers and auroch horns being 'treated with the utmost reverence,' according to the study.
Researchers said the archaeological site is 'remarkable' for its scale, covering 450 hectares, and for the number of features found there, including tombs and artifact-filled pits.
It was occupied for 1,000 years, between 3300 and 2150 BCE, according to the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
The ancient Copper Age settlement is near Seville
The research team included Samuel Ramírez-Cruzado Aguilar-Galindo, Miriam Luciañez-Triviño, Fernando Muñiz Guinea, Luis Miguel Cáceres Puro, Antonio Toscano Grande, Marta Díaz-Guardamino, Juan Manuel Vargas Jiménez, Thomas Xavier Schuhmacher, Rafael María Martínez Sánchez, Santiago Guillamón Dávila, Joaquín Rodríguez Vidal and Leonardo García Sanjuán.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Newsweek
9 hours ago
- Newsweek
Woman Gets Notification From Pet Camera—Can't Cope With What Dog Is Doing
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A video of a golden retriever caught in the act of "truly phenomenal" behavior in its owner's absence has gone viral on TikTok. The clip was shared by @seoigolden and has amassed over 510,000 views since it was posted on May 22. The dog in the video is a 2-year-old golden retriever called Seoi, according to the caption shared the post, which is written in French. The video, which features footage from a home security camera, was captured in Arcachon Bay in the southwest of France, according to the location shared with the post. French text overlaid on the video translates to: "One day you receive a notification from your you discover your dog on the table." The video shows the dog initially laying on a dining table in a living room setting, before it is later seen standing on top of it on all four legs. The golden retriever later jumps onto the floor and is seen laying still on its back, with its belly exposed and paws in the air. The dog later pokes its face around near the camera before the clip ends. While the pup may have appeared to be acting sneaky in the viral video, it may have acted the same even in the presence of "watching eyes," according to a January 2020 study. The study, published in Scientific Reports, explained that people are less "likely to carry out risky behavior in general" when they feel they're being watched. However, "dogs, despite being highly sensitive to human eyes, do not show the watching-eye effect," the study said. While it may have seemed like the dog was thriving in the absence of its owner and enjoying having the house to itself, our canine companions have a strong attachment to their human parents. The unique relationship between adult dogs and their owners "bears a remarkable resemblance to an infant attachment bond," explained a May 2013 study published in PLOS One. "Dogs are dependent on human care and their behavior seems specifically geared to engage their owners' care-giving system," the study said. 'Adorable' Viewers on TikTok were amused by the golden retriever's antics in the viral clip. Magali Martin191 said: "He's truly phenomenal," while user9255114689381 said the pup is "adorable." User @ wrote: "He does what he can't do when you're around." Nelara 🇲🇶 noted the dog must have been saying: "you shouldn't have left me...I only do stupid you're not there." Tiphbhc wrote: "Well, it's [the floor is] apparently more comfortable than the sofa." CélineP noted: "He even comes to taunt you in front of the camera." Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok and email. This video has not been independently verified. Stock image: A golden retriever laying on the floor of a home. Stock image: A golden retriever laying on the floor of a home. Getty Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ancient cone-shaped skull shows signs of fatal trauma
Archeologists have spent over a decade excavating an ancient graveyard in western Iran known as Chegla Sofla. The Copper Age site contains a trove of skeletal remains, offering insight about regional life approximately 6,200 years ago, and even contains the oldest-known tomb constructed from brick. However, one of the most recent finds isn't a feat of engineering, but of body modification: the skull of a young girl with distinct evidence of cranial modification. And according to the team's conclusions recently detailed in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, she died from head trauma—but it's unclear what or who caused it. The practice of artificial head elongation has been documented across cultures around the world dating back millennia, including societies in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and the Americas. The desired results were typically accomplished by tightly binding a child's head with cloth bandages for years in order to mold their pliable cranial bones into the desired conical shape. Some of the earliest examples date to 9th millennium BCE proto-Neolithic groups living in present-day Iraq. But based on discoveries at Chegla Sofla, similar traditions extended well into the 5th millennium. Archeologists including experts at Iran's Tarbiat Modares University analyzed the remains to better understand their subject after excavating the skull of a young woman estimated to be under 20 years old. To do this, the team used computing tomography (CT) scanning to assess both her cranial bones and diploe—the spongy part of bones that function as shock absorbers. They determined her skull was thinner than usual—a feature indicative of cranial binding. CT scans also revealed a fracture extending from the front of the skull all the way to the rear with no signs of healing. The injury's severity is particularly prominent in the form of a triangular fracture along the left parietal bone's sagittal border. Further examination made it clear the injury was inflicted by a blunt object that did not penetrate the cranial vault. But beyond these findings, it's hard to know the circumstances surrounding her death. 'We know this woman experienced the fracture in the final moments of her life, but we don't have any direct evidence to say that someone intentionally struck her,' study lead author Mahdi Alirezazadeh told Live Science. While cranial elongation resulted in thinner bones more prone to fracturing, it seems clear that even a naturally developed skull wouldn't have fared well against the injury. 'It should be noted that the blow was so severe that it would have fractured a normal, unmodified skull as well,' explained Alirezazadeh. Unfortunately, there's little else currently available that might clarify the woman's final moments. Although her skull has been recovered, the same can't be said for the rest of her skeleton. Her remains were found in a mass grave at Chegla Sofla, so it may be a while before experts match the skull to other bones.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
New Evidence Rewrites the Origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: A scholar from the Netherlands used AI to determine that the Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than previously believed. The new AI model pairs handwriting data with radiocarbon dating information to date ancient manuscripts. In the future, scientists hope the model will be useful in dating other mysterious ancient texts Dating ancient artifacts is very difficult. Experts have a number of techniques they can use to get close, but there are limitations that often can't be overcome without additional information. That said, sometimes you get lucky, like the researchers investigating the famous Dead Sea Scrolls did when they realized that the author wrote the dates of creation directly on several of the pages. However, not every scroll was labeled, and as a result, the undated Dead Sea Scrolls have been much harder for scientists to pin down. But when new technologies arise, things can change. According to a new study—in which scientists used AI modeling to study handwriting styles across ancient manuscripts with known dates—some of the undated Dead Sea Scrolls may be older than previously believed. Mladen Popovic (from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands) and his research team claim that their work not only re-dates some Dead Sea Scrolls, but could open a new way to place undated manuscripts on the timeline of ancient history. The team published their findings in the open-access journal PLOS One. 'It is very exciting to set a significant step in solving the dating problem of the Dead Sea Scrolls and also creating a new tool that could be used to study other partially dated manuscripts from history,' the authors wrote in a statement. 'This would not have been possible without the collaboration between so many different scientific disciplines.' The process started with a bounty of ancient texts used to help build datasets. The team parsed through historic manuscripts from various sites in modern-day Israel and the West Bank and used radiocarbon dating to estimate the ages of the documents. The team then trained a machine-learning model to understand the handwriting styles of each document in direct relation to the historic date of the manuscript. The AI model—dubbed Enoch, after the prominent biblical figure—then merged the two datasets. The goal of the work is to be able to 'objectively determine an approximate age range' of a manuscript based solely on the handwriting style on the document. During testing, the scholars said that Enoch's age estimates for the 135 Dead Sea Scrolls were 'realistic' 79 percent of the time, and non-realistic 21 percent of the time (non-realistic here meaning significantly too old, significantly too young, or indecisive). The Enoch model, paired with radiocarbon dating, estimates older ages for 'many of the Dead Sea Scrolls' than traditional handwriting analysis methods. The authors said that more data and further research could help pinpoint the timelines. 'With the Enoch tool we have opened a new door into the ancient world, like a time machine, that allows us to study the hands that wrote the Bible,' the authors wrote in the statement, 'especially now that we have established, for the first time, that two biblical scroll fragments come from the time of their presumed authors.' You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50