Latest news with #UniversityOfVienna
Gizmodo
27-05-2025
- General
- Gizmodo
Humans Were Making Tools From Whale Bones 20,000 Years Ago, Study Reveals
Perhaps the greatest challenge to studying coastal prehistoric communities is the fact that, because of erosion and changing sea levels, those coastlines simply no longer exist. However, there are still ways to study them indirectly. After investigating whale bone tools and fragments from prehistoric sites in France and Spain, a team of researchers revealed that the oldest specimens in the collection date back to around 20,000 years ago. That places them among the oldest known examples of humans using whale parts as tools. Before whaling greatly reduced their populations, 'whales were a valuable source of food and other resources,' the researchers wrote in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. 'They were thus a key part of subsistence for many coastal human groups worldwide, including hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers, with acquisition methods that included scavenging freshly beached animals, opportunistic killing and organized whaling.' Unfortunately, however, prehistoric coastal archaeological sites are fragile, and have eroded or are now underwater. Given that the creation of whale bone tools necessarily required the presence of humans along the coast, they provide a valuable opportunity to study prehistoric interactions between humans and marine life, as well as ancient whale ecology. The team—including researchers from The Autonomous University of Barcelona, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the University of Vienna—analyzed 83 bone objects clearly modified by humans and 90 unworked bone fragments which still showed signs of human processing. Radiocarbon dating (which determines the age of organic materials) revealed that the oldest bones in the collection date back to around 19,000 to 20,000 years ago, 'making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge,' the researchers explained. Furthermore, they discovered through mass spectrometry (which reveals the properties of molecules) that the bones came from species including blue whales, fin whales, sperm whales, right whales or bowhead whales, as well as gray whales. While today gray whales mostly exist in the North Pacific Ocean and the Arctic, the other species still inhabit France and Spain's Bay of Biscay. Interestingly, the analyses also indicate that the prehistoric whales had marginally different feeding habits in comparison to their modern counterparts. 'Even though the Paleolithic seashore itself is no longer accessible, and the range of taxa (animal classifications) identified here might not reflect the full range of species present in the Bay of Biscay at that period, the analysis of these whale bones brought inland by the hunter-gatherers opens a unique window into whale ecology,' the researchers explained, 'and the marine environments in the northeastern Atlantic at that period, and on the timing and nature of their utilization by human groups.' The study provides new insight into prehistoric coastal technologies, specifically in relation to some of the marine animals that have fueled human industry for 20,000 years.
Arab News
24-05-2025
- Science
- Arab News
Earliest use of harmal plant discovered in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk
RIYADH: A study published in the journal Communications Biology has revealed the earliest known use of the harmal plant (peganum harmala) — dating back about 2,700 years to the Iron Age — is based on findings from the ancient settlement of Qurayyah in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk region, according to the Saudi Heritage Commission. The research was conducted jointly by the Saudi Heritage Commission, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and the University of Vienna in Austria. It examined the therapeutic and social aspects of ancient practices in the Arabian Peninsula. Using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, researchers analyzed organic residues inside pottery incense burners and detected alkaloids from the harmal plant, providing evidence of its use in fumigation rituals for therapeutic purposes. The harmal plant, known locally as rue, is recognized for its antibacterial and healing properties. Its use at Qurayyah suggests early medicinal knowledge and traditional practices in the region. This discovery highlights the cultural and therapeutic traditions of the Arabian Peninsula and helps to support the commission's collaboration with international researchers. The study aligns with the Saudi Ministry of Culture's efforts to promote research that advances the understanding of history and the cultural heritage of the Arabian Peninsula.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- Science
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Heritage Commission Reveals Oldest Known Use of Harmal Plant in Human History
A landmark scientific study published in the international "Communications Biology" journal revealed the earliest known use of the harmal plant (Peganum harmala), dating back around 2,700 years to the Iron Age, based on archaeological findings from the ancient settlement of Qurayyah in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk Region, according to a Saudi Heritage Commission press release, SPA reported. Conducted as part of a joint research effort by the Saudi Heritage Commission, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and the University of Vienna in Austria, the study explores the therapeutic and social dimensions of ancient practices in the Arabian Peninsula, underscoring the Kingdom's commitment to advancing scientific understanding of its cultural heritage. Using high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), researchers performed advanced chemical analyses on organic residues preserved inside pottery incense burners. These analyses detected alkaloids from the harmal plant, providing physical evidence of its use in fumigation rituals for therapeutic purposes. The harmal plant, also known locally as rue, is recognized for its antibacterial and healing properties. Its documented use at Qurayyah not only reflects early medicinal knowledge but also highlights the continuity of traditional practices in the region. This discovery further underscores the longstanding cultural and therapeutic traditions of the Arabian Peninsula and demonstrates the Saudi Heritage Commission's ongoing commitment to international research collaboration. This research aligns with the broader goals of the Saudi Ministry of Culture to support pioneering initiatives that contribute to the global understanding of human history and to reframe the cultural legacy of the Arabian Peninsula through a modern scientific lens.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- Science
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Heritage Commission Reveals Oldest Known Use of Harmal Plant in Human History
A landmark scientific study published in the international "Communications Biology" journal revealed the earliest known use of the harmal plant (Peganum harmala), dating back around 2,700 years to the Iron Age, based on archaeological findings from the ancient settlement of Qurayyah in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk Region, according to a Saudi Heritage Commission press release, SPA reported. Conducted as part of a joint research effort by the Saudi Heritage Commission, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and the University of Vienna in Austria, the study explores the therapeutic and social dimensions of ancient practices in the Arabian Peninsula, underscoring the Kingdom's commitment to advancing scientific understanding of its cultural heritage. Using high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), researchers performed advanced chemical analyses on organic residues preserved inside pottery incense burners. These analyses detected alkaloids from the harmal plant, providing physical evidence of its use in fumigation rituals for therapeutic purposes. The harmal plant, also known locally as rue, is recognized for its antibacterial and healing properties. Its documented use at Qurayyah not only reflects early medicinal knowledge but also highlights the continuity of traditional practices in the region. This discovery further underscores the longstanding cultural and therapeutic traditions of the Arabian Peninsula and demonstrates the Saudi Heritage Commission's ongoing commitment to international research collaboration. This research aligns with the broader goals of the Saudi Ministry of Culture to support pioneering initiatives that contribute to the global understanding of human history and to reframe the cultural legacy of the Arabian Peninsula through a modern scientific lens.
South China Morning Post
13-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Can the origins of human music be seen in chimps drumming? Study provides new insights
Out west, they groove with fast, evenly spaced beats. In the east, it is more free-form and fluid. Like humans, chimpanzees drum with distinct rhythms – and two subspecies living on opposite sides of Africa have their own signature styles, according to a study published in the scientific journal Current Biology. The idea that ape drumming might hold clues to the origins of human musicality has long fascinated scientists, but collecting enough clean data amid the cacophony of the jungle had, until now, proven elusive. 'Finally we've been able to quantify that chimps drum rhythmically – they don't just randomly drum,' said the study's lead author, Vesta Eleuteri, of the University of Vienna in Austria. Play The findings lend fresh weight to the theory that the raw ingredients of human music were present before our evolutionary split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago.
