Latest news with #UpperPalaeolithic
Sinar Daily
21 hours ago
- Science
- Sinar Daily
Earliest proof of humans using whale bone tools discovered
The bones, found on the northern Spanish coast in the Bay of Biscay, show that we have been underestimating our prehistoric ancestors, the European-led team of scientists said. 07 Jun 2025 04:01pm There was a boom in whale bones between 17,500 and 16,000 BC, when tools have been found as far away as Germany. - Photo illustrated by Sinar Daily PARIS - Scientists announced they have discovered the earliest evidence of humans using whale bones, finding weapons made from the remains of the massive mammals dating back more than 20,000 years. The bones, found on the northern Spanish coast in the Bay of Biscay, show that we have been underestimating our prehistoric ancestors, the European-led team of scientists said. Some of the bones were collected more than a century ago but were misidentified. The researchers used carbon-dating, as well as spectrometry analysis to determine what species the bones were from. - Photo illustrated by Sinar Daily Southwest Europe was much colder during the Upper Palaeolithic period, and the Atlantic Ocean was 120 metres (400 feet) lower than its current level. As the seas rose over the millennia, it destroyed or buried much of the proof that these hunter-gatherers interacted with the marine world, French prehistoric archaeologist Jean-Marc Petillon told AFP. This led to a "biased" vision that they only hunted inland beasts such as reindeer, bison and horses, the lead author of a new study in Nature Communications said. "Fortunately for us, people at the time transported a number of marine products inland," he added. Perched on a cliff, these humans would likely have been able to see blue, sperm, bowhead and other whales relatively near the shore, looking for food. Among their discoveries, the researchers found more than 60 fragments of whale ribs or vertebrae. These huge bones were carried up to five kilometres (three miles) to the top of a steep cliff, possibly to extract their oil. "These bones are very rich in fat," Petillon explained. Most of the bone tools were parts of weapons, such as the tips of spears. But it is "extremely unlikely" these ancient humans were able to hunt whales, the study said, adding that it was more likely that the huge animals had simply washed up on the beach. Some of the bones were collected more than a century ago but were misidentified. The researchers used carbon-dating, as well as spectrometry analysis to determine what species the bones were from. There was a boom in whale bones between 17,500 and 16,000 BC, when tools have been found as far away as Germany. "Then it stopped quite abruptly" for reasons that are not clear, Petillon said. The people of the time did not run out of bones, nor did they lose the bone-working techniques. "It could be a choice... like a fashion that lasts a millennium or two and then, at some point, stops," Petillon said. - AFP More Like This
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Earliest proof of humans using whale bone tools discovered
Scientists announced Tuesday they have discovered the earliest evidence of humans using whale bones, finding weapons made from the remains of the massive mammals dating back more than 20,000 years. The bones, found on the northern Spanish coast in the Bay of Biscay, show that we have been underestimating our prehistoric ancestors, the European-led team of scientists said. Southwest Europe was much colder during the Upper Palaeolithic period, and the Atlantic Ocean was 120 metres (400 feet) lower than its current level. As the seas rose over the millennia, it destroyed or buried much of the proof that these hunter-gatherers interacted with the marine world, French prehistoric archaeologist Jean-Marc Petillon told AFP. This led to a "biased" vision that they only hunted inland beasts such as reindeer, bison and horses, the lead author of a new study in Nature Communications said. "Fortunately for us, people at the time transported a number of marine products inland," he added. Perched on a cliff, these humans would likely have been able to see blue, sperm, bowhead and other whales relatively near the shore, looking for food. Among their discoveries, the researchers found more than 60 fragments of whale ribs or vertebrae. These huge bones were carried up to five kilometres (three miles) to the top of a steep cliff, possibly to extract their oil. "These bones are very rich in fat," Petillon explained. Most of the bone tools were parts of weapons, such as the tips of spears. But it is "extremely unlikely" these ancient humans were able to hunt whales, the study said, adding that it was more likely that the huge animals had simply washed up on the beach. Some of the bones were collected more than a century ago but were misidentified. The researchers used carbon-dating, as well as spectrometry analysis to determine what species the bones were from. There was a boom in whale bones between 17,500 and 16,000 BC, when tools have been found as far away as Germany. "Then it stopped quite abruptly" for reasons that are not clear, Petillon said. The people of the time did not run out of bones, nor did they lose the bone-working techniques. "It could be a choice... like a fashion that lasts a millennium or two and then, at some point, stops," Petillon said. ber-dl/giv
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Science
- Hindustan Times
Archaeologists unearth prehistoric tools in NCR's only primary forest
Archaeologists and environmental researchers carrying out work in the Mangar region of the Aravallis have said that they found a variety of pre-historic tools in Mangar from the Lower Palaeolithic age, which effectively could be holding clues to prehistoric ways of life. Mangar Bani is a Palaeolithic archaeological site and sacred grove hill forest perched next to the Mangar village on the Delhi-Haryana border. According to people aware of the matter, the tools provide clues to the daily lives of the hunter gatherer populations characterised by the occurrence of handaxes and cleavers belonging to the Acheulian (Lower Palaeolithic) cultural phase, which existed around 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. Close to 200 objects and artefacts have been found so far, they said. HT first reported on July 14, 2021 that archaeologists have discovered cave paintings in a rocky and forested corner of Haryana, not far from the national capital, that they believe belong to the Upper Palaeolithic age. HT reported last week that Mangar, comprising the village, and the sacred grove amid a rocky and hilly terrain, spread over 4,262 acres (of which 3,810 acres is the hill area), is among the most biodiversity rich areas of the Aravallis in the National Capital Region (NCR). The researchers have been carrying out surface exploration work in the region for a week. Within Mangar village, Mangar Bani (677.12 acres) is NCR's most sacred grove, and possibly the only patch of primary forest in the region. It is also home to around 240 species of birds and 15 species of mammals including leopards and hyenas. Two archaeologists from the Academy for Archaeological Heritage Research and Training (AAHRT), Sanchi, and environmentalists from Gurugram have been exploring the hilly areas and three caves in Mangar. 'We found a high number of such tools, providing enough evidence that the area is a significant archaeological site from a pre-historic point of view,' said SB Ota, former joint director general of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the head of AAHRT. Ota was among the main archaeologists who discovered the Anangpur site in Faridabad in 1991, also a Palaeolithic site. The scoping survey was conducted by a joint team from AAHRT and Centre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) in and around the Mangar Bani, Mangar, Bandhwari, Shilakhri Aravallis. The team was led by Ota, along with Niharika Shrivastava, and Chetan Agarwal, senior fellows with CEDAR and Sunil Harsana, research associate CEDAR. The team also found several cave paintings, possibly much recent compared to the tools, which depict animal and nature inspired motifs in Mangar's caves and hills. Ota said the clues that sites in Haryana Aravallis were possible prehistoric sites first emerged in the 1990s, when certain pre-historic artefacts were found in Delhi. These were possibly transported with sand from Aravallis. 'It goes back to 1991 when I was working with the government. We were exploring the Aravallis in Anangpur. There were some reports from Delhi that these prehistoric tools were found. Sand goes from Aravallis to Delhi which is called Badarpur sand. People had reported that such artefacts found but they were not from Delhi, they came with the sand. So, we decided to explore areas from where the sand was coming. Until 1991 Aravallis were not explored. That brought us to Anangpur,' recollected Ota. He said those artefacts were dislodged from original context. 'I came to Mangar and Damdama in December 2023 after Chetan Agarwal, a Gurugram based forest analyst, informed me about the Mangar site. We did a survey near Damdama lake and found some artefacts. These belong to the Pleistocene. Presently, we are in Holocene, which is 11,000 years old. Human culture had its beginning with lower Palaeolithic tools. In India, the culture of these tools goes back to nearly 1.7 million years. There are a few methods to date these artefacts but we are planning to use the thermoluminescence method for the tools from Mangar,' said Ota. Thermoluminescence dating is a method in archaeology. It measures the accumulated radiation dose of the time elapsed since the material containing crystalline minerals was heated or exposed to sunlight Ota said that metal had not been discovered during the lower Palaeolithic age. 'People were hunter gatherers. For them the hardest material was rocks. They used bones and wood also, but that may have been completely destroyed since those are organic materials. The reason we cannot find such artefacts easily near the Yamuna is because they would be buried in alluvium. One could find some in the in the Shivaliks, but the Aravallis are isolated in many ways and this area is particularly untouched,' he added. Some archaeologists said that the documentation of such material needs to be methodical. 'We must document these pre-historic remains and the cave paintings very methodically. We as archaeologists read patterns. This area needs to be conserved because of its natural and archaeological heritage,' said Shrivastava, an archaeologist focusing on pre-historic evidence in Bastar. 'These are very important sites. Mangar and the surrounding areas are precious because they show us how very early human populations lived. They may have settled there because the atmospheric condition was conducive for people to live and we can see they had decorated their rock shelters also with paintings. Near to Mangar, Anangpur is also extremely important, the site was excavated and important artefacts such as cleavers, hand axes were found. The entire Aravallis and the Delhi ridge also have huge potential that needs to be studied. There should be no destructive activities in these areas, and mining, if any, should stop immediately,' said Nandini Bhattacharya Sahu, joint director general, ASI. The Aravalli range is one of the oldest fold mountain systems in the world and predates the formation of the Himalayan ranges. Its current form is reduced to residual hill ranges. The range and its surrounding area are characterised by the occurrence of various archaeological evidence, including the Acheulean culture, Mesolithic, Rock Paintings, and Chalcolithic settlements. Besides, the historical remains of varied nature include petroglyphs and early historic and medieval settlements both on the foothill area as well as on hilltops, forts, water bodies. Though Mangar meets all criteria for a forest, it has still not been classified as one by the Haryana government. A Supreme Court verdict in the TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India & Others case on December 12, 1996, directed that 'forests' would not only include those understood in the dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in government records irrespective of the ownership. However, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, exempts 'unrecorded deemed forests' from being recognised under the modified law on forest conservation, effectively leaving areas such as Mangar Bani vulnerable. HT reported on October 3, 2023 that the 2023 forest act will benefit real estate companies that own land in what was to be declared 'deemed forest' in Haryana's Aravallis. The revenue record for Mangar village from 1963-64 shows that the area is gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable land) and recorded as panchayat deh (owned by panchayat or common land). HT's analysis of jamabandi papers (land records) in 2023 revealed that large parts of land in Mangar and Mangar Bani are owned by real estate and other companies. Around 1973-74, around 3,809.63 acres of land in Mangar was mutated from panchayat deh to shamlat deh (common land vested with propietors) and further subdivided for private sale. The mutation was sanctioned on the basis of an order of a sub-judge in Ballabhgarh dated March 14, 1973, according to Agrawal. 'We knew that the Aravalli forests of Mangar and surrounding villages are a key groundwater recharge zone and wildlife habitat and corridor Now this survey has revealed its rich Palaeolithic past. We hope that the area is notified for archaeological protection, and also protected as a forest,' said Agarwal.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Just Found the Oldest 3D Map in the World
Experts just found a 3D map that was carved into quartz sandstone likely 13,000 years ago. Located within the famed Segognole 3 rock shelter, researchers believe the map shows the local landscape of the Paris Basin. It's also thought to highlight natural water flows and geomorphic features, as the direction of water flow was of critical importance for the Paleolithic people. Researchers from the University of Adelaide recently announced the discovery of a 13,000-year-old 3D map, now thought to be the oldest 3D map in the world. The team discovered this remarkable artifact carved into a block of quartz sandstone in the Segognole 3 rock shelter—a site that has long been known for artistic engravings in a Late Paleolithic style. The map depicts what is now known as France's Paris Basin and the surrounding landscape, with the particulars revealed in a study published by the Oxford Journal of Archaeology. It was found, according to the authors, alongside a 'female sexual configuration associated with a horse engraving, stylistically attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic,' both of which were discovered in the 1980s. 'What we've described is not a map as we understand it today—with distances, directions, and travel times,' Anthony Milnes, co-author of the study, said in a statement, 'but rather a three-dimensional miniature depicting the functioning of a landscape, with runoff from highlands into streams and rivers, the convergence of valleys, and the downstream formation of lakes and swamps.' 'For Paleolithic peoples,' Milnes continued, 'the direction of water flows and the recognition of landscape features were likely more important than modern concepts like distance and time.' The new find bests the previous oldest-3D-map record-holder—a Bronze Age engraving on a portable slab, which showed a local river network with the surrounding landscape and was likely used for navigation—by about 10,000 years. The study authors wrote of the newly-discovered map that a network of channels engraved onto the shelter floor form a 'functioning representation of watercourses. The carved motifs and their relationship with natural features in the sandstone of the shelter can be compared with major geomorphological features in the surrounding landscape.' 'Our study demonstrates that human modifications to the hydraulic behavior in and around the shelter extended to modeling natural water flows in the landscape in the region around the rock shelter,' Milnes said. 'These are exceptional findings and clearly show the mental capacity, imagination, and engineering capability of our distant ancestors.' Medard Thiry, who lead the project, noted that the creators of the map opened fractures in the stone to direct water through the site. He concluded that several fine-scale morphological features in the sandstone could not have formed naturally, showing that Paleolithic humans sculpted the stone to define specific flow paths for rainwater—something that hadn't been recognized previously by archaeologists at the site. The ancient landscape map was certainly about water, but in a way, we still may not fully grasp the true fullness of its meaning. 'The fittings probably have a much deeper, mythical meaning, related to water,' Thiry said. 'The two hydraulic installations—that of the sexual figuration and that of the miniature landscape—are two to three meters [6.5 to 10 feet] from each other and are sure to relay a profound meaning of conception of life and nature, which will never be accessible to us.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
