Latest news with #archeologists
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
First complete ancient Egyptian DNA genome reveals his occupation
In 1985, geneticists achieved a major archeological breakthrough after they successfully extracted partial DNA from ancient Egyptian skeletal remains. Almost exactly four decades later, researchers have sequenced the first whole genome from an individual who lived amid the civilization's earliest eras. The findings are detailed in a study published July 2 in the journal Nature. Egyptologists have spent centuries analyzing mountains of archeological materials spanning thousands of years' worth of history. But while experts now know a fair amount about ancient Egyptian life, they still understand very little about the population's genetic makeup. Researchers have genomically analyzed three specimens to date, but in each case, poor DNA preservation resulted in only partial sequences. A tooth stored in museum archives for over a century has changed that, however. Archeologists initially excavated it (and its owner) around 1902 at Nuwayrat, a village roughly 165 miles south of Cairo. Experts couldn't immediately glean much from the body, but radiocarbon dating revealed the individual lived between 2855 and 2570 BCE. This placed him between the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, a time when rulers oversaw the first pyramid construction projects, but before standardized mummification practices. This lack of mummification likely contributed to the DNA's long-lasting integrity, allowing researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom to finally extract its full genomic information. Their genetic analysis linked 80 percent of his DNA to North Africa, while the remaining 20 percent traces to the Mesopotamian Fertile Crescent near present-day Iraq. It's still unclear if most Egyptians at that time shared a similar ancestry. However, the tooth's dietary chemical signatures indicate the man grew up in Egypt as opposed to migrating there. Further examinations of the overall skeleton also point to a life of hard labor. 'The markings on the skeleton are clues to the individual's life andlifestyle—his seat bones are expanded in size, his arms showed evidence of extensive movement back and forth, and there's substantial arthritis in just the right foot,' explained Liverpool John Moores University archeologist and study second author Joel Irish. Irish and colleagues believe the man likely worked as a potter, with the foot arthritis corresponding to the use of a pottery technology arrived in Egypt around the same time that he was alive. 'That said, his higher-class burial is not expected for a potter, who would not normally receive such treatment,' added Irish. 'Perhaps he was exceptionally skilled or successful [enough] to advance his social status.' Moving forward, the team hopes that their achievement is only the first of many similar DNA sequencing projects. 'Piecing together all the clues from this individual's DNA, bones and teeth have allowed us to build a comprehensive picture,' said study first author Adeline Morez Jacobs. 'We hope that future DNA samples from ancient Egypt can expand on when precisely this movement from West Asia started.'
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Archeologists make surprising discovery at hidden ancient city site
Archeologists have unearthed additional evidence that women, not men, ruled an ancient city in Turkey which has been buried for thousands of years. The discovery could rewrite what we know about the earliest days of civilization and about gender roles throughout history, experts say. In a landmark study published in journal Science, researchers analyzing ancient DNA from nearly 400 skeletons at Catalhoyuk, a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey, revealed powerful clues that this early civilization operated under a matriarchal system. The settlement, a warren of mudbrick homes and goddess-like statues dating back to 7100 BCE, has long been a source of mystery and wonder. Experts have long suspected that women and girls were key figures in this agricultural society. But DNA analysis now confirms that women were buried with far more grave goods than men - and that daughters stayed with their maternal households, while sons often left. The astonishing find has electrified the archeological world, challenging generations of assumptions about who held power in humanity's earliest cities and suggesting that the world's first great urban cultures may have rested on the shoulders of women. The vast settlement - spread over 32.5 acres (13.2 hectares) - was already known for its sprawling homes, elaborate art, and mysterious goddess-like figurines. Now, the latest genetic evidence has provided clues that women were not only the spiritual symbols of Catalhoyuk but may have been its true rulers. In a painstaking investigation spanning more than a decade, a team of geneticists, archeologists, and biological anthropologists extracted DNA from the skeletons of over 130 people buried beneath the floors of 35 separate houses at the site. In total, nearly 400 individuals have been recovered in graves at Catalhoyuk, a city once bustling with life for more than a thousand years. What they found was extraordinary: a strong genetic pattern showing maternal connections within the buildings. Women and their daughters were consistently buried together, while men seemed to arrive from outside, suggesting they married into the households of their wives. Researchers believe that as many as 70 to 100 per cent of female offspring stayed attached to their maternal homes across generations, while males moved away. And the evidence of women's elevated status does not end there. Grave goods such as precious ornaments, tools, and other offerings were found five times more often in female burials than in male ones, a clear sign of preferential treatment and status in death that mirrored social power in life. Dr. Eline Schotsmans, a co-author of the study and research fellow at the University of Wollongong's School of Science in Australia, urged modern audiences to rethink outdated assumptions about ancient gender roles. The idea that a Neolithic city could have been matriarchal is not new in myth or folklore. Catalhoyuk's iconic clay statues depicting rounded, powerful female figures have long teased the possibility of a society with women at the helm. But this new DNA evidence offers the first scientifically grounded window into how such a social structure might have worked in practice. Benjamin Arbuckle, an archeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was not involved in the study, wrote in a perspective in Science that 'if the sex patterns were reversed, there would likely be little hesitation in concluding that patriarchal power structures were at play.' 'This is reflective of the difficulty that many scholars have in imagining a world characterized by substantial female power despite abundant archeological, historic, and ethnographic evidence that matriarchal fields of power were and are widespread,' he added.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ancient Greek inscriptions point to the ‘Sanctuary of Odysseus'
Archeologists have been exploring the historical origins behind Homer's The Odyssey for decades, if not centuries. As is the case for many of the world's poetic epics, at least some evidence suggests that the long-suffering protagonist was partially based on an actual individual. Even if The Odyssey's hero Odysseus never actually existed, excavation sites indicate people turned to him as a source of inspiration for thousands of years—even going so far as to sometimes worship him. The newest finds to shed light on both Odysseus and his followers come from his home island of Ithaca, at what's known as the Agios Athanasios–School of Homer. An announcement on June 9 from the Greek Ministry of Culture cites the discovery of a rare underground spring cistern dating to the 14th–13th centuries BCE, during the Mycenaean palatial period. According to archeologists, the settlement at the School of Homer likely functioned as a hub for supervising surrounding ports and lands while protecting the area's rich water resources. It's just one of a network of 7 to 8 sites dotting northwest Ithaca that appear to collectively define the major urban center described by Homer in The Odyssey. While archeologists still can't definitively point to Odysseus' existence, additional discoveries in the form of two late Hellenistic inscriptions illustrate the mythological figure's importance, which eventually contributed to his local veneration. The first is ΟΔΥCCEOC, the Greek genitive (i.e. possessive or attributive) case of Odysseus which suggests a writer referring to the location as the hero's palace or temple. The second iteration, ΟΔΥCCEI, is found on a dedicatory inscription possibly created by a visiting pilgrim. These correspond to a similar etching discovered at Ithaca's nearby Polis Bay cave site during the 1930s that reads 'ΕΥΧΗΝ ΟΔΥCCΕΙ,' or 'Thanks, Odysseus.' Combined with multiple ritual artifacts and a small bronze bust of the Homeric hero, it's clear the area remained a major 'sanctuary' dedicated to the legendary figure for centuries. 'The complex is characterized by robust structures on terraces, incorporating impressive elements of carved architecture, as well as niches for votive offerings or inscriptions, which testify to the intensive cultic use,' explained the Greek Ministry of Culture. Interestingly, even more recent finds at the School of Homer appear to predate the Odyssean pilgrimage site by thousands of years. The famous ruins' previously oldest artifacts dated back to the Bronze Age Mycenaean period around the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. Now, flint tools and pottery shards indicate that the earliest known human activity at the stone complex is traceable all the way to the Final Neolithic period (late 5th to 4th millennium BCE). Taken altogether, it appears that the site's importance and cultural significance extended back into the annals of time—even further than the mythical, ill-fated voyage of Odysseus.
