Science and the Future asked a French taphonomist and archaeozoologist to examine in turn the “fractures” of Australopithecus. Verdict:they were made after his death… Lucys skeleton, here on display in Houston in 2007, continues to fascinate researchers It looks like Lucy didnt kill herself by fal
Important archaeological finds have just been made on the plateau of Gergovie, this high place in the history of ancient Gaul, where Vercingetorix defeated Caesars legions in the 1st century BC. 3000 m2 of basalt paving were unearthed on the Gallic site of Gergovie. A unique discovery. By Belenos!
In northern Australia, archaeologists are using fossil wasp nests to try to date cave paintings thousands of years old. Cave paintings in the Kimberley region of northern Australia are believed to be among the oldest in world. AUSTRALIA. For thousands of years, people have decorated the walls of r
A long-controversial Mayan manuscript has been revealed to be an original. Dated around 1230, it becomes the oldest known manuscript in America. Knife in hand, a Mayan deity has just beheaded a shackled captive, whose blood spurts from the neck. AUTHENTICATION. Incredible turnaround. A famous Maya
The wreck of the second ship of the legendary British expedition that disappeared in 1848 has just been discovered in the Arctic, putting an end to one of the greatest enigmas and maritime tragedies of the 19th century. Engraving depicting the HMS Terror caught in the ice. The Franklin Expedition,
Long before the Egyptians, the use of indigo blue dye was already widespread in Peru more than 6000 years ago. Traces of indigo blue dyes discovered on textile fragments from the sanctuary of Huaca Prieta, north of Trujillo, Peru. BLUE. Were the ancient Peruvians the first to see the world in blue
An international research team has just discovered 2,000-year-old human remains at the site of the Antikythera wreck, off the Greek island of the same name. Divers examine human remains discovered at the site of Antikythera, in the Aegean Sea (Greece). SHIPWRECK. 2000 years under the sea! The rem
An exquisite female figurine of around 8000 years old was recently unearthed at the famous site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Female sculpture over 8000 years old discovered at the site of Catalhöyük, Turkey. WOMAN. Finely sculpted in white marble, the delicate statuette, 17 cm high and weighing 1 kg, ap
A charred Hebrew scroll discovered in Ein-Gedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea, has just been decrypted using technology. The virtual unrolling of the En-Gedi manuscript. A new 3D digital imaging technique has revealed the oldest version of an Old Testament manuscript, dating back at least fifteen
Charred bones and heat-rippled stones attest that a fire was started in a cave in prehistoric southern Spain 800,000 years ago. Wood fire PIONEERS. Homo living around 800,000 years ago in southern Spain were the “campfire pioneers” in Europe, say Spanish, German and Canadian researchers in the Jou
A Malian jihadist was sentenced in a landmark verdict to nine years in prison by the ICC on Tuesday for destroying protected mausoleums in Timbuktu. The mausoleum of Cheick Sidi Attawaty on September 19, 2016 in Timbuktu, was destroyed by the Islamists led by the Tuareg Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi in 20
The discovery of traces of human blood on arrowheads in Guatemala would testify to the holding of self-sacrificial ceremonies among the ancient Maya. Obsidian Maya arrowheads found at archaeological sites in Peten, Guatemala. In the background, the Nixtun-Chich peninsula. SELF-SACRIFICE. Very rar
The Egyptian Minister of Antiquities announces that the HIP institute and the faculty of engineers in Cairo will organize the infrared thermography campaign in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Enough to check if it also contains Nefertitis burial chamber... Reconstructed image of Tutankhamun at age 19. TU
History is little said about the death of Saint Louis. But recent analyzes carried out on his remains reveal the poor health of the King of France during the Eighth Crusade, where he died. Reliquary in which were the remains of the viscera of Saint-Louis, King of France. Typhus, plague, dysentery?
Magicians, sorcerers... In these days of Halloween, a legacy of ancient pagan festivals, what do we know about witches, these creatures that appeared in the Middle Ages and were persecuted for centuries? Meeting with Maxime Perbellini. Witches Flying to a Sabbath (19th century engraving). Before be
Egypt has just announced the start of detection campaigns in Tutankhamuns tomb. Could Queen Nefertiti be in a secret chamber? Egyptologists give their opinion. View of the Valley of the Kings near Thebes in Egypt. PREDICTIONS. On the occasion of the 93th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of
The teams in charge of the Scan Pyramids mission provided images of their work. Jean-Claude Barré performs infrared measurements in the tomb of Tutankhamun on behalf of the French institute HIP and the Faculty of Engineering in Cairo THERMOGRAPHY. A difference in temperature of a few tenths of a d
It is the combination of the shock of an asteroid on Earth and a resurgence of volcanism that explains the extinction of the dinosaurs. The end of the dinosaurs. Artists impression Digital:This article is taken from the magazine Sciences et Avenir N°825, dedicated to black holes. You will find a l
Former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass attacks Nicholas Reeves, the English Egyptologist who believes that an unknown cavity may be in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Zahi Hawass, Egypts former Minister of Antiquities, in front of the Sphynx on the Giza Plateau. CONTROLLING. Full attack in t
An American archaeologist was rewarded on Monday, November 9, 2015 for her work in detecting ancient sites thanks to special processing of satellite images. American archaeologist Sarah Parcak awarded TED Prize for her work detecting ancient sites - and looting -, during a press conference on Novem
Few gemstones have enjoyed as much popularity as the emerald, valued around the world. But one of the scientific challenges is to know which were the first mines in which their exploitation began. The scientific community has evidence that indicates that Upper Egypt it was the cradle of this activit
While the reopening of tombs in the High Middle Ages in Europe has long been attributed to an act of looting, European researchers have just rehabilitated this practice. Funerary spaces and practices in Alsace during the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. From the 5th to the 8th century AD. J.-
The Lascaux Cave is famous for the masterpieces of Paleolithic art, among the most important ever discovered, which adorn its walls and ceiling. It was discovered in the Dordogne department near Montignac, when four children and a dog entered it for the first time in September 1940. On the walls app
Although they are found in various areas of the Mediterranean, the Domus de Janas they are especially abundant in Sardinia, where they were built by a prenuragic (i.e. pre-Bronze Age) culture called the Ozieri culture , which developed on the island between 3200 and 2800 BC The main religious cente