Within the last few years, new archaeological discoveries have continued to push back the timescales on when humans are believed to have initially arrived in the Americas.

Most recently, ichnofossils in the form of ancient footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico suggest a human presence there as early as 23,000 years ago, in an area where it was once thought humans wouldn’t begin to arrive for another 10,000 years.

The history of American anthropology boasts a long record of disputes over when the earliest arrivals of humans began. Early in the 20^th century, many leading anthropologists would have looked no further than 3000-4000 years ago for the arrival of the first Americans, a view that would quickly change with the discoveries at sites like Folsom and Clovis in New Mexico, which established the reality of a human presence in American by the end of the last Ice Age.

Although the “Clovis First” model predominated American archaeology for decades after the discoveries in New Mexico early in the 20^th century, by the beginning of the 1970s it began to become clear that there was a potential for an even earlier human presence in the Americas. Sites like Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Monte Verde in Chile seemed to offer indisputable evidence of human activities well in advance of Clovis. It begged the question: just how far back do the earliest human arrivals in the New World go?

Additional discoveries of “pre-Clovis” sites throughout parts of North and South America leading up to the 21^st century continued to increase awareness among archaeologists of earlier human arrivals than once would have been deemed acceptable. However, a few purported archaeological site discoveries were suggestive of something even more controversial, with implications far beyond just when and where the first humans arrived.

Excavations began at the Topper Site in Allendale County, South Carolina, in the early 1980s under the direction of Albert Goodyear, who would continue excavations there for the next several decades. An undeniable Clovis presence at the site was established, accompanied by what appeared to be earlier evidence of human tool use at the site (which, at the time of their discovery, would have been viewed as far more controversial than they are in light of recent pre-Clovis discoveries in America).

However, in 2004 the already compelling Topper site garnered additional attention for Goodyear’s announcement that the remains of carbonized plants, recovered from the site’s lowest excavated levels, appeared to have been radiocarbon dated to around 50,000 years ago. Intriguingly, Goodyear also said that evidence in the form of simple tools, along with chert (a sedimentary rock consisting almost entirely of silica) showing evidence of being struck for use in making such implements, was also found at this depth.

While many archaeologists disputed the discoveries, they raised a number of thought-provoking possibilities. While homo sapiens are believed to have begun leaving Africa between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago, the idea that they might have been in eastern North America 55,000 years ago would have been unprecedented. Nonetheless, Topper was not the only such site where evidence for an anomalously early human presence had been claimed. Even prior to excavations at Topper, the Calico Early Man Site in San Bernardino County, California, had seen publicity for the controversial claims about tools that were recovered there.

Famed archaeologist Louis Leakey, who participated in early excavations at the site, had been among those convinced that the tools found there might date back more than 100,000 years, although more recent estimates place the Calico artifacts much closer to around 20,000 years ago, consistent with discoveries like those at White Sands. Even Leaky’s wife Mary would later write that her former husband’s zeal for the antiquity of Calico had been “catastrophic to his professional career and was largely responsible for the parting of our ways.” Still others have argued that many of the purported “artifacts” from Calico are more likely the result of natural processes, as opposed to being produced by human hands.

Louis and Mary Leakey in 1962

(Smithsonian Institution/Flickr Commons).

Had the purported tools at Calico indeed been proven to extend back 100,000 years or more, they not only would have challenged our notion of when humans first arrived in the Americas, but also when they first left Africa. After all, it would seem inconceivable that around the same time humans were believed to have made their exit from Africa, evidence of tool usage would also appear in North America. Thus, only one of two possibilities would have seemed feasible: either early humans would have had to leave Africa earlier, or perhaps another variety of archaic hominin had made its way to the Americas first.

Of course, the questionable nature of Calico’s purported artifacts left little need for such considerations. However, it would not remain the only location in southern California where archaeological sites boasting extreme ages would turn up. In 2017, the Cerutti Mastodon site located nearby in San Diego County made headlines after researchers said they had recovered mastodon bones there, which appeared to bear evidence of human butchering in the form of markings on the bones dated to 130,700 years ago.

Much like Calico before it, the Cerutti Mastodon site was roundly dismissed by the majority of archaeologists on account of several factors, the main one involving the fact that no human remains, and only questionable artifact remains were recovered there. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that rather than some kind of early hominin, a megafaunal variety of capuchin monkey that existed in some parts of the Americas during the Pleistocene could have been responsible for the marks found on the mastodon bones in question! Still others suggest that the marks in question could have been produced by recent construction activities, rather than impacts with stone more than 130,000 years ago.

Obviously, many questions remain about these purported archaeological sites. To date, no evidence that has been presented offers undisputed proof of an anomalously early human presence in southern California, or anywhere elsewhere in the Americas. While most archaeologists are now warming up to the notion of arrivals 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, some estimates place arrivals as far back as around 40,000 years ago. These dates may not present evidence that causes us to question accepted notions about the earliest human migrations out of Africa—let alone whether homo sapiens were the first ones to arrive in the Americas. However, they do mark a notable shift in the attitudes of anthropologists, who in decades past had been far more resistant to accepting new evidence.

If time has shown us anything, it is that every few decades, new discoveries tend to emerge that cause us to have to rethink what we thought we knew. Our study of the ancient Americas is dynamic and ever-changing, and as new insights continue to emerge over time, perhaps at least one thing does remain predictable: when it comes to the ancient world, learn to expect the unexpected.

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the first ever depiction of a biblical plant engraved on an ancient amethyst stone near Israel’s City of David. This biblical plant is known as the Balm of Gilead (also called Bosem, and Balsam).

The stone was found in a drainage ditch that is located next to Jerusalem’s Western Wall when archaeologists and volunteers were digging through it at the Emek Tzurim National Park. It dates back to the time of the Second Temple around 2,000 years ago.

An amethyst is a popular stone in jewelry.

Eli Shukron, who is a former archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, described the location where the stone was discovered, “Jerusalem’s primary drainage channel was built under the pilgrimage road. The pilgrimage road started from the Pool of Siloam in the City of David and went up to the Temple on the Temple Mount of the Second Temple period. Apparently, this ring with the seal fell into the drainage ditch 2,000 years ago.”

Shukron went on to explain the incredible stone which measures 10 millimeters in length by 5 millimeters in width, “It is a stone seal made of semi-precious amethyst stone with an engraving of a dove and a branch of a tree with fruit on the branch.” “Once we found the seal with the branch and the fruit, we hypothesized that it was the biblical persimmon fruit plant as mentioned in the Bible and in the sources of the Second Temple period and the Byzantine period.” “What was surprising was that the branch is a branch with fruits that are not recognized from other seals from that period.” The tree and the dove represent success and good fortune.

(Not the amethyst mentioned in this article.)

Ancient Hebrew farmers were the only people in the world who were known to have cultivated the Balm of Gilead for approximately a thousand years. It was used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes during that time as well as an expensive ingredient in Temple incense as stated by Guy Ehrlich who has been attempting to bring back biblical agriculture by growing the plant, “This is the same persimmon that is identified with the biblical persimmon. It is the persimmon that served as the first of the incense ingredients of the Temple and as the anointing oil of the kings and priests.” He added that the stone is “amazing” and that “Someone took a branch of the Balm of Gilead and drew it on the stone. It does not remind me of any other plant I know.”

A news report about the discovery can be viewed here and a photo of the amethyst with the engravings can be seen here.

A very ancient crab has been found preserved in amber dating back about 100 million years and has been described as being a “spectacular” find. There have been several previous discoveries of living creatures found in amber but they were all from land. This newly discovered crab specimen is actually the oldest ever discovery of an aquatic creature found trapped in amber. Furthermore, it is the most complete fossil of a crab that’s ever been found.

This new species of crab, which has been named Cretapsara athanata, was initially found in Kachin State in the northern part of Myanmar. The Longyin Amber Museum became in possession of the amber specimen in 2015 when they got it from a vendor in Tengchong, China, close to the Myanmar border. It has recently been analyzed by scientists from China, Canada, and the United States.

The crab was found preserved in ancient amber.

The crab was exceptionally tiny (probably a baby), measuring just 5 millimeters in length. Computerized tomography scans showed it in greater detail, such as its antennae as well as its gills and fine hairs on its mouth.

Javier Luque, who is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, described the incredible condition that the crab was in, “The specimen is spectacular, it is one of a kind. It’s absolutely complete and is not missing a single hair on the body, which is remarkable.”

As for how a crab ended up trapped in amber, the experts believe that it probably lived in fresh water or brackish water that is found on the ground in forests. It was more than likely not a marine crab but not completely land-based. It may have possibly been migrating onto land after it was born in the water and that’s how it might have ended up in the amber. Fossils from crabs dating back to more than 200 million years ago have previously been found; however, remains of non-marine crabs are very rare and mostly incomplete when they are discovered.

(Not the Cretapsara athanata)

Artistic reconstruction of Cretapsara athanata: The immortal Cretaceous spirit of the clouds and waters.

Credit: Artwork by Franz Anthony, courtesy of Javier Luque (Harvard University).

Additionally, the discovery proves that crabs transitioned from the sea to land and fresh water while the dinosaurs were still living – a transformation previously thought to have occurred during the mammal era. “In the fossil record, non-marine crabs evolved 50 million years ago, but this animal is twice that age,” Luque noted.

A picture of the crab inside of the amber can be seen here.

The 100-million-year-old creature resembles crabs that scuttle around shores today.

(Lida Xing/China University of Geosciences, Beijing)

1. C. athanata Luque gen. et sp. nov., a modern-looking eubrachyuran crab in Burmese amber. (A to D) Holotype LYAM-9. (A) Whole amber sample with crab inclusion in ventral view. (B) Close-up of ventral carapace. (C) Whole amber sample with crab inclusion in dorsal view. (D) Close-up of dorsal carapace. White arrows in (B) and (D) indicate the detached left fifth leg or pereopod.

Credit: Images and figure by Javier Luque and Lida Xing

The study was published in the journal Science Advances where it can be read in full.

In a first-of-its kind discovery, remains of ancient life has been found in a 2.5-billion-year-old ruby that formed in the Earth’s crust. According to geologists, the ruby contained pure carbon called graphite that was probably biological in nature as the remnants of an ancient organism that was around prior to multicellular life evolving on our planet.

Rubies are a popular gemstone in jewelry but how they form is very interesting as they are created from extreme pressure and heat in Earth’s tectonic boundaries. They are a form of the mineral corundum which is a crystalline type of aluminum oxide. The redder the ruby, the more chromium it contains.

A ruby is a popular stone in jewelry.

Chris Yakymchuk, who is a geologist at the University of Waterloo in Canada, as well as his colleagues, wanted to study the corundum formation process so they decided to analyze rubies that are found in Greenland. In fact, Greenland has some of the oldest ruby deposits in the world.

While studying the rubies, the team discovered the graphite inclusion and were able to determine that the stone contained a lot of carbon-12 which indicated that it was organic. “The graphite inside this ruby is really unique. It’s the first time we’ve seen evidence of ancient life in ruby-bearing rocks,” Yakymchuk explained, adding, “The presence of graphite also gives us more clues to determine how rubies formed at this location, something that is impossible to do directly based on a ruby’s color and chemical composition.”

He went on to say, “Living matter preferentially consists of the lighter carbon atoms because they take less energy to incorporate into cells.” “Based on the increased amount of carbon-12 in this graphite, we concluded that the carbon atoms were once ancient life, most likely dead microorganisms such as cyanobacteria.”

(Not the ruby mentioned in this article.)

Their discovery revealed valuable information regarding how the rubies were formed in the first place as corundum can’t form when there is an overwhelming amount of silica in the environment. Since there was graphite present, it seems to indicate that there was once some fluid there that would have aided in getting rid of some of the silicon dioxide that was in the rock. At that point, the corundum would have been able to form.

Their study was published in Ore Geology Reviews where it can be read in full.

A picture of the ruby can be seen here.

Four hundred ancient rock-cut chamber tombs that contained paintings and treasures were discovered by archaeologists in Turkey. The chamber tombs, which date back about 1,800 years, are part of one of the world’s biggest rock-cut chamber tomb necropolises (it was built into the slopes of a canyon). They were located in the ancient city of Blaundos (it can also be spelled Blaundus) which is approximately 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of the Aegean Sea.

Many of the sarcophagi-filled tombs contain more than one deceased person which seems to indicate that several generations of the same family were buried together and that “…the tombs were reopened for each deceased family member, and a burial ceremony was held and closed again,” Birol Can, who is an archaeologist at Uşak University in Turkey and head of the Blaundos Excavation Project, explained to Live Science in an email.

(Not any of the chamber tombs mentioned in this article.)

While grave robbers already took some of the treasures throughout the years, archaeologists did find several important items such as coins and pieces of pottery dating back to the Roman Period. “In addition, the technique of the wall paintings covering the walls, vaults and ceilings of the tombs and the style of the vegetal and figurative scenes depicted on them show Roman characteristics,” Can noted.

The paintings contained geometric, floral, and figurative depictions. “Vines, flowers of various colors, wreaths, garlands, geometric panels are the most frequently used motifs,” Can explained, adding, “In addition to these, mythological figures — such as Hermes (Mercury), Eros (Cupid) [and] Medusa — and animals such as birds and dogs are included in the wide panels.”

Other items found in the chambers included diadems, bracelets, rings, mirrors, hairpins, belts, medical instruments, oil lamps, and drinking cups. While the items give a clue as to the sex, time of burial, occupation, and habits of the individuals, experts are still planning on conducting DNA and chemical analysis on the remains in order to find out more information about the deceased.

(Not any of the chamber tombs mentioned in this article.)

Besides the rock-cut chamber tombs, archaeologists have identified two temples, a theater, a gymnasium, a basilica, city walls and a gate, a public bath, aqueducts, and a shrine that was dedicated to an ancient Roman or Greek hero (this is called a heroon). “Apart from these, we know that there are many religious, public and civil structures still under the ground,” Can revealed.

Pictures of some of the rock chamber tombs and paintings can be seen here.

More than a century after first discovering cave art dating back to the Stone Age in Italy’s Romanelli Cave (they were found in 1905), a team of archaeologists, geologists, and paleontologists have recently found more drawings. The newly discovered Paleolithic art includes geometric designs, a bovid (hoofed mammal), and a bird.

The cave, which is located on the southeast coast of Italy and is only seven meters above the Adriatic Sea, was found back in 1874 but it was very difficult to get access to it based on its location. That’s why the first rock art was only discovered in 1905. The cave itself has two areas: an inner chamber; and a main chamber that had collapsed and where large boulders had fallen from the ceiling.

(Not Romanelli Cave)

The art that is in the main chamber is located up in a frieze (horizontally drawn art near the ceiling), and the ones in the inner chamber are in two wall alcoves (similar to a nook or opening). The newfound geometric patterns were created with a soft white material found in limestone caves called “moonmilk”.

As for the bird drawing, it was believed to have been a “rare depiction” of an auk (short-winged diving seabird). It was quite detailed with three short lines that were drawn near its eye that depicted its feathers. Auk drawings have previously been found in caves in France and Spain. However, birds aren’t normally found in Paleolithic art which makes the discovery in Italy very interesting. Additionally, whoever made the art used several different tools to make the drawings. (Pictures can be seen here.)

Entrance of the Romanelli Cave.

IGAG-CNR, MONTEROTONDO (RM), ITALY. PHOTO D. SIGARI

Image Credit : Antiquity

Image Credit : Antiquity

The Auk Head : Image Credit : Antiquity

A single panel of engraved art with an abstract gridlike motif.

GEOSCIENCES CENTER, COIMBRA UNIVERSITY, PORTUGAL. PHOTO D. SIGARI

Auks painted by Archibald Thorburn

(Via Wikipedia)

Dario Sigari from the Universita degli Studi di Ferrara described the art in further detail, “They [the new images] further confirm the existence of a shared visual heritage across a wide part of Eurasia during the Late Upper Paleolithic [period], opening new questions about social dynamics and the spread of common iconographic motifs around the Mediterranean Basin.”

He added that the excavations of the cave have revealed a new estimate that it was used by ancient humans between 14,000 and 11,000 years ago. “These new dates and the fact images are layered over each other suggest the cave was in used for a longer period than previously supposed, with multiple episodes of art-making.”

Ancient rock art isn’t the only interesting thing that was found in the cave as previous excavations have revealed animal bones, human bones, and numerous art objects such as stones that may have fell from the walls or ceiling.

Their study can be read in full here.

More than 50 footprints have been found in the sand on the Greek Island of Crete and they are exceptionally old. While they were initially discovered in 2017, they have since been analyzed and confirmed as being more than 6 million years old. This means that they are the oldest ever footprints found of pre-humans (predecessors of early humans).

A team of international researchers from Greece, Germany, England, Egypt, and Sweden, which was led by Tübingen scientists Uwe Kirscher and Madelaine Böhme of the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, confirmed that the footprints were made by pre-humans.

The prints were fossilized in beach sediments and were discovered close to the west Cretan village of Trachilos. After their discovery, experts used micropaleontological and geophysical techniques in order to date them back to 6.05 million years ago.

(Not the footprints found in Crete)

This discovery has certainly provided experts with quite valuable information regarding the early evolution of using feet to move around as described by Per Ahlberg who is a professor at Uppsala University, “The oldest human foot used for upright walking had a ball, with a strong parallel big toe, and successively shorter side toes,” adding, “The foot had a shorter sole than Australopithecus. An arch was not yet pronounced and the heel was narrower.”

To put this into better perspective, the footprints are millions of years older than those made by the same species as the famous Lucy. “The tracks are almost 2.5 million years older than the tracks attributed to Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) from Laetoli in Tanzania,” explained Uwe Kirscher. Furthermore, the tracks found in Crete are from the same time period as previous fossils found in Kenya belonging to the upright-walking species of Orrorin tugenensis; however, only femurs were found but no foot bones or even footprints.

(Not the footprints found in Crete)

Additionally, since Crete was connected to the Greek mainland 6 million years ago, the footprints could have been made by a pre-human species called Graecopithecus freybergi. In fact, remains belonging to the species were previously discovered in Athens, Greece, that dated back 7.2 million years. The study was published in Scientific Reports where it can be read in full.

A photo of one of the footprints can be seen here.

Interestingly, this news comes just days after it was reported that ancient footprints found in New Mexico that date back 23,000 years could be the earliest evidence of humans inhabiting the Americas.

Approximately 30 million years ago, there was a mass extinction that nobody knew about until recently. As a matter of fact, a whopping 63% of mammals vanished from different parts of the Earth.

The extinction event occurred just after the changes of the geological periods of Eocene and Oligocene. This was also around the time when our planet experienced a drastic climate change from being swampy to icy. The Earth got colder, there were more ice sheets, sea levels dropped, forests turned into grasslands, and there was less carbon dioxide.

As for the mammals living in Africa, they were believed to have survived unharmed because of the continent’s mild temperatures and the proximity to where it was to the equator would have helped in preventing the cooler climates. Unfortunately, based on new research, the African mammals did not survive.

Climate change brought more ice.

A team of international researchers from the United States, England, and Egypt, analyzed a large amount of fossils that are located at the Duke Lemur Center Division of Fossil Primates (DLCDFP) and they found that even though Africa did have warmer weather, the mammals living there were just as tragically affected as those living in Europe and Asia.

The team studied fossils belonging to different groups of mammals – extinct carnivores called hyaenodonts; two rodent groups; anomalures (scaly-tail squirrels) and the hystricognaths (this group includes porcupines and naked mole rats); two primate groups, the strepsirrhines (lemurs and lorises), and the anthropoids (apes and monkeys). By creating a family tree for each of these groups, the team was able to determine that all of them suffered massive losses during the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. On a positive note, millions of years later, they did start appearing again but with different characteristics, specifically the changes in their teeth which indicated a change in their diet and habitat – like a “recovery period”.

Matt Borths, who is a curator of Duke University’s DLCDFP, noted, “Extinction is interesting in that way,” adding, “It kills things, but it also opens up new ecological opportunities for the lineages that survive into this new world.”

The dramatic climate change wasn’t the only factor that these animals had to deal with as East Africa suffered volcanic super eruptions and flood basalts when the temperatures dropped. “We lost a lot of diversity at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary,” Borths explained, “But the species that survived apparently had enough of a toolkit to persist through this fluctuating climate.”

Hesham Sallam, who is the founder of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center in Egypt, weighed in by stating, “Climate changes through geological time have shaped the evolutionary tree of life.” “Collecting evidence from the past is the easiest way to learn about how climate change will affect ecological systems.” A picture of some of the fossils the team analyzed during their research can be seen here.

The study was published in the journal Communications Biology where it can be read in full.