Modern humans may have originated in southern Africa, according to a genetic study of modern hunter-gatherer groups. “Populations in southern Africa have the highest genetic diversity of any population, as far as we can tell,” said Brenna Henn of Stanford University. Diversity declines when small groups establish new populations.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the first farmers were only able to produce about three-fifths of the food collected by foragers. Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute thinks the advantage came in easier child rearing and defensive strategy. 

Simon James of the University of Leicester thinks that the 19 Roman soldiers and one Persian soldier, whose remains were unearthed in Syria at Dura-Europos in the 1930s, died from breathing in toxic fumes, making them the earliest victims of chemical warfare in the archaeological record. 

An intact figurine of a water bird has been excavated from a fifth-century burial in Asago, Japan. 

A nineteenth-century painting depicting Oregon’s Fort Hoskins has come to light, much to the delight of archaeologist David Brauner. He’s been excavating the Civil War outpost for years, but there are no know photographs of it. “We hoped sooner or later we’d see an image of at least one of the buildings at Fort Hoskins, but I’d kind of given up,” he said. 

The proposed construction of a vast artificial cave in a Canary Island mountain would put some 200 ancient carvings at risk.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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