Category: Historical Sites

Ancient humans may have paused in Arabia for 30,000 years on their way out of Africa

Ancient humans may have paused in Arabia for 30,000 years on their way out of Africa

by | Nov 13, 2023 | , | 0

Reading time: 4 minutes
Most scientists agree modern humans developed in Africa, more than 200,000 years ago, and that a great human diaspora across much of the rest of the world occurred between perhaps 60,000 and 50,000 years ago. In new research published in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, we have uncovered dozens of distinctive historical changes in the human genome to reveal a new chapter in this story.

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How did 4th-century Roman coins end up in a medieval Japanese castle?

How did 4th-century Roman coins end up in a medieval Japanese castle?

by | Oct 19, 2023 | , , | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Katsuren Castle in Okinawa Prefecture is said to have been occupied between the 12th to 15th centuries so the coins cannot represent commercial links between the castle’s contemporaries and the Roman empire, which had fallen centuries before. Other finds from the castle indicate trade links with China – so perhaps the coins arrived there as curios, indirectly through trade with China or South-East Asia.

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5,700 years of sea-level change in Micronesia hint at humans arriving much earlier than we thought

5,700 years of sea-level change in Micronesia hint at humans arriving much earlier than we thought

by | Sep 13, 2023 | , | 0

Reading time: 4 minutes
Sea levels in Micronesia rose much faster over the past 5,000 years than previously thought, according to our new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This sea-level rise is shown by the accumulation of mangrove sediments on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae. The finding may change how we think about when people migrated into Remote Oceania, and where they might have voyaged from.

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Have humans always gone to war?

Have humans always gone to war?

by | Sep 5, 2023 | , , | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
The question of whether warfare is encoded in our genes, or appeared as a result of civilisation, has long fascinated anyone trying to get to grips with human society. Might a willingness to fight neighbouring groups have provided our ancestors with an evolutionary advantage? With conflicts raging across the globe, these questions have implications for understanding our past, and perhaps our future as well.

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Slavers in the family: what a castle in Accra reveals about Ghana’s history

Slavers in the family: what a castle in Accra reveals about Ghana’s history

by | Aug 22, 2023 | , , | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
The Castle is situated on the West African coast, formerly and notoriously known as the “White Man’s Grave”. The castle’s origins can be traced to a lodge built by Swedes in 1652. Nine years later, the Danish built a fort on the site and called it Fort Christiansborg (“Christian’s Fortress”), named after the King of Denmark, Christian IV.

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What happens now we’ve found the site of the lost Australian freighter SS Iron Crown, sunk in WWII

What happens now we’ve found the site of the lost Australian freighter SS Iron Crown, sunk in WWII

by | Aug 10, 2023 | , | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
Finding shipwrecks isn’t easy – it’s a combination of survivor reports, excellent archival research, a highly skilled team, top equipment and some good old-fashioned luck.

And that’s just what happened with the recent discovery of SS Iron Crown, lost off the coast of Victoria in Bass Strait during the second world war.

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Rediscovering a ‘lost’ Roman frontier from the air

Rediscovering a ‘lost’ Roman frontier from the air

by | Jun 26, 2023 | , | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Frontiers like Hadrian’s Wall are central to the study of the Roman Empire. By now we might expect to have discovered most such major landmarks. However, by scrutinising archives of aerial photography, we have been able to identify as Roman two more walls that will transform our understanding of the frontier of the Roman Empire in Eastern Europe.

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A cave site in Kenya’s forests reveals the oldest human burial in Africa

A cave site in Kenya’s forests reveals the oldest human burial in Africa

by | Apr 27, 2023 | , | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind – the birthplace of our species, Homo sapiens. There is evidence of the development of early symbolic behaviours such as pigment use and perforated shell ornaments in Africa, but so far most of what we know about the development of complex social behaviours such as burial and mourning has come from Eurasia.

However, the remains of a child buried almost 80,000 years ago under an overhang at Panga ya Saidi cave in Kenya is providing important new details.

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After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an important Aboriginal ceremonial ground in East Gippsland

After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an important Aboriginal ceremonial ground in East Gippsland

by | Apr 13, 2023 | | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an Aboriginal ceremonial ground in Victoria’s East Gippsland. The site was host to the last young men’s initiation ceremony of the Gunaikurnai back in 1884, witnessed by the anthropologist A.W. Howitt.

Howitt’s field notes, combined with contemporary Gunaikurnai knowledge of their country, has led to the rediscovery. The site is located on public land, on the edge of the small fishing village of Seacombe. Its precise location had been lost following decades of colonial suppression of Gunaikurnai ritual and religious practices.

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Why Aotearoa New Zealand’s early Polynesian settlement should be recognised with World Heritage Site status

Why Aotearoa New Zealand’s early Polynesian settlement should be recognised with World Heritage Site status

by | Mar 16, 2023 | | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Despite Aotearoa New Zealand’s rich and celebrated natural and cultural wonders, we have contributed only three to the international list: Te Wahipounamu in the South Island, Tongariro National Park in the North Island, and New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands.

While there is a good tentative list of potential submissions, we believe it is now out of date and the country needs to go further. Mostly, we need to be thinking in much broader terms about the reasons we value our heritage.

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