SandeeOster
@sandeeoster.bsky.social
I am an archaeologist who loves pondering the enigmas of bygone eras and sharing brand-new archaeological discoveries
New climate research suggests Polynesia's 1,000-year "Long Pause" in eastward voyaging ended when drought hit Samoa/Tonga hard while islands further east stayed wet & stable. medium.com/palaeopress/...
Why did the Polynesians Stop Sailing For Over 1000 Years?
Ancient rainfall records suggest climate helped set the timing of one of history’s great migrations.
medium.com
Archaeologists found two premature Byzantine infants, possibly twins, buried with care in a latrine drain at Ephesos rather than a proper cemetery. New research suggests they were sheltered, not discarded. medium.com/the-academic...
Buried in a Toilet: The Two Byzantine Babies That Ended Up in a Latrine Drain
New study analyzes two premature infants buried in a Roman latrine at Ephesos, Türkiye, 8th–9th century CE
medium.com
Ancient Egyptians paired their moon god Thoth with the sacred ibis and the sacred baboon, and a new spectrometer study suggests the reason was color: both animals reflect light almost exactly like moonlight does. sciencespectrumu.com/divine-light...
Divine Light: What do an Ibis, Baboon and the God of the Moon Have in Common?
Researchers used a spectrometer to test a long-standing question about why Egypt paired a bird and a baboon with its moon god
sciencespectrumu.com
The Clovis never used the atlatl: no spear-thrower has ever been found at a Clovis site, and new dating puts the tool's arrival about 2,000 years after they vanished. medium.com/science-spec...
Rewriting the Textbook (Again): The Clovis Didn’t Use the Atlatl
Radiocarbon dating and an extinction-based model suggest the atlatl postdates the Clovis by roughly two millennia.
medium.com
Portugal never had cave bears, but its Pleistocene brown bears grew so massive (one hit 387 kg) that they could be mistaken for them. A new study of 535 bones hypothesises they filled an empty niche, then shrank as humans hunted the biggest ones. medium.com/fossils-et-a...
Faceless figures in Japan's 1,500-year-old Kyushu tombs weren't portraits of the dead. A new study suggests they mapped the journey of becoming an ancestor. Anonymity wasn't a lack of skill; it was the whole point. medium.com/the-academic...
Anonymous by Design: Why Are These 1,500-Year-Old Tomb Figures Faceless?
Recent study proposes that the faceless human figures of Late Kofun tombs depicted a process of becoming an ancestor, not the identities of…
medium.com
Ancient DNA from two Medici brothers just confirmed what the historic records claimed but couldn't prove: both Grand Duke Francesco I and Cardinal Giovanni had malaria. medium.com/science-spec...
Murder or Malaria? What Ancient DNA Reveals About the Medici Brothers
Mitochondrial DNA recovered from Renaissance skeletal remains confirms malarial infection and expands the known diversity of P. falciparum
medium.com
Archaeologists racing a dam's rising reservoir in Angola uncovered the country's earliest stone structures and radiocarbon-dated burials, all from the 15th century, before Europeans ever arrived. Among them: Angola's first known urn cremation medium.com/the-academic...
Before the Dam Takes It: Angola’s Earliest Burials and Its Only Known Urn Cremation
Excavations ahead of a hydroelectric dam uncover the earliest radiocarbon-dated burials and sole known cremation in pre-colonial Angola
medium.com
New study of Late Bronze Age tombs in Cyprus reveals gold diadems and mouthpieces blending various Mediterranean motifs into a distinctly local style. The rich burials were hidden inside deceptively plain chamber tombs, possibly to fool looters. medium.com/the-academic...
Rich on the Inside, Humble on the Outside: The Cultural Fusion in Ancient Cyprus’s Gold Diadems and…
Recent study of Late Bronze Age tombs at Hala Sultan Tekke reveals how Cypriot goldsmiths fused Minoan, Mycenaean, Egyptian, and Near…
medium.com
Ancient DNA from four cemeteries near Lake Baikal reveals lethal plague outbreaks 5,500 years ago, pushing the origin of Yersinia pestis back thousands of years to Siberia. Children were hit hardest... medium.com/science-spec...
Plague Is Thousands of Years Older Than We Thought, And It Started in Siberia
Ancient DNA from four hunter-gatherer cemeteries near Lake Baikal reveals lethal Yersinia pestis outbreaks 5,500 years ago, predating known…
medium.com
New study: two tiny sail-backed species got small in opposite ways, one from slow growth in a harsh, dry habitat, the other growing fast to survive a world full of predators. medium.com/fossils-et-a...
Tiny but Mighty: The Mystery of the Miniature Dimetrodons
A new osteohistological study reveals how two diminutive Dimetrodon species reached small body size through opposite growth strategies
medium.com
A worn ichthyosaur vertebra found in a 2nd-century Roman pit in Colchester is now the earliest known deliberately collected ichthyosaur fossil — picked up by a curious Roman ~1,900 years ago. medium.com/palaeopress/...
Study at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa uncovered some of the oldest evidence of deliberate fire use, over a million years old. Researchers used a new non-destructive luminescence method to spot burnt bones, proving early humans carried fire deep underground medium.com/the-academic...
Fiery Bones: New Study Reveals One of The Oldest Evidence of Deliberate Fire Use Over 1 Million…
Recent study reveals a rapid, non-destructive method for detecting burnt bone, extending one of the world’s oldest paleo-fire records.
medium.com
New research on a 2,000-year-old Xiongnu cemetery in Mongolia shows that social status, not blood, decided who was buried where. One brother got a lavish tomb while another was placed on the margins, revealing hierarchies even within families. medium.com/science-spec...
Status Over Blood: What Really Decided Where You Were Buried in a 2,000-Year-Old Mongolian Cemetery
Recent study combines machine learning and cultural phylogenetics to show that social status, not just biological kinship, structured the…
medium.com
Two mummified puppies buried with care in ancient Peru over 1,000 years ago ate the same food as their human families, hinting they may be among the earliest dogs treated as true companions. medium.com/the-academic...
Compassion, Ritual, or Sacrifice: What Two Mummified Puppies Reveal How the Ancient Tiwanaku Really…
New isotopic analysis of two mummified puppies from the Moquegua Valley reframes the human-dog bond in the ancient Andes
medium.com
Archaeologists just discovered the first ever physical evidence of crested geese from 17th century aristocratic Germany! Turns out fancy skull holes from decorative breeding led to holes in the skull, yikes! medium.com/the-academic...
A Fowl Discovery: The First Archaeological Case of Crested Geese Discovered in 17th Century Germany
Skull abnormalities in 17th-century geese from an aristocratic site in Brandenburg indicate deliberate breeding for the crested trait, the…
medium.com
Archaeologists in Slovakia just uncovered at least 77 headless skeletons buried in a 7,000-year-old Neolithic settlement ditch. Massacre, ritual or something else? No one knows medium.com/palaeopress/...
Massacre, Ritual, or Something Stranger? Who Were the 7,000 Year-Old Headless Skeletons of Vráble
Recent study reports at least 77 headless individuals from an enclosure ditch at the Early Neolithic site of Vráble (Slovakia)
medium.com
Study at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa uncovered some of the oldest evidence of deliberate fire use, over a million years old. Researchers used a new non-destructive luminescence method to spot burnt bones, proving early humans carried fire deep underground medium.com/the-academic...
Fiery Bones: New Study Reveals One of The Oldest Evidence of Deliberate Fire Use Over 1 Million…
Recent study reveals a rapid, non-destructive method for detecting burnt bone, extending one of the world’s oldest paleo-fire records.
medium.com
New research on a 2,000-year-old Xiongnu cemetery in Mongolia shows that social status, not blood, decided who was buried where. One brother got a lavish tomb while another was placed on the margins, revealing hierarchies even within families. medium.com/science-spec...
Status Over Blood: What Really Decided Where You Were Buried in a 2,000-Year-Old Mongolian Cemetery
Recent study combines machine learning and cultural phylogenetics to show that social status, not just biological kinship, structured the…
medium.com
Archaeologists in Israel just uncovered the first-ever mother-of-pearl stamp seal from the southern Levant—a 7th century BCE artifact engraved with the emblem of the Mesopotamian moon god. Likely worn as an amulet by an Assyrian newcomer medium.com/palaeopress/...
The Moon God’s Shell: Study Finds a Unique Mother-of-Pearl Seal Buried in an Ancient Garbage Pit
A recent study describes the first mother-of-pearl stamp seal ever found in the southern Levant
medium.com
Two 500-year-old freeze-dried potatoes (chuño) were just unearthed at the Inca site of Tambo Viejo on Peru's arid south coast, remarkable because chuño can only be made high in the freezing Andes, not at the coast. medium.com/palaeopress/...
Incan Chuño: 500-Year-Old Freeze-Dried Potatoes Found in Ancient Incan Site
Recent study reports the rare discovery of two 500-year-old freeze-dried potatoes at an Inka provincial center on Peru’s south coast
medium.com
Two 500-year-old freeze-dried potatoes (chuño) were just unearthed at the Inca site of Tambo Viejo on Peru's arid south coast, remarkable because chuño can only be made high in the freezing Andes, not at the coast. medium.com/palaeopress/...
Incan Chuño: 500-Year-Old Freeze-Dried Potatoes Found in Ancient Incan Site
Recent study reports the rare discovery of two 500-year-old freeze-dried potatoes at an Inka provincial center on Peru’s south coast
medium.com
Scientists just confirmed Praearcturus gigas was the largest scorpion ever—over a meter long with 16cm pincers. And it may have been semi-aquatic, hunting prey both on land and in water during the Early Devonian. medium.com/fossils-et-a...
The Largest Scorpion That Ever Lived Was the Size of a 4-Year-Old
A recent study re-examines 150-year-old fossils, confirming Praearcturus gigas as the largest scorpion ever recorded and suggesting it may…
medium.com
A skeleton from 6th-7th century Italy is the first physical proof of violence against Langobard women. Bearing two healed head wounds, she survived an attack that Lombard legal codes acknowledged but archaeology had never confirmed until now. medium.com/the-academic...
Attacked, Healed, and Forgotten: The Only Woman in a Record of Male Violence
Lombard law warned that women took part in violence too. A single skeleton from northern Italy is the first to prove it, a new study finds.
medium.com
Why did T. rex have such tiny arms? New research shows giant predators dinosaurs repeatedly traded arm length for crushing skulls, because when your prey weighs more than a bus, powerful jaws beat puny arms. medium.com/fossils-et-a...
Use It Or Lose It: Why Did Some Dinosaurs Have Such Ridiculously Tiny Arms?
A recent study shows that gigantic predatory dinosaurs repeatedly evolved powerful, prey-crushing skulls in lieu of long arms
medium.com
Why did T. rex have such tiny arms? New research shows giant predators dinosaurs repeatedly traded arm length for crushing skulls, because when your prey weighs more than a bus, powerful jaws beat puny arms. medium.com/fossils-et-a...
Use It Or Lose It: Why Did Some Dinosaurs Have Such Ridiculously Tiny Arms?
A recent study shows that gigantic predatory dinosaurs repeatedly evolved powerful, prey-crushing skulls in lieu of long arms
medium.com
A skeleton from 6th-7th century Italy is the first physical proof of violence against Langobard women. Bearing two healed head wounds, she survived an attack that Lombard legal codes acknowledged but archaeology had never confirmed until now. medium.com/the-academic...
Attacked, Healed, and Forgotten: The Only Woman in a Record of Male Violence
Lombard law warned that women took part in violence too. A single skeleton from northern Italy is the first to prove it, a new study finds.
medium.com
Chemical fingerprinting just confirmed that mysterious green stones buried in elite Panamanian tombs (AD 800–1000) are real emeralds & they came from Colombia, over 700 km away. It's the northernmost evidence of emerald use by Native Americans before European contact. medium.com/science-spec...
Mysterious Green Stones: What Were the Green Gems in Panama’s Ancient Tombs?
Chemical fingerprinting reveals that translucent green stones interred in elite tombs at two major Panamanian sites are Colombian emeralds…
medium.com
Iron Age Scythians were famous as "mare's milk drinkers", but protein analysis shows they actually relied on sheep and goat dairy, with only one individual showing horse milk. 7k8fxn80.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Sandee Oster. Images of Horses & Vessels of Milk: Reconsidering Scythian Symbolism Through Scientific Evidence.
7k8fxn80.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me
A glass bottle unearthed in the 1980s in York sat forgotten for 30 years, until a researcher realised it was an Egyptian kohl container, one of only a handful ever found outside Egypt. It may be evidence that an Egyptian soldier brought his eyeliner to 2nd-century Britain medium.com/the-academic...
Egyptian Eyeliner in Roman Britain: How an Egyptian kohl bottle may reveal the presence of an…
Recent Study Reveals That a Small Glass Bottle from Roman York May Be an Egyptian Kohl Container
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