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Public Release: 4-Feb-2010
 Evolutionary AnthropologyAncient remains put teeth into Barker hypothesis Ancient human teeth are telling secrets that may relate to modern-day health: Some stressful events that occurred early in development are linked to shorter life spans. "Prehistoric remains are providing strong, physical evidence that people who acquired tooth enamel defects while in the womb or early childhood tended to die earlier, even if they survived to adulthood," says Emory anthropologist George Armelagos, who recently published the first summary of prehistoric evidence for the Barker hypothesis. Contact: Beverly Clark
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
Journal of Roman ArchaeologyDNA testing on 2,000-year-old bones in Italy reveal East Asian ancestry Researchers excavating an ancient Roman cemetery were surprised when DNA testing on a set of bones revealed East Asian ancestry. 
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Contact: Jane Christmas
Public Release: 26-Jan-2010
Lost Roman law code discovered in London Part of an ancient Roman law code previously thought to have been lost forever has been discovered by researchers at UCL's department of history. Simon Corcoran and Benet Salway made the breakthrough after piecing together 17 fragments of previously incomprehensible parchment. The fragments were being studied at UCL as part of the Arts & Humanities Research Council-funded "Projet Volterra" -- a 10-year study of Roman law in its full social, legal and political context.
Arts & Humanities Research Council
Contact: Dave Weston
Public Release: 26-Jan-2010
The sea level has been rising and falling over the last 2,500 years The sea level in Israel has been rising and falling over the past 2,500 years, with a one-meter difference between the highest and lowest levels. This has been shown in a new study supervised by Dr. Dorit Sivan, head of the department of maritime civilizations at the University of Haifa. "Rises and falls in sea level over relatively short periods do not testify to a long-term trend," Dr. Sivan explains. Contact: Rachel Feldman
Public Release: 26-Jan-2010
PLoS ONELast Neanderthals died out 37,000 years ago The last Neanderthals in Europe died out at least 37,000 years ago -- and both climate change and interaction with modern humans could be involved in their demise, according to new research from the University of Bristol published today in PLoS ONE. Contact: Hannah Johnson
Public Release: 20-Jan-2010
NatureStudy: Animals populated Madagascar by rafting there How did the lemurs, flying foxes and narrow-striped mongooses get to the large, isolated island of Madagascar sometime after 65 million years ago? A pair of scientists say their research confirms the longstanding idea that the animals hitched rides on natural rafts blown out to sea. Contact: Greg Kline
Public Release: 12-Jan-2010
Vegetation History and ArchaeobotanyStable climate and plant domestication linked Sustainable farming and the introduction of new crops relies on a relatively stable climate, not dramatic conditions attributable to climate change. Basing their argument on evolutionary, ecological, genetic and agronomic considerations, Dr. Shahal Abbo, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and colleagues, demonstrate why climate change is not the likely cause of plant domestication in the Near East. Their thesis is published online in Springer's journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. Contact: Joan Robinson
Public Release: 11-Jan-2010
Ancient Egyptian cosmetics: 'Magical' makeup may have been medicine for eye disease There's more to the eye makeup that gave Queen Nefertiti and other ancient Egyptians royals those stupendous gazes and legendary beauty than meets the eye. Scientists in France are reporting that the alluring eye makeup also may have been used to help prevent or treat eye disease by doubling as an infection-fighter. Their findings are scheduled for the Jan. 15 issue of ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal. Contact: Michael Bernstein
Public Release: 11-Jan-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesUse of body ornamentation shows Neanderthal mind capable of advanced thought The widespread view of Neanderthals as cognitively inferior to early modern humans is challenged by new research from the University of Bristol published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Contact: Hannah Johnson
Public Release: 7-Jan-2010
Most ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered Professor Gershon Galil of the department of biblical studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David's reign), and has shown that this is a Hebrew inscription. The discovery makes this the earliest known Hebrew writing. The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of the biblical scriptures were composed hundreds of years before the dates presented today in research. Contact: Rachel Feldman
Public Release: 7-Jan-2010
NatureFossil footprints give land vertebrates a much longer history The discovery of fossil footprints from early backboned land animals in Poland leads to the sensational conclusion that our ancestors left the water at least 18 million years earlier than previously thought. The results of the Polish-Swedish collaboration are published online this week in Nature. Contact: Per Ahlberg
Public Release: 7-Jan-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences30,000-year-old teeth shed new light on human evolution The teeth of a 30,000-year-old child are shedding new light on the evolution of modern humans, thanks to research from the University of Bristol published this week in PNAS. Contact: Hannah Johnson
Public Release: 31-Dec-2009
Current BiologyUsing modern sequencing techniques to study ancient modern humans DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution. Contact: Cathleen Genova
Public Release: 21-Dec-2009
ScienceModern behavior of early humans found half-million years earlier than previously thought Evidence of sophisticated, human behavior has been discovered by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers as early as 750,000 years ago -- some half a million years earlier than has previously been estimated by archaeologists. Contact: Jerry Barach
Public Release: 17-Dec-2009
ScienceExploring the Stone Age pantry The consumption of wild cereals among prehistoric hunters and gatherers appears to be far more ancient than previously thought, according to a University of Calgary archaeologist who has found the oldest example of extensive reliance on cereal and root staples in the diet of early Homo sapiens more than 100,000 years ago. Contact: Grady Semmens
Public Release: 17-Dec-2009
ScienceScience's breakthrough of the year: Uncovering 'Ardi' The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science's list of this year's most significant scientific breakthroughs. The journal also identifies nine other important scientific accomplishments from this past year in a top 10 list, appearing in a special news feature in the journal's Dec. 18, 2009, issue. Contact: Natasha Pinol
Public Release: 16-Dec-2009
PLoS ONEDNA of Jesus-era shrouded man in Jerusalem reveals earliest case of leprosy The DNA of a 1st century shrouded man found in a tomb on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem has revealed the earliest proven case of leprosy. Details of the research will be published Dec. 16 in the PLoS ONE Journal. Contact: Rebecca Zeffert
Public Release: 15-Dec-2009
PLoS ONEUF researcher helps reveal ancient origins of modern opossum A University of Florida researcher has co-authored a study tracing the evolution of the modern opossum back to the extinction of the dinosaurs and finding evidence to support North America as the center of origin for all living marsupials. Contact: Jonathan Bloch
Public Release: 14-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesThe mammoths' swan song revised Analysis of ancient DNA has shown that Woolly mammoths and prehistoric horses grazed on the North American Plains, for several thousand years longer than hitherto assumed.
Danish National Research Foundation, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta Ingenuity Foundation, Australian Research Council, Discovery Communications Inc., Arts and Humanities Research Board
Contact: Eske Willerslev
Public Release: 9-Dec-2009
Journal of Archaeological ScienceStudying hair of ancient Peruvians answers questions about stress The first study of its kind, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, detected the stress hormone cortisol in the hair of ancient Peruvians, who lived between 550 and 1532 A.D.
Canada Research Chairs, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation
Contact: Jeffrey Renaud
Public Release: 8-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesThe impact of the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States An international group of anthropologists offers a new theory about the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States and the impact it had. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study, co-authored by Gayle Fritz, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues, suggests that maize was passed from group to group of Southwestern hunter-gatherers. Contact: Gayle Fritz
Public Release: 7-Dec-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesAbsence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have found no evidence supporting an extraterrestrial impact event at the onset of the Younger Dryas approx. 13,000 years ago. Contact: Tara Hicks Johnson
Public Release: 25-Nov-2009
PLoS ONEHouses of the rising sun New research at the University of Leicester has identified scores of Sicilian temples built to face the rising sun, shedding light on the practices of the Ancient Greeks. Contact: Dr. Alun Salt
Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Significance'Hobbits' are a new human species -- according to the statistical analysis of fossils Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the "hobbit" to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell. Contact: Dawn Peters
Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009 JAMAHeart disease found in Egyptian mummies Hardening of the arteries has been detected in Egyptian mummies, some as old as 3,500 years, suggesting that the factors causing heart attack and stroke are not only modern ones; they afflicted ancient people, too.
St. Luke's Hospital Foundation
Contact: Tom Vasich
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