Researchers report evidence that Amazonian parrots were imported to Atacama Desert communities and that the parrots were raised for their colorful feathers. The feathers of tropical birds were signs of wealth and status in pre-Columbian Andean societies.

Ancient Egyptians mummified cats, dogs, ibises and other animals, but closer to home in the South American Atacama desert, parrot mummies reveal that between 1100 and 1450 CE, trade from other areas brought parrots and macaws to oasis communities, according to an international and interdisciplinary team.

The project has born from the collaboration between Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and the ESA in order to detect archaeological sites from above by analyzing satellite images through artificial intelligence (AI). IIT's researchers of the Centre of Cultural Heritage Technology in Venice, led by Arianna Traviglia, will introduce AI to help archaeologists trace back the ancient presence of humans by revealing hidden traces in the soil.

Generally thought of as fierce horse-warriors, the Scythians were a multitude of Iron Age cultures who ruled the Eurasian steppe, playing a major role in Eurasian history. A new study published in Science Advances analyzes genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals spanning the Central Asian Steppe from the first millennia BCE and CE. The results reveal new insights into the genetic events associated with the origins, development and decline of the steppe's legendary Scythians.

Feathers, an owl head and oars suggest the people in this Iron Age grave were prepared for a long journey.

Bronze Age mining sites relied on outside sources to deliver pre-processed food to sustain the community, according to a study published March 24, 2021 in the open-access journal <i>PLOS ONE</i> by Andreas Heiss of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and colleagues.