Scientists analyzed phytoliths, silica microfossils from plants, collected from archaeological pits dug in Cloggs Cave, a special place of the GunaiKurnai First Nations people. Almost all (up to 97%) of the phytoliths came from grasses of a range of species. Up to 18% of the phytoliths were melted or burnt, which means that they were purposively carried in by people. The authors concluded that the Old Ancestors selectively brought in grasses for burning. Approximately 2,000 years ago, grasses were burnt around a small standing stone used to perform magic. Ethnographers and oral traditions have reported that such rituals using ash from burnt plants took place across GunaiKurnai Country during the 19th century.

The 2020 rediscovery of six mummies, previously thought lost, allowed scientists to re-evaluate the remains of five princesses — four sisters, Khenmet, Itaweret, Ita, and Sathathormeryt, and Princess Noub-Hotep — and King Hor. These royal women were buried with weapons like bows, arrows, and daggers, but without a modern bioarchaeological assessment scientists couldn’t be sure if these were ceremonial or if the princesses could use them. Researchers identified pronounced muscle attachments on the princesses’ bones, consistent with training and developing the muscles for archery, as well as signs of well-cared-for physical trauma. But they also found evidence of persistent infection and possible malnutrition, an indication that royal status couldn’t protect the princesses from everything. 

New study helps resolve one of South American archaeology's longest-running debates: the role of maize in precolonial societies. Evidence reveals that large villages in central Brazil were supported by polyculture maize farming while neighboring societies maintained diversified food production strategies. 

A collection of fossilized dinosaur bones from Wyoming feature tooth marks that provide evidence that some bites were likely created by Tyrannosaurus rex, according to a study published July 15, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Bethania C. T. Siviero from Loma Linda University, USA, and colleagues.

Exclusionary nationalism, the belief that one’s own nation is superior to others, is often linked to international conflict. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science developed a statistical method to track changes in exclusionary nationalism by analyzing how foreign place names were written in Japanese newspapers between 1912 and 1943. The study found that exclusionary nationalism fluctuated rather than rising steadily before the Pacific War, suggesting that language analysis may help identify early signs of conflict.Exclusionary nationalism, the belief that one’s own nation is superior to others, is often linked to international conflict. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science developed a statistical method to track changes in exclusionary nationalism by analyzing how foreign place names were written in Japanese newspapers between 1912 and 1943. The study found that exclusionary nationalism fluctuated rather than rising steadily before the Pacific War, suggesting that language analysis may help identify early signs of conflict.

According to the study, the 364-day calendar, a crux of the dispute between the Qumran sect and Jerusalem, was actually used for a time by the Qumran community, but was abandoned when it began to drift away from the seasons, and relations with Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus improved.

When archaeologists find adults and children buried together in medieval graves, it is often assumed that they were members of the same family. A new study from Stockholm University in Science Advances suggests otherwise.