'); document.write('

Cultures News -- ScienceDaily
Cultures of the World. News and findings about early human cultures. Learn about trading, colonization, early language development and the showoff hypothesis.

'); document.write('

DNA from ancient population in Southern China suggests Native Americans\' East Asian roots
'); document.write('For the first time, researchers successfully sequenced the genome of ancient human fossils from the Late Pleistocene in southern China. The data suggests that the mysterious hominin belonged to an extinct maternal branch of modern humans that might have contributed to the origin of Native Americans.'); document.write('
New genetic research on remote Pacific islands yields surprising findings on world\'s earliest seafarers
'); document.write('New genetic research from remote islands in the Pacific offers fresh insights into the ancestry and culture of the world\'s earliest seafarers, including family structure, social customs, and the ancestral populations of the people living there today.'); document.write('
The heat is on: Traces of fire uncovered dating back at least 800,000 years
'); document.write('Scientists reveal an advanced, innovative method that they have developed and used to detect nonvisual traces of fire dating back at least 800,000 years -- one of the earliest known pieces of evidence for the use of fire. The newly developed technique may provide a push toward a more scientific, data-driven type of archaeology, but -- perhaps more importantly -- it could help us better understand the origins of the human story, our most basic traditions and our experimental and innovative nature.'); document.write('
Developmental dyslexia essential to human adaptive success
'); document.write('Researchers say people with developmental dyslexia have specific strengths relating to exploring the unknown that have contributed to the successful adaptation and survival of our species.'); document.write('
Many human genomes shaped by past events that caused sharp dips in the population, study finds
'); document.write('The genomes of many human populations show evidence of founder events, which occur when a small number of initial members start a new population, and can lead to low genetic diversity as well as increase the risk of certain genetic diseases in the new population.'); document.write('
Olive trees were first domesticated 7,000 years ago, study finds
'); document.write('A new study has unraveled the earliest evidence for domestication of a fruit tree, researchers report. The researchers analyzed remnants of charcoal from the Chalcolithic site of Tel Zaf in the Jordan Valley and determined that they came from olive trees. Since the olive did not grow naturally in the Jordan Valley, this means that the inhabitants planted the tree intentionally about 7,000 years ago.'); document.write('
Unique Viking shipyard discovered at Birka
'); document.write('Archaeologists have located a unique Viking Age shipyard site at Birka on Björkö in Lake Mälaren. The discovery challenges previous theories about how the maritime activities of the Viking Age were organized.'); document.write('
Origins of the Black Death identified
'); document.write('The Black Death, the biggest pandemic of our history, was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and lasted in Europe between the years 1346 and 1353. Despite the pandemic\'s immense demographic and societal impacts, its origins have long been elusive. Now, scientists have obtained and studied ancient Y. pestis genomes that trace the pandemic\'s origins to Central Asia.'); document.write('
Bioarchaeological evidence of very early Islamic burials in the Levant
'); document.write('A new study combining archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data provides new insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria. The research team was planning to focus on a much older time period but came across what they believe to be remains of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside.'); document.write('
Pre-historic Wallacea: A melting pot of human genetic ancestries
'); document.write('The Wallacean islands of present-day Eastern Indonesia have a long history of occupation by modern humans. Notably, the maritime expansion of Austronesian speakers into Wallacea left archaeological traces of a Neolithic lifestyle and a genetic imprint still detectable in Eastern Indonesians today. To gain further insights into Wallacea\'s settlement history, scientists sequenced and analyzed sixteen ancient genomes from different islands of Wallacea, finding evidence for repeated genetic admixtures starting at least 3,000 years ago.'); document.write('
How species form: What the tangled history of polar bear and brown bear relations tells us
'); document.write('A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears. Becoming separate species did not completely stop these animals from mating with each other. Scientists have known this for some time, but the new research draws on an expanded dataset -- including DNA from an ancient polar bear tooth -- to tease out more detail.'); document.write('
What oxytocin can tell us about the evolution of human prosociality
'); document.write('Modern humans are characterized by their prosociality, a broad term that encompasses intraspecies empathy, social tolerance, cooperation and altruism. These facets of social cognition have been associated with variations in the oxytocin and vasotocin genes (OT and VT) and their receptors (OTR and VTR).To shed light on the genetic basis of this behavior, scientists carried out a new study comparing the available genomic sequences of these genes between modern humans, non-human primate species (e.g., chimpanzees, bonobos, and macaques) and archaic humans, using all the available genomes of Neanderthals and Denisovans.'); document.write('
Famous rock art cave in Spain was used by ancient humans for over 50,000 years
'); document.write('A cave in southern Spain was used by ancient humans as a canvas for artwork and as a burial place for over 50,000 years, according to a new study.'); document.write('
Archaeologists reveal pre-Hispanic cities in Bolivia with laser technology
'); document.write('Several hundred settlements from the time between 500 and 1400 AD lie in the Bolivian Llanos de Mojos savannah and have fascinated archaeologists for years. Researchers have now visualized the dimensions of the largest known settlement of the so-called Casarabe culture. Mapping with the laser technology LIDAR indicates that it is an early urbanism with a low population density -- the only known case so far from the Amazon lowlands. The results shed new light on how globally widespread and diverse early urban life was and how earlier societies lived in the Amazon.'); document.write('
Research confirms eastern Wyoming Paleoindian site as Americas\' oldest mine
'); document.write('The Powars II site at Sunrise in Wyoming\'s Platte County the oldest documented red ocher mine -- and likely the oldest known mine of any sort -- in all of North and South America.'); document.write('