The Toba eruption has long been blamed for leading to a volcanic winter on Earth. But researchers today doubt its effects. Human populations living nearby would even have survived the disaster. The Toba caldera was the site of a super-eruption 74,000 years ago. 74,000 years ago, the super-eruptio
On March 4 and 5, 2020, the Musée du Quai-Branly-Jacques Chirac, in Paris, will host an international symposium open to all, on the Anthropology and Archeology of Iron. To better understand its importance, we interviewed one of the speakers, Laurent Olivier, archaeologist, curator at the National Ar
After 14 years of restoration, the Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, the first pyramid in history, has been reopened to the public. 4700 years old, the step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser after restoration. It took 14 long years for the first pyramid ever erected in Egypt to be officially reopened to vi
Plant remains found under the waters off the Languedoc coast reveal a submerged landscape dating from 8,000 years ago. Landscape of the Hérault coast, where plant remains found under the sea, testify to the presence of a forest 8000 years ago. One kilometer from the current coastline, between Pal
A 3,500-year-old ancient casket containing intriguing offerings has been found in the region of Deir el-Bahari, a complex of temples and tombs, located on the left bank of the Nile, facing Luxor, in Egypt. It could signal the presence of an as yet unidentified royal tomb. Enamel box decorated with
The ball game is one of the most emblematic practices of Mesoamerican civilizations. It flourished there for more than 3000 years. One of its oldest lands was recently discovered in Mexico. Bas-relief representing ball players found in the archaeological site of Tonina, in Chiapas (Mexico). At 3,
Discovery of a monumental structure made of mammoth bones in Russia. 25,000 years old, it would be the oldest known. A vast circular structure made of mammoth bones, 25,000 years old, was discovered 500 km south of Moscow, Russia. A circle 12.5m in diameter, made up of massive skulls and large wh
In the 17th century, during the colonial period that followed the conquest of Mexico, the Spaniards had to rely on the metallurgical knowledge of local communities to melt their armament and maintain their arsenal in good condition. Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards (1519-1521). Crossing little
Geohistorian, professor emeritus at Paris-Diderot University, Christian Grataloup has been deciphering major events on a planetary scale for many years. This global history specialist reacts to the Covid-19 crisis, the first pandemic of the 21e century. Christian Grataloup, specialist in global hi
Unearthed for the first time, 42,000-year-old rope remains prove that our prehistoric cousin had more than one string to his bow...cognitive. Copy of rope to illustrate the recent discovery of rope residues produced by Neanderthals. It was autumn, and the herds of reindeer would soon arrive. Like
Long before Fabergé, ornate ostrich eggs were highly prized by the elites of Mediterranean civilizations. Their production and trade reveal the links of past civilizations. Decorated ostrich egg from ancient Egypt. Decorated ostrich eggs are found by the thousands all around the Mediterranean:en
In Cairo, the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) announced for autumn 2020, will have to wait a little longer. To wait, Egypt offers some virtual tours of sites, all the access links to which are given in this article. All you have to do is click. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), near
The ravages of pandemics have also had an impact on art. Thus the Black Death gave birth to the 15e century to very codified performances, called Danses macabres. Appearing in France, they will become a recurring theme in European painting illustrating the egalitarian nature of death in the face of
In central Norway, global warming has caused the melting of ice sheets which, as they recede, have freed a multitude of vestiges preserved from the reindeer hunters of the Bronze Age to the Viking era. Exceptional discoveries. Horse hoof snowshoe. Here, a horseshoe; further on, a snowshoe for eq
Dating back to the Ice Age, a 300,000-year-old throwing stick has been discovered in Schöningen in northern Germany. It reveals how Homo heidelbergensis , a presumed ancestor of Neanderthals, used these weapons for hunting. Hunters at Lake Schöningen using throwing sticks. For a long time, the m
Until the end of the 15e century, medieval illuminators used for the intensity of its purplish blue, a dye known as folium . Fallen into oblivion, access to medieval manuscripts has recently enabled Portuguese scientists to find traces of it and resuscitate its composition. An illuminated manuscri
A study reveals that the swords found in European Bronze Age tombs and metal deposits had not only a ceremonial function, but that they had all been used in combat. Bronze Age Sword Set Discovered in 2015 in a tomb at the Minoan site of Pylos, in Greece, a 3,500-year-old seal now considered a mas
Until June 7, 2020, the film The Last Passage, 3D images of the Chauvet cave made in 2015, can be seen free of charge and unlimited on a dedicated platform. In these strange times of pandemic, art and storytelling play a crucial role in our societies insists the prehistorian Jean-Michel Geneste. T
Sacrificial rituals featuring the removal of the human heart were a pervasive religious practice in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican societies. Two researchers have looked into how they could have taken place. Acts of power and intimidation as much as displays of devotion to appease the gods. Sacrificial
Did a group of hunters go in search of food more than 10,000 years ago? Fossilized footprints found in East Africa offer a rare snapshot of life at the end of the Upper Pleistocene. The Engare Sero footprint site in Tanzania. In the background, the Ol Doinyo Lengaï volcano. It is in a lunar and m
Ancient Neolithic settlers on Israels Carmel Coast built a dam to protect their settlement against rising Mediterranean sea levels, revealing that humanitys struggle against rising oceans and flooding dates back thousands of years. years ago. An international team of researchers from the University
A research team from the University of Bern has for the first time accurately dated the pile dwellings on the shores of Lake Ohrid in the southwestern Balkans:they emerged in the middle of the 5th millennium BC. The region surrounding the oldest lake in Europe played a key role in the proliferation
In 1885, forming part of the walls of a church in the town of Kaminia on the Greek island of Lemnos, a unique stele with inscriptions not yet deciphered was found. It has been dated to the 6th century BC, prior to the conquest of the island by the Athenians in 510 BC. to the Pelasgians. This was th
About 35 kilometers southwest of Amman, the capital of Jordan, is the town of Madaba, famous for the large number of mosaics from the Byzantine and Umayyad eras that it houses in buildings from these times (it is actually known as the city of the mosaics ). One of these mosaics, popularly known as