COSMOS MAGAZINE

7 times ancient humans surprised archaeologists in 2024

1: Apparent incest prevention A genetic study of some of western Europe’s last Stone Age hunter-gatherers showed that the ancient community might have had a strategy to avoid inbreeding.

Credit: Getty

2: Early northern exposure DNA analysis of modern human remains in a cave in Germany "fundamentally changed” the story of our species’ migration into northern Europe. It revealed evidence that modern humans reached Europe’s higher latitudes much earlier than previously thought.

Credit: Marcel Weiss CC BY-ND

3: Roman cult temple A 1,700-year-old temple discovered in northern Italy offered new clues to the transition of the ancient Roman Empire’s transition to Christianity. Highlighting that, despite Roman rulers adopting Christianity, the rest of the empire didn’t follow suit overnight. 

Credit: Douglas Boin, Ph.D.

4: Assumptions about Pompeii’s bodies are wrong DNA analysis of people preserved after the eruption of Mt Vesuvius at Pompeii has disproven traditional ideas of the victims’ identities and relationships.

Pompeii body casts. Credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii

5: Testing stone axes A team of Japanese archaeologists put ancient tools found in Asia and Australia to the test by making 75 hand-held stone axes like those wielded by ancient humans 30,000–60,000 years ago. The tools were observed after hundreds or thousands of strokes to see what the wear and tear was like on them.

Credit: Iwase et al in Journal of Archaeological Science published under CC BY-NC 4.0

6: Origins of Stonehenge: Scotland? New evidence suggests that the 6-tonne Altar Stone at Stonehenge was transported from 750km away in Scotland. Finding that the Altar Stone came all the way from Scotland only adds to the mystery of how and why ancient Britons about 5,000 years ago made Stonehenge.

The Altar Stone at Stonehenge circled in black. Credit: English Heritage.

7: When humans first made it to the Pacific and Australia Ancient tree resin artefacts discovered on an Indonesian island might hold the key to understanding when humans first spread through the Pacific, including to Australia. The timeline of human arrival on the Australian continent has been hotly debated.

Waigeo Island. Credit: Kanawa_Studio / Getty 

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