Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew, ready again to hand off the latest weekly batch of top news stories that appeared on Archaeologica!  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

Sophisticated bone tools in Italy once again surprise us about the capabilities of Neanderthals.  DNA from a woman buried on an Indonesian island offers a new way to explore the origins of the first humans to appear in the region between mainland Asia and Australia.  New excavations at the massive earthworks of Poverty Point, Louisiana, show that ancient hunter-gatherers were capable of working together to carry out huge projects.  And a review of Viking culture makes clear that these people were far more than rapers and pillagers.

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And now, here’s Laura Pettigrew with the Audio News from Archaeologica.  We hope you find this to be a valuable part of your day!

Welcome to the Audio News from Archaeologica!  I’m Laura Pettigrew, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news for the week of August 29th through September 4th, 2021.

Our first story this week comes from the Castel di Guido, an archaeological site on the southern side of the Monti Sabatini volcanic complex, about 20 kilometers from Rome, where it appears that Neanderethals made sophisticated bone tools far earlier than previously thought.

As reported by Science News.com, the site was first excavated between 1979 and 1991 over an area of approximately 1,100 square meters. 

Animal remains and artifacts, including small and large bone tools, percusor used for striking, and unretouched flakes from tool-making processes were discovered.  According to new research led by archaeologists from the University of Colorado Boulder, some of these tools were crafted with sophisticated methods that wouldn’t become common for another 100,000 years.

During the Middle Pleistocene era around 400,000 years ago, a group of pre-modern hominids, most likely Neanderthals, occupied this unique area.  It was the location of a gully carved out over time by an underground water source.  This natural feature attracted other species as well, most notably straight-tusked elephants, also known as Palaeoloxodon antiquus.

Study author Dr. Paola Villa is an adjunct curator at the University of Colorado’s Museum of Natural History, as well as a researcher at the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in Rome.  

Her team’s work has now been published in the online journal, PLoS ONE, detailing their analysis of a total of 98 elephant bone tools collected during the original excavations.

Some pointed tools that were found could have been used to cut meat.  Other tools included wedges that may have been helpful for splitting heavy elephant femurs and other long-bones.

One tool stood out from the rest of the sample lot—an artifact carved from a wild cattle bone.  

Long, smooth, and tapered towards one end, it resembles a type of known bone tool that archaeologists refer to as a lissoir.  These tools are also known as smoothers, and were used by hominids to treat leather. 

Archaeologists previously believed that the production and use of these types of tools didn’t become common until about nearly 100,000 years after the date of this site, or about 300,000 years ago.  This study suggests that these hominids had developed a level of intelligence and cultural complexity that allowed them to create and put this technology to use much earlier than originally thought. 

The Castel di Guido’s natural supply of elephant bones allowed for people here to develop a standardized system of bone-tool production with increasing complexity.  Dr. Villa noted that the evidence for the production of bone tools, along with the habitual use of fire, mark important developments in our understanding of the lineage of Neanderthal peoples.

Next, we head off to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, where the burial site of a hunter-gatherer woman dated 7,200 years ago has yielded the first direct genetic evidence of the ancient Toalean people who once called the island home.

Sulawesi is the largest island in Wallacea (wall-a-SEE-a), the zone of oceanic islands between the continental regions of Asia and Australia, and specifically between Borneo and New Guinea.  

This is the first time ancient human DNA has been found within Wallacea.

As reported by Phys.org, the female skeleton was discovered in 2015 in a limestone cave by archaeologists from the University of Hasanuddin (Ha-sa-NU-din) in Makassar.  A study detailing the analysis was recently published by the journal, Nature.

Genomic analysis shows these remains were part of a population with a genetic composition that had not previously been seen.  The study determined that she shared about half of her genetic makeup with present-day Indigenous Australians as well as with people in New Guinea and the western Pacific. 

This includes DNA inherited from Denisovans, who were distant cousins of Neanderthals and are believed to have gone extinct approximately 50,000 years ago.

Studies revealed the person interred at the Leang Panninge (LAY-ang pan-NIN-gay), or Bat Cave, was only 17 or 18 years old when she died.  Although the skeleton is fragmented, ancient DNA was preserved in the dense inner ear bone.

The ancient woman, named Bessé (BUR-sek) by her discoverers, represents the only known skeleton of a Toalean person.  These enigmatic hunter-gatherers inhabited the island long before Austronesian farmers from Taiwan or mainland Asia spread into Indonesia around 3,500 years ago, becoming the ancestors of modern Indonesians.

Findings from this and other caves suggest the Toaleans were hunter-gatherers who preyed heavily on wild pigs and harvested shellfish from creeks and estuaries.  Stone arrowheads crafted by these people, known as Maros points, were first discovered here in 1902.  The small, roughly inch-long points displayed  rows of fine tooth-like serrations along the sides and tip, and wing-like projections at the base. 

Although this particular stone technology seems to have been unique to the Toalean culture, similar projectile points have appeared in northern Australia, Java and Japan.

Toalean artifacts disappear from the archaeological record by the fifth century AD, a few thousand years after the first Neolithic settlements sprang up on the island.

The DNA analyses revealed a deep ancestral element from an early modern human population originating somewhere in continental Asia.  The results confirm existing presumptions that the Toaleans were related to, but not the same as, the first modern humans to enter Wallacea some 65,000 years ago.  These seafaring hunter-gatherers were the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans.

It appears the Toalean ancestors did not intermix with the forebears of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans.  This pattern suggests that they may have entered the region long before the Austronesian expansion.  How early that might have been remains to be seen.

The ancestry of this pre-Neolithic woman provides fascinating insight into the little-known population history and genetic diversity of early modern humans in the Wallacean islands.

Our third story takes us to Louisiana, where archaeological findings show that early Indigenous people here were highly skilled engineers capable of working together to produce massive earthworks.

The Poverty Point World Heritage site in northern Louisiana comprises an impressive 72-foot-tall earthen mound surrounded by concentric half circle ridges.  They were constructed by hunter-gatherers approximately 3,400 years ago, using nearly 2 million cubic yards of soil in the process.  This was done without the luxury of modern equipment, domesticated animals, or even wheeled carts.

The site is believed to have been a place of important religious significance to Native Americans who traveled here in pilgrimage from across the region.  The ridges contain vast amounts of artifacts, suggesting that people also lived here full time.  The site was abruptly abandoned between 3,000 to 3,200 years ago, likely because of changes in climate and subsequent flooding in the Mississippi Valley. 

One area on Ridge West 3 was originally excavated by well-known archaeologist John Gibson in 1991.  A research team led by Professor T.R. Kidder of Washington University recently re-excavated and re-evaluated an area here, publishing the findings in the journal, Southeastern Archaeology. 

Using modern techniques like radiocarbon dating, microscopic soil analysis, and magnetic measurements, this research provides conclusive evidence that the earthworks were built rapidly. 

No signs of weathering appear between the various levels, as would have occurred during even a brief pause in construction. 

Researchers believe the construction was completed in distinct phases, with layers of sediment first deposited to increase the ridge height and linear dimensions. 

The builders then added another layer to expand the footprint both vertically and horizontally.  

The Native Americans who lived in this area developed sophisticated ways of mixing different types of materials to make them extremely durable, despite not being compacted.  This is particularly clever because of this region’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and the significant levels of rainfall that make it particularly prone to erosion.  

Microscopic analysis of soils shows they mixed different types of soil, clays, silts, and sand in a calculated recipe to make the structures stronger.

According to Kidder, the findings challenge previous beliefs about how pre-modern hunters and gatherers behaved, because the mounds and ridges at the Poverty Point site would have required a large and well organized labor pool to complete. 

The speed of the construction and the sheer volume of earth that was moved show that indigenous people came together at the site to work in unison under some kind of overarching leadership.  Such leadership and political sophistication is surprising for hunter-gatherers.. 

Little evidence of this type of collaborative effort is known from other groups of hunter gatherers.  So now we have another mystery!

We end this week with a review of the lesser-known contributions made by the Vikings, who are perhaps better known for their seafaring skills and violent raids than for their artistic and cultural sophistication.

In the first millennium AD, the Vikings were already becoming experts at exploring the connections among technology, urban trading, and international economics.  The Vikings were more than just bloodthirsty pirates.  They were also settlers, landholders, farmers, politicians, and merchants.

While many Viking artifacts are familiar, the complex methods that lay behind their manufacture are less well-known.  Each involved a specialized set of skills, tools, and raw materials, which meant craftspeople were reliant not only on a market for sale, but also on an organized supply chain.  In this way the development of specialized crafts, growing urbanization, and long-distance trade are intimately connected.

The Vikings were expert shipbuilders and sailors, and while evidence of these skills survive, little is known in detail about how they navigated their voyages.  Between the 8th and 11th centuries, Viking shipping underwent significant development, beginning with the appearance of the sail.  This eventually led to the development of specialist warships, and prototypes for large cargo vessels that would eventually dominate trade routes in the waters of medieval Europe. 

Trade fostered international links across the North Sea, the Baltic, and beyond.  Similar developments happened as far afield as the Middle East, Africa and Asia.  Technological innovations, such as the potter’s wheel and the vertical loom, made their way back from travels to and trading with other cultures.

This advanced technology transformed the types of products being manufactured in Viking settlements, and the scale on which they could be produced.  Among the most recognizable Viking artifacts are brooches [BROHCH-ez], which were often mass-produced using molds.  These prized brass ornaments once signified gender, status, and ethnicity for the wearer. 

The Vikings also specialized in hair combs. Typically made from antler or bone, combs ultimately became a symbol of status and aspiration to an increasingly urban population.  

These large, ornate and over-engineered objects often took days to manufacture, and required specialized tools such as saws, rasps, and polishers.

These examples of fine craftsmanship and technical tool work demonstrate that the Vikings can be seen as more than just raiders or merchants.  They had a worldly society with sophisticated tastes, and were among the earliest investors in global technologies from an increasingly interconnected world.

That wraps up the news for this week!

For more stories and daily news updates, visit Archaeologica on the World Wide Web at www.archaeologica.org where all the news is history!

I’m Laura Pettigrew and I’ll see you next week!