Welcome back, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew.  Here we go again with the latest batch of four top news stories from this past week of Archaeologica.  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

A cave excavation in Israel has yielded evidence showing that modern humans and archaic humans like Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago were interacting and sharing culture.  A DNA study from the Maghreb of western North Africa reveals that people were crossing the Mediterranean even before the arrival of the first farmers.  A very unusual burial found in Ecuador is that of a pregnant young woman that may have been a human sacrifice.  And a burial monument found in the long-lost Greek city of Tenea was in use over the long period of a thousand years.

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And now, here’s Laura Kennedy 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 Kennedy, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news for the week of Audio News March 9th through the 15th, 2025.

We begin this week in central Israel, where the first-ever study published on Tinshemet Cave is enhancing our understanding of the likely coexistence and close relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans in the region. 

As reported by Phys.org, the cave has been the site of numerous archaeological and anthropological findings.  Since 2017, Professor Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Professor Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Marion Prévost of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been leading this excavation.  

Their work, which unearthed the first mid-Middle Paleolithic burials at the cave in more than fifty years, appeared in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

The research team compared four categories of data from each group in the region: stone tool production, hunting strategies, symbolic behavior, and social complexity.  The remarkable similarities in behavior they found included shared funerary rites, indicating that the various human groups were meaningfully in contact.

Researchers speculate that the cave, with its numerous human burials, may have functioned as a dedicated burial site during the middle of the Middle Paleolithic era, between 80,000 and 130,000 years ago.  This suggests it played a significant role in the region’s mortuary practices.  The stone tools, animal bones and ochre chunks placed at the graves may have been a significant part of an early set of beliefs in the afterlife.  

The research team found the extensive use of mineral pigments, especially ochre, particularly striking due to its presence at other Levantine sites from the same era.  Its use suggests that people undertook long-distance journeys to acquire it, highlighting its significance in their cultural or ritual practices.  Possibly used for body decoration, this practice could have further distinguished the groups from one another. 

The earliest known human burial customs occurred in Israel around 110,000 years ago, possibly due to the blend of cultural practices that occurred as these groups interacted more frequently. 

According to Dr, Prévost, a shift in the climate during this period may have spurred the increased contact between these different Homo taxa.  As the region’s carrying capacity expanded, each group’s numbers grew in tandem.

Additionally, Professor Hershkovitz posits that the cooperation and competition between these groups, despite their significant genetic differences, were part of the dynamic relationships that likely promoted shared adaptation strategies.  Connection, rather than isolation, was what pulled these groups to new technological and cultural advancements—and brought all of humanity along with them. 

Next, we visit the eastern Maghreb of North Africa, where a new genetic study is expanding our understanding of the interactions between early Europeans and North Africans. 

As reported by GreekReporter.com, these findings are the strongest indication yet that groups sailed across the Mediterranean during the Stone Age, a time when the Maghreb, from Tunisia to Morocco, was the home of the pre-Neolithic culture known as the Capsian.  Archaeologists have previously discovered tools, technologies and shared genetic sequences across both sides of the Sea, providing the first indications that early humans in the region were in contact.

The research team, led by David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, included contributors from Algeria, Tunisia and Europe. Their findings, published in the journal Nature, build upon previous genetic studies centered on prehistoric Moroccans and add to our knowledge about early North African populations.

The team analyzed the genomes of nine individuals buried in what is now Tunisia and northeastern Algeria. Their remains date back between 6 and 10 millennia ago.

These individuals shared genetic signatures with European hunter-gatherers, including one man who shared 6% of his genetic material with groups from the other side of the sea.  A woman buried at the same site in Djebba, Tunisia, also had similar genetic markers, indicating that her ancestors interacted with Europeans before written history during the Early Holocene. 

These local hunter-gatherers also carried genetic traits similar to those of the previously studied ancient populations in Morocco.  However, the research team found that they maintained more of their indigenous genetic makeup than the Moroccan populations, where European farmers arriving via the Strait of Gibraltar largely replaced local ancestry.

Although archaeologists are yet to recover any remains of boats from this era in North Africa, dugout canoes discovered in Italy point to seafaring activity among early Mediterranean populations. 

In addition to early contact with European farmers, a second wave of migration from the Levant introduced domesticated sheep and goats to the eastern Maghreb centuries later.  While European influence significantly shaped the western Maghreb’s genetic makeup, the eastern Maghreb retained more ancestral continuity, blending new agricultural practices with enduring elements of Caspian culture.

We now make our way to Ecuador, where archaeologists are taking a closer look at a pre-Columbian burial that may have been connected to a human sacrifice. 

As reported by Phys.org, the burial contained the remains of a young woman who was pregnant at the time of her death.  She was interred between AD 771 and 953 

The Manteño culture, which was active from 650 to 1532, was known for its agriculture and public architecture.  Spread across a wide area, it comprised three regions: Manteño del Norte, the southern Huancavilca, and the Punáes of the Isla Puná.  The site of this burial, Buen Suceso, first digitally mapped and excavated in 2022, lies in the liminal zones between the Hucanavilca and Manteño del Norte cultures. 

The research team, led by Dr. Sara Juengst, an archaeologist at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, published their findings in the journal Latin American Antiquity.

Their examination of her remains revealed that she had suffered a number of conditions during her life, from lesions in her skull to multiple bone infections.  She also had various cut marks and fractures, and was missing her left leg and hands. 

The team also found artifacts belonging to both the Manteño and Valdivia cultures in the grave, including shells, blades, beads, and ceramic fragments—a significantly larger number of burial goods than any other grave at Buen Suceso. 

The research team determined that a blow to the head caused the woman's death.  Whether this was intentional or not remains unclear.  The development of the fetal bones found with her suggests that she was nearing the end of her pregnancy—and that others were likely aware of her condition. 

Green clay stone also turned up at the site.  This item is often found in Valdivia burials associated with fertility or death and serves as another potential indicator that this grave was linked to a sacrifice or ritual burial.  According to Dr. Juengst, some caution is warranted in drawing this conclusion, as documentation of sacrifices and other rituals connected to pregnancies in this region is rare.

Our final story this week takes us to Corinth, where archaeologists have unearthed a grand tomb at a site where the ancient city of Tenea once stood.

As reported by GreekReporter.com, this city was long thought to be only a myth before its remains were discovered in 2018.  Led by archaeologist Elena Korka, the team’s work revealed a large cemetery dating to the 4th century BC, where Roman-era jewelry, coins, pottery shards, and other artifacts came to light. 

Legend holds that the city was founded by Trojan prisoners of war who were allowed by King Agamemnon to settle after the fighting had ended.  Located southeast of Corinth and northeast of Mycenae, it would have been an important crossroads for trade and communication between these major settlements. 

The monument, which resembles Macedonian tombs from the Hellenistic period, was designed with an asymmetrical T-shaped layout.  Its open-air access corridor intersects with a perpendicular, covered burial chamber whose entrance was sealed with a slab.  The contents of both parts of the tomb indicate a history of continuous use and healing practices. 

The research team found six burials in the tomb: a sarcophagus and five rectangular tombs.  Two of these graves showed signs of disturbance, and the others had no intact coverings.  

The sarcophagus was the only tomb that contained a well-preserved burial.  It housed an adult woman along with a substantial number of animal bones.  Similar bones also showed up in the monument’s fill and throughout the burial chamber, accompanied by ceramic vessels that date to the 5th and 6th centuries AD.

This monument was likely used for burials until it was sealed in the 4th century AD.  Its roof was breached by looters during the late Roman period, after which the site was repurposed for ritual banquets. 

Nevertheless, excavators found numerous Hellenistic and Roman artifacts within the tombs. Notable finds include a gold ring with an Apollo signet, two gold danikas modeled after Hellenistic coinage, a silver tetrabolus, gold wreath leaves, a votive clay finger, small vases, bronze spoons, and perfume bottles.

Excavations in the area surrounding the monument are still ongoing. As archaeologists strive to uncover more about this legendary city, they have identified a section of a paved road and part of an enclosure.

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! Also, be sure to check out our growing subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, at heritagetac.org!

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