Welcome back, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew.  I have for you three 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!

The discovery of used sickle blades in Uzbekistan shows that early harvesting of wild cereal grasses happened far from the Fertile Crescent and could have led to agriculture there.  A huge 3000-year-old colored mural on the coast of Peru offers a surprising glimpse at a very early artistic tradition.  And excavations in a field ahead of a housing development in Scotland have revealed a long series of human uses in the same place over a span of 10,000 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 August 24th through the 30th, 2025.

We start out in southern Uzbekistan, where archaeologists are examining the emergence of early agriculture in an unexpected location.  

As reported by Cosmos Magazine, various groups across the world transitioned to farming independently, from Africa and the Americas to eastern and western Asia.  The Fertile Crescent, a region within the Middle East, including the Levant, Mesopotamia and southwestern Iran, is one such area.  Archaeologists believe that this is where key crops, including wheat, barley and legumes, were first cultivated by the Natufians approximately 12,000 years ago. 

This Late Stone Age shift from harvesting wild crops to cultivating them laid the foundation for the beginnings of the first urban civilizations in Mesopotamia. 

In 2019, archaeologists conducted an excavation of the Toda Cave in southern Uzbekistan, near the nation’s border with Afghanistan.  According to their findings, now shared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the stone tools and remains of charcoal and plants they recovered indicate that people were using sickle blades to harvest wild barley much farther to the north and east than previously thought. 

In addition to wild barley, the cave’s oldest layers also held remains of wild pistachio shells and apple seeds.  The stone tools recovered were worn down, pointing to their use for cutting grass and other plants.  This aligns with evidence found at other archaeological sites in various regions where early agriculture took place, but it doesn’t yet demonstrate that agriculture actually followed from this development.

According to study leaders Xinying Zhou and Robert Spengler, this study contributes to the growing body of research that also suggests the transition from foraging to farming was likely the result of a gradual shift in behaviors, rather than a deliberate change to a new way of life. 

We now head to western Peru, where the unprecedented discovery of a sizable, 3,000-year-old mural is shedding light on a pre-Inca coastal artistic tradition.  Archaeologists discovered the painting during an excavation at the Huaca [WAHK-ah]Yolanda archaeological site, situated near the nation’s coast.

As reported by Live Science, the mural is nearly 20 feet long and 9.5 feet tall.  Blue, yellow, red, and black pigments are still visible on the piece, which is adorned with fish, stars and mythological beings.  Dating to the so-called Formative Period between 2000 and 1000 BC, the mural would have been created during the development of the region’s first complex societies. 

Cecilia Muricio, an archaeologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, led the research team that uncovered the mural.  According to Muricio, current evidence indicates that the mural was located inside a Formative Period temple, adorning the interior spaces of its main atrium. 

A large bird with outstretched wings and a diamond pattern on its head decorates the south face of the mural, while plants, stars and human-like figures—potentially representing shamans—are found on its north face.  Other features, including depictions of fish and fishing nets, reflect a unique, distinct coastal artistic tradition. 

In a manner reminiscent of the Chavín de Huántar site, another major hub that pre-dates the beginnings of the Inca Empire, Huaca Yolanda’s inhabitants used this artwork to capture their environment.  Located in the Andes, the Chavín murals depict jaguars and reptiles, predators in the region. 

Unlike Chavín, however, the Huaca Yolanda site lacks official protection.  With this discovery, Mauricio is urging local and national authorities, as well as heritage organizations, to take action to protect it and preserve our glimpse into its vibrant history. 

Finally, we go to eastern Scotland, where excavators working in the town of Fife have unearthed relics and remains left behind by people at the same locale during many periods throughout the last 10,000 years.

As reported by The National GUARD Archaeology conducted excavations at the site between 2017 and 2021 in preparation for a new housing development.  While the town’s connections to the 16th century were clear, as it got its name from the bridge that pilgrims used to cross the River Eden on their way to St Andrews during that era, its history reaches back much further into the past than expected. 

Archaeologists located a fort that they believe was constructed during the Late Bronze Age, with use continuing through the Iron Age until the early centuries AD.  Artifacts found within the fort included spindle whorls and loom weights, items used to weave woolen cloth, as well as fragments of shale bracelets.  These discoveries suggest that civilians were living alongside soldiers in the fort. 

The team also noted the remains of Iron Age houses outside of the walls of the fort, suggesting a substantial community. 

According to study co-author Thomas Muir, evidence gathered at the site also indicates that it was occupied for nearly the entire Bronze Age period, which spanned 2200 to 800 BC.  They located the remains of substantial roundhouses, where fragments of pottery and animal bones appeared alongside casting moulds for carpentry tools and a sword blade. 

Going even further back in time, archaeologists found pits with burnt cereal grains, saddle querns, and pottery that belonged to the first Neolithic farmers who inhabited the area. However, these early people left no traces of their dwellings.

One of the oldest finds was what remained of a temporary Mesolithic campsite.  According to study co-author Jordan Barbour, a fire pit from that use dates back to at time between 4320 and 4051 BC.  Its distinctive star shape points to a tent or shelter that hunter-gatherers would have used to camp as they hunted and fished in the estuary nearby.

A batch of flint tools from the Late Upper Palaeolithic period, some 12,000 years ago, also appeared during the excavations.

The most recent features found were multiple medieval kilns used to dry corn, dating from AD 900 to 1300.  According to Charlotte Hunter, a fellow co-author of the study, improvements over time in the kilns’ construction techniques indicate that their creators modified them to meet the demand from Fife’s growing medieval population.

From forts to fire pits, this land has seen many ways of life come and go, each of them recorded unexpectedly within this single field. 

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!