Welcome back, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew, and here is the latest batch of four fascinating 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 new study has greatly expanded the known amount of roads in the Roman Empire.  Stone tools from a Paleolithic site in Kenya appear to demonstrate very consistent technology at a very early time.  A very early Maya city in southern Mexico looks like a map of the world and apparently predates the age of Maya kings.  And archaeologists excavating sites in the highlands of Spain have found surprising evidence of human use during the last Ice Age.

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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 November 2nd through the 8th, 2025.

Our first story this week comes from Denmark, where new research greatly expands the knowledge of the Roman Empire’s road system.

As reported by The Conversation.com, a team of researchers from Aarhus [OR-hoos] University has released a new map and digital dataset that outlines a large network of Roman roads across Europe, North Africa and parts of Western Asia.  The dataset, named Itiner-e, identifies about 300,000 kilometers of roads.  The data represent a 59% increase from earlier surveys. 

The team’s work draws on archaeological findings, written records, historical mapping, and satellite imagery.  The new map shows routes that connected cities, towns, military posts, and rural regions across a total area of four million square kilometers.  These roads represented the primary land-based transportation system of the Empire.  Many of them were constructed with layered foundations and stone surfaces, with some including markers indicating distances between locations. 

The researchers categorize the roads into major long-distance routes and secondary or regional routes.  Some of the major roads are well documented, but many of the smaller connections are less well represented in the archaeological record.  The team notes differences in certainty across the dataset, with only a small number of routes having well-supported locations. 

The map also incorporates information from previous modeling tools that estimate travel times.  These estimates are based on common forms of movement in the Roman period, including walking, animal transport and messenger services.  The inclusion of travel speeds allows researchers to examine how long it may have taken to send messages or transport goods between different parts of the Empire.

The team intends to use the dataset to support continued study of transportation, communication and settlement patterns across the Roman Empire.  Although it highlights major routes across broad regions, it also leaves space for future projects to develop more detailed maps of local networks.  Researchers suggest that additional work combining archaeological surveys and regional studies may provide further clarity on how different areas were connected within the larger system.

The team’s study appeared in the journal Scientific Data.

Next, we head to Kenya, where archaeologists have identified one of the earliest known and longest lasting periods of Oldowan [OWL-doh-wahn] stone tool use. 

As reported by Phys.org, an international and multi-institution research team has unearthed stone tools dating from 2.75 to 2.44 million years ago at a site known as Namorotukunan in the Turkana Basin in Kenya.  The tools belong to what is known as Oldowan technology, an early method of shaping stones into sharp-edged implements.

Researchers claim that the discovery indicates that early hominins in the region used the same basic toolmaking approach for several hundred thousand years.  The tools show consistent production techniques across a long span of time, suggesting that knowledge of shaping and using stone was passed across many generations.  The team argues that the tools point to a stable and long-lasting technological tradition that must have had earlier origins.

Researchers analyzed layers of sediment, volcanic ash and preserved plant and animal remains to establish the age of the tools and the environment in which their makers lived.  The data show that the region experienced significant climatic and ecological changes during the period when the tools were in use.  The team also noted shifts in water sources, vegetation and wildfire activity, which they found recorded in the surrounding geological context.

Despite these changing conditions, the stone toolmaking practices appear to have remained steady.  The tools include sharp flakes and cores that could have been used for cutting or processing a range of materials.  Archaeologists also found evidence associated with animal remains, which they say suggests that these tools were used in activities related to obtaining and preparing food, including meat.

The study appeared in the journal Nature Communications.  It offers new information about technological continuity in early human history and provides context for understanding the role of toolmaking in the development of early hominin behavior.  The team hopes that these discoveries will help researchers better understand how early tool use may have supported adaptations to varied environments.

Our third story takes us to southeastern Mexico, where archaeologists have identified a 3,000-year-old Maya site as an ancient cosmogram. 

As reported by Live Science, archaeologists have examined a series of structures at Aguada Fénix [ah-GWAD-ah FEN-ix] and claim that it served as a large-scale map of how its builders viewed the cosmos.  The site dates to around 1050 BC and was abandoned around 700 BC.

Aguada Fénix has a large platform and a series of connected features, including raised causeways, canals and a dam.  These elements form intersecting axes that span several miles.  The overall layout measures roughly 9 by 7.5 kilometers, making it one of the largest-known constructions of its time in the region.  

The research team used LiDAR to detect structures beneath vegetation.  Their work revealed small buildings and platforms at the center of the site.  There, they discovered several buried deposits that included objects that indicate ceremonial activity such as shaped stones, ceramic vessels and pigments.

According to archaeologists, the canals at Aguada Fénix were fed by a water source that appears to have been too limited to support extended water storage or irrigation.  They suggest that these features were likely constructed for purposes other than agriculture.

Researchers claim that the scale of the platform and associated constructions indicate that a large number of people participated in the building process.  However, archaeologists have not found evidence of an established ruling class at the site.  They say that the absence of monumental residences or elite tombs suggests that construction may have been organized collectively rather than directed by a centralized authority.

Some researchers interpret the orientation of the site as reflecting attention to cardinal directions and solar movement.  Others propose caution, noting that the interpretation of the layout as a cosmogram depends on how that term is defined.  

The team’s study, published in the journal Science Advances, contributes to ongoing discussions about early community organization, shared building projects and the development of large ceremonial spaces in Mesoamerica.

We end this week in the highlands of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain, where preliminary surveys reveal previously unknown Ice Age human settlement.

As detailed by the Greek Reporter, a recent study reports evidence that hunter-gatherer groups lived in high-altitude areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene.  These regions, located in the central uplands of the peninsula, were long considered too cold and exposed for sustained occupation.

Earlier interpretations held that the plateaus and mountains of inland Iberia remained largely uninhabited between 45,000 and 20,000 years ago.  Researchers now claim that these assumptions were based on limited archaeological discoveries. 

A team of archaeologists led by Francisco Javier [HAW-vee-air] Aragoncillo [ah-rah-gon-SEE-yo] conducted targeted surveys and excavations at several sites in the Castilian branch of the Iberian System mountain range.  The sites included Cueva Grande, El Bosque [BOHS-keh], Ciño Negro [SEE-nyoh NAY-groh], and La Vega de Albarcaz.  Their goal was to determine whether the previous lack of evidence reflected an actual absence of human presence or a gap in archaeological discovery.

At Cueva Grande, the team identified stone tools, animal remains and burnt material, which they dated to the late Magdalenian period, about 16,300 to 11,000 years ago.  The team also found material at El Bosque that suggests a short-term occupation near the end of the Upper Palaeolithic era or into the early Neolithic era, which began about 8000 years ago.  At Ciño Negro, they discovered remains of burning and stone tools, which they say indicate human presence near the end of the Palaeolithic era.  Lastly, they unearthed flint and quartzite tools at La Vega de Albarcaz, some with traits associated with earlier cultural phases.

The team claims that these discoveries show that groups returned to these upland settings across different periods, indicating the resilience and adaptation of Ice Age humans.  The study suggests that earlier models underestimated the range of environments occupied by prehistoric populations.  It also proposes that erosion, sedimentation and limited fieldwork contributed to the impression of an uninhabited interior.

The team’s research appeared in the journal Antiquity. 

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!