Welcome back, everybody!  This is 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!

Our stories this time cover a remarkable 12 thousand year old figurine found near the Sea of Galilee; an unusually large Bronze Age metal-production site in Kazakhstan; ancient canoes preserved in a lake in Madison, Wisconsin; and a silver cup from Palestine that appears to display a surprisingly early cosmology story.

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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 16th through the 22nd, 2025

Our first story this week comes from northern Israel, where archaeologists have excavated a small clay figurine that offers an early look at symbolic expression among Late Natufian communities.  The figurine was found by an archaeological team led by Dr. Laurent Davin at Nahal Ein Gev II (nah-HAHL ayn GEV two), a prehistoric village near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.  It dates to around 12,000 years ago and is the earliest known figurine showing a human and an animal together, as well as the earliest naturalistic depiction of a woman in Southwest Asia.

As reported by Phys.org, the figurine measures only 3.7 centimeters tall and was shaped from local clay before being heated to around 400 degrees Celsius.  Microscopic analysis revealed traces of red ocher on both the woman and the goose.  The surface also preserves a fingerprint, likely left by the female artisan who created it.

The scene shows a crouching woman with a goose positioned on her back.  The goose appears alive rather than hunted, suggesting that the sculptor intended a symbolic or imagined interaction instead of a record of daily life.  In Natufian communities, geese served both practical and ceremonial roles.  Their feathers were often used as decorations, and some bones were raw material for ornaments.  These details support the idea that the figurine reflects an early belief system in which humans and animals were viewed as spiritually connected.

The figurine came out of the fill of a semicircular stone structure that contained burials and ceremonial deposits.  This setting aligns with known Natufian practices, wherein symbolic objects functioned in special architectural spaces.  The Natufian culture, dating from about 15,000 to 11,500 years ago, marks a shift from mobile foraging to some of the first more permanent settlements.  The discovery shows that, long before farming developed, these early communities were already experimenting with artistic forms and symbolic imagery.

Researchers describe the figurine as an important example of early clay modeling and imaginative expression.  It provides a clearer understanding of how ancient villagers viewed themselves, their surroundings and the animals that shared their landscape.

The study appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Next we go to the Kazakh Steppe (KAH-zakh step) in north-eastern Kazakhstan, where archaeologists surprisingly have identified a large Late Bronze Age settlement with clear signs of planning and industry.  This unique site, called Semiyarka (seh-mee-YAR-kah), covers about 140 hectares and dates to around 1600 BC.  The layout suggests that it functioned as a proto-city with household areas, working spaces and a central building.

As reported by HeritageDaily, the settlement is surrounded by straight earthworks that rise up to one meter above the ground.  Inside these boundaries, archaeologists recorded enclosed household compounds arranged in a regular pattern.  A large structure in the center of the site may have served for community gatherings, rituals or leadership.

Archaeologists also uncovered an industrial zone containing slag, crucibles and metal-working waste showing that bronze alloy was produced on-site.  This is noteworthy because metalworking of this kind has usually been associated with more sedentary groups near major mining areas.  Very few production centers have come to light on the open steppe.

Semiyarka’s location appears strategic.  It lies close to ore-rich areas connected to the Altai Mountains, placing the settlement in a strong position to support metal production and control trade routes.  Researchers say this is the first large steppe site with direct evidence of tin-bronze production, challenging the older idea that steppe groups were mainly small, mobile herders.

The team also recorded ceramic fragments from at least 114 vessels.  About 85 percent belong to the Alekseevka–Sargary (ah-LEK-see-AYV-kah SAR-gah-ree) cultural tradition, linking the site to local Bronze Age groups such as Cherkaskul (cher-KAS-kool).  The scale of the settlement and the industrial activity suggest a more complex social structure than previously recognized for this region.

Researchers say that Semiyarka helps build a clearer picture of settlement patterns, daily life and technology on the steppe during the Bronze Age.

The study came out in the journal Antiquity. 

Our third story takes us to Madison, Wisconsin, where recent underwater work in Lake Mendota is revealing a long history of canoe building and water travel among Indigenous communities.  Archaeologists with the Wisconsin Historical Society, working in partnership with several First Nations, have identified 16 ancient dugout canoes on the lakebed.  Two canoes came to light in 2021 and 2022, while the others remain in place as mapping continues.

As reported by Native News Online, the first recovered canoe dates to about AD 800, and the second to roughly 1000 BC.  Since those discoveries, researchers have found 14 additional canoes, including six located in the spring of 2025.  Their work focuses on documenting the canoes and identifying the tree species used to build them.

About half of the canoes were made from red or white oak.  The use of red oak is unusual because it absorbs water more easily.  This fact raised new questions about why canoe builders chose certain trees.  Samples from the two main clusters show that these shoreline spots were the sites of repeated use over thousands of years.

Radiocarbon dates suggest a long timeline of canoe building.  The oldest canoe dates to around 3000 BC, making it the earliest known dugout canoe from the Great Lakes region and one of the oldest recorded in eastern North America.  The most recent canoe dates to about 700 years ago, showing that Lake Mendota was an important travel route for many generations.

Researchers also believe canoe makers may have selected trees that were naturally stressed or deliberately wounded.  Some tree species form internal structures that slow water movement when stressed and thereby help resist decay.  This may explain why canoe makers preferred certain trees.

The two main canoe clusters may mark ancient travel routes used for fishing, trade and visits to culturally important places such as Lake Wingra.  Artifacts found with some of the vessels, including net sinkers, support the idea that these canoes served for fishing as well as transportation.  Before major landscape changes in modern times, steep bluffs and wetlands around Madison’s lakes made water travel far easier than moving over land.

Researchers working with First Nations say the project strengthens connections to early traditions and to the region’s deep past.  A Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service is supporting the continued preservation of the two recovered canoes. 

Our final story this week takes us to the Judean Mountains, where a small silver cup discovered in 1970 is being reinterpreted as one of the earliest known maps of the cosmos.  The 4,200-year-old cup came to light at the Palestinian village of Ain Samiya (ah-EEN sah-MEE-yah) and is only eight centimeters tall, but it is covered with detailed images that include snakes, hybrid creatures, divine figures, and celestial symbols.

As reported by Greek Reporter, researchers have debated the meaning of the images for decades.  A new study now suggests that the decoration follows a clear cosmological story.  The central scene appears to be a celestial boat carried by two deities.  In the ancient Near East, this type of boat represented the divine path of the sun and moon across the sky.

Earlier interpretations suggested scenes of conflict, but the new reading proposes that the images show a peaceful act of creation.  The rising sun pushes away darkness and restores order.  According to the study, this sequence predates the Babylonian creation text known as the Enuma Elish by more than 1,000 years.  If this interpretation is correct, the cup may be one of the earliest artworks to show an organized picture of the universe.

The study also suggests that someone made the cup around 2300 BC in northern Syria, an area known for skilled metalwork.  About a century later, around 2200 BC, it was placed in a tomb in the southern Levant.  Its imagery reflects a time of strong cultural connections across the region, when ideas about the sun, the heavens and divine order spread between neighboring societies.

A recently identified artifact called the Lidar Hoyuk (LEE-dar HOY-yook) prism shows similar symbols and supports the new interpretation.  Together, the two objects suggest an early tradition of cosmological imagery long before later Mesopotamian texts.

The study appeared in Luwian Studies.

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!