Welcome to our show, everybody!  I’m Rick Pettigrew. 

Our stories from this past week of Archaeologica are about the news that only females were buried in a South African Pleistocene cave, surprising genetic diversity among Neanderthals in Belgium and France, the first identification of human DNA on cave walls, and the discovery of an exceptionally well preserved Maya city in southern Mexico.  We’ll get to those in a few seconds.

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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 June 21st through the 27th, 2026. 

Our first story this week comes from a cave in South Africa.  A new study of a prehistoric burial chamber found no evidence of male individuals, indicating this could be an all-female cemetery.

As Smithsonian Magazine reported, the Dinaledi Chamber is a space deep within the Rising Star cave system.  Spelunkers can reach it only through an extremely narrow vertical passage.  Previous expeditions into the chamber unearthed over 1,500 bone fossils belonging to more than a dozen individuals.

Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger led a 2015 study that designated these remains as a new hominin species called Homo naledi [HO-moh nah-LED-ee].  This species lived between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago.  Researchers have found remains of this species only deep within these caves.

Berger and his team have investigated how and why these bones came to rest in such a remote chamber.  He led another study last year that argued that Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead by deliberately covering bodies with sediment.  However, other paleoanthropologists saw no convincing evidence of intentional burial.  They suggested that the individuals might have climbed in, found themselves unable to get out, and died.

The new study, published in the professional journal Cell, has raised even more questions.  The results indicate that all the remains are female.  The team examined 23 teeth from 20 individuals.  Using micro-destructive acid etching, they extracted enamel proteins to look for types of amelogenin [ah-MEL-oh-JEN-in], a protein responsible for tooth formation.  All hominin species carry the protein AMELX [AH-mel ECKS] on their X chromosomes.  Only males carry AMELY, on the Y chromosome.

Based on these proteins, researchers found no convincing evidence of male individuals.  While some male hominins lack the AMELY gene, its absence from an entire population sample of this size is highly unlikely.  Thus, this appears to be an all-female group.

If the chamber was truly a single-sex grave, it would possess massive prehistoric cultural and symbolic significance.  Many ancient societies had sex-specific methods for burial, but the oldest evidence of gender-segregated burials is only about 5,000 years old.

Next we go to present-day Belgium and France.  A new study refutes previous assumptions that Neanderthal extinction resulted from inbreeding and a lack of diversity.  Instead, researchers found more genetic diversity than previously thought.

As reported by Live Science, Neanderthals were among the closest relatives of modern humans.  They went extinct around 40,000 years ago for reasons that remain a mystery.

Previous genetic research in Siberia indicated that small, isolated communities experienced frequent interbreeding between close relatives.  This raised the possibility that they died off due to genetic weaknesses.  However, Neanderthal DNA is remarkably difficult to extract, and high-quality genomes are especially uncommon.  Only four high-quality genomes were previously available, and three came from Siberia, at the edge of the Neanderthal geographic range.

The new study analyzed the genetic data of 27 more Neanderthals from 10 different archaeological sites in northwestern Europe.  Seven sites sit in the Meuse [MYOOZ] Basin in Belgium, which holds a dense concentration of late Neanderthals who lived after 70,000 years ago.  The researchers also recovered a new high-quality genome.

The team discovered that these northwestern European Neanderthals split from a common ancestor with other known Neanderthals around 54,000 years ago.  These late Neanderthals were more closely related to one another than to late Neanderthal groups in other parts of Europe.  They also revealed little evidence of inbreeding.  The northwestern European populations were genetically interconnected rather than isolated.  The researchers found that the sample divided into at least four distinct genetic groups.

Doctoral researcher Alba Bossoms Mesa [AHL-bah BOHS-ohms MEH-sah] from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany is the first author of the study.  According to her, this evidence dispels the misconception that all Neanderthals went extinct because they were too inbred.  She noted that we must keep diversity in mind when studying this species.

The study found no evidence of recent modern human DNA in this Neanderthal population, even though the two groups lived near each other for up to 500 generations.  Most modern humans have some Neanderthal ancestry.  This unbalanced DNA exchange may come from genetic incompatibilities or from social taboos that existed at that time.

This study appeared in the professional journal Nature.

Our third story takes us to the Escoural [ehsh-koo-RAHL] Cave in Portugal.  A new study reveals that archaeologists have recovered ancient human DNA from a cave wall for the very first time.  Scholars of prehistory have long struggled to link rock art with genetic material that could identify prehistoric artists.  For instance, researchers want to determine whether Neanderthals themselves created specific cave paintings.  This new study investigated DNA preservation directly on the painted and unpainted surfaces of cave walls.

As the Greek Reporter website announced, and as in our previous story, doctoral researcher Alba Bossoms Mesa [AHL-bah BOHS-ohms MEH-sah] from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the investigation.  The team examined 24 rock art panels across 11 caves throughout Spain and Portugal, including the famous Altamira Cave in Spain.  Much of the art comprised non-figurative panels made from red ochre, displaying ancient motifs and hand stencils.  The team took samples directly from the art, as well as from unpainted cave walls, for a baseline comparison.  Most of these samples yielded no traces of hominin DNA.  The team also found no ancient DNA on a prehistoric bird bone airbrush from Altamira that artists might have used to blow pigment.

However, a sample from Escoural Cave provided a major breakthrough.  It showed no signs of animal DNA but contained clear genetic evidence of ancient modern humans.  These DNA traces likely came from direct human contact, such as saliva or other fluids, rather than from water or sediment transport.  In that same cave, the team also recovered human DNA from an unpainted area of the wall.  This evidence suggests that people touched these walls for reasons other than making art.  Meanwhile, in the Covarón [coh-vah-ROHN] Cave in Spain, the team discovered two unpainted samples containing a mixture of DNA from humans, wild cats, rabbits, and large herbivores.  This genetic cocktail probably arrived via sediment carried on human hands or feet.

This study marks a revolutionary step in using cave walls as true biological archives for prehistoric cultures.  However, archaeologists warn that genetic traces on rock art do not automatically belong to the original artists.  They advise that future studies should examine more rock art sites to isolate DNA connected explicitly to art production.  

The study appeared in the professional journal Nature Communications.

We end this week in the southern Mexican state of Campeche.  Researchers have discovered an exceptionally well-preserved Maya city that includes a pyramidal temple, elaborate inscriptions, and rich iconography.

As reported by Heritage Daily, a joint team of Mexican and Slovenian archaeologists uncovered the city deep within the Calakmul [kah-lahk-MOOL] Biosphere Reserve.  The expedition operated under the leadership of archaeologist Ivan Šprajc [SHPRY-ts] from the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.  This remarkable discovery stems from three decades of archaeological research in the Central Maya Lowlands.  Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History authorized the study.  The team focused their survey near Chactún, a Maya city that Šprajc’s team previously discovered in 2013.  They initially utilized airborne LiDAR technology to detect a settlement structure covering around 15 hectares.

The researchers then traveled on foot to investigate the remote settlement on the ground.  There, they uncovered plazas, ceremonial structures, residential buildings, terraces, and a large water management system featuring wetlands and hydraulic channels.  The team named the pristine site Minanbé [mee-nahn-BAY], a Yucatec Maya phrase meaning “there is no path.“

According to team archaeologist Vitan Vujanović [VEE-than voo-YAH-noh-vihch], the site presents a rare opportunity to study a well-preserved temple alongside stelae bearing clear glyphs.  The pyramidal temple stands more than 13 meters tall and features the local Río Bec architectural style, which is famous for creating visual illusions.  The structure showcases delicate masonry, decorative panels, and steep staircases.

In total, the team identified 14 stone monuments, including stelae and altars covered in hieroglyphs and ritual images.  One dramatic carving depicts a figure decapitating a captive.  Ancient residents apparently modified several other altars during antiquity.  The team utilized hundreds of field photographs to construct accurate three-dimensional models of Minanbé.  Furthermore, one monument records a specific date of AD 849, while another altar bears a tentative inscription from the late seventh century.  These dates place the city’s peak within the Terminal Classic period, shortly before the Maya abandoned major regional centers in the tenth century.  

Minanbé provides invaluable insights into the political landscape of the Late Classic Maya Lowlands.

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!