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

Our stories from this past week of Archaeologica report that it was drought that prompted a renewal of Polynesian migration a millennium ago, a study of mummies shows that Egyptian princesses used weapons, what people ate in the drier parts of precolonial Brazil varied a lot, and new analysis of ancient Roman literature shows that female farm managers handled much more than domestic tasks. 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 July 12th through the 18th, 2026.

Our first story this week features a new study exploring why ancient Polynesian seafarers resumed migrating after a pause of almost two thousand years.  A large drought and increased population pressures caused the largest seafaring migration in human history.

As reported by Connect Sci, the traditional model postulates that ancient Polynesians arrived at Samoa and Tonga between 1000 and 800 BC.  The so-called ‘Long Pause’ of migration lasted around 1700 years.  Then, a large migration into the East Pacific happened between AD 850 and 1150.  This push settled areas like Tahiti, Hawai’i, Easter Island, and New Zealand.

The Journal of Pacific Archaeology published the study, which investigated the long-debated reasons behind the end of the Long Pause.  A team of British researchers conducted the research.

The team analyzed mud samples from swamps and lakes in Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia, and the Cook Islands.  They studied ancient rainfall using biochemical fossils made by leaves and algae.  They determined precipitation levels by analyzing the proportion of heavier and lighter hydrogen isotopes in rainwater left in the mud.

According to lead author David Sear, a professor of physical geography at the University of Southampton, the results indicated that a severe drought on Samoa and Tonga coincided with the end of the Long Pause.  On the other hand, the eastern Pacific had increased rainfall, which provided an attractive destination.

The team also used climate modeling to investigate the cause of the drought.  The model demonstrated how the surface temperature of the ocean changed over decades.  These changes moved the rain belt eastward, causing the drought.  Less rain meant less fresh water and less food production.

Furthermore, the team found two more motivations for migration.  First, an increasing population led to resource stress.  Second, seafarers had developed canoes with V-shaped instead of U-shaped hulls and improved rigging that made it easier to sail into the wind, which usually comes from the east.

According to Dan Skinner, a researcher at the University of East Anglia, these results indicate how even adaptable and skilled communities must respond to changing climatic conditions.

Next we go to Egypt, where a new study analyzing 4,000-year-old mummies has revealed that princesses were skilled weapon users.

As reported by Connect Sci, the study looked at six mummies from Dahshur, an ancient pyramid complex near Cairo.  French archaeologists originally excavated the pyramids in 1894, but the mummies were lost until 2020.  By this time, many of the bones had dissolved or were lost.

A small international team investigated the mummies.  They uncovered the age, height, sex, and physical conditions of the individuals.

One of the mummies belonged to King Hor, a thirteenth dynasty pharaoh who reigned between 1777 and 1775 BC.  Another belonged to Princess Noub-Hotep [NOOB HOH-tep].  The last four mummies were princesses Khenmet [KEN-met], Itaweret [ee-tah-WEHR-et], Ita, and Sathathormeryt [suh-THAH-thor-MARE-it].  These princesses were the daughters of twelfth dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat II [ah-MEN-uh-met], who died in 1895 BC.

The sisters rested in matching underground chambers with weapons such as bows, arrows, and daggers.  Traditionally, researchers have considered weapons the possessions of men, so the team was unsure whether these arms were ceremonial.

The robust muscle attachments on the princesses’ bones indicate that they all were habitual weapon users.  Their bones developed to sustain heavy muscle use, including pronounced development in their upper limbs from activities like pulling a bowstring.

The study appeared in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.  According to lead author Zeinab Hashesh, a bioarchaeologist at Beni-Suef University in Egypt, both male and female royals actively participated in activities like archery or hunting.  The tools they used in life explain the presence of weapons in their tombs.

Skeletal evidence hints at specific weapon proficiencies.  Princess Ita, for example, was between 28 and 34 at the time of her death and likely used maces or daggers.  Princess Itaweret was an archer who died between 20 and 34.

Princess Itaweret also displayed signs of a fractured foot and broken ribs.  Most likely, these injuries came from a fall or accident related to physical activities.  The injuries healed remarkably well, indicating advanced medical treatments.

Future research aims to further investigate these royals, including their lives, political roles, and health.  While the team plans to display the remains alongside their artifacts, they want to maintain a human focus.

Our third story takes us to the Cerrado and other relatively dry areas in the central and eastern parts of Brazil, where a new study has investigated the diet of precolonial societies.  The research revealed multiple culturally influenced subsistence strategies, including large villages that used wild forage and cultivated crops such as maize.

As reported by Phys.org, scholars have long debated the diet of peoples in the Cerrado, the tropical savannah in central Brazil.  Historically, the two alternative strategies were foraging or intensive sedentary farming.  The new research presents a third option.

A team of researchers from Brazil and Germany conducted the study, which appeared in the journal Science Advances.  The team examined more than 100 individuals from 37 sites in the Cerrado, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest Biomes.  Many of these individuals belonged to either the Aratu or Una traditions.

In the Cerrado, many humans occupied rock shelters.  Scholars have found the oldest evidence of pottery in the form of the Una ceramic tradition around 3000 years ago.  Around 1200 years ago, inhabitants suddenly started settling open-air villages.  Archaeologists have previously associated this period with heavy dependence on domesticated crops such as maize and with the Aratu ceramic tradition.

From these individuals, researchers analyzed carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes from bones and teeth.  They created a dietary map of the region by combining these data with archaeobotanical evidence, palaeoecological records, and radiocarbon dates from human collagen.

The dietary map indicates that inhabitants of rock shelters consumed diverse diets with little maize.  Aratu village inhabitants, on the other hand, relied heavily on maize.  However, evidence suggests that they also used lots of other cultivated plants like sweet potatoes alongside wild plants reflecting local ecological knowledge.  Because rock-shelter dwellers and villagers lived in similar environments, these results indicate that culture, rather than simply ecology, influenced diets.

This study has vast implications for our understanding of Indigenous food strategies in central Brazil.  Furthermore, while the Amazon has historically been regarded as the major center of precolonial Indigenous innovation, this study highlights the innovations of people in the Cerrado.

We end our week in ancient Rome, where a new study reexamines female farm managers.  Contrary to traditional assumptions that they managed only domestic tasks, the study shows that they actually helped oversee economic agricultural production.

As reported by Phys.org, ancient Roman texts of various kinds mention the Roman vilica, or female farm manager, for around five centuries.  However, only two clear accounts of vilica duties are actually available.  Tamara Lewit, an archaeologist at the University of Melbourne, studied these texts in combination with iconographic information and excavations of Roman villas.

The first account is a first century AD farming manual from writer and landowner Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella.  He described the villa farm manager role, which could include both males, or vilicus, and females, or vilica.  These workers were likely enslaved.

According to Lewit, many modern historians have mistakenly believed that a vilica performed only domestic duties because of a quote from another writer.  Columella quotes Greek philosopher Xenophon, who lived around four centuries earlier.  Xenophon argued that upper-class women should stay inside to supervise domestic enslaved labor.

However, Xenophon was talking about the upper-class woman, not the vilica.  In his own words, Columella outlines how the vilica maintained responsibility for making wine and olive oil.  Archaeological evidence has revealed large-scale villa operations that could create around 50,000 to 100,000 liters a year.  These products were also immensely valuable and vital for running the estate.

Another duty of the vilica was sacrificing to the gods to ensure good quality wine.  One Roman mural of seasonal agricultural duties shows a man, wine jugs, and a woman holding garlands.  This might indicate the important religious duties of the vilica.

The second account comes from landowner Cato the Elder in the second century BC.  He describes how the vilica would offer sacrifices to the gods, supervise cleaning, raise poultry, and process agricultural products.

Many modern historians have viewed the vilica as a housekeeper taking care of domestic duties instead of agricultural work.  However, more recent studies have indicated that Roman women participated in commercial activities across social classes.  This new study helps expand our understanding of the role of women in ancient farm production.

The paper appeared in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

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!