Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 13d

Clues to longevity in our environment and our genes.

www.sciencealert.com/dna-study-of...

DNA Study of 117-Year-Old Woman Reveals Clues to a Long Life

There's no escaping the unrelenting passage of time, but supercentenarians who live to see their 110th birthday have a peculiar ability to postpone the inevitable.

www.sciencealert.com

Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

jenny_tightpants🪑 @jtp.bsky.social · 16d

no disrespect to the wisconsin wreck hunter community but it's very funny to me that this supposed famously elusive ship wreck was found exactly where the eyewitness report said it would be in the newspaper but nobody had bothered to check there

Named the F.J. King, the ship had become a legend within the Wisconsin wreck hunter community for its elusive nature, said maritime historian Brendon Baillod, principal investigator and project lead of the discovery.

Around the same time, Baillod also became aware of this mystery. He began to investigate the original records of the ship’s sinking and came across the missing evidence needed to track down the vessel: a local newspaper article from one week after the ship’s demise featuring an account from a local lighthouse keeper, William Sanderson.

In the article, Sanderson reported the location of the ship, so that other sailors could steer clear of the protruding masts.

Baillod, who is also the current president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, marked down the location on a map and drew a 2-square-mile (5.2-square-kilometer) grid around the point of interest. Baillod’s team, including 20 citizen scientists, located the shipwreck on June 28 using sonar technology less than half a mile (0.8 meter) away from the location Sanderson had indicated.

“We thought others had probably looked there, but apparently we were the first,” Baillod said. “And our citizen science members … were the first human beings to lay eyes on this ship since 1886. It was amazing.”

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Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

Rupert Ferguson @druidtombraider.bsky.social · 16d

Dionysiac mosaic with dancing Satyrs, Bacchantes and Oceanus masks, dated 2nd century AD, from Hadrumetum, Sousse Archaeological Museum, Tunisia; courtesy of Carole Raddato.
#RomanArchaeology #Archaeology #MosaicMonday

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 16d

Perhaps a misleading headline. I can't imagine many people "forget" about having a castle. It's not like losing your car keys. Rather, in the 14th century, the castle was taken apart for a new palace to be built.

archaeology.org/news/2025/09...

News - Forgotten Medieval Castle Discovered on Scottish Isle - Archaeology Magazine

ISLAY, SCOTLAND—BBC News reports that a forgotten medieval castle and royal stronghold were identified at […]

archaeology.org

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Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

Rupert Ferguson @druidtombraider.bsky.social · 17d

For this week's #StandingStoneSunday Castlerigg Stone Circle courtesy of Ennor. #StandingStoneSunday #megaliths #Neolithic #BronzeAge #Archaeology

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 16d

7,000 year old mummies from Libya of previously unknown lineage show not as much genetic exchange in the Green Sahara as we had once thought and suggests that farming spread through cultural exchange rather than migration and intermixing.
#AncientBlueSky

www.popularmechanics.com/science/a679...

Scientists Found 7,000-Year-Old Mummies in the Desert That Don’t Share DNA With Modern Humans

This ancient people lived in the Sahara when it was a much more welcoming environment.

www.popularmechanics.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 16d

How to write in Cuneiform, the world's oldest writing system
#AncientBlueSky
www.openculture.com/2025/09/how-...

How to Write in Cuneiform, the Oldest Writing System in the World: A Short Introduction

Teaching child visitors how to write their names using an unfamiliar or antique alphabet is a favorite activity of museum educators, but Dr. Irving Finkel, a cuneiform expert who specializes in ancien...

www.openculture.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 20d

What did kids play with in the middle ages? Excavations of this medieval toy workshop reveal clay figurines described as "simple" but "unmistakably toys."
#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

arkeonews.net/medieval-toy...

Medieval Toy Workshop Unearthed in Freiburg: Archaeologists Discover Forgotten Childhood Treasures - Arkeonews

Archaeologists in Freiburg, a historic city in Germany, have uncovered a medieval pottery workshop where clay toys were once crafted.

arkeonews.net

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 20d

A peek at the advanced technology of ancient Rome.
www.openculture.com/2025/09/the-...

The Advanced Technology of Ancient Rome: Automatic Doors, Water Clocks, Vending Machines & More

Ancient Rome never had an industrial revolution. Granted, certain historians have objected now and again to that once-settled claim, gesturing toward large heaps of pottery discovered in garbage dumps...

www.openculture.com

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 20d

Excavations of a stone age cemetery in Latvia upend what we thought we knew about ancient gender and societal roles.
#ancientbluesky #archaeology
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

Ancient burial upends what we know about Stone Age women and children

Researchers say findings overturn old stereotype of ‘man the hunter’

www.independent.co.uk

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 20d

Cache of nearly 2000 year old coins and ornaments found in Romania from an Roman-era family home destroyed by fire.
#archaeology #ancientbluesky
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

1,900-year-old 'treasure' found in Roman-era family's scorched house in Romania

A discovery in Romania shows the remains of an elite family's treasures from the Roman era that were scorched in a fire.

www.livescience.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 29d

historic facepalm

Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · Sep 5

One of the Lewis Chessmen - currently on display at Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway. Found in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the pieces date to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · 29d

Discovery of "direct genomic evidence" of the cause of the Plague of Justinian, a pandemic that killed 25-100 million people from 541 to 750 CE.

archaeology.org/news/2025/09...

News - Ancient DNA Pinpoints Culprit Responsible for World's First Pandemic - Archaeology Magazine

JERASH, JORDAN—The world’s first pandemic, known as the Plague of Justinian after the sitting Byzantine […]

archaeology.org

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Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

Archaeologs @archaeologs.com · Sep 8

Roman Bear Fights Confirmed by Archaeological Discovery in Serbia

#archaeology #roman #serbia #gladiators #news

www.archaeologs.com/n/roman-bear...

Roman Bear Fights Confirmed by Archaeological Discovery in Serbia - Archaeologs

Archaeologists in Serbia have uncovered the first physical proof that brown bears were forced into combat during Roman arena games. At Viminacium, once a bustling military camp and provincial capital ...

www.archaeologs.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 8

300,000 year old footprints show early humans living alongside early species of elephants and rhinoceroses in what is now Germany.
#AncientBlueSky
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...

Archaelogists Found 300,000-Year-Old Human Footprints That Rewrite Part of Our Story

They’re an incredible snapshot of the ancient past.

www.popularmechanics.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 8

When culture becomes a crime: the story of Mónica Fernandes and how she was put to trial during the Inquisition for using traditional medicine to treat a cat bite.

theconversation.com/monicas-stor...

Mónica’s story: the woman shipped from Ghana to Portugal in 1556 to stand trial for using traditional medicine

Colonialism criminalised local knowledge systems.

theconversation.com

Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · Sep 6

Timeless humour!

A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:

“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂

Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA

#Archaeology

The photo shows four images of the same Roman iron stylus pen, one below the other. The knib to the left. It has an inscription which runs along its length on four sides. The four images show the four lines of inscribed text which read:

‘ab urbe v[e]n[i] munus tibi
gratum adf(e)ro acul[eat]um ut habe[a]s memor[ia]m nostra(m) rogo si fortuna dar[e]t quo possem largius ut longa via ceu sacculus est (v)acuus’

‘I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift
with a sharp point that you may remember me. I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able (to give)
as generously as the way is long (and) as my purse is empty.’

The pen was used to write on wax-filled wooden writing tablets. Found in London (Roman ‘Londinium’) by MOLA. Photo by Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 8

Neat! I have similar books (different publisher, but looks like a similar concept from around the same time). I haven't given much thought to preservation, though I should!

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 8

4000 year old clay tablet furniture receipt found in Turkey. And I thought it was bad my wallet was stuffed with old Ikea receipts.
#AncientBlueSky

www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...

Archaeologists Uncovered a Mysterious Ancient Tablet With Major Historical Implications

This tiny 4,000-year-old cuneiform tells a big story about past civilizations.

www.popularmechanics.com

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 3

Oldest host-associated bacteria found in a mammoth tooth.

www.discovermagazine.com/million-year...

Million-Year-Old Mammoth Tooth Carries Oldest Host-Associated Bacteria DNA Ever Found

Ancient bacterial DNA offers rare insights into how microbes evolved alongside their hosts and how they connect to species living today.

www.discovermagazine.com

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 3

317 medieval skeletons found under a Debenhams department store. Their sales were to die for?
#AncientBlueSky

www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...

Archaeologists Found 317 Skeletons Buried Under a Department Store

And it’s not the first batch they’ve discovered in the area.

www.popularmechanics.com

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Sep 3

Recent discovery of a 4,000 year old mural in Peru shed light on the beginnings of early civilizations.
#AncientBlueSky

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Archaeologists in Peru discover 3D mural that could date back 4,000 years

The unprecedented find has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · Aug 27

Artist’s painting of a hippo on a flake of limestone 🦛❤️

Perhaps a practice sketch, or just for the joy of painting 3,500 years ago!

From Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1479–1425 BC. 📷 The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

#Archaeology

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Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Aug 28

Using archaeology to find hidden maroon settlements. theconversation.com/escaped-slav...

Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt

As many as 10% of enslaved people on St. Croix escaped. Where they went has remained a mystery, but scientists are using new mapping technology to find answers.

theconversation.com

Ancient DNA Hub @ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social · Aug 26

3000 year old cult site discovered by Norwegian highway. #AncientBlueSky

www.popsci.com/science/anci...

Lost, ancient cult site unearthed near a Norwegian highway

A mudslide buried the ceremonial location around 800 CE.

www.popsci.com

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