EurekAlert! News by Subject: Archaeology - News by Subject: Archaeology

Archaeology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Mar-2026 14:15 ET (30-Mar-2026 18:15 GMT/UTC)

Sacrifice before the cataclysm: the aromas of Pompeii’s household altars

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international team of researchers from LMU, the University of Zurich, and further partners investigated ash residues from incense burners. The substances they discovered show that Pompeii was part of a global trade network.

Researchers find 3,500-year-old loom that reveals key aspects of textile revolution in the Bronze Age

University of Alicante
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Approximately 3,500 years ago, in the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo in present-day Villena, a fire razed dwellings and workshops to the ground. However, the same fire that destroyed part of the village also helped preserve an object that is incredibly hard to document in archaeology: a loom with a largely wooden structure.

Recently published in the journal Antiquity, this finding by a team of researchers from several Spanish universities is one of only a few known cases in Mediterranean Europe in which both the set of loom weights and components made from wood and plant fibres have been preserved.

Journal: Antiquity

Can AI learn to read ancient pottery the way an archaeologist does?

Nagoya University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Classifying ancient pottery has always depended on the trained judgment of an archaeologist. Identifying the subtle differences between piece types takes years of experience, and two experts will not always agree. Now, a team including researchers at Nagoya University in Japan has developed a deep learning model that can classify pottery by shape with high accuracy, using three-dimensional scan data rather than photographs or drawings.

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science
Funder: Nagoya University Graduate School of Humanities, Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation

Medieval DNA reveals trans-Saharan connections, rapid genetic mixing, and leprosy in Islamic Ibiza

Stockholm University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Medieval Ibiza was far from a quiet Mediterranean backwater. New DNA evidence shows that the island was part of a dynamic world linking Europe, North Africa and even the Sahel zone, south of Sahara. An international research team led from the Centre for Palaeogenetics (CPG), a joint venture between Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, has revealed that its population was remarkably diverse, connected to Europe, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa through trade, migration, and social networks. The study is published in Nature Communications.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Swedish Research Council, ATLAS (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond)

New satellite technology opens archaeological frontiers: Israel’s "Stonehenge" no longer stands alone

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For decades, the massive stone circles of Rujm el-Hiri in the Golan Heights were considered a singular, mysterious anomaly—often dubbed "Israel’s Stonehenge." However, new research led by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is rewriting that narrative. Using advanced satellite imagery and remote sensing technology, researchers have discovered that this iconic monument is actually the centerpiece of a much larger, previously hidden phenomenon.

Journal: PLOS One

Tropical archaeology: Advanced dating method reveals age of Pacific coral architecture

University of Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of archaeologists has used an advanced dating technique to establish the first precise construction timeline for houses built out of coral in French Polynesia. The findings reveal previously hidden patterns of architectural development and cultural life in Pacific societies.

Journal: Antiquity
Funder: Australian Research Council

Ancient DNA reveals earliest known dogs lived alongside Ice Age humans

University of York
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The bond between humans and dogs is one of nature’s most enduring partnerships, but exactly when it began has long been a mystery. Now, a new study has turned back the clock.

Journal: Nature

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