This story about the neolithic metalworking in Serbia sounds wildly unlikely, but i'd feel remiss if i ignored it. 7,500 years ago? Even the Bosnian "pyramid" was fun for a few days.
Remote Central points out that the Bronze Age was thought to start much later than is recognized now, until the discovery of a bronze axe head by the body of Ötzi.
Waiting to see what happens with this site:
Excavations of an underwater Stone Age archaeological settlement dating back 8000 years are taking place at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton this week (30 July - 3 August 2007).
Maritime archaeologists from the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology (HWTMA) have been working at the site just off the Isle of Wight coast. Divers working at depths of 11 metres have raised sections of the seabed, which have been brought to the NOCS laboratories for excavation.
Garry Momber, Director of HWTMA said: 'This is a site of international importance as it reveals a time before the English Channel existed when Europe and Britain were linked. Earlier excavations have produced flint tools, pristine 8,000-year-old organic material such as acorns, charcoal and worked pieces of wood showing evidence of extensive human activity. This is the only site of its kind in Britain and is extremely important to our understanding of our Stone Age ancestors from the lesser-known Mesolithic period.
'At first we had no idea of the size of this site, but now we are finding evidence of hearths and ovens so it appears to be an extensive settlement. We are hoping that this excavation will reveal more artefacts and clues to life in the Stone Age.'
The team of archaeologists will take the sections to the NOCS laboratories where they will painstakingly excavate through the layers of sediment revealing materials that have lain unseen beneath the seabed for over 8000 years. Garry Momber has recruited University of Southampton students to help with the work.
It's well and good to read that squash was being cultivated 10,000 years ago in the Americas, in Peru, no less, but if this is solid research, doesn't this completely destroy Clovis first once and for all?
Hunter-gatherers race across the Bering Strait, pour down through North America and Central America, and then decide to start farming?
Unlikely.
The first wave of people to arrive in the New World came before 11,500 years ago. Thank you, squash, for another nail in the coffin of that theory.
The Stone Pages clipped this article first.
There is a progression of the early cultures of Vietnam here.Vietnamese and Chinese archaeologists have recently unearthed an ancient tomb at an archaeological site in Vinh Tuong district, northern Vinh Phuc province (Vietnam). The 1.7 metre-sepulchre was said to belong to the Phung Nguyen culture dating back to 3,500-4000 years ago.
During the second excavation at the 200-square-metre Nghia Lap archaeological site, hundreds of stone tools and thousands of ceramic objects belonging to the Phung Nguyen culture were also found, including axes, graters and jewelry like necklaces and earrings. The remains and objects unearthed are currently preserved at a local museum for further research, said experts.
Sources: VNA, Nhan Dan (6 January 2007)
AP article on Cycladic culture of Keros. The theory of the statues being smashed in ritual is still curious. I keep intending to look for other examples in other contemporary cultures of such behavior.
