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explorator 26.08 June 11, 2023
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You can read explorator online at:

https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/

Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,
Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley,
Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Christopher Kimberley,
Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week
(as always hoping I have left no one out).

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EARLY HOMINIDS
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Study suggests homo naledi buried their dead in caves (and other things):

https://news.wisc.edu/archeologists-uncover-evidence-of-intentional-burial-cave-engravings-by-early-human-ancestor/
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-small-brained-ancient-human-cousins-dead.html
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/extinct-human-relative-buried-their-dead-100000-years-before-modern-humans-did-study-claims
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/science/ancient-humans-homo-naledi-buried-dead.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/05/world/homo-naledi-burials-carvings-scn/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/human-ancestor-burial-africa-homo-naledi-ca7cca3f0f5bd9e84da2ce5da33ef2fe
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/1270/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/1270/pub/1270/page/36/article/NaN
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/06/05/homo-naledi-burial
https://www.newsweek.com/prehistoric-human-species-remains-homo-naledi-1804780
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/05/burial-markings-show-extinct-humans-remembered-dead/
https://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/anthropologists-find-evidence-that-homo-naledi-buried-their-dead-used-symbols/
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-naledi-dug-cave-graves-carved-marks
https://www.science.org/content/article/was-small-brained-human-relative-world-s-first-gravedigger-and-artist
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-small-brained-human-species-may-have-buried-its-dead-controlled-fire-and-made-art/
https://arkeonews.net/paleontologists-say-worlds-oldest-known-burial-site-found-in-south-africa/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2023/06/07/evidence-of-intentional-burial-cave-engravings-by-early-human-ancestor/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-human-relatives-may-have-buried-their-dead-180982308/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11485-230606-homo-naledi-burials

cf: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543135v1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543127v1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1

.... but there's already pushback on the claim:

https://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000

Study suggests Neanderthals had more complex adhesive creation techniques than previously thought:

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-neanderthals-synthetic-material-underground-distillation.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/11490-230607-neanderthal-adhesive-production

Latest study suggesting Neanderthals and sapiens may have lived together in Europe 54 000 years bp:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europes-first-humans-may-have-arrived-in-three-waves-180982107/

A 30 000 years bp site in Spain suggests humans were wearing seashells (and freshwater ones) as ornaments:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article276163511.html
https://arkeonews.net/freshwater-and-marine-shells-used-as-ornaments-30000-years-ago-discovered-in-spain/

Interview with Ludovic Slimak:

https://phys.org/news/2023-06-qa-ludovic-slimak-archaeologist-rewrite.html

On Neanderthal DNA in modern humans and its effects:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195656.htm

More on the 700 000 years bp site with tools and animal bones from Greece:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/oldest-evidence-of-humans-in-greece-is-700000-years-old-a-quarter-of-a-million-years-older-than-previously-thought
https://apnews.com/article/greece-archaeology-oldest-site-stone-tools-3e84007cde4d77a2725b7877b9b38335
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-745227
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-oldest-greek-archaeological-site/

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AFRICA
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A DNA study is being used to suggest farming in Africa arrived from Iberia 7400 years bp:

https://phys.org/news/2023-06-ancient-genomes-farming-africa-ignited.html

cf: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01768-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06166-6

Feature on queens of ancient Nubia:

https://theconversation.com/never-mind-cleopatra-what-about-the-forgotten-queens-of-ancient-nubia-206828
https://www.dailysabah.com/life/history/lost-treasures-of-desert-djados-abandoned-ksars-hold-ancient-mysteries

Feature on lost cities of the Nigerian Sahara:

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20230605-mystery-of-the-desert-the-lost-cities-of-the-nigerien-sahara
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Feature on a 3300 years bp mural depicting an awful lot of Egyptian bird species (I think we mentioned this a while ago):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/science/ancient-egypt-birds.html

Interesting study of the contents of a Ptolemaic-era Bes vase:

https://arkeonews.net/ancient-egyptian-cult-drank-a-trippy-mix-of-drugs-human-blood-and-bodily-fluids/

Archaeologists in Cairo are trying to prevent the demolition of tombs:

https://egyptindependent.com/archaeologists-appeal-to-stop-demolition-of-tombs-in-historic-cairo/
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2023/6/7/battling-bulldozers-cairos-historic-necropolises-under-threat

Leiden's National Museum of Antiquities is no longer allowed to excavate in Saqqara because of an exhibition:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65835611
https://egyptianstreets.com/2023/06/08/egypt-allegedly-bans-dutch-archaeologists-over-kemet-exhibition/
https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2023/06/08/egypt-bans-dutch-archaeologist-from-saqqara-over-afrocentric-exhibition-blackwashing/
https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-06-08/dutch-museum-of-antiquities-banned-from-further-excavation-of-egyptian-necropolis-for-showing-beyonce-and-rihanna-as-queen-nefertiti.html
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/egypt-bans-archaeology-team-mime-scli-intl/index.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12166047/Egypt-bans-Dutch-curators-accused-falsifying-history-portrayal-black-celebrities.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/egypt-bans-curators-for-showing-beyonce-as-ancient-queen-nefertiti-85dtvh9gd
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/06/07/egypt-cancels-dutch-museums-dig-licence-for-exhibition-exploring-black-culture
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2317181
https://nltimes.nl/2023/06/06/leiden-museum-barred-egypt-excavations-kemet-exhibition
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/dutch-archaeologists-banned-from-saqqara-site-due-to-controversial-exhibit/news
https://greekreporter.com/2023/06/08/egypt-bans-dutch-archaeology-team-afrocentric-exhibition/
https://www.artdependence.com/articles/egypt-imposes-punishment-on-dutch-museum-rmo-for-afrocentric-exhibition/
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/egypt-bans-archaeologists-kemet-exhibition-2317450
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/egypt-bans-dutch-archaeologists-leiden-museum-afrocentric-exhibition-1234670731/

More on the mummified persons' portraits recently found in Fayoum:

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/06/07/archaeologists-greek-mummies/

More on the mummification workshop revealed at the Saqqara necropolis:

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mummification-workshops-saqqara-egypt-2312435

7000 years bp relics from Sufian Hill (Iran):

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/485546/Archaeologists-hail-find-of-7-000-year-old-relics-in-northwest

Evidence of Chalcolithic settlements in Tepe Kohneh Sufian (Iran):

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/485483/Traces-of-Chalcolithic-settlements-discovered-in-northwest-Iran

Remains of 4500 years bp structures and a cemetery from Kalat-e Yavor:

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/485548/4-500-year-old-ruins-and-cemetery-found-in-northeast-Iran

Using AI to identify new sites in Mesopotamia:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/06/archaeologists-use-ai-to-identify-new-archaeological-sites-in-mesopotamia/147592

.... and more on using AI to read ancient Mesopotamian texts:

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/485596/Archaeologists-use-AI-to-read-ancient-Mesopotamian-texts

Drought in Iraq has revealed remains of a submerged settlement (we may have had this):

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/drought-in-iraq-reveals-3400-year-old-city-180980188/

Suggestion that a drought was behind the 'Bronze Age Collapse':

https://greekreporter.com/2023/06/11/a-drought-may-be-behind-the-bronze-age-collapse/