Artistic reconstruction of Pebanista yacuruna (Photo: Jaime Bran via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)

About 16 million years ago, the Peruvian Amazon rainforest was covered by a massive lake known as Pebas, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems to ever exist on Earth. Among the species that called it home was the largest freshwater dolphin ever—a creature whose existence remained in the dark until 2018, when paleontologist Aldo Benites-Palomino spotted a fossilized jaw bone during a field expedition around Peru's Napo River.

“As soon as I recognized it, I saw the teeth sockets. I screamed, ‘This is a dolphin.’ We could not believe it,” Benites-Palomino told The Guardian. At first, he figured the dolphin must have been an ancestor to the contemporary Amazon river pink dolphins found in South America. However, further research made it clear that not only was it a completely different species that has since gone extinct, but its closest relatives live halfway across the world. Specifically, in the Ganges and Indus rivers of South Asia, some 6,200 miles away.

“It's difficult to find fossils from this era, since they're only accessible during the dry season when the Amazon rivers are low enough to expose rocks from the past,” says Benites-Palomino on TikTok.

The newly discovered species was named Pebanista yacuruna in honor of the Yacuruna, of a mythical aquatic people believed to live in underwater cities throughout the Amazon basin. This creature could grow to up to 11.5 feet long, had small eyes, and a bony structure called a facial crest that allowed it to get around using echolocation. “For river dolphins, echolocation, or biosonar, is even more critical as the waters they inhabit are extremely muddy, which impedes their vision,” explained Gabriel Aguirre-Fernández, a University of Zurich researcher who also participated in this study.

It is believed that the Pebanista Yacuruna originally lived in the ocean before moving to freshwater habitats in search of new sources of food. And just like these dolphins evolved in ways that helped them thrive in their new environment, they may also hold the key to help the endangered fresh water dolphins of the world today, which see their ecosystems threatened by global warming and pollution.

“Around 11 to 12 million years ago, this mega-wetland system started to drain, giving way to the modern Amazon,” Benites-Palomino told New Scientist. “A lot of species disappeared at that moment, and that might also have been the fate of this giant dolphin.”

Today, this insightful fossil sits in the Museum of Natural History in Lima, Peru—an institution that saw Benites-Palomino start his career as a Research Associate. But his findings will go much further. “The finding of Pebanista in the Peruvian Amazon only reasserts one thing,” concludes Benites-Palomino. “Our fossils are rewriting the story of many animal groups.”

Aldo Benites-Palomino: Twitter | TikTok
h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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The necropolis, which is now open to the public. (Photo: Carole Raddato via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

Vatican City is a unique place. As both a country and the headquarters of the Catholic Church, the city is encircled by the wider landscape of Rome, Italy. In the walled city itself, monumental architecture from medieval and Renaissance creators sits atop a wealth of ancient history that has been discovered over the years as new construction projects break ground. Among these revelations was a necropolis, or ancient city of the dead, whose grand extent has been revealed over time. The ancient architecture which lay alongside the ancient Via Triumphalis—which is filled with mosaics and sarcophagi—is now open to the public as of November 2023.

In ancient Rome, bodies of the deceased could not be buried or cremated inside the city walls. So on the outskirts of the metropolis formed a series of necropolis where the ancients were laid to rest. Many lay in small mausoleum structures clustered along Rome's epic roadways, including the Via Triumphalis. Along this road lies the 10,764-square-foot necropolis which is technically now under Vatican City. The public can enter through the Saint Rose Gate in the walls of the Vatican. A series of ramps and paths then allow exploration of the necropolis' remains in an exhibit known as Life and Death in the Rome of the Caesars through the ruins preserved in a mudslide long ago.

Exposed to view are countless mosaics, featuring geometric designs and motifs of the Roman gods. Niches and archways give a sense of the full structures which once existed. Even frescoes remain, decorating for eternity the last resting places. The deceased were buried between the 1st century CE and the 4th century CE. Sarcophagi remain, as do some exposed skeletons. Funerary stelae tell us about these people and their ordinary lives. Among the interred are a Pompeii theater manager and a “saltuarius,” who took care of woodlands.

“We begin to learn about people we did not know, particularly about rituals that seem more related to family, neighborhood, town, or personal traditions than to official religion,” explains Giandomenico Spinola, deputy artistic-scientific director of the Vatican Museums. Leonardo Di Blasi, archaeologist of the Ancient Greek and Roman section of the Vatican Museum, also notes the graves primarily belong to “slaves [of Emperor Nero], freedmen, [and] artisans of the city of Rome,” making the exhibit a fascinating view into the class structure and religious history of Roman burials.

An ancient Roman necropolis, or city of the dead, is now open to the public in the Vatican City.

h/t: [ARTnews, artnet]

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READ: Vatican Museums Open Ancient Roman Necropolis of ‘Via Triumphalis’ to the Public

Photo: Pixelchaos/Depositphotos

Amateur paleontologist Damien Boschetto could never have suspected the surprise that awaited him when he ventured out on a walk with his dog Muffin two years ago. They'd set off to examine a recently crumbled cliff, and, to Boschetto's surprise, when they arrived, he saw a bone sticking out of the ground. But this wasn't any ordinary bone—it was a dinosaur bone.

Boschetto, who lives in the French commune of Cruzy, wasn't too surprised though, as he shared in a recent interview. “It happened one morning like any other, during an ordinary walk,” he said. “The territory around Cruzy is rich in fossils of dinosaurs and other species living at the same time.”

The bone that Boschetto stumbled upon belonged to a 70-million-year-old titanosaur. These long-necked herbivores lived in the Late Jurassic Epoch and were some of the largest terrestrial animals. There are 40 different known species of titanosaurs, and the bone Boschetto found led to further excavations that revealed a 70% complete skeleton.

 

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A post shared by Damien Boschetto (@damienboschetto)

This is remarkable because while many titanosaur bones are unearthed in Europe, it's rare to find them anatomically connected. Finding the nearly 10-meter-long (32.8-foot-long) fossil in this condition means that it was likely buried before the dinosaur's body began to decompose.

Boschetto, who belongs to the Cruzy Museum's Archaeological and Paleontological Cultural Association, assisted in the excavation. Over the course of two years, they worked tirelessly at the site, which turned out to be a bone bed. This means that it not only contained the titanosaur fossils but also included fossils of another herbivore—the Rhabdodon—as well as crocodiles and carnivores like Theropods.

Now that the titanosaur skeleton has been safely transferred to the Cruzy Museum's laboratory, the association is able to reveal the discovery without compromising the safety of the site.

Boschetto is proud of his discovery and hopes that it will bring even more eyes to the museum and what the area has to offer. “It is a flagship piece,” he shares, “for the general public to be able to admire a dinosaur in anatomical connection like that.”

In 2022, while out walking his dog, French amateur paleontologist Damien Boschetto discovered a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Damien Boschetto (@damienboschetto)

The 32-foot-long skeleton belongs to a titanosaur, which was one of the largest land animals of the Late Jurassic Epoch.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Damien Boschetto (@damienboschetto)

h/t: [CNN]

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Photo: Sicilian Regional Government

In the 8th century BCE the Greeks colonized Sicily and even today this heritage can be seen in the incredible ancient ruins that cover the island. Now, one towering statue returns to glory as it takes position at Agrigento's Valley of the Temples Park. After 20 years of research and restoration, a 26-foot telamon—or atlas—has been raised up on the site of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

While never completed, this temple was the largest Doric temple ever constructed. Telamons, giant figures that act as the male equivalent of a caryatid, were sandwiched between the columns with their arms upright as though they were holding up the building. Also called atlases or atlantids, these incredible figures crumbled with the rest of the building after a series of earthquakes and other disasters.

In 1812, a British architect named Charles Robert Cockerell discovered the heads of one of the atlases lying at the site. Since then, many fragments have been discovered, but reconstruction of these statues was never attempted until 2004. At that point, archeologists began actively sweeping the sites for pieces of the sculptures and cataloged over 90 fragments.

Reconstruction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Archeological Museum of Agrigento (Photo: poudou99 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

These fragments belonged to eight different telamons. Two-thirds of one telamon's pieces were uncovered and formed the basis for the titan that was raised up. Archaeologists attached the fragments to a 39-foot-tall board, with each piece sitting on a metal shelf. Modern reconstructions replace the missing pieces and are easily identifiable due to their different texture.

While the move to assemble and display the atlas was criticized by some archeologists, who felt that it was in poor taste, officials in Sicily have a different mindset.

“The work we have carried out on the atlas and the Olympian area is part of our mission to protect and enhance the Valley of the Temples,” said regional cultural assessor Francesco Paolo Scarpinato. “Bringing these stone colossi back to light has always been one of our primary objectives.”

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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The magnificent treasure from Bronze Age Spain. (Photo: © Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)

Meteorites—meteors which survive their plummet through the atmosphere to collide with Earth—are fascinating. They can contain substances not found on Earth, they might hold traces to the origins of life, and they can even be worth money. Their worth and special mystique has been recognized since ancient days. For example, a dagger crafted from iron with roots in space (hence from a meteorite) was found in King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. These serendipitous falls were likely how mankind discovered and learned to work iron. Among the fascinating ancient artifacts of the sky are two pieces of ironwork discovered within the incredible Treasure of Villena. Discovered in Spain, the 3,000-year-old artifacts show a connection between Earth and heavens that has been prized for centuries.

In 1963, gravel excavations turned up a gold bracelet in Villena, Spain. Archeologist José María Soler García soon uncovered a hoard of gold items contained in a vessel. The treasure comprised an impressive 66 pieces in gold and silver. They include intricate bracelets, bowls, and other artifacts—some of which are more mysterious. One item may be the pommel of a sword. It features a spherical design with a star-like pattern and a metal pin. This object is interest for its material as well. It is iron sheathed in gold. Meanwhile, among the gold bangles is one of iron too.

These items are something of a puzzle. The hoard dates to the Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago. At the time, iron smelting would likely not have reached Spain as a technology. So how did these items come to be? As it turns out, they are likely from the iron within a meteorite. A recent study used testing methods to check nickel levels in the iron. Finding them elevated, this indicates an extraterrestrial origin. Mass spectrometry was also used to check for elements such as cobalt which can provide a similar “space” signature. In total, it seems very likely that the Villena bracelet and spherical object are in fact crafted from iron that fell from space.

The Treasure of Villena is a Bronze Age hoard of gold discovered in Spain in 1963 and which dates back 3,000 years.

The bottom left item, a composite sphere, is one of the items with meteorite traces. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 ES DEED)

Two of the objects contain iron, which researchers have now discovered is from a metoerite.

The Treasure of Villena on display, (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 DEED)

h/t: [Gizmodo]

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2,000-year-old text. (Photo: Vesuvius Challenge)

Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 CE. Lava coursed down the slopes while ash erupted into the sky, blanketing the nearby region in a veil of scorching death. Civilians in Pompeii were drowned in the ash, their bodies found many centuries later as cavities in the calcified layers of ash that preserved their crouched and protective stances. Frescoes on building walls were also perfectly preserved. In nearby Herculaneum, volcanic material blanketed a wealthy noble's villa. Inside the library of the home, precious scrolls were carbonized by the heat. Looking like oddly shaped lumps of coal, they were discovered in 18th-century excavations. However, reading the long lost words has been impossible until recently. The largest advance has just been made, with three impressive students using AI to take home the grand prize of the Vesuvius Challenge for illuminating over 2,000 characters.

The Vesuvius Challenge was begun by Brent Seales, an American computer scientist, and entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross in March 2023. It has offered over a total of  $1 million in prizes for successive steps on the journey of deciphering the ancient scrolls. The process began with CT scans of the carbonized rolled parchments. These were made public, and with Seales' X-ray tomography and computer vision technology which “unwrapped” them, the game began. The first task was to decipher the carbon ink upon the carbonized surface, which Seale himself worked upon.

Then in October 2023, Luke Farritor—an American student—found the first legible world among the rubble. It was “porphyras,” ancient Greek for “purple.” Now, Farritor has nabbed the grand prize as part of a team with Julian Schilliger, who studies robotics in Switzerland, and Youssef Nader, an Egyptian PhD student studying in Germany. The young students found each other from around the globe to combine their talents in artificial intelligence, pulling long hours to decode the ancient texts. Their algorithm was able to “read” over 2,000 Greek characters from the charred remains of the scrolls. This easily nabbed them the prize of $700,000.

The translated text discusses food, music, and pleasure. It was likely written by Philodemus, an Epicurean philosopher, who may have served as the philosopher-in-residence in the library of the grand house. According to a statement from the Vesuvius Challenge, “Scholars might call it a philosophical treatise. But it seems familiar to us, and we can’t escape the feeling that the first text we’ve uncovered is a 2,000-year-old blog post about how to enjoy life. Is Philodemus throwing shade at the stoics in his closing paragraph, asserting that stoicism is an incomplete philosophy because it has ‘nothing to say about pleasure?' The questions he seems to discuss—life’s pleasures and what makes life worth living—are still on our minds today.” Modern minds can only wait and dream for the rest of the texts.

A team of students won the grand prize of the Vesuvius Challenge by deciphering over 2,000 characters of an ancient scroll charred to a crisp by Mount Vesuvius.

The text. (Photo: Vesuvius Challenge)

This incredible advance is made possible by sophisticated artificial intelligence trained by young brilliant minds.

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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The tartan dates from around 1500-1600.(Photo: Alan Richardson Pix-AR, V&A Dundee)

Little is more Scottish than tartans. These checked fabrics have a long and proud history. A series of cross-hatched lines in different colors (a sett) on a solid background create unique patterns specific to family or military associations. Official tartans—both ancient and newly created—are registered with The Scottish Register of Tartans. Experts believe the tartan dates back to at least the 15th century, and by the 18th century it had become a symbol of Scottish rebellion—even to the extent of it being criminalized by British law. While fabric is one of the more ephemeral artifacts of history, luck can sometimes result in extraordinary preservation. Recently, a stretch of tartan discovered in a highland peat bog opened a window into a sartorial past, and it is currently thought to be the oldest extant tartan.

The piece of fabric was recovered from a peat bog in the Scottish highlands region of Glen Affric. Discovered 40 years ago, its true import could not be realized without modern technology. Testing of the fibers revealed green, yellow, and red natural dyes were used to tint the fabric. Such dyes would be made from woad, indigo, and other natural materials. More testing revealed its age to be a whopping 500 years old. The tartan was woven in the 16th century, and according to Peter MacDonald, of the Scottish Tartans Authority, “It is likely to date to the reign of James V, Mary Queen of Scots, or James VI.”

According to a Smithsonian Magazine piece on bog bodies, “Over thousands of years, layers of sphagnum moss accumulate, eventually forming a dome fed entirely by rainwater. A raised bog contains few minerals and very little oxygen, but lots of acid. Add in low Northern European temperatures, and you have a wonderful refrigerator.” These same factors contributed to the preservation of the organic materials of the tartan. The tartan has now come to life anew, however. Tartan historians and designers at the House of Edgar collaborated to recreate the tartan for modern sensibilities. Enthusiasts of all things Scottish and historical can even purchase the tartan. While this historic garment was likely a working outfit, there are endless ways to wear today's modern renditions.

Scotland is famous for its tartans—colorful plaid fabrics that signify different clan and military associations—and now the oldest piece of tartan fabric has been identified.

John McLeish (left) and Peter MacDonald, tartan historian, of The Scottish Tartans Authority, with the Glen Affric tartan and curator James Wylie. (Photo: Alan Richardson Pix-AR, V&A Dundee)

This tartan fabric was discovered in a Scottish bog and dates back 500 years.

That traditional cross-hatch pattern survives. (Photo: Alan Richardson Pix-AR, V&A Dundee)

h/t: [BBC]

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Photo: Current Biology/Mooney et al.

A skin fossil smaller than a fingernail is making big waves for the information it may give about the development of vertebrates. The sample was discovered in Oklahoma's Richards Spur, a vast limestone cave system. While these caves are rife with fossils, finding fossilized skin is quite rare. And this fossil, which is described in Current Biology, is at least 21 million years older than previously discovered skin fossils.

This is the first record of a skin-cast fossil from the Paleozoic Era, and its pebbled surface that resembles crocodile skin indicates that it belonged to an early amniote. As the oldest preserved epidermis ever found, it provides a critical link in our understanding of evolution.

Early amniotes are important because they were the first creatures to successfully live on dry land. These lizard-like creatures, which later branched into mammals, reptiles, and birds, would have needed this outermost layer of skin to keep moisture in and protect themselves from pathogens.

“We were totally shocked by what we saw because it’s completely unlike anything we would have expected,” says first author Ethan Mooney, a paleontology graduate student at the University of Toronto who worked on the project as an undergraduate with paleontologist Robert Reisz at the University of Toronto.

“Finding such an old skin fossil is an exceptional opportunity to peer into the past and see what the skin of some of these earliest animals may have looked like.”

Luckily, Richards Spur provides the perfect environment for this type of fossil. The cave system features fine clay sediments that likely slowed decomposition, as well as oil seepage, and a cave environment that was likely an oxygenless environment.

“Animals would have fallen into this cave system during the early Permian and been buried in very fine clay sediments that delayed the decay process,” explains Mooney. “But the kicker is that this cave system was also an active oil seepage site during the Permian, and interactions between hydrocarbons in petroleum and tar are likely what allowed this skin to be preserved.”

Researchers believe that this skin could be an ancestral example of the skin structure in early amniotes that allowed for the eventual evolution of bird feathers and mammalian hair follicles.

h/t: [Smithsonian]

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Photo: Municipality of Montalto di Castro

Before the ancient Romans built the Colosseum and other amazing feats of engineering, the Etruscans ruled parts of Italy. Their territory extended from the Veneto region to Campania at its highest point. However, its rise was brought to an end during the Roman-Etruscan wars. While overshadowed by its successor, remnants of the Etruscans can still be found throughout Italy. Recently, a 2,600-year-old Etruscan tomb was opened 100 miles northwest of Rome, revealing many ancient treasures.

The unveiling was shared by the municipality of Montalto di Castro in late October 2023. A group gathered outside the site at Vulci—which used to be a wealthy Etruscan city—to watch the opening of the tomb. “Today … we witnessed the opening of an ancient Etruscan tomb buried at the Osteria Necropolis in Vulci,” the municipality announced. Once the tomb was opened, archaeologists were able to step inside and explore the contents that hadn't been seen in over two millennia.

Numerous amphorae with traces of wine from Greece were found strewn inside, as well as other ceramics and pottery, utensils, and iron objects. The collection of artifacts were found in near perfect condition, including a ritual tablecloth. Due to the number of belongings recovered from the inside of the tomb, archaeologists believe that the tomb was made for a wealthy Etruscan family.

A 2,600-year-old Etruscan tomb was opened for the very first time.

Located 100 miles northwest of Rome, this tomb is a treasure trove of artifacts for archeologists to explore and analyze.

Photo: Municipality of Montalto di Castro

h/t: [CBS News]

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The Amazon Rainforest is a dense wilderness. (Photo: Photo: GUSTAVOFRAZAO/Depositphotos)

The Amazon Rainforest hides many mysteries. Yet unknown species scurry under the dense canopy of leaves and its plants may hold hidden cures to diseases. Under the greenery also lies the relics of thousands of years of history and human occupation. The Amazon has been inhabited for at least 13,000 years—it has never been an untouched oasis, but rather has always been used and influenced by people who lived within its bounds. Modern laser technology is now exposing this past. A recent paper published in Science documents newly discovered 2,500-year-old ancient cities, roads, terraces and more in a sprawling, impressive urban civilization.

Lidar is a laser technology usually used from an airplane. A laser sends pulses which are reflected back off surface obstructions. This data is collected and combined with location data. It can essentially cut through the dense jungle foliage to expose ruins and the shape of the ground beneath. This latest scan, part of an ongoing survey started in 2015 by Ecuador’s National Institute for Cultural Heritage (INPC) in the Upano Valley, has documented over 6,000 earthen mounds on top of which complex structures are or were once built. Terraced gardens for crops, wide and straight networks of roads, homes, and ceremonial buildings are all positioned throughout this topography.

These discoveries amount to five major and 10 minor complexes or cities previously unknown. France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has long been studying the nearby Sangay and Kilamope settlements. These date to the period between 500 BCE to 300-600 CE, a period which largely coincides with the hegemony of Ancient Greece and Rome in the Mediterranean. In the valley, the largest city is the size of Teotihuacán, the pre-Aztec capital of what is now Mexico. This demonstrates the complexity of South American ancient technology was on par. “Such a discovery is another vivid example of the underestimation of Amazonia’s twofold heritage: environmental but also cultural, and therefore Indigenous,” write the authors of the paper. “[W]e believe that it is crucial to thoroughly revise our preconceptions of the Amazonian world and, in doing so, to reinterpret contexts and concepts in the necessary light of an inclusive and participatory science.”

Researchers using lidar laser technology in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador have discovered multiple ancient cities dating back 2,500 years.

A lidar image of a street in the city of Kunguints underneath the Amazon in Ecuador. (Photo: Antoine Dorison and Stephen Rostain)

Fields, terraces, canals, and roads emerge.

The forest is rich and dense. (Photo: PXHIDALGO/Depositphotos)

h/t: [ARTnews, BBC, EurekAlert]

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