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Archaeology

These termite hills have been active for over 34,000 years — and they hold a snapshot of South Africa's ancient climate

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine some termite mounds in an arid region were about 34,000 years old.
Four people smile in front of a termite mound.

Ancient hunting scene in an Indonesian cave is the oldest-known evidence of visual storytelling

The discovery of red pigment paintings daubed on the walls of a secluded Sulawesi cave about 51,000 years ago also provides the oldest evidence of our species, Homo sapiens, in the region, according to a new study.
A pig and human figures painted on a rock wall in red pigment

In a Gippsland cave, remains of an ancient Aboriginal ritual lay hidden for 12,000 years

Remnants of fireplaces and burnt, fat-smeared sticks excavated in a secluded cave in Victoria point to an ancient ritual where a powerful Gunaikurnai doctor, known as a mulla-mullung, cast a spell.
A stick with a burnt end surrounded by rocks

'There's compassion': Neanderthals may have cared for a six-year-old with Down syndrome

A new study suggests ancient humans provided altruistic care for community members, after finding evidence of Down syndrome in a Neanderthal child.
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A woman with a large brow and nose looking off into the distance

Why this Sydney museum decided to remove mummified body parts from its display

Critics of displaying mummified bodies argue it's dehumanising and disrupts the person's journey to the afterlife. Changing attitudes have led a Sydney museum to remove several mummified body parts from its display.
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A closeup of the decorative, gold painted face covering on the mummified body of a boy

Emma's job involves looking for long-lost bodies and helping their loved ones find peace

The use of ground penetrating radar to help solve crimes is well known, but recently it's played a major role in helping Australian South Sea Islander communities find the missing bodies of long-lost ancestors.
A smiling woman stands next to an old wall, resting her hand against it

'There is a sacredness about the marbles': Why Stephen Fry thinks his country should return the Parthenon marbles

Fry is a long-term campaigner for the sculptures to be returned and supports the British Museum displaying exact replicas made by a team of archaeologists from 3D scans of the marbles.
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An older man with grey hair siles at the camera wearing a brown suit and a blue patterened tie. He stands in a dimly lit room.

Norwegian farmer discovers rust-covered Viking sword on property

Only around 170 swords have been uncovered in Europe and this could be the first of its kind found in the Rogaland region. 
A man in a puffer vest holds a sword and smiles

Nerd quiz: Are you an uber geek or a dynamo dunce?

What is a baby platypus called? Where is Planet Nine? Are you an uber geek? There's only one way to find out — take this quiz.
Mosaic of lizard with snake it its mouth and planet

Cheviot shipwreck discovery

Marine archaeologists have mapped out a virtual tour of the whaling ship Cheviot after uncovering its wreckage at Wilsons Promontory in south-eastern Victoria.
ABC News Current
Duration: 51 seconds

Divers explore whaling ship Cheviot's historic wreck to create new vision of stricken vessel

Marine archaeologists are creating a 3D model of a whaling ship that sank off the Victorian coast more than 160 years ago after challenging and "eerie" dives on the wreck.
shipwreck diver

Shirley the giant prehistoric wombat-like marsupial now has an age. And she's old

Just over a decade ago, an outback cattle station worker in the NT stumbled across a rare diprotodon fossil sticking out of the red soil. Now fondly known as Shirley, scientists have discovered how old the marsupial is.
Diprotodon

Why this sunken island is changing the way we think about myths

Legend has it a jealous husband used a wave curse to sink Teonimenu into the ocean forever. Scientists have worked out what really happened.
An aerial image shows a circled patch of dark blue in the middle of an ocean with small green islands surrounding.

Archaeologists reveal reconstructed face of 75,000yo Neanderthal woman

The Neanderthal woman's skull was discovered in 2018 in a cave in the Zagros Mountains of northern Iraq.
A skull sits next to a sculpture made out of clay.

Exhumation of old graves begins at Hobart private boys' school, amid measures to protect students from 'confronting scenes'

As work begins to find an unknown amount of old graves at a private boys' school built over an old cemetery, students and staff will be "protected from confronting scenes", the principal says.
Construction at a school in Tasmania.

Search for known shipwrecks off WA coast finds some just aren't where they're supposed to be

A Perth archaeologist and anthropologist has made an unexpected discovery — some of the known shipwrecks off the WA coast aren't where they're supposed to be.
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John Cecchi preparing for a dive off the Perth coast

Gigantic marine reptile identified from fossil found by 11-year-old girl and father

A fossil jawbone found by a young girl and her father on a beach in England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating back to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. 
An artists impression of an ichthyosaur washed up on the beach.

Why this Tassie devil tooth unearthed in a far corner of Australia could rewrite history

The tooth could provide further historical evidence of inter-community trading in Western Australia and was unearthed in Juukan Gorge, which made headlines in 2020 when its rock shelters were damaged by Rio Tinto blasts.
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Tasmanian Devil standing on leaves with mouth wide open

Researchers seek help from local beachcombers for clues about Dutch ship 'beaten to matchsticks'

Residents of a town in South Australia's south-east are being enlisted in research into a shipwreck that killed 16 Dutch sailors in 1857 soon after offloading 400 gold miners from China.
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A painting of an old wooden sailing ship

How a piece of pottery found on a beach stroll led to a discovery that could make us rethink First Nations history

Ancient pottery fragments have been discovered on a Great Barrier Reef island that could change our understanding of Aboriginal history. 
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An idyllic view of blue water and a beach with green trees in the foreground.

'A very big question in human evolution': Where did our ancestors go after leaving Africa?

Our ancestors left Africa some 70,000 years ago, but it took them thousands of years to expand across all of Europe or Asia. A DNA study may shed light on where they ended up during this 'long pause'.
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Green wavy hills with mountains and sky in the background

How a chance discovery helped solve the 120-year-old mystery of the SS Nemesis

A technician looking for lost shipping containers off the New South Wales coast noticed an anomaly on his screen. It turned out to be the wreck of the SS Nemesis, which disappeared in a storm 120 years ago.
An old drawing of vessel SS Nemesis.

The complicated legacy of the 50-year-old discovery that rewrote Australian history

Five decades ago, when geologist Jim Bowler brushed sand away from the dome of an ancient human cranium, it changed the way we thought about Australia's past.
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Landscape photo of sun hitting wind-whipped sand mounds at Lake Mungo

Researchers discover Earth's earliest fossilised forest in UK

Scientists discover the oldest fossilised forest known on Earth, dating back 390 million years, according to a new study.
A man stands next to a rock with marks in it.

Pompeii fresco depicting Greek myth uncovered in ancient ruins

The paintings were found during excavation operations to restore part of the ruins called Leda's House.
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A fresco showing a boy on a sheep reaching to a girl