That's Old News

Join the That’s Old News team in this episode as they discuss one of the worlds oldest persevered eggs found in the UK, a recently discovered roman flatpack bed (watch out IKEA), and the 45,000 year old stone age technology at one of the oldest archaeological sites in China. Enjoy this cracking episode!

References

Ben’s Story - Roman Egg https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68247184

Taryn’s Story - Roman Flatpack Bed https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/05/flat-packed-furniture-for-the-next-life-roman-funerary-bed-found-in-london

Laurie’s Story - Lithic Technologies in China https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/palaeontology/china-ancient-human-migration-culture/

Join Laurie, Taryn and Ben this week, as they discuss the origins of blue eyes, what it takes to become a UNESCO world heritage site, and origins of ancient snail consumption – a real feast (if you like snails). Enjoy!

We’re back with a bang (and a new co-host!) Join Ben, Laurie and Taryn as they embark on a new series of That’s Old News exploring the latest research into the human past.

This week they’ll be discussing the earliest evidence of psychoactive drug use in Europe, the unique story behind the discovery of a potential of a Denisovan skull in 2021 and the science behind a mammoth meatball made from cultivated meat. Enjoy!

Join Laurie and Ben this week as they discuss, the discovery of the oldest salt factory in western Europe, which is nearly 6,000 years old, why sheepskin was the material of choice for making parchment to prevent medieval fraudsters, and how machine learning was applied to australia rock art to see how good computers are at identifying when they were painted. Enjoy!

Links

 6000 Year Old Salt Factory

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/31/dig-reveals-6000-year-old-salt-hub-in-north-yorkshire

 Australian Rock Art

https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/machine-learning-reads-arnhem-land-rock-art/

 Sheepskin Parchment

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-sheep-skin-legal-papers-fraud-prevention-parchment

Join Laurie and Ben this week when they discuss the newest fragments found of the dead sea scrolls along with what the dead sea scrolls are and why they’re important.They also discuss the the life of a Mayan ambassador and how his bones show why living as a mayan elite wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Finally if you’ve never heard of the site called the plain of jars in Laos you learn on this episode why you’ll want to give it a google! Enjoy. 

Links to stories

The Plain of Jars https://phys.org/news/2021-03-mystery-laos-megalithic-jars.html 

Dead Sea Scrolls https://www.archaeology.org/news/9530-210317-israel-dead-sea-scrolls 

The live of a Mayan Ambassador https://www.archaeology.org/news/9529-210317-guatemala-maya-lakam 

Join Laurie and Ben this week as they discuss new evidence suggesting neanderthals could speak, the latest research on the world's oldest analog computer, the antikythera mechanism, an ancient greek device used to predict planetary movements, and finally, a story of how ancient DNA provided closer for family members of a WW2 New Zealand bomber gunner who was missing in action. 

Links

Neanderthal Speech

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210301112358.htm 

The Antikythera Mechanism

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/12/scientists-move-closer-to-solving-mystery-of-antikythera-mechanism 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84310-w#Sec12 

WW2 Airman

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124416572/remains-of-southland-wwii-gunner-found-after-79-years-in-plane-wreckage-in-germany

Join Laurie and Ben this week as they chat through  the earliest dog remains found in the americas and its implications on how the humans first made it to america, a rediscovered conch horn played for the first time in 17,000 years, and the oldest pet cemetery ever found, which cements the importance of our feline friends in our history.  Enjoy!

links 

17,000 Year Old Conch

https://gizmodo.com/after-17-000-years-a-rediscovered-conch-horn-is-played-1846238951

 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267417-listen-to-the-oldest-known-conch-shell-horn-from-18000-years-ago/

Ancient Egyptian Pet Cemetery

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/graves-nearly-600-cats-and-dogs-ancient-egypt-may-be-world-s-oldest-pet-cemetery

Oldest Dog Remains Discovered In America

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/remains-oldest-american-dog-bolster-idea-first-humans-arrived-along-coast 

In this weeks special Ben and Laurie are joined by Taryn Bell a researcher from the university of York. Taryn's research focuses on trying to understand the uniquely human trait of having significant emotional connections with objects. Everyone has item which is precious to them for sentimental reasons, but when did this human trait develop, and how can we find these objects in the archaeological record? Join us to find out!

Links

Bell, T. and Spikins, P. (2018). The object of my affection: attachment security and material culture. Time and Mind 11(1), 23-39. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2018.14333

Join Laurie and Ben this week, as they discuss the recent revelations at Stonehenge which revealed that the blue stones found at Stonehenge were actually part of another stone circle 300 years earlier in wales.  Enjoy! 

Links

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/16/stonehenge-archaeology-documentary 

Join Laurie and Ben this week as they speak about humans ability to judge weigh and it’s impact on early bronze age trade, the discovery of a new cursus on the Isle of Arran that’s reshaping neolithic Scotland, and what we can learn from dental plaque about the earliest milk consumption in Africa. Enjoy! 

Hungry for more? 

Don’t forget Stay up to date on the past, with new episodes out every Monday!

Links To The Stories

Bronze Age Jiggling https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210120151015.htm 

A Cursus on Arran https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/new-stone-age-discovery-massive-island-ritual-site-3105420 

Things You Learn When You Don’t Brush Your Teeth https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20682-3