Press Releases 2023

The world’s most diverse forest, the Amazon, may also host more than 10,000 records of pre-Columbian earthworks (constructed prior to the arrival of Europeans), according to a new study published in the journal Science. The new study combines cutting-edge remote sensing technology with archaeological data and advanced statistical modeling to estimate how many earthworks may still be hidden beneath the canopy of the Amazon rainforest and in which locations these structures are most likely to be found. more

Use-wear analysis of grinding tools from the site of Jebel Oraf shows that the artifacts were used during the Neolithic, shedding new light on the subsistence and lifestyle of ancient peoples in the region more

A team of researchers led by Barbara Huber has recreated one of the scents used in the mummification of an important Egyptian woman more than 3500 years ago. The ancient aroma will be presented at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark in an upcoming exhibition. more

In a new study led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the TIDE research group at the MPI of Geoanthropology, an international team of linguists and geneticists has achieved a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the origins of Indo-European, a family of languages spoken by nearly half of the world’s population more

On 11 July, in a joint press conference with the Max Planck Society (MPG), the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) announced Crawford Lake, Canada as the proposed Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate site of the Anthropocene series. Selecting Crawford Lake marks a significant step in the AWG’s effort to test the geological validity of the Anthropocene hypothesis and towards the scientific, and thereby also political and social recognition of the scale and severity of planetary transformation processes unleashed by industrialized humanity
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Dr. Patrick Roberts of the Department of Archaeology and isoTROPIC Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, and Dr. Oshan Wedage of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, were presented with this prestigious honour during a recent trip to Sri Lanka for their work on the repatriation of human remains and cultural artefacts. more

Stone tools recovered from near the Senegalese coast extend occupation of the region back to 150 thousand years ago and are comparable to those seen across Africa at this time, but uniquely persist in the region until 10 thousand years ago more