Euro pre-history was more about migration rather than cultural evolution. Some parallels with history of the Americas, where hunters and gatherers were pushed to the fringes by denser groups of efficient agriculturists, in this case from Turkey area. The farmers health suffers a bit from density/diet, and then "the mother of all plagues" repeatedly hit a couple thousand years before the Romans, leading to both death and shortness of frail survivors. Next tall exclusively male warrior herders swoop in from Russian steppes to exterminate ALL Euro short farmer males (eventually even in UK) and enslave or marry short farmer women - gendercide!

He breaks it down by country the present percent of hunter, short farmer, and tall warrior ancestry, but it entails tallness favoring northern europe. So if short men were wiped out, they were replaced by children often inheriting shortness from surviving farmer women. And Roman soldiers found even barbarian women tall because she often inherited height from bloodthirsty dads. There is more to the story which is still being researched, but plenty shockwaves so far!

Above a good channel to subscribe to, often giving lectures in English from the Institute of Rome. On a personal note, now I feel a couple DNA tests were vindicated that showed I had at least 1 Sardinian female ancestor among 99% DNA from the most warrior infested country of Europe (a Sardinian once mocked the possibility).

The controversy surrounding an ancient “curse tablet” continues (see previous post). Originally thought to be a lead “curse tablet” written in ancient Hebrew 3,000 years ago, some researchers suggest it might be really just a fishing weight with no discernible writing at al. It had been suggested that it was “the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text — including the name God, “YHWH” — ever.”

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/curse-tablet-with-oldest-hebrew-name-of-god-is-actually-a-fishing-weight-experts-argue

Dendrochronology, the dating of wood rings, has been discussed in a previous thread (see below). Traditional dendrochronology has used tree rings for dating. Today wood structures can be dated with oxygen isotope or stable isotope dendrochronology.

A 15th Century ship wine-trading vessel was discovered in Newport’s River Usk in 2002. Now researchers have found timbers from the hull were made from oak trees felled in the winter of 1457-1458.

After many years of drying, the pieces of the ship are being reassembled to be put on display.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67302907

Radiocarbon dating in 2021 of grass seeds found in sediment layers above and below footprints have challenged notions of prehistoric dating: Humans arrived in America 7000 years earlier than expected.

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The 20th century experts thought the appearance of humans had coincided with the formation of an ice-free corridor between two immense ice sheets straddling what's now Canada and the northern US. According to this idea, the corridor, caused by melting at the end of the last Ice Age, allowed humans to trek from Alaska into the heart of North America.

Gradually, this orthodoxy crumbled. In recent decades, dates for the earliest evidence of people have crept back from 14,000 years ago to 16,000 years ago. This is still consistent with humans only reaching the Americas as the last Ice Age was ending.

Dated fossil footprints uncovered in New Mexico to around 23,000 years ago—the height of the last Ice Age. They were made by a group of people passing by an ancient lake near what's now White Sands. The discovery added 7,000 years to the record of humans on the continent, rewriting American prehistory.

 

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-humans-america-years-earlier-thought.html

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7586

Tiny nematodes like this one were found to be unexpectedly hardy, reviving after thousands of years frozen in Arctic ice. (Image credit: Shutterstock) The nematodes measure about 1 mm  (0.025 inches).

There was a previous post about the possibility of “resurrecting” a woolly mammoth (see post below). A 46,000-year-old worm is now reportedly revived from the Siberian permafrost. 

 

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For the new study, researchers analyzed 300 samples of Arctic permafrost deposits and found two that held several well-preserved nematodes. One sample was collected from a fossil squirrel burrow near the Alazeya River in the northeastern part of Yakutia, Russia.

The revived nematodes were found in the permafrost near the Kolyma river in Eastern Russia
 

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In Siberia, melting permafrost is releasing nematodes — microscopic worms that live in soil — that have been suspended in a deep freeze since the Pleistocene. Despite being frozen for tens of thousands of years, two species of these worms were successfully revived [in 2018]. 

Thought initially to be a contaminant, recent carbon testing of associated plant material has dated the specimen to 46,000 years:

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Panagrolaimus species are found around the world and are known for surviving in environments that regularly expose them to desiccation or freezing, says Ann Burnell, an emeritus professor of biology at Maynooth University in Ireland, who was not involved in the new study.

If the worms really are as old as the study suggests, they would be by far the most stunning examples of what scientists call crytobiosis—an organism’s ability to suspend its own metabolism in poor conditions.

In addition to the radiocarbon dating, the authors of the new study also confirmed that they could successfully induce the nematodes to enter and exit the dormancylike state of cryptobiosis using special preparatory cues.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/46-000-year-old-worm-possibly-revived-from-siberian-permafrost/?amp=true

https://www.livescience.com/63187-siberian-permafrost-worms-revive.html

Here is an older story I’m still not clear about. A pyramid-like structure located near Viterbo,Italy about 40 miles north of Rome has been attributed to the Etruscans. It was first discovered in 1991 and only recently has been further evaluated.

It is thought to be associated with sacrifices or ablution rites (ritual baths with the intent of purification and dedication) because of the channel cut through the rocks to carry away fluids.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/06/the-etruscan-pyramid/139400

https://www.piramide-etrusca.it/piramide-bomarzo-articoli/1451/

Here’s a previous post about The Pantheon:
 

Here’s a nice tour around The Pantheon by Darius Arya:

A Corinthian helmet with its associated skull is on display at the Royal Ontario Museum. It is thought to be from a Greek hoplite who perished at the Battle of Marathon. At the battle in 490 BCE the Greeks decisively defeated the Persians.

https://greekreporter.com/2023/06/05/battle-of-marathon-helmet-soldier-skull-still-inside/

Book review on the Battle of Marathon

https://www.unrv.com/book-review/battle-of-marathon.php

There have been several posts about Neanderthals in the past (see below). Here’s a good article about them:

https://www.thecollector.com/who-were-the-neanderthals-why-are-they-important/

https://www.dw.com/en/why-do-ancient-statues-have-such-small-penises/a-65151780

It is good to see that Roman archaeological finds are being preserved, even if they are now part of a McDonalds. These ruins are highly accessible to the public.

The Constantine Colossus  was recreated in Milan in exact proportion to the original statue whose fragments are found at the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

https://thenationview.com/entertainment/125805.html?amp=1

Although no footage has been released yet, there are reports that a 52-foot-long papyrus of the Book of the Dead has been discovered at the Saqqara necropolis site in Egypt.

https://www.livescience.com/ancient-egypt-book-of-the-dead-papyrus-found
 

A previous thread discussed the Saqqara site.

Here are two videos that deal with the find and the Book of the Dead:

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Analysis of hair from 22 mummies found in southern Peru has revealed the earliest known use of San Pedro cactus, a source of mescaline, and the psychoactive plants that make up the drug ayahuasca. 
The plants are not native to the region and were probably transported across the Andes Mountains. Researchers found that the drugs of choice changed over time. Ayahuasca and mescaline became less favored and coca consumption became more common after the Wari Empire conquered the Nazca around A.D. 750.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/503-2303/digs/11212-digs-peru-nazca-ayahuasca

https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2022-11-evidence-psychoactive-nazca-people-peru.amp

This ayahuasca use by the Nazca predated it’s later use by the Incas many centuries later:

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In 1799 came the rediscovery of the Rosetta Stone at Fort Saint Julien, which was named after one of Napoleon’s high officials. At the time, work was underway on existing forts on the north coast of Egypt, because fighting had intensified, with attacks from the combined naval forces of the British and Egyptians. During this programme to strengthen the defences, the Rosetta Stone was found in the fort foundations. The soldiers immediately saw its potential, because they realised that there were three different scripts – hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek – on the stone.

The Greek text on the Rosetta Stone revealed that it was a priestly decree, concerning the establishment of a cult dedicated to the young Pharaoh Ptolemy V in 196 BC. It also specified that all three scripts presented the same information. While the stone was sent to Britain, the all-important text carved into its face was widely circulated. Not only did the French keep the drawings that had already been produced, they also successfully requested additional copies.

[Translating the hieroglyphs] developed into a race between two figures: Thomas Young, a British polymath once referred to as ‘the last man who knew everything’, and Champollion. The French prodigy seems to have received a copy of the Rosetta Stone text in 1808, and began investigating it at the urging of his brother, who was also Champollion’s financial supporter.

 

https://the-past.com/feature/the-power-of-words-racing-to-read-the-lost-secrets-of-egypt/