Archaeologists do it in holes: Tales from the stratigraphy

[jimmy olsen]

Very interesting. Surprising that physical apperance can undergo such strong selection in just a few thousand years.

[mongers]

Posting this as we don't seem to have Tim around these days to do it?

A figurine called Adorant from Geissenkloesterle Cave, located near the town of Blaubeuren in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, made approximately 40,000 years old and consisting of a small ivory plate bearing an anthropomorphic figure and multiple sequences of notches and dots, is displayed, in Stuttgart, Germany, February 23,...

40,000-year-old German artifacts may display written language precursor
By Will Dunham
February 24, 20262:03 PM GMT Updated February 24, 2026

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A small object called the Adorant figurine discovered in a cave in Germany in 1979 - crafted roughly 40,000 years ago by some of the earliest people to establish a distinct culture in Europe - bears intriguing sequences of notches and dots. Numerous other objects produced by this same culture exhibit similar marks.
New research suggests these marks on objects like this figurine, made of mammoth ivory and depicting a hybrid lion-human creature, fall short of amounting to a written language. But it found that their sequential use on these artifacts displayed properties similar to a script that emerged much later in ancient Mesopotamia, around 3300 BC, that was a forerunner to cuneiform, one of the oldest-known forms of written language.

This suggests remarkable cognitive abilities for such ancient people. The artifacts date to a time when our species was spreading across Europe - traversing the landscape as bands of hunter-gatherers - after trekking out of Africa, encountering our close relatives the Neanderthals along the way.
The researchers use the term sign types to describe these marks, which include notches, dots, lines, crosses, star shapes and some others. They conducted a computational analysis of their use on these artifacts for a trait called information density. This concept refers to the amount of information conveyed per unit of language, like a syllable or in this case a sign.

....

Full article here:

40,000-year-old German artifacts may display written language precursor

[crazy canuck]

You beat me to it Mongers, very cool.

[jimmy olsen]

Neat
https://www.reuters.com/science/italy-uncovers-basilica-designed-by-vitruvius-father-architecture-2026-01-19/

ROME, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Italian officials on Monday hailed the discovery of a more than 2,000-year-old public building attributed to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect and engineer known as the "father of architecture."

"It is a sensational finding ... something that our grandchildren will be talking about," Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli told a press conference.

Vitruvius, who lived in the 1st century BC, is celebrated for having written "De architectura," or The Ten Books on Architecture, the oldest surviving treatise on the subject.

His teachings on the classical proportions of buildings have inspired artists over centuries, including Leonardo da Vinci, whose famous drawing of the human body is known as the "Vitruvian Man."

BASILICA BELIEVED TO BE 'DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY'
Archaeologists believe they have found the remains of an ancient basilica, or public building, in the central Italian city of Fano northeast of Rome, that was created by Vitruvius.

"I feel like this is the discovery of the century, because scientists and researchers have been searching for this basilica for over 500 years," said the Mayor of Fano Luca Serfilippi.

"We have [an] absolute match" between what was discovered and the descriptions given by Vitruvius in his books, regional archaeological superintendent Andrea Pessina told reporters.

PRECISE LAYOUT DESCRIPTIONS
The basilica had a rectangular layout, with 10 columns on the long side, and four on the short ones, Pessina said.

During excavation, when traces of four columns emerged, archaeologists used Vitruvius' descriptions to calculate where the top right corner column should be. When they started digging, they found it immediately, Pessina said.

"The are few certainties in archaeology ... but we were impressed by the precision" of the match, he added.

Further digging will determine whether more of the basilica lies underground and if the site can be shown to the public, the superintendent said.

(This story has been refiled to add a dropped word in paragraph 9)
Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Bernadette Baum

[Crazy_Ivan80]

That's very nice. Some careers are being made there.