Ancient DNA Hub
banner
ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social
Ancient DNA Hub
@ancient-dna-hub.bsky.social
Find out how you are connected to ancient people and cultures through one of our DNA tests, available at www.ancientdnahub.com

Retweets and likes are not endorsements.
House cats appears in China during the Tang Dynasty, but the DNA of cat bones found in 5,400 year old human settlements reveal these people may have lived side by side with leopard cats in ancient China.
#AncientBlueSky
www.sciencenews.org/article/dna-...
Ancient DNA reveals China’s first 'pet' cat wasn’t the house cat
The modern house cat reached China in the 8th century. Before that, another cat — the leopard cat — hunted the rodents in ancient Chinese settlements.
www.sciencenews.org
December 4, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Electrical resistance tomography and radar technology suggest a series of late Neolithic pits dug near Stonehenge. It is unknown why they were created, but the professor leading the analysis "speculated it may have been linked to a belief in an underworld."
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Archaeologists say they have proof humans carved huge pits near Stonehenge
Research team uses range of novel methods and equipment to analyse ‘extraordinary’ Durrington pit circle
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:04 AM
4000 year old rock art along the US/Mexico border depicts the belief system of the Mesoamerican civilizations.
#AncientBlueSky
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
Ancient rock art along US-Mexico border persisted for more than 4,000 years — and it depicts Indigenous views of the universe
Researchers have uncovered evidence of an Indigenous artistic tradition that was painted along the U.S.-Mexico border for roughly 175 generations.
www.livescience.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:28 AM
How Roman soldiers brought cats to Europe.
#cats #ancientbluesky
www.popsci.com/environment/...
Roman military helped bring cats to Europe
Military roads helped the felines domesticate about 2,000 years ago.
www.popsci.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Basalt tablet with 39 unknown letters discovered at the site of the discovery of the first European hominins. The characters share some similarities with Semitic, Brahmani, and North Iberian languages.
#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology
www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
Archaeologists Found an Ancient Tablet With 39 Letters That Don’t Belong to Any Known Language
Google Translate isn’t going to help here.
www.popularmechanics.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:04 AM
The discovery of even a small object can change our understanding of history. This lump of metal makes researchers rethink their theories about human contact and trade in the Baltic before the Romans.
#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
A mysterious metal find in Sweden is rewriting Iron Age history
A Swedish plano-convex ingot once thought to be from the Bronze Age was revealed through chemical and isotopic testing to belong to the Iron Age. Its composition closely matches Iron Age finds from Po...
www.sciencedaily.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:57 AM
3,000 year old Mayan monument discovered on Mexico's coast thought to be a place for trade, socialization, and rituals.
#archaeology #ancientBlueSky

www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...
Archaeologists Found an Ancient Maya Map of the Universe Carved Into Bedrock
Among the early Maya, the site of Aguada Fénix would have been a place for everyone to gather for trade, socialization, and ritual ceremonies.
www.popularmechanics.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Genetics explain why orange cats are so special.
www.zmescience.com/science/news...
Orange Cats Are Genetically Unlike Any Other Mammal and Now We Know Why
The iconic coats are due to a mutation not seen in other animals.
www.zmescience.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:50 AM
How did an ancient Roman tombstone end up in a garden in New Orleans?

news.artnet.com/art-world/an...
An Ancient Roman Tombstone Is Unearthed in a New Orleans Yard | Artnet News
A 2,000-year-old tombstone of a Roman sailor that was found in New Orleans will be repatriated to a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy.
news.artnet.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub
no disrespect to the wisconsin wreck hunter community but it's very funny to me that this supposed famously elusive ship wreck was found exactly where the eyewitness report said it would be in the newspaper but nobody had bothered to check there
September 22, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub
Dionysiac mosaic with dancing Satyrs, Bacchantes and Oceanus masks, dated 2nd century AD, from Hadrumetum, Sousse Archaeological Museum, Tunisia; courtesy of Carole Raddato.
#RomanArchaeology #Archaeology #MosaicMonday
September 22, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Perhaps a misleading headline. I can't imagine many people "forget" about having a castle. It's not like losing your car keys. Rather, in the 14th century, the castle was taken apart for a new palace to be built.

archaeology.org/news/2025/09...
News - Forgotten Medieval Castle Discovered on Scottish Isle - Archaeology Magazine
ISLAY, SCOTLAND—BBC News reports that a forgotten medieval castle and royal stronghold were identified at […]
archaeology.org
September 22, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Ancient DNA Hub
For this week's #StandingStoneSunday Castlerigg Stone Circle courtesy of Ennor. #StandingStoneSunday #megaliths #Neolithic #BronzeAge #Archaeology
September 21, 2025 at 8:31 AM
7,000 year old mummies from Libya of previously unknown lineage show not as much genetic exchange in the Green Sahara as we had once thought and suggests that farming spread through cultural exchange rather than migration and intermixing.
#AncientBlueSky

www.popularmechanics.com/science/a679...
Scientists Found 7,000-Year-Old Mummies in the Desert That Don’t Share DNA With Modern Humans
This ancient people lived in the Sahara when it was a much more welcoming environment.
www.popularmechanics.com
September 22, 2025 at 7:06 AM
What did kids play with in the middle ages? Excavations of this medieval toy workshop reveal clay figurines described as "simple" but "unmistakably toys."
#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

arkeonews.net/medieval-toy...
Medieval Toy Workshop Unearthed in Freiburg: Archaeologists Discover Forgotten Childhood Treasures - Arkeonews
Archaeologists in Freiburg, a historic city in Germany, have uncovered a medieval pottery workshop where clay toys were once crafted.
arkeonews.net
September 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Excavations of a stone age cemetery in Latvia upend what we thought we knew about ancient gender and societal roles.
#ancientbluesky #archaeology
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Ancient burial upends what we know about Stone Age women and children
Researchers say findings overturn old stereotype of ‘man the hunter’
www.independent.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Cache of nearly 2000 year old coins and ornaments found in Romania from an Roman-era family home destroyed by fire.
#archaeology #ancientbluesky
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
1,900-year-old 'treasure' found in Roman-era family's scorched house in Romania
A discovery in Romania shows the remains of an elite family's treasures from the Roman era that were scorched in a fire.
www.livescience.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:27 AM
historic facepalm
One of the Lewis Chessmen - currently on display at Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway. Found in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the pieces date to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday
September 9, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Discovery of "direct genomic evidence" of the cause of the Plague of Justinian, a pandemic that killed 25-100 million people from 541 to 750 CE.

archaeology.org/news/2025/09...
News - Ancient DNA Pinpoints Culprit Responsible for World's First Pandemic - Archaeology Magazine
JERASH, JORDAN—The world’s first pandemic, known as the Plague of Justinian after the sitting Byzantine […]
archaeology.org
September 9, 2025 at 7:47 AM