Excavation reveals 'major' ancient migration to Timor Island The discovery of thousands of stone artefacts and animal bones in a deep cave in Timor Island has led archaeologists to reassess the route that early humans took to reach Australia. Researchers dated and analysed the artefacts and sediment at the Laili rock shelter in central-north Timor-Leste, north of Australia, to pinpoint the arrival of the colonists.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Pagan-Christian trade networks supplied horses from overseas for the last horse sacrifices in Europe Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the Late Viking Age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals. Studies on the remains of horses found at ancient burial sites in Russia and Lithuania show that they were brought overseas from Scandinavia utilizing expansive trade networks connecting the Viking world with the Byzantine and Arab Empires. Up to now, researchers had believed sacrificial horses were always locally-sourced stallions. But these results reveal horses from modern Sweden or Finland traveled up to 1,500 km across the Baltic Sea. The findings also show that the sex of the horse was not necessarily a factor in them being chosen for sacrifice, with genetic analysis showing one in three were mares.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

Origin of Roman lead Three ingots from the site of Los Escoriales de Do a Rama (Belmez) and dating from the Roman era demonstrate the importance of lead production and exportation in northern Cordoba.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

In medieval England, leprosy spread between red squirrels and people, genome evidence shows Evidence from archaeological sites in the medieval English city of Winchester shows that English red squirrels once served as an important host for Mycobacterium leprae strains that caused leprosy in people, researchers report.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405

75,000-year-old female Neanderthal from cave where species buried their dead A new documentary has recreated the face of a 75,000-year-old female Neanderthal whose flattened skull was discovered and rebuilt from hundreds of bone fragments by a team of archaeologists and conservators.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2024/05/2405