First Things
Evidence for the earliest hominin use of wooden handheld tools found at Marathousa 1 (Greece)
Annemieke Milks et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10 February 2026
Abstract:
The Middle Pleistocene (MP; ca. 774 to 129 ka) marks a critical period of human evolution, characterized by increasing behavioral complexity and the first unambiguous evidence of plant-based technologies. Despite this, direct evidence for early wooden tool use remains exceptionally rare. Here, we present the earliest handheld wooden tools, identified from secure contexts at the site of Marathousa 1, Greece, dated to ca. 430 ka (MIS12). Through a systematic morphological, microscopic, taphonomic, and taxonomic analysis of the sampled wood macroremains, two specimens were securely identified as modified by hominins: one small alder (Alnus sp.) trunk fragment bears clear working and use-wear traces consistent with a multifunctional stick likely used in digging at the paleolakeshore; and one very small willow/poplar (Salix sp./Populus sp.) artifact exhibits signs of shaping and potential use-wear. A third specimen, a large alder trunk segment, shows deep, nonanthropogenic striations interpreted here as claw marks from a large carnivoran. The wooden tools were excavated together with butchered elephant remains, small lithic artifacts and debitage, and worked bone, underscoring the diversity of engagement with a variety of different raw materials for technological purposes at Marathousa 1. These finds extend the temporal range of early wooden tools. They represent both the use of expedient larger handheld tools as well as a much smaller, likely finger-held wooden tool, which is uniquely small for the Pleistocene, expanding known functional purposes of early wood technologies. Moreover, they highlight the Megalopolis Basin’s exceptional preservation conditions and its role in understanding the evolution of hominin behavior.
An Elemental Analysis of Copper from the Mound City Group
Mark Seeman, Mark Hill & Kevin Nolan
American Antiquity, forthcoming
Abstract:
The sourcing of exotic raw materials provides a window into the social networks of ancient peoples. Here we source copper from four archaeological contexts at the Mound City Group, a UNESCO World Heritage site and major Hopewell ceremonial site in south-central Ohio, USA. Results of laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry indicate the use of copper at Mound City from both the Great Lakes Copper District and the southern Appalachians. Forty-two percent of the Mound City sample was classified as southern Appalachian copper, a higher percentage than for any other large Ohio Hopewell site tested. The use of Appalachian copper has not been documented in earlier, pre-Hopewell contexts in the central Ohio Valley. This new pattern correlates with both an increased demand for copper and the development of broader-based social networks connecting the central Ohio River Valley with the Southeast. This context is different from and complementary to that of the “copper trail” to the north established hundreds of years earlier.
Farthest North: Human Remains from Heaning Wood Bone Cave, Cumbria, UK and their European context
Keziah Warburton et al.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, forthcoming
Abstract:
The results of research on the human remains and artefacts recently discovered at Heaning Wood Bone Cave, Cumbria, UK are reported. A programme of radiocarbon dating has established that the human remains include the earliest so far discovered in northern Britain, the ‘Ossick Lass’, which date between 9290 and 8925 cal BC. The cave was used for burial during three phases in prehistory: one individual dating to the Early Mesolithic, four to the Early Neolithic and two to the Early Bronze Age and is thus an important addition to our developing knowledge about the deposition of human remains in caves in north-west Europe at these dates. Genomic analysis has established that all but one of the sampled individuals were biologically female. Osteological and taphonomic analysis shows that, in each phase, the burial practice seems to have been successive inhumation of the recently deceased body into the vertical entrance of the cave. Artefacts associated with the burials include perforated periwinkle shell beads radiocarbon dated to the Early Mesolithic, a small assemblage of worked stone, including diagnostically Early Neolithic pieces, and sherds of Early Bronze Age Collared Urn pottery.
Evolution of the paddy field under hydrological and social changes since 6700 cal BP in the Lower Yangzi River: The case of Shiao
Yonglei Wang et al.
Antiquity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Paddy fields are central to the origin and spread of rice agriculture and their development ultimately underpinned the formation of complex societies in Asia. Here, the authors report on the stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical record from Shiao, including one of the earliest and largest paddy fields yet identified (c. 6700 cal BP). As at nearby sites, paddy fields were successively overlaid with peat and marine sediments as sea level vacillated. With each iteration, the fields evolved from strip-like to ‘hash’-shaped configurations, representing growing labour input and, crucially, a corresponding increase in sustainable population size.
A 5500-year-old Treponema pallidum genome from Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia
Davide Bozzi et al.
Science, 22 January 2026
Abstract:
Treponematosis, a bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies and T. carateum (yaws, bejel, syphilis, pinta), has afflicted humans for millennia. Despite paleopathological evidence and emerging genomic data, little is known about the evolutionary history of these pathogens. We report a 5500-year-old Treponema genome (TE1-3) from Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer contexts of the rock shelter Tequendama I in Colombia. Our analyses place TE1-3 as a sister lineage to all known T. pallidum subspecies, positioning this pathogen in the Americas millennia before European contact and before diversification of the subspecies causing syphilis, yaws, and bejel. This discovery broadens the known diversity of T. pallidum while extending the genomic record of treponemal pathogens by millennia, providing molecular support for a deep history of T. pallidum in the Americas.