Archaeologists have discovered the skeletal remains of a prehistoric infant in Ciudad de Mendoza, western Argentina. Researchers from the Natural Science Department of the National University of Cuyo discovered the bones unexpectedly when looking for the sterile layer of a previous dig in the archaeological region known as the Niño de las Cuevas (the child of the caves). It was given that moniker after the remains of a young child between three and five years old at time of death were found there in 2015. That’s the excavation the University of Cuyo was following up on when they encountered the bones of a second child in the same archaeological layer as and just a few feet away from the first.

The team unearthed a circle of carbonaceous sediment whose black color and texture was markedly different from the reddish clay of the site. Researchers first thought it was part of a hearth, so the excavation proceeded in a different manner than over the rest of the grid, with thin, delicate tools like brushes instead of more aggressive digging tools. After removing an inch of sediment, they found fragments of a tiny jaw. The dimensions made it clear that this was the jaw of an infant.

When the burial was cleared, the full funerary structure was revealed, a circle just under a foot wide with the remains placed inside on the red clay layer. Because it was found at the same archaeological layer as the child discovered in 2015, it’s likely to date to around the same time: 5,750 years ago. The latest discovery is smaller, however, so died younger.

The dig began less than two weeks ago on December 10th. One team member is still clearing the burial. Materials and remains will be analyzed and catalogued by the Human Paleoecology Laboratory. The bones of the infant will be radiocarbon tested so we know their age from direct examination. Stable isotope analysis will also be performed to discover where the child was from. Researchers will also attempt to determine the baby’s age, gender and cause of death.

Until the beginning of these studies there was only archaeological information related to the period of Inca domination (especially on a sacrifice of a child that was deposited in a high sanctuary located in the Aconcagua). Finding a skeleton was not expected by the group, since very few human skeletal remains had been discovered in high altitude environments. The result of the radiocarbon dating done on a fragment of one of its bones by AMS was also a surprise. The date obtained gives this individual an age of 5750 years. It is the oldest in the province of Mendoza and corresponds to a period in which the climatic conditions were more favorable to the current ones (a little warmer and wetter) in the mountain range according to pollen studies.

The regional archaeological information allows us to propose that the society from which this individual came had a hunter-gatherer economy and a band-like social organization. Surely it was small groups (between 30 and 50 people) that moved throughout the year, from lowlands to highlands and vice versa, to obtain the meat of animals that hunted (especially guanacos — Lama guanicoe) and vegetables that they collected.

“Having found this infant burial, it can be ascertained that it was the entire family group that moved (men, women and children) and that it is likely that the mountain range where it was left was part of a larger territory, a space of seasonal occupation to which it recurred,” said [anthropologist Víctor] Durán. Knowing where these ancient mountaineers came from and specifying aspects of their way of life is one of the major challenges of the research group. This new finding will allow expanding the ongoing studies that have placed the town of Las Cuevas in a position of great importance within the Archeology of the province and the country.”

Dozens of dinosaur footprints from multiple dinosaur species, the most diverse group of Cretaceous fossils ever discovered in the UK, have been found near Hastings on the coast of Sussex. More than 85 footprints from at least seven species (there are 13 different shapes but some were made by the same species) were identified by University of Cambridge researchers between 2014 and 2018, exposed by erosion of the cliffs after severe storms.

The prints range in size from less than inch to 24 inches across. They date to the Lower Cretaceous, left between 145 and 100 million years ago by herbivores and carnivores alike. There are prints from iguanodontians, an ankylosaur, an unknown species of stegosaur, likely sauropods and theropods. They are in such exceptional condition that the shapes and textures of skin, scales and claws are visible to the naked eye.

Look at this amazing iguanodontian claw. It’s like someone took a plaster cast of the fellow’s toe to make a realistic prosthetic.

The Hastings area is famed for its fossils. The first Iguanodon was discovered there in 1825; more recently the first fossilized dinosaur brain tissue was found in 2016. It is one of the richest sources of dinosaur fossils in the UK, but fossilized tracks are rare. While some dinosaur footprints have been spotted along its cliffs before, none of them were this varied, complex and well-preserved.

Even though dinosaur footprints may not have the drama of whole-body fossils, they can give scientists a lot more information about the way dinosaurs actually lived and interacted than their mineralized bones alone can.

“To preserve footprints, you need the right type of environment,” said [study co-author Dr. Neil] Davies. “The ground needs to be ‘sticky’ enough so that the footprint leaves a mark, but not so wet that it gets washed away. You need that balance in order to capture and preserve them.”

“As well as the large abundance and diversity of these prints, we also see absolutely incredible detail,” said [study co-author Anthony] Shillito. “You can clearly see the texture of the skin and scales, as well as four-toed claw marks, which are extremely rare.

“You can get some idea about which dinosaurs made them from the shape of the footprints – comparing them with what we know about dinosaur feet from other fossils lets you identify the important similarities. When you also look at footprints from other locations you can start to piece together which species were the key players.”

The footprints have revealed new information. There are prints from a dinosaur species not previously known to have inhabited the area during the Lower Cretaceous. Researchers also find the imprint of small plants growing inside the footprints, evidence of how dinosaurs effected this environment, giving plants a nice, watery trough in which to grow.

The study has been published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

A recumbent stone circle in Aberdeenshire that has been known to locals since it was erected thousands of years ago has been identified and recorded by archaeologists for the first time. This type of circle, characterized by a large horizontal stone placed (hence “recumbent”) between two upright stones, is unique to northeast Scotland. They were built around 3,500-4,500 years ago and are well-known features of the landscape, which is why it’s so unusual to find one that has never been documented by archaeologists. If it had been in ruins, obscured by the landscape and hard to see on the surface it would explain how professionals didn’t know about it, but this one is complete, intact and perched on a well-maintained hill.

It stands on farmland in the parish of Leochel-Cushnie and it was a member of one of the families that have been farming in the area for generations, Fiona Bain, who alerted the Aberdeenshire Council’s Archaeology Service to the existence of the stone circle.

Neil Ackerman, Historic Environment Record Assistant at Aberdeenshire Council, visited the site along with Adam Welfare, Alison McCaig and Katrina Gilmour from Historic Environment Scotland (Survey and Recording).

While fitting the Recumbent Stone Circle model, this is a slightly unusual example, they say.

Describing the monument, Mr Welfare said: “In numbering ten stones it fits the average, but its diameter is about three metres smaller than any known hitherto and it is unusual in that all the stones are proportionately small.

“It is orientated SSW and enjoys a fine outlook in that direction, while the rich lichen cover on the stones is indicative of the ring’s antiquity.”

Mr Ackerman added: “This amazing new site adds to our knowledge of these unique monuments and of the prehistoric archaeology of the area. It is rare for these sites to go unidentified for so long, especially in such a good condition.”