‘Virtual fossil’ reveals last common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals

18 December 2015

New digital techniques have allowed researchers to predict structural evolution of the skull in the lineage of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, in an effort to fill in blanks in the fossil record, and provide the first 3D rendering of their last common ancestor. ̽»¨Ö±²¥study suggests populations that led to the lineage split were older than previously thought.

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Millet: the missing piece in the puzzle of prehistoric humans’ transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers

14 December 2015

New research shows a cereal familiar today as birdseed was carried across Eurasia by ancient shepherds and herders laying the foundation, in combination with the new crops they encountered, of ‘multi-crop’ agriculture and the rise of settled societies. Archaeologists say ‘forgotten’ millet has a role to play in modern crop diversity and today’s food security debate.

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20 Years of Mandela Magdalene Scholarships

06 November 2015

Magdalene College recently celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Mandela Magdalene scholarships which support graduates from South Africa in pursuing postgraduate study at Cambridge.

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Christopher Evans of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit shows local schoolchildren around the excavation site.

Earliest church in the tropics unearthed in former heart of Atlantic slave trade

06 November 2015

Remains of a church on Cabo Verde’s Santiago Island, off the West African coast, dates back to late 15th century – when Portugal first colonised the islands that played a central role in the global African slave trade. Archaeological excavations are helping Cabo Verdeans gain new insight into their remarkable and long-obscured history.

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Derge iron water bottle.

Where to find a dragon in Cambridge

24 June 2015

TheÌýCambridge Animal Alphabet seriesÌýcelebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, D is for Dragon.ÌýWatch out forÌýfire-breathersÌýamongÌýthe treasures of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, in Anglo-Saxon proverbs,Ìýand in fantasy literature from medieval Scandinavia to the present day.

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