This Week in Archaeology: Caral’s Climate Survival, Ancient Kissing Origins, and a 12,000-Year-Old Figurine
Peruvian archaeologists have uncovered wall carvings at Vichama that document how the Americas’ oldest civilization responded to catastrophic drought 4,200 years ago. Instead of collapsing into warfare, the people of Caral migrated and rebuilt, leaving behind friezes showing skeletal famine victims alongside symbols of renewal: pregnant women, fish, lightning-struck toads signaling rain’s return.
Meanwhile, evolutionary research suggests kissing predates humanity by at least 21 million years, tracing back to a common ancestor of great apes. And in northern Israel, a clay figurine of a woman with a goose on her back offers the earliest known narrative sculpture in Southwest Asia, created by Natufian hunter-gatherers who were already experimenting with mythological imagery thousands of years before agriculture took root.
This and more archaeological finds from this week: ⬇️
Peru’s Caral Civilization Survived Megadrought Through Migration, Not Warfare
Excavations at Vichama and Peñico in Peru have revealed how the Caral culture endured a severe drought around 4,200 years ago without violence. Ruth Shady’s research shows that when failing agriculture forced abandonment of the city of Caral in the Supe Valley, populations resettled along the Pacific coast and further inland.
At Vichama, a coastal temple platform contains three-dimensional friezes documenting the crisis. Skeletal figures with sunken stomachs and exposed ribs represent famine deaths, while adjacent carvings show pregnant women, dancers, and large fish tied to water’s return. Higher on the temple walls, a lightning-struck toad appears, interpreted as a signal of approaching rain. Snakes associated with water frame additional panels combining death imagery with renewal symbols. One carving depicts a smiling hybrid figure with human and animal features, understood as a seed promising crop rebirth.
Peñico, located east of Caral, yielded 18 structures mimicking the original city’s monumental plaza and temple complexes. The settlement relied on fishing, farming, and extensive trade networks. No signs of violent conflict emerged. Archaeologists found monkey and macaw remains likely transported over the Andes from the Amazon, ceramics depicting jungle animals, and seashells from Ecuador’s tropical coast. Daily life centered on open-air markets and agriculture that included sweet potatoes, maize, squash, avocados, and chili peppers.
Unfired clay figurines showing men and women with painted faces suggest gender parity in social roles. Carved reliefs of the pututu, an Andean conch shell trumpet still used ceremonially today, appear throughout the central plaza. While this drought formed part of the global 4.2-kiloyear climate event that disrupted Mesopotamian and Indus Valley civilizations, the Caral response stands out: populations adapted and rebuilt while preserving social cohesion.
Material Analysis Explains 1,900-Year Survival of Baiae’s Temple of Venus
A multidisciplinary study published in Geoheritage reveals how Roman engineering enabled the Temple of Venus to withstand nearly two millennia in the geologically unstable Phlegraean Fields of southern Italy. Once the grand bathing pool of Baiae’s imperial thermal complex, the structure now sits six meters below modern ground level due to centuries of bradyseism.
Researchers analyzed nine samples from key structural components using petrographic microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mortars are lime-based but derive their durability from volcanic aggregates sourced from Neapolian Yellow Tuff, which produces powerful hydraulic reactions with lime and water. Microscopic features confirm these mortars continued strengthening long after application.
The bricks contain silico-clastic sediments and volcanic inclusions. Their mineral composition explains their reddish color and moderate firing temperature. The most revealing discovery involves lightweight volcanic scoria used in upper sections. Mineralogical signatures indicate this material came from Mount Vesuvius rather than the local volcanic field. Roman builders selectively imported specialized resources when structural demands required reduced weight to minimize stress on the dome and supporting walls.
The study demonstrates the technical expertise behind one of Baiae’s most distinctive monuments, constructed in the 2nd century CE under Emperor Hadrian. The octagonal exterior with circular interior and umbrella-like dome resulted from profound empirical knowledge of geomaterials.
French Team Identifies Sheshonq III’s Sarcophagus and 225 Ushabti Figurines at Tanis
Archaeologists excavating the royal necropolis at Tanis have solved a decades-old mystery by identifying an uninscribed granite sarcophagus as belonging to Pharaoh Sheshonq III of Egypt’s 22nd Dynasty. The French mission working with Egyptian authorities discovered 225 ushabti figurines still in their original positions, covered in silt within the northern chamber of Pharaoh Osorkon II’s tomb at San el-Hagar.
The figurines’ context provided critical evidence for attributing the coffin to Sheshonq III, whose long reign left a visible architectural mark on Tanis. The discovery has been described as unmatched in Tanis’s royal tombs since 1946. For years, the granite coffin remained an unsolved puzzle.
Researchers are investigating whether the king was interred directly in Osorkon II’s chamber or if his burial goods were relocated there later to protect them from tomb robbers. Newly discovered inscriptions and carvings in the same chamber will undergo detailed study in the next research phase.
The find forms part of a larger preservation project at Tanis. Archaeologists are preparing to install a protective covering over the structure, reduce damaging salt levels, and clean architectural features. Tanis first gained worldwide attention in 1939 when excavations unearthed the “Treasures of Tanis,” an assemblage rivaling Tutankhamun’s burial goods.
Industrial CT Scans Reveal 5,000-Year-Old Iranian Copper Smelting Techniques
Researchers have introduced a method allowing unprecedented examination of ancient metallurgical waste without destroying artifacts. The study focused on slag recovered from Tepe Hissar, an Early Bronze Age settlement in northern Iran that flourished between approximately 3100 and 2900 BCE.
The team employed industrial X-ray computed tomography to generate high-resolution 3D images of slag interiors. The scans revealed networks of pores, cracks, and material droplets, along with density variations indicating how molten mixtures behaved during cooling. This allowed researchers to identify the most informative sections before making any cuts.
Once sectioned, the slag underwent analysis using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. These methods confirmed primary smelting phases including magnetite and fayalite with copper sulfide droplets, but also revealed how elements like arsenic migrated within the slag over time.
CT scans also revealed internal microenvironments formed over millennia, creating pockets where new minerals developed as slag interacted with soil and moisture. The combined techniques revealed how copper droplets became trapped inside slag, how gases formed voids during high-temperature reactions, and how arsenic behaved both in primary smelting conditions and long-term burial environments.
The study represents one of the first systematic uses of CT scanning in investigating ancient metallurgical waste. By creating digital 3D archives and exposing hidden features, the method opens new possibilities for studying early technologies without damaging irreplaceable materials.
Jomon DNA Shows Lowest Denisovan Ancestry in East Asia
A genetic study published in Current Biology shows that prehistoric Jomon people of Japan carried far less Denisovan DNA than any other ancient or modern population in the region. The findings suggest at least one early lineage of modern humans in East Asia either never encountered Denisovans or interacted with them rarely.
Researchers analyzed genomes of 115 ancient individuals from East Asia, Siberia, the Americas, and West Eurasia, along with genetic data from 279 modern humans. This dataset allowed reconstruction of when different groups of early Homo sapiens interbred with genetically distinct Denisovan populations.
Ancient mainland East Asians who lived in parts of China and Mongolia had the highest levels of Denisovan ancestry anywhere in Eurasia. Their DNA revealed contributions from multiple Denisovan groups, indicating admixture events occurred before the Last Glacial Maximum, roughly 26,500 to 19,000 years ago.
The Jomon people were outliers. Genetic material from individuals who lived between 16,000 and 3,000 years ago showed remarkably low Denisovan ancestry compared to ancient mainland East Asians and even below proportions in present-day East Asian populations. One Jomon individual who lived nearly 4,000 years ago carried only a fraction of the Denisovan DNA found in modern Japanese.
These results point to a deep East Asian lineage that acquired little Denisovan ancestry. This lineage may have taken a different migration route into East Asia or reached regions where Denisovans were extremely sparse. By the Kofun period (CE 300–710), large-scale movements from the East Asian mainland introduced more Denisovan ancestry into the archipelago and gradually diluted the earlier Jomon genetic profile.
Kissing Traced Back 21 Million Years in Primate Evolution
An evolutionary analysis published in Evolution and Human Behavior indicates that kissing traces back to a primate ancestor that lived more than 21 million years ago. The study offers the first cross-species reconstruction of how this behavior emerged and persisted across great apes, extending even to extinct relatives like Neanderthals.
Researchers at Oxford and international colleagues assembled behavioral data from modern primates, searching for consistent patterns of mouth-to-mouth contact that was neither aggressive nor related to feeding. The team compiled reports of kissing in bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and several monkey species.
The researchers used Bayesian modeling to treat kissing as if it were a biological trait and simulated millions of evolutionary scenarios on the primate family tree. Results suggested the origin of kissing traces back to a single ancestor of large apes, somewhere from 21.5 to 16.9 million years ago. Although some primate lineages like macaques and baboons do not appear to have inherited the behavior, evidence suggests kissing re-evolved independently in some modern species.
The analyses also suggest Neanderthals likely kissed and, given prior evidence of interbreeding and shared oral microbes, likely kissed Homo sapiens when the two species were in contact. Why kissing persists remains a question. Some researchers propose kissing could help individuals detect subtle chemical signals related to health or immune compatibility. Others suggest it plays a role in social bonding, much like grooming among primates.
12,000-Year-Old Natufian Figurine Depicts Woman with Goose
Archaeological excavations in northern Israel led to discovery of a small clay sculpture reshaping what was known about symbolic expression at the end of the Epipaleolithic period. The 12,000-year-old figurine was identified at the Late Natufian settlement of Nahal Ein Gev II, near the Sea of Galilee. It depicts a crouching woman with a goose poised on her back.
While Paleolithic art occasionally featured scenes of humans interacting with animals, such instances were extremely rare, and most were not in clay. The figurine is only 3.7 centimeters tall and was molded from local clay before being heated in a fireplace at controlled temperature. Microscopic examination showed traces of red ocher on both figures and even a partial fingerprint left by its maker, likely a young woman based on ridge-pattern analysis.
The piece was recovered in a semicircular stone structure used for burials and unusual deposits, including a child’s grave and a collection of human teeth. The Natufians, who lived across the Levant between about 15,000 and 11,500 years ago, were among the first groups in the region to establish permanent or semi-permanent settlements.
Researchers note that the goose, a bird commonly eaten by Natufians and used for ornamentation, is depicted as alive and active, not hunted. Its wings stretch back toward the woman in a gesture of intimate contact. The sculptor’s emphasis on movement and interaction favors a mythological reading. The scene may reflect an early animistic worldview in which humans and animals shared overlapping spiritual roles.
The artisan manipulated clay volume and the play of light across the surface to create the suggestion of depth and perspective, an innovation that appears earlier than known Neolithic figurative traditions. The naturalistic rendering of the woman also constitutes the earliest of its kind in the region.