Noumenal News

Chemical and archaeological evidence has pushed back the earliest known use of cacao, the key ingredient of chocolate, by 500 years.
The chemical compound, theobromine, which only occurs in the cacao plant, has been found on pottery vessels dating back to as early as 1000 BC.
Experts say the vessels were used to serve a fermented cacao […]

It’s older than the pyramids of Egypt and England’s Stonehenge, and it’s an astronomical wonder as well. Yet the passage grave at Newgrange, in Ireland’s County Meath, is often ignored in package tours of the Emerald Isle.
That’s a pity, because the megalithic tomb at Newgrange provides a fascinating primer on how Ireland’s people lived - […]

It’s older than the pyramids of Egypt and England’s Stonehenge, and it’s an astronomical wonder as well. Yet the passage grave at Newgrange, in Ireland’s County Meath, is often ignored in package tours of the Emerald Isle.
That’s a pity, because the megalithic tomb at Newgrange provides a fascinating primer on how Ireland’s people lived - […]

Some Neanderthals were probably redheads, a DNA study has shown.
Writing in Science journal, a team of researchers extracted DNA from remains of two Neanderthals and retrieved part of an important gene called MC1R.
In modern people, a change - or mutation - in this gene causes red hair, but, until now, no one knew what hair […]

The mystery behind the sudden death of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, may have been finally solved by scientists who believe that he fell from a fast-moving chariot while out hunting in the desert.
Speculation surrounding Tutankhamun’s death has been rife since his tomb was broken into in 1922 […]

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - French archaeologists have discovered an 11,000-year-old wall painting underground in northern Syria which they believe is the oldest in the world.
The 2 square-meter painting, in red, black and white, was found at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo, team leader Eric Coqueugniot told […]

The rune stone likely stems from the 11th century, and tells of Halvard’s powers or Halvard’s magnificence. The stone slab has been broken off at both ends, and the text (”Mæktir haluar“) is just a small part of the original inscription.
Archeologists from the Archeological Museum in Stavanger thought at first that they had rediscovered a […]

Hair samples from naturally preserved child mummies discovered at the world’s highest archaeological site in the Andes have provided a startling insight into the lives of the children chosen for sacrifice. Researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust used DNA and stable isotope analysis to show how children as young as 6-years old were “fattened up” […]

 MONTERREY, Mexico, Sept 24 (Reuters Life!) - Ancient Mexicans and Egyptians who never met and lived centuries and thousands of miles apart both worshiped feathered-serpent deities, built pyramids and developed a 365-day calendar, a new exhibition shows.
Billed as the world’s largest temporary archeological showcase, Mexican archeologists have brought treasures from ancient Egypt to display alongside […]

CHICAGO (AFP) ? An analysis of the wrist bones of the tiny prehistoric human dubbed the “Hobbit” bolsters the theory that it was a new species of human and not some aberration of modern man, a study released Thursday said.
Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of the pint-sized human using three dimensional laser imaging say […]