News archive for Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion

The SapienCE Early Human Behaviour Exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore fascinating discoveries and insights into the behaviours of our early, shared, ancestors.

An international team of archaeologists, led by a UiB scientist, has identified the oldest bone tools from southern Africa. The tools are 60,000 to 80,000 years old and were likely used for debarking trees and to dig into the ground.

The SapienCE paper about a trapped artefact became the top ten most downloaded articles in the journal Geoarchaeology this year. The study demonstrates how the creative use of unconventional research methods turned an unfortunate archaeological sampling event into a scientific success story.

Cutting-edge technology makes it possible for scientists to retrieve DNA recovered decades ago. An international team of researchers, including scientists from SapienCE, were able to isolate ancient DNA from blocks of sediment embedded in plastic resin commonly used for micromorphological analyses.

What can society and global organizations do better to stop right-wing extremist radicalization and terrorist content online?

One of the earliest forms of symbolic behaviour is the use of ochre. A new SapienCE project will explore how iron-rich rocks shaped the lives of early modern humans along the coast of South Africa.

The 2020 SapienCE Annual report is now published. The report presents stories, field reports and articles based on a selection of scientific publications issued throughout the year.

Over the past decade, China has emerged as a large actor on the African continent – primarily through trade, investment and as provider of development finance. But China is increasingly also playing a more direct political role.