Archaeology
Comment
Stakeholder Type
GESDA
"Nebulae in Matter" by Stavros Samothrakitis, Paul Scherrer Institute - PSI
Photo: "Nebulae in Matter" by Stavros Samothrakitis, Paul Scherrer Institute - PSI

Topic

Archaeology

Anticipation Committee Chairs:

Anna Sapfo Malaspinas

Leader of the Population Genomics Group at the Department of Computational Biology

University of Lausanne

Sylvian Fachard

Full Professor, Institute of Archeology and Classical Studies

University of Lausanne

Anticipation Committee:

Christina Warinner, Kathrin Nägele, Philip Sapirstein, Qiaomei Fu, Sarah Murray
Topic Brief

Archaeology

Advances in science and technology are reshaping archaeology in multiple ways, with new techniques significantly enhancing both practice and knowledge. Molecular techniques enable valuable data to be extracted from fragmentary remains and even from sites that lack discernible artefacts. This is shedding new light on past diseases and pathologies, diets and even migrations.
Advances in science and technology are reshaping archaeology in multiple ways, with new techniques significantly enhancing both practice and knowledge. Molecular techniques enable valuable data to be extracted from fragmentary remains and even from sites that lack discernible artefacts. This is shedding new light on past diseases and pathologies, diets and even migrations.

New and improved dating techniques mean that some ancient artefacts can be directly and precisely dated, reducing the need for educated guesswork. Improved excavation methods are revealing subtle traces of past human activity, and of climatic and ecological shifts, that would previously have gone unnoticed. As in other fields, AI is beginning to be used and has already led to significant breakthroughs.

As a result, questions that were previously unanswerable can now be approached, and concepts that were once taken for granted have been assigned greater nuance or even disregarded. However, certain problems remain to be solved. One is that archaeology is afflicted by severe preservation bias. Materials such as stone can survive well in archaeological deposits, while more perishable substances like wood are prone to decay rapidly. As a consequence, our understanding of the past is skewed towards materials that survive and regions of the world with good preservation conditions.

The field also faces many equity issues. Researchers from the Global South are under-represented in the field generally, while also being particularly under-represented in more technical fields such as molecular-level analysis.1 There is also a need to clarify questions of ownership of ancient materials, which are often cross-national. And the field has yet to deal with a legacy of betrayal of Indigenous peoples by past generations of archaeologists.

There is also an urgent need for many more open-access online databases and standardised formatting to improve the general accessibility of archaeological data. Nonetheless, a growing diversity of peoples and approaches in archaeology is questioning long-standing dogmas. A more nuanced understanding of concepts like gender, hierarchy and societal resilience is reshaping our understanding of many past societies, providing a dynamic narrative that, along with the new generation of tools and techniques, offers reasons for optimism concerning future developments in the field.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

New scientific techniques have proved a boon to archaeology, enabling researchers to fill gaps in data and answer previously unanswerable questions about the past. Progress in Molecular-level analysis of ancient human remains has enabled the extraction of ancient human DNA even when no other remains are extant. The field of proteomics has supplemented this, providing valuable information about remains even where no viable DNA exists. In-depth isotopic analysis has revealed new details of hominin diets. Similar techniques have allowed the Molecular-level analysis of ancient non-human remains, revealing details about the ecosystems, diet, illnesses and existential threats associated with hominin life across a broad sweep of space and time. Scientific advances are also improving Palaeoclimate studies, allowing links to be made between extreme climatic events and societal disruptions, potentially giving insights into the adaptability and resilience of ancient hominin populations. Advances in remote sensing, isotopic analysis, non-invasive scanning and radio-dating techniques are Exposing and decoding world heritage with unprecedented clarity, providing new insights into the origins of artefacts, the extent of ancient trade networks and the details of cultural achievements.

Topic:

Anticipation Potential

Archaeology

Sub-Fields:

Molecular-level analysis of ancient human remains
Molecular-level analysis of ancient non-human remains
Palaeoclimate studies
Exposing and decoding world heritage
New interdisciplinary approaches to archaeology are transforming and accelerating the field. Major breakthroughs are less than five years away and will be very impactful for the future of research in this area. But this will require the collection and analysis of material spread out across continents and nations and therefore will rely on strong, internationally coordinated action.

Anticipatory Impact:

Three fundamental questions guide GESDA’s mission and drive its work: Who are we, as humans? How can we all live together? How can we ensure the well-being of humankind and the sustainable future of our planet? We asked researchers from the field to anticipate what impact future breakthroughs could have on each of these dimensions. This wheel summarises their opinions when considering each of these questions, with a higher score indicating high anticipated impact, and vice versa.

  • Anticipated impact on who we are as humans
  • Anticipated impact on how we will all live together
  • Anticipated impact on the well-being of humankind and sustainable future of our planet
SubField

Molecular-level analysis of ancient human remains

Thanks to scientific and technical advances, mostly developed in the past 25 years, it is now possible to extract multiple forms of molecular data from the remains of ancient humans. The host of available new techniques are being rapidly enhanced, enabling faster analyses that extend further back in time and obtain increasingly detailed information about human origins, migrations, diets and other questions.2

Future Horizons:

×××

5-yearhorizon

Larger datasets provide new insights

More comprehensive reconstructions of lifestyles of past human populations become possible, including societal behaviours like family norms and social structure. Evolutionary pressures such as selection can be inferred directly from large numbers of ancient genomes. Significant improvements in data archiving and metadata for archaeology are made, such as the ability to tag genomic datasets as ancient.

10-yearhorizon

AI reconstructs ancient life stories

Discoveries facilitate systematic estimates of population size and interpersonal interactions in past societies. AI makes it possible to integrate ancient DNA with other data to create life stories of ancient peoples. Global biobanks for human biological resources, such as data and ancient DNA libraries, enable improved access and more analyses.

25-yearhorizon

Interdisciplinarity provides new archaeological tools

Archaeology becomes more interdisciplinary, enabling the development of principles governing past human societies. Gene editing is used to restore adaptations from particular populations in specific environments, enabling study of their function. New technologies to study DNA in situ within a fossil — that is, without extraction — allow the acquisition of high-quality ancient DNA from more than 1 million years ago.

The most prominent molecular technique is the extraction and analysis of ancient DNA.3 Genetic material obtained from bones and other remains has yielded near-complete genome sequences from tens of thousands of years ago. As well as dramatic results like Neanderthal-human interbreeding, ancient DNA has revealed when and how humans have migrated throughout the world as well as family relationships and kinship patterns.4 More recent techniques have even enabled extraction of ancient DNA from sediments, allowing species to be identified when no physical remains are left.5 Researchers are now developing techniques for obtaining ancient DNA underwater.6

More recently, proteomics has been developed to a high standard. Certain proteins preserve better than DNA, notably in teeth, so proteomics can sometimes be used even when all DNA has been lost.7 While not as informative as DNA, these proteins can be used to identify species, as well as traits such as sex. Proteins can also be recovered from dental calculus (mineralised dental plaque), and entrapped dietary proteins in calculus can be used to reconstruct detailed information about foods that are otherwise archaeologically invisible, such as dairy products and spices.

Researchers can also now make extensive use of isotopes to reveal details such as the diets of ancient humans,8 providing evidence of the consumption of meat, fish and plants.9,10 While isotope chemistry is a long-standing field, new isotopic systems are regularly introduced and new applications identified.11 Combined with other forms of evidence such as microwear on teeth, these analyses have significantly altered our ideas about past hominins’ diets.12

Molecular-level analysis of ancient human remains - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

  1. The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
  2. The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
  3. The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.

SubField

Molecular-level analysis of ancient non-human remains

Molecular data has enabled archaeologists to reconstruct flora and fauna, including pathogens, from ancient environments. This tells us about the ecosystems in which ancient peoples lived and how they affected them. Analyses of pathogens reveal the diseases and epidemics suffered by past societies, where diseases come from and how pathogens evolve. This is vital information for avoiding or preparing to face future pandemics.

Future Horizons:

×××

5-yearhorizon

More pathogen genomes are sequenced

There is a rapid increase in numbers of microbial genomes sequenced, including palaeopathogens. Molecular evidence like DNA and palaeoproteomics becomes sufficiently precise to track mutations and selection pressures on past organisms.

10-yearhorizon

Past ecosystems are reconstructed through AI and environmental DNA

AI enables identification of the most common flora and fauna specimens, such as pollen and teeth. Environmental DNA from sediments and other sources is routinely used to reconstruct past ecosystems. Researchers reconstruct past food webs using a combination of isotope analyses, tooth wear and other tools.

25-yearhorizon

Drivers of past extinctions brought to light

High-resolution ecological models are applied to reconstructions of past ecosystems, enabling analyses of drivers of significant shifts such as extinctions. Researchers construct a global history of hominin diseases from the origin of our species to the present.

Animals, plants and other organisms can be identified from their physical remains, from DNA and from proteomics. A particularly valuable technique developed in the last decade is ZooMS, which involves extracting protein from tiny fragments of bone in order to identify species.13 This has enabled the identification of animal foods in ancient hominin sites14 and revealed hominins’ interactions with other large animals.15,16

These new techniques have also enabled us to revise our understanding of the environments in which hominins lived17 and to tease out the interactions between humans and their environments. There is growing evidence that our ancestors and relatives had negative impacts,18 contributing to the extinctions of many species, especially large “megafauna”.19Environmental shifts also impacted hominins and their evolution,20,21 even driving the evolution of new species22

The reconstruction of ancient pathogens relies on the ability to separate pathogen DNA from that of its human host.23 Combined with existing techniques, such as identifying traces of disease on skeletons and burial patterns,24 such studies help us understand the ecology and evolution of diseases. They also reveal how societies and technologies, such as the invention of farming, have impacted the spread of pathogens.25 In addition, they offer support for the contention that human health is inextricably connected with ecosystems, as suggested in the One Health model.26

Molecular-level analysis of ancient non-human remains - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

  1. The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
  2. The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
  3. The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.

SubField

Palaeoclimate studies

Improvements in technology and methods are enabling ever more precise sampling of past climates, known as palaeoclimates. Traditional data sources such as tree rings have been supplemented with additional sources like speleothems (stalagmites and stalactites) as well as isotope geochronology. These are making it possible to reconstruct not just average temperatures and rainfalls, but also seasonality and extreme events such as droughts. Climate-related phenomena such as changing sea levels and palaeotsunamis are also being reconstructed in unprecedented detail. The dataset has also been extended further back in time, with palaeoclimate data spanning the entire 7 million years of hominin evolution. However, significant gaps remain.27

Future Horizons:

×××

5-yearhorizon

A greater range of past climate conditions are explored

New and improved palaeoclimate proxies enable the sampling of a greater range of past conditions, such as pressure and wind regimes. Cheaper and more accessible sampling techniques facilitate the expansion of palaeoclimate studies to previously understudied regions, such as Central Asia and South America.

10-yearhorizon

Palaeoclimate reconstructions become more reliable

Researchers achieve standardised methods for assessing palaeoclimate proxies, in particular for controlling for confounding factors, enabling reliable and systematic reconstructions. Reliable identification of multi-centennial trends and cycles in palaeoclimate becomes possible.

25-yearhorizon

The impacts of climate change on hominin history are clarified

Research achieves high-resolution global palaeoclimate records for the entire span of hominin evolution — that is, from 7 million years ago to the present. This enables detailed reconstruction of the impacts of climatic change on hominin evolution and hominin habitats. Massive online databases of palaeoclimate data improve accessibility of information and enable new analyses.

The accumulating palaeoclimate data enables archaeologists to link ancient climatic trends and events with hominin evolution and historical events.28 Shifts in climate, and the associated modifications to ecosystems, have been associated with key moments in hominin evolution in Africa,29,30 including diversification and the formation of new species.31 Similarly, climatic impacts on distributions of hominin species have been identified.32,33,34,35 In some cases, palaeoclimate data suggests where hominins might have lived during periods where no actual archaeological data can be found.36

Data suggests that extreme climatic events may be linked to societal disruptions like wars and even collapses. Understanding how and why some societies endured while others folded may offer insight for our own climate-threatened future.37,38

There is an urgent need to gather palaeoclimate data as rapidly and widely as possible because contemporary climate change is erasing many key forms of evidence, such as the air bubbles trapped inside the ice of glaciers that are now melting.39

Palaeoclimate studies - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

  1. The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
  2. The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
  3. The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.

SubField

Exposing and decoding world heritage

Archaeology is now able to take advantage of a range of methods and technologies for revealing, recording and preserving hominin artefacts. Some of these operate at the landscape scale: satellite technology and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) are increasingly used to identify habitations and other large-scale structures.40,41 These techniques are particularly useful in inaccessible regions such as dense forest. Many ancient settlements and geoglyphs in the Amazon rainforest have been identified by airborne LiDAR,42,43 and some researchers are exploring LiDAR’s usefulness for underwater archaeology.44

Future Horizons:

×××

5-yearhorizon

Technology enables digitalisation and sharing of knowledge

Rapid and accurate three-dimensional digitalisation of artefacts, buildings and landscapes becomes possible. Customisable laser scanning equipment is used for rapid assessment of different-sized artefacts. Cheaper and faster internet facilitates more equitable data-sharing.

10-yearhorizon

Standardisation improves archaeological insight

Global standardisation of archaeological protocols enables systematic comparisons, increasing depth of insight. There is a new, widespread availability of experimental methods for completing and interpreting damaged and incomplete texts, such as clarifying strokes and inscriptions. AI-based translators give approximate translations of texts in ancient languages. Higher-resolution scanners, going beyond the current 20-micron limit to 1 micron or less, enable finer analysis of cut marks and other forms of wear, while higher-resolution LiDAR, down to 1 centimetre, improves aerial analysis of structures.

25-yearhorizon

Scanning improvements give new views of artefacts

Three-dimensional scans extend beyond the visible spectrum, for instance including data on the composition of pigments on surfaces or materials in soil. AI enables much faster analyses of large numbers of artefacts, speeding up “routine” work and data publication. Regular global LiDAR coverage reveals — and monitors — heritage sites.

At smaller scales, advances in the use of isotopes, including non-traditional isotopes, are enabling archaeologists to trace the materials in artefacts like swords back to their mineral sources.45,46 These studies are revealing continent-spanning exchange networks long before empires or modern globalisation.47 Similarly, new dating techniques like uranium-thorium are proving invaluable for determining the age of artefacts such as rock art, providing some of the first hard evidence that other hominins, such as Neanderthals, made art.48 AI is also proving useful. It has helped to identify the chemical signatures of heating in ancient rocks, for example, providing evidence of the controlled use of fire a million years ago.49

New methods are being brought to bear on the interpretation and decoding of artefacts. Photogrammetry, which enables the three-dimensional scanning of artefacts, is increasingly used to reveal hidden details and patterns.50 AI can restore degraded ancient texts and identify their sources and ages.51 Similarly, ancient scrolls that are tightly wrapped and damaged can now be 3D-scanned and some of the text read.52

Exposing and decoding world heritage - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

  1. The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
  2. The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
  3. The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.

References

Citations

Topic brief

  1. V. Dalal et al.. Advancements and Challenges in Ancient DNA Research: Bridging the Global North-South Divide https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14020479

5.5.1 Molecular-level analysis of ancient human remains

  1. L. Orlando et al.. Ancient DNA analysis https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-020-00011-0
  2. O. Gokcumen and M. Frachetti. The Impact of Ancient Genome Studies in Archaeology https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-010220-074353
  3. D. Zhang et al.. Denisovan DNA in Late Pleistocene sediments from Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb6320
  4. L. Briggs. Ancient DNA Research in Maritime and Underwater Archaeology: Pitfalls, Promise, and Future Directions https://doi.org/10.5334/oq.71
  5. J. Hendy. Ancient protein analysis in archaeology https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb9314
  6. Y.V. Kuzmin et al.. The Paleolithic diet of Siberia and Eastern Europe: evidence based on stable isotopes δ13C and δ15N in hominin and animal bone collagen https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01439-5
  7. T. Larsen et al.. Reconstructing Hominin Diets with Stable Isotope Analysis of Amino Acids: New Perspectives and Future Directions https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac028
  8. P. Vaiglova et al.. Best practices for selecting samplesanalyzing dataand publishing results in isotope archaeology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.02.027
  9. R. Madgwick et al.. A veritable confusion: use and abuse of isotope analysis in archaeology https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2021.1911099

5.5.2 Molecular-level analysis of ancient non-human remains

  1. N. Wang et al.. Testing the efficacy and comparability of ZooMS protocols on archaeological bone https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2020.104078
  2. M Lombard and A.C. van Aardt. Taking Stock of Foodplants Growing in the Cradle of Humankind Fossil Hominin Site South Africa https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09470-6
  3. A. Iannucci. Ecospace occupancy and disparity in Pleistocene large carnivorans of Europe and implications for hominin dispersal and ecological role https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108562
  4. S.T. Hussain and C. Baumann. The human side of biodiversity: coevolution of the human nichepalaeo-synanthropy and ecosystem complexity in the deep human past http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0021
  5. E.M.L. Scerri et al.. Tropical forests in the deep human past http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0500
  6. H. Bampi et al.. Megafauna kill sites in South America: A critical review https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107851
  7. R. Taylor Lemoine et al.. Megafauna extinctions in the late-Quaternary are linked to human range expansion, not climate change https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2023.100403
  8. R. Potts et al.. Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc8975
  9. J. Louys and Patrick Roberts. Environmental drivers of megafauna and hominin extinction in Southeast Asia https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2810-y
  10. A.-M. Bacon et al.. Palaeoenvironments and hominin evolutionary dynamics in southeast Asia https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43011-2
  11. S. Duchêne et al.. The Recovery, Interpretation and Use of Ancient Pathogen Genomes https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.081
  12. A.C. van der Kuyl. Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics: An Overview of Sources Available for the Study of Ancient Pathogens https://doi.org/10.3390/epidemiologia3040034
  13. K.M. Rayfield et al.. Uncovering the Holocene roots of contemporary disease-scapes: bringing archaeology into One Health http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0525

5.5.3 Palaeoclimate studies

  1. V. Foerster et al.. Integrating Palaeoclimate, Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology in Human Evolution and Dispersal Studies—from Early Hominins to the Holocene https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.892664
  2. O.E. Akpo. Human behaviour and climate-linked fluctuations in the rainforests of West-Central Africa http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0488
  3. W.D. Gosling et al.. The climate and vegetation backdrop to hominin evolution in Africa http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0483
  4. V. Foerster et al.. Pleistocene climate variability in eastern Africa influenced hominin evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01032-y
  5. H. Ao et al.. Two-stage mid-Brunhes climate transition and mid-Pleistocene human diversification https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103354
  6. S.-X. Yang et al.. Hominin site distributions and behaviours across the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition in China https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106614
  7. C. Gibert et al.. Climate-inferred distribution estimates of mid-to-late Pliocene hominins https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103756
  8. H.S. Groucutt et al.. Multiple hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia over the past 400,000 years https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03863-y
  9. M.J. Shoaee et al.. Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281872
  10. E.J. Beverly. Using climate to model ancient human migration https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj4631
  11. D. Degroot et al.. Towards a rigorous understanding of societal responses to climate change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03190-2
  12. G.D. Middleton. Collapse Studies in Archaeology from 2012 to 2023 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-024-09196-4
  13. K. Alverson et al.. Disappearing Evidence: the Need for a Global Palaeoclimate Observing System https://doi.org/10.22498/pages.9.2.2

5.5.4 Exposing and decoding world heritage

  1. O. Risbøl and L. Gustavsen. LiDAR from drones employed for mapping archaeology – Potentialbenefits and challenges https://doi.org/10.1002/arp.1712
  2. A. Argyro and A. Agapiou. A Review of Artificial Intelligence and Remote Sensing for Archaeological Research https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14236000
  3. J. Iriarte et al.. Geometry by Design: Contribution of Lidar to the Understanding of Settlement Patterns of the Mound Villages in SW Amazonia https://doi.org/10.5334/jcaa.45
  4. S. Khan et al.. A UAV–lidar system to map Amazonian rainforest and its ancient landscape transformations https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2017.1295486
  5. D.S. Davis et al.. Bathymetric LiDAR and Semi-Automated Feature Extraction Assist Underwater Archaeological Surveys https://doi.org/10.1002/arp.1939
  6. J.A. Stephens et al.. Use of non-traditional heavy stable isotopes in archaeological research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105334
  7. B. Liss et al.. Origin of iron production in the Eastern Mediterranean: Osmium isotope and highly siderophile element evidence from Iron Age Jordan https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105227
  8. D. Berger et al.. Isotope systematics and chemical composition of tin ingots from Mochlos, Crete, and other Late Bronze Age sites in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: An ultimate key to tin provenance? https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218326
  9. D.L. Hoffmann et al.. U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778
  10. Z. Stepka et al.. Hidden signatures of early fire at Evron Quarry1.0 to 0.8 Mya https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2123439119
  11. M. Magnani et al.. The Digital Revolution to Come: Photogrammetry in Archaeological Practice https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.59
  12. Y. Assael et al.. Restoring and attributing ancient texts using deep neural networks https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04448-z
  13. J. Hsu. Student uses AI to decipher word in ancient scroll from Herculaneum https://www.newscientist.com/article/2397583-student-uses-ai-to-decipher-word-in-ancient-scroll-from-herculaneum/