9 Apr 2025 · Latnija cave, Malta
Hearths, tools and wild-animal remains show Mesolithic foragers reached Malta about 1,000 years before farmers.
Why it matters: It shows open-sea voyaging much earlier than thought. That is relevant to ideas of early seafaring cultures.
Site guide: Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum & Malta Temples · Source: Scerri et al. 2025, Nature ↗
16 Oct 2026 · Shég’ Xdaltth’í’, Tanana valley, Alaska, United States
Kelly Graf, Ted Goebel and colleagues report on Shég’ Xdaltth’í’ (formerly McDonald Creek), 55 km south-southeast of Fairbanks. It has three Late Pleistocene occupation layers dated to about 13,800, 13,000 and 12,700 years ago. The oldest layer holds more than 80,000 specimens, including a distinctive hafted biface, bone and antler tools, animal remains and well-preserved activity areas.
datingexcavationhunter-gatherers
Graham Hancock · Source: Graf et al. 2026, Science Advances ↗
16 Oct 2026 · White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States
Kathleen Springer, Jeffrey Pigati, Jessica Tierney and colleagues expanded the excavations at White Sands and found 20 stratigraphic layers with human footprints in place, alongside megafauna trackways and drag lines made by travois. New radiocarbon dates on conifer pollen, combined with dates on aquatic seeds, put the footprint sequence between 23,500 and 21,700 years ago. Pollen, biomarker and sediment data record the lake turning into a playa during a dry spell that matches Dansgaard-Oeschger event 2, about 23,200 years ago.
datinghunter-gathererscontroversy
Graham Hancock · Source: Springer, Pigati, Tierney et al. 2026, Science Advances ↗
15 Oct 2026 · Sacsayhuamán, Cusco, Peru
A Science news feature reports that Andean archaeologists are replacing the traditional Inca chronology (empire from 1438) with radiocarbon dates. At Saqsaywaman, dated charcoal suggests the site began to be remodelled with fitted masonry around 1400, with construction peaking from about 1418; the first results are in press at Antiquity.
Site guide: Sacsayhuamán & Cusco · Brien Foerster · Source: Science news feature, 15 Oct 2026 ↗
8 Oct 2026 · Eastern Polynesia, Chile
Whole-genome sequences from across Polynesia show some of the strongest founder effects known in any population. Hawaiʻi and Rapa Nui are among the most bottlenecked and, despite their distance, are each other’s closest relatives, likely settled by the same voyagers with roots in Mangareva.
Site guide: Easter Island (Rapa Nui) · Source: Shanks et al. 2026, Science ↗