May/June 2016 Issue

AUSTRALIA: Genyornis newtoni was a seriously large bird: 7 feet tall and 500 pounds. But size doesn’t matter when humans develop a taste for your eggs. Analysis of G. newtoni eggshell fragments from 200 sites across the country describes telltale burn marks produced by a localized heat source rather than the all-encompassing heat of a wildfire—an indication that the eggs had been harvested and cooked. More than 8 in 10 species weighing over 100 pounds, including G. newtoni, became extinct shortly after humans arrived down under around 50,000 years ago. —Samir S. Patel

INDONESIA: Archaic humans arrived on Sulawesi at least 118,000 years ago, according to a recently discovered deposit of stone tools and extinct animal bones. It is known that various hominin species made it to the islands of Flores, Java, and Papua by this time, and it was assumed that Sulawesi was part of their dispersal. This new find, accumulated over what appears to have been tens of thousands of years, suggests there was, in fact, a well-established population. There are no human fossils, so it is unknown what ancient human species it was. —Samir S. Patel

CAMBODIA: Sometimes the archaeology and ancient history of Cambodia seem to begin and end with Angkor Wat, and it was widely assumed that the period between the decline of Angkor and the modern era was a kind of “dark age.” Excavations at Longvek, the capital after Angkor, are dispelling this notion with evidence of extensive trade links, including maritime trade with China and Japan. The Khmer Empire that built Angkor had not taken advantage of this potential source of wealth, which may have contributed to its decline. —Samir S. Patel