BBC Focus - 04.2020_

DISCOVERIES

20,000-year-old circle

made from mammoth bones

unearthed in Ukraine

Amysteriousbonecirclemadefromthe

remainsofdozensofmammothshas

beendatedasbeing20,000yearsold,by

researchersattheUniversityofExeter.

It’stheoldestofitstypeeverfound.

The10mx 10mstructureis situated

justoutsidethemodernvillageof

Kostenki,roughly500kmsouthof

Moscow,andis oneofabout 70

scatteredacrossUkraineandthewestern

RussianPlain.It contains 51 mammoth

jawbonesand 64 mammothskulls,along

withsmallnumbersofreindeer,horse,

bear,wolf,redfoxandarcticfoxbones.

Theresearchersalsofoundthe

remainsofcharredwoodandother

softnon-woodyplantswithinthe

circularstructure.Thisindicatesthat

iceagehumansmayhavebeenburning

woodaswellasbonesforfuel,and

thatthecommunitieswholivedthere

hadlearned where to forage for edible

plants.

Thelasticeage,whichsweptnorthern

Europebetween75,000and18,

yearsago,reacheditscoldestandmost

severestagearound23,000to18,

yearsago,justasthesiteatKostenki

wasbeingbuilt.Climatereconstructions

indicatethatsummerswereshortand

cool,andwinterswerelongandcold,

withtemperaturesaround-20°Cor

colder.Eventually,thebonecircleswere

abandonedastheclimatecontinuedto

getcolderandmoreinhospitable.

“Thesefindsshednewlighton the

purposeofthesemysterioussites.

Archaeologyis showingusmoreabout

howourancestorssurvivedinthis

desperatelycoldandhostileenvironment

attheclimaxofthelasticeage,”said

studyleaderDrAlexanderPryor.“Most

otherplacesatsimilarlatitudesin

Europehadbeenabandonedbythistime,

butthesegroupshadmanagedtoadapt

to find food, shelter and water.”

ARCHAEOLOGY

GETTY IMAGES, ACS NANO, ALEX PRYOR ILUSTRATIONS: JOE WALDRON

Bad month

Good month

PETROLCARS

Electriccarsproducelesscarbonemissions

thanpetrolcarsin 95percentofthe

world’scountries,evenwhentakinginto

accounttheenergyusedforproductionand

batterycharging,a studybytheUniversityof

Exeterhasfound.Theonlyexceptionare

countriesthatarestillheavilyrelianton coal

power, such as Poland.

BURGERLOVERS

Nexttimeyoutuckintothatbacondouble

cheeseburgerit mightbeworththinkingabout

theimpactmeatproductionis havingonfresh

watersupplies.Theirrigationoffeedcropsfor

cattleaccountsforone-thirdofallwaterusein

thewesternUS,andis depletingriversand

hurting fisheries,accordingtoa study carried

out in Virginia.

DOERS

Spendingoursparecashonexperiencesrather

thanphysicalitemsmakesushappier,a study

at theUniversityofPennsylvaniahasfound.

Morethan2,600volunteersweresplitinto

twogroups:thosewhoweregivenproducts;

andthosewhoengagedin experiencessuchas

diningout.Peoplein thelattergroupreported

higherlevelsofhappinessthroughoutthe

experiment, regardless of item cost.

BUTTERFLIES

Therecordtemperaturesofthesummerof

2019 havehelpedtoboostthenumbersof

morethanhalfofBritain’sbutterflyspecies,

British charityButterflyConservation

has reported.