80-Million-Year-Old Fossil In California Has Re-Written Natural History Of Cycad Plants
Eddie Gonzales Jr. – AncientPages.com – Cycads, a group of gymnosperms that can resemble miniature palm trees (like the popular sago palm houseplant) were long thought to be “living fossils,” a group that had evolved minimally since the time of the dinosaurs. A well-preserved 80-million-year-old pollen cone discovered in California has rewritten the scientific understanding […]
Native Americans Helped Shape The Klamath’s Forests For A Millennia Before European Colonization
Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Decades of logging and fire suppression have left California’s forests prone to drought, infestation and catastrophic wildfire. Climate change is only exacerbating these impacts. But for thousands of years before, during and after European colonization, Indigenous tribes have lived within and among these forests, intentionally lighting fires to manage landscapes […]
DNA Reveals Participants In California’s Gold Rush Dined On Salted Atlantic Cod
Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – It turns out San Francisco has been a destination for lovers of imported delicacies since its earliest Gold Rush days. According to results published recently in the peer-reviewed Journal of Anthropological Research, an excavation at Thompson’s Cove in San Francisco has shown “Atlantic cod were imported during the 1850s, likely […]
Mysterious Coso Petroglyphs In California – Made By Whom And For What Reason?
Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – It’s often ᴀssumed our ancestors created rock art for a reason, and that’s true in most cases. Some petroglyphs can have symbolic meaning, commemorate a noteworthy event, mark territorial boundaries, keep track of time, while other images can be considered an illustration of daily life. Maybe ancient people hoped their […]