2024 is coming to an end in just a few days! Here are some of the discoveries and breakthroughs of the year that I personally found interesting!
Amazonian Cities
Using LIDAR sensors to create remotely sensed group maps and field data which cut through the deep brush of the Amazon, new ancient cities have been discovered. The first discovery and evidence of previous civilizations was found in the 1970s near the Sangay volcano in Ecuador. This time they found evidence of fifteen settlements with impressive kilometers of interconnected roads between them as well as evidence of agricultural landscaping.
4000 Year Old Lipstick
A vial of what is presumed to be lipstick was discovered in southeastern Iran. Although the exact usage of the item is unknown, lab analyses revealed that the substance inside the vial was composed of pigments and waxes that are similar to modern lipstick recipes. The substance was also absent of lead which indicates that the civilizations had possibly discovered the toxicity of lead ingestion.
Record Breaking Heat
2024 is predicted to be the hottest year on record. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the average temperature above pre-industrial levels for January to September was 1.5℃. This does not mean that the Paris Climate Agreement has been breached as it will take a long time for climate change measures to come into effect and for this average temperature increase to be sustained, but it is a worrying statistic in an age of anthropogenic global warming.
Earliest South American Cave Paintings
Argentinian and Chilean archaeologists discovered 895 cave paintings from over 8000 years ago. During this period of the Holocene, there was a notably dry climate which lended to many communities becoming more nomadic. The cave paintings served as a way to communicate between communities as each group happened upon each other’s paintings.