At https://phys.org/news/2026-01-refined-radiocarbon-dating-clearer-timeline.html … radio carbon dating of marine remains has suffered from old carbon in oceans causing anomalies over the years. Scientists have come up with a way of achieving a better timeline in the use of sea shells and other marine organisms otherwise perfectly adapted for radio carbon methodology. The point of interest raised at the link is the date of Magdalenian people in Europe. They appeared in the period after the end of the Late Glacial Maximum – around 18,000 years ago. The country this is taking place in is Spain, a refuge during the Ice Age. People began to move north once the ice sheets shrank. Is this date built on an assumption – that Magdalenians moved pretty much in the wake of the declining ice sheet? Compensating for the old carbon is not necessarily a problem but it would be nice if the two dates, with and without the new technique, were published together in order for others to evaluate if the refinement is likely – or suspect. After all, 18000 years ago coincides with the Oldest Dryas event – which lasted for the next 3000 years.
At https://phys.org/news/2026-01-south-african-san-art-reveals.html … dance scenes in rock art in South Africa have been mentioned many times in the past. They depict San people at play, or dancing in ceremony. Some of it appears to be trance dance. Not a new idea but one that has been resurrected in a new line of research. The study of San culture prior to the arrival of Bantu farmers and European settlers. The researchers wish to analyse dance scenes as ethnographic information – or data. In order to study the scenes in a musical and iconographic nature. Bit of a mouthful – but this is anthropology. The most commonly depicted is where male dancers perform in a circle around women who are clapping and sing in accompaniment.