'Martian Archaeologist' finds Face Carved in Pyramid

The YouTube channel "Martian Archaeology" has singled out a sphinx's face on a pyramidal rock formation on Mars - calling the photographs produced by NASA conclusive evidence of an ancient civilisation.

The 'Martian Archaeologist's' peculiar avocation involves scouring through NASA photo archives in an attempt to uncover convincing evidence of extraterrestrial life.

The photos in question were taken by the famous rover Curiosity which has hitherto found no evidence of life at all - even on a microscopic level. In recent months, however, evidence collected by Curiosity indicates that water may once have existed on Mars. The US Space Agency even suggested that large oceans may even have existed on the planet's surface.

But Martian Archaeology still isn't satisfied, and says that the NASA photo of the sphinx is part of a larger body of evidence which proves beyond doubt that an ancient civilisation once thrived on Mars.

We remain unconvinced.

Not many people purport to be able to explain the origin of the sphinx-face. Much less the mysterious red circle.

E&G Picks: New Exhibition Unveiled in China

A museum in north China's Hebei Province has unveiled a new exhibition consisting of ancient Buddhist statues and fragments, many of which are over 1,500 years old.

Having documented an excavation in Mes Aynak, Afghanistan of priest-king and buddhist statues (click here), the news from Hebei has made E&G staff particularly excited.

So much so that we've dispatched a member of our team on tour in China - we hope he'll be visiting the Hebei Province museum and report back to us.

For specialist insurance for archaeologists, click here.

Breaking News: Europeans are Descendants of "Fourth Tribe"

Modern Europeans are the genetic descendants of a recently discovered "fourth tribe", researchers have confirmed.

It was thought that Europeans are a mix of three distant populations: hunters; Middle Eastern farmers and easterners who arrived during the Bronze Age.

But Nature Communications has revealed that genetic material retrieved from a skeleton in the Caucasus points towards a fourth population which has contributed to the European gene pool. 

Genomes harvested from burial sites thanks to scientific advances has meant that more data about ancient humans can be collected - altering our conception of our genetic legacy. 

The 10,000 year old Georgian skeleton, from which the data was collected

Of the three tribes previously thought to have been the exclusive ancestors of modern Europeans, the hunter-gatherers were the first to arrive in Europe before the Ice Age.

The migration of Middle Easterners 33,000 years hence shifted the genetic paradigm and introduced agriculture to Europe. 4,000 years later the Yamnaya - a herder people whose genetic contribution is concentrated most voluminously in the modern Norwegian population - entered Europe from the Steppes.

This groundbreaking discovery means researchers are likely to be puzzling over where the "fourth tribe" fits into the genetic story of Europe for quite some time yet.