A study shows that the earliest human inhabitants of Moxos plains began transforming the tropical savanna eco-region in Bolivia 10,000 years ago, that is 8,000 earlier than previously thought.
The study was conducted by scientists from Bern in cooperation with universities in Britain, Spain and the United States.
The study involved an unprecedented large-scale regional analysis of more than 60 archaeological sites, according to the university statement.
Samples were retrieved from 30 forest islands and archaeological excavations were carried out in four of them.
“Until this recent study, scientists had neither searched for, nor excavated, old archaeological sites in this region that might document the pre-Columbian domestication of these globally important crops,” says Umberto Lombardo from Bern university.
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Swiss scientists identify bowstring used by Ötzi the Iceman
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Swiss scientists have established that a cord found next to the body of Neolithic hunter Ötzi the Iceman was a bowstring.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
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Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
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TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
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The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
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The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
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China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
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A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
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The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
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Earliest high mountain settlement identified in Ethiopia
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An international team with Swiss participation discovered the oldest high mountain dwelling at an altitude of almost 3,500 metres in Ethiopia’s Bale mountains. The archaeological find revealed that the hunters made tools from obsidian and fed on giant mole rats, as the scientists reported in the academic journal “Science”. Charcoal remains also came to light during the excavations. The scientists…
Baby teeth reveal previously unknown ancient Siberians
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An international research group has found 31,000-year-old milk teeth – and a previously unknown population group in north-eastern Siberia.
Gene editing leads to faster production of food-friendly cassava
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Zurich researchers have used gene editing to develop a variant of the starchy tuber cassava that is much easier to process for the food industry.
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Herren, the subject of a new biography, tells swissinfo.ch how he managed to naturally control the bug using a method that involved shooting the insect’s natural enemy, a type of wasp, from aeroplanes across huge swathes of Africa. The scientist was only 31 when he took a job in the middle of a crisis: the…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.