Feature Anthropology

Ancient kids’ toys have been hiding in the archaeological record

spinning disk

A SPIN ON PLAY  An ancient spinning disk (reconstruction shown) found in what's now southwestern France may have been a children's toy.

St-Germain-en-Laye

By Bruce Bower

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Anthropology

  1. ancient bone tool
    Anthropology

    Homo erectus, not humans, may have invented the barbed bone point

    By Bruce Bower
  2. workers standing at a drilling site in Kenya's Koora basin
    Anthropology

    How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable

    By Bruce Bower
  3. Neandertal partial skeleton
    Anthropology

    Neandertal babies had stocky chests like their parents

    By Bruce Bower
  4. bones from ancient Iberian massacre
    Archaeology

    Bones from an Iron Age massacre paint a violent picture of prehistoric Europe

    By Curtis Segarra
  5. Ancient human footprints from the Arabian Peninsula
    Anthropology

    Seven footprints may be the oldest evidence of humans on the Arabian Peninsula

    By Bruce Bower
  6. photo of a gibbon looking at the camera
    Anthropology

    A stray molar is the oldest known fossil from an ancient gibbon

    By Bruce Bower
  7. Maya sculpture of woman holding child
    Humans

    Ancient sculptures hint at universal facial expressions across cultures

    By Bruce Bower
  8. Kid hanging upside down on a jungle gym
    Anthropology

    Better playground design could help kids get more exercise

    By Emily Anthes

From the Nature Index

Paid Content