All Stories by Tom Metcalfe
- Archaeology
A new study questions when people first reached South America
Data suggest people lived at Chile’s Monte Verde site thousands of years later than thought, challenging key “pre-Clovis” evidence. Not all agree.
- Anthropology
Mosquitoes began biting humans more than a million years ago
A DNA analysis suggests mosquitoes shifted from nonhuman primates to early humans nearly 2 million years ago.
- Planetary Science
Venus has a massive lava tube
A collapsed lava tube detected in 30-year-old radar data from Venus may be part of a much wider network of underground caves.
- Archaeology
Iron Age mass grave may hold unusual victims: mostly women and children
A land dispute may have led to the massacre 3,000 years ago, suggesting Europe’s transition to farming wasn’t always peaceful.
- Archaeology
AI helps archaeologists solve a Roman gaming mystery
Researchers used AI-driven virtual players to test more than 100 rule sets, matching gameplay to wear patterns on a Roman limestone board.
- Archaeology
The world’s oldest piece of clothing might be an Ice Age–era hide from Oregon
Two pieces of elk hide connected by a twisted-fiber cord are the earliest evidence of sewing. But what they were used for is still a mystery.
- Archaeology
This ancient stick may be the world’s oldest handheld wooden tool
These 430,000-year-old wooden tools from Greece are a rare find and provide a glimpse at the technical know-how of our early human ancestors.
- Anthropology
This hand stencil in Indonesia is now the oldest known rock art
The work suggests early Homo sapiens developed enduring artistic practices as they moved through the islands of Southeast Asia.
- Archaeology
This ancient pottery holds the earliest evidence of humans doing math
Flower designs on 8,000-year-old Mesopotamian pots reveal a “mathematical knowledge” perhaps developed to share land and crops, archaeologists say.
- Archaeology
60,000-year-old poison arrowheads show early humans’ skillful hunting
A new analysis uncovers traces of poison on the South African arrowheads, pushing back the timeline for poisoned weapons by more than 50,000 years.
- Anthropology
Big Neandertal noses weren’t made for cold
Tiny cameras threaded inside a Neandertal skull provide evidence that their big noses were not an adaptation to cold climates.
- Archaeology
12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past
Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.
