Anthropology

Genetics

South Americans may have traveled to Polynesia 800 years ago

DNA analyses suggest that Indigenous people from South America had a role in the early peopling of Polynesia.

Life

Scientists want to build a Noah’s Ark for the human microbiome

Just as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault protects global crop diversity, the Microbiota Vault may one day protect the microbes on and in our bodies.

Genetics

The oldest genetic link between Asians and Native Americans was found in Siberia

DNA from a fragment of a 14,000-year-old tooth suggests that Native Americans have widespread Asian ancestry.

Anthropology

Africa’s biggest collection of ancient human footprints has been found

Preserved impressions in East Africa offer a glimpse of ancient human behavior.

Anthropology

The earliest known humans in Europe may have been found in a Bulgarian cave

New finds from Bulgaria point to a relatively rapid expansion of Homo sapiens into Eurasia starting as early as 46,000 years ago, two studies suggest.

Anthropology

16th century skeletons suggest the slave trade brought some diseases to Mexico

Slaves buried in a 16th century grave in Mexico had hepatitis B and yaws, suggesting the slave trade helped spread some versions of those diseases.

Anthropology

Skeletal damage hints some hunter-gatherer women fought in battles

Contrary to traditional views, women in North American hunter-gatherer societies and Mongolian herding groups likely weren’t all stay-at-home types.

Paleontology

Two primate lineages crossed the Atlantic millions of years ago

Peruvian primate fossils point to a second ocean crossing by a now-extinct group roughly 35 million to 32 million years ago.

Humans

Southern Africa may have hosted a hominid transition 2 million years ago

Braincases excavated from the Drimolen caves suggest Homo erectus and Paranthropus robustus may have coexisted in southern Africa.

Anthropology

Lucy’s species heralded the rise of long childhoods in hominids

Australopithecus afarensis had prolonged brain growth before the Homo genus appeared, but it still resulted in brains with chimplike neural structure.

Anthropology

This 300,000-year-old skull may be from an African ‘ghost’ population

The age of the mysterious Broken Hill fossil suggests it came from a hominid that lived around the same time as both Homo sapiens and H. naledi.

Archaeology

Neandertals’ extensive seafood menu rivals that of ancient humans

Finds from a coastal cave in Portugal reveal repeated ocean foraging for this European hominid.