Anthropology

Humans

Quarrying stone for Easter Island statues made soil more fertile for farming

Easter Island’s Polynesian society grew crops in soil made especially fertile by the quarrying of rock for large, humanlike statues, a study suggests.

Humans

Ancient DNA reveals the first glimpse of what a Denisovan may have looked like

A controversial technique reconstructs a teenage Denisovan’s physical appearance from genetics.

Humans

An island grave site hints at far-flung ties among ancient Americans

Great Lakes and southeastern coastal hunter-gatherers had direct contact around 4,000 years ago, a study suggests.

Humans

Culture helps shape when babies learn to walk

The culture in which a baby is raised can accelerate or slow down the development of early motor skills. Does it matter?

Humans

DNA indicates how ancient migrations shaped South Asian languages and farming

Farming in the region may have sprung up locally, while herders from afar sparked language changes.

Anthropology

This ancient Denisovan finger bone is surprisingly humanlike

Despite Neandertal ties, extinct hominids called Denisovans had a touching link to humans, a new study finds.

Humans

A 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy’s possible ancestors

A fossilized hominid skull found in an Ethiopian desert illuminates the earliest-known Australopithecus species.

Anthropology

A tiny skull fossil suggests primate brain areas evolved separately

Digital reconstruction of a fossilized primate skull reveals that odor and vision areas developed independently starting 20 million years ago or more.

Humans

India’s Skeleton Lake contains the bones of mysterious European migrants

Not all of the hundreds of skeletons found at a north Indian lake are from the same place or period. What killed any of these people is still unknown.

Anthropology

Ancient Maya warfare flared up surprisingly early

Extreme conflicts broke out well before the decline of the Maya civilization, researchers say.

Archaeology

Satellites are transforming how archaeologists study the past

In ‘Archaeology from Space,’ Sarah Parcak takes readers on a lively tour of the past, and archaeology of the 21st century.

Health & Medicine

Readers inquire about measles, vaccine hesitancy and more

Readers had questions about vaccine-hesitant parents, measles and DNA sequencing.