Anthropology

Archaeology

Ancient, engraved stones may have been buried to summon the sun

Members of a Stone Age culture in Denmark may have ritually buried stones to counter the effects of a volcanic eruption.

Anthropology

Britain’s largest ancient massacre may have included cannibalism

Bones recovered from a natural shaft unveil a 4,000-year-old massacre of men, women and children, possibly part of a cycle of revenge killings.

Anthropology

Humans have linked emotions to the same body parts for 3,000 years

3,000-year-old clay tablets show that some associations between emotion and parts of the body have remained the same for millennia.

Humans

Dietary evidence bolsters Clovis hunters’ reputation as mammoth killers

Mammoths made up as much as 40 percent of the ancient North Americans’ diet, a chemical analysis of human remains reveals.

Anthropology

Footprints offer a rare look at ancient human relatives crossing paths

The imprints put flat-footed and arched-foot walkers together at a prime spot in East Africa.

Anthropology

Fossil teeth hint at a surprisingly early start to humans’ long childhoods

Signs of temporarily delayed tooth development in the skull of an ancient Homo species youth spark debate about the origins of humanlike growth.

Anthropology

How does a fossil become a superstar? Just ask Lucy.

Geologic good fortune, skilled scientific scrutiny and a catchy name turned Lucy into an evolutionary icon.

Anthropology

The ‘midlife crisis’ is too simple a story, scientists say

Some scientists want to shift focus to the teen mental health crisis. But the course of happiness is too complex for simplistic theories, experts warn.

Psychology

Navigation research often excludes the environment. That’s starting to change

Participants “navigating” on a lab computer have shaped navigation knowledge. Studies that add in the environment challenge those findings.

Archaeology

Ancient Scythians had cultural roots in Siberia

A possible sacrificial ritual from around 2,800 years ago suggests mounted herders from Siberia shaped a Eurasian culture thousands of kilometers away.

Anthropology

Fossils of an extinct animal may have inspired this cave art drawing

Unusual tusks on preserved skulls of dicynodonts influenced the look of a mythical beast painted by Southern Africa’s San people, a researcher suspects.

Anthropology

Ancient DNA unveils a previously unknown line of Neandertals

DNA from a partial skeleton found in France indicates that European Neandertals consisted of at least two genetically distinct populations.