Anthropology

Humans

Neandertals blasted out of existence, archaeologists propose

An eruption may have wiped out Neandertals in Europe and western Asia, clearing the region for Stone Age Homo sapiens.

Humans

Clues to child sacrifices found in Inca building

Children killed in elaborate rituals were drawn from all over the South American empire, new research suggests.

Anthropology

Prehistoric ‘Iceman’ gets ceremonial twist

Rather than dying alone high in the Alps, Ötzi may have been ritually buried there, a new study suggests.

Anthropology

Genome of a chief

Ancient DNA experts say they are analyzing a lock of Sitting Bull's hair.

Archaeology

Lucy’s kind used stone tools to butcher animals

Animal bones found in East Africa show the oldest signs of stone-tool use and meat eating by hominids.

Anthropology

Lucy fossil gets jolted upright by Big Man

Scientists have unearthed a 3.6-million-year-old partial hominid skeleton that may recast the iconic species as humanlike walkers.

Anthropology

Contested evidence pushes Ardi out of the woods

A controversial new investigation suggests that the ancient hominid lived on savannas, not in forests.

Anthropology

Lice hang ancient date on first clothes

Genetic analysis puts garment origin at 190,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Hobbit debate goes out on some limbs

A new analysis of fossil hobbits’ limb bones links them to much earlier hominids, and immediately attracts criticism.

Anthropology

For ancient hominids, thumbs up on precision grip

An analysis of a 6-million-year-old bone indicates that a humanlike grasp evolved among some of the earliest hominids.

Anthropology

‘Java Man’ takes age to extremes

New dating of Indonesian strata has produced unexpected results.

Anthropology

Partial skeletons may represent new hominid

Partial skeletons may represent a new hominid species with implications for Homo origins, one researcher claims. But many of his peers disagree.