Anthropology
- Anthropology
Living Long in the Tooth: Grandparents may have rocked late Stone Age
A new analysis of fossil teeth indicates that the number of people surviving long enough to become grandparents dramatically increased about 30,000 years ago.
- Anthropology
Erectus Experiment: Fossil find expands Stone Age anatomy
A 930,000-year-old fossil cranium found in Africa widens the anatomical spectrum of Stone Age human ancestors and expands debate over how they evolved.
- Anthropology
Stone Age Ear for Speech: Ancient finds sound off on roots of language
Ancestors of Neandertals that lived at least 350,000 years ago heard the same range of sounds that people today do, suggesting that the ability to speak arose early in the Stone Age.
- Anthropology
Out on a Limb
The science of body development may make kindling out of evolutionary trees.
- Anthropology
Humanity’s Strange Face
New fossil finds in a Romanian cave fuel controversy over whether different, closely related species interbred on the evolutionary path that led to people.
- Anthropology
Neandertals may have grown up quickly
A new analysis of fossil teeth indicates that Neandertals grew to maturity at a faster pace than people do.
- Anthropology
‘Y guy’ steps into human-evolution debate
The common ancestor of today's males lived in Africa between 35,000 and 89,000 years ago, according to a contested DNA analysis.
- Anthropology
Rock-solid choices of first toolmakers
Human ancestors who took up stone toolmaking in Africa around 2.6 million years ago already showed a proclivity for choosing high-quality pieces of rock, a new study finds.
- Anthropology
Gene implicated in apes’ brain growth
A gene with poorly understood functions began to accumulate favorable mutations around 8 million years ago and probably contributed to brain expansion in ancient apes.
- Anthropology
Monkey Business
They're pugnacious and clever, and they have complex social lives—but do capuchin monkeys actually exhibit cultural behaviors?
- Anthropology
Evolution’s Lost Bite: Gene change tied to ancestral brain gains
In a controversial new report, a research team proposes that an inactivating gene mutation unique to people emerged around 2.4 million years ago and, by decreasing the size of jaw muscles, set the stage for brain expansion in our direct ancestors.
- Anthropology
Prehistoric Family Split: DNA puts Neandertals on edge of human ancestry
The largest sample of ancient mitochondrial DNA extracted from Stone Age fossils to date indicates that Neandertals made, at most, a small genetic contribution to our direct prehistoric ancestors.
