Anthropology

Anthropology

Gene change hints at brain evolution

A genetic mutation found only in humans first appeared around 2.8 million years ago, perhaps setting the stage for brain enlargement in the Homo lineage.

Anthropology

Ancient populations were game for growth

Archaeological evidence of a Stone Age shift in dietary preferences, from slow to swift small game, suggests that the human population rose sharply sometime between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Drowned land holds clue to first Americans

A map of a now-flooded region charts the path that Asians may have taken to first reach the Americas.

Anthropology

Evolution’s Surprise: Fossil find uproots our early ancestors

Researchers announced the discovery of a nearly complete fossil skull, along with jaw fragments and isolated teeth, from the earliest known member of the human evolutionary family, which lived in central Africa between 7 million and 6 million years ago.

Anthropology

Cultures of Reason

East Asian and Western cultures may encourage fundamentally different reasoning styles, rather than build on universal processes often deemed necessary for thinking.

Anthropology

Ishi’s Long Road Home

The reappearance of a California Indian's preserved brain, held at the Smithsonian Institution since 1917, triggers debate over the ethics of anthropological research and the repatriation process.

Anthropology

Searching for the Tree of Babel

Researchers are using new methods of comparing languages to reveal information about the ancestry of different cultural groups and answer questions about human history.

Anthropology

Attack of the Ancestor: Neandertals took a stab at violent assaults

The pieced-together fragments of a 36,000-year-old Neandertal skull reveal a bony scar caused by a blow from a sharp tool or weapon.

Anthropology

The DNA Divide: Chimps, people differ in brain’s gene activity

The distinctive looks and thinking styles of people and chimpanzees derive from the contrasting productivities of their similar DNA sequences.

Anthropology

Unified Erectus: Fossil suggests single human ancestor

A newly found fossil skull may clear up an ongoing debate about whether the human ancestor Homo erectus was a single or several species.

Anthropology

DNA Diaspora: Humanity may share tangled genetic roots

A controversial new genetic analysis concludes that Homo sapiens evolved by expanding out of Africa in multiple waves beginning at least 600,000 years ago and then interbreeding, rather than totally replacing close relatives such as the Neandertals.

Anthropology

A Fair Share of the Pie

A cross-cultural project suggests that people everywhere divvy up food and make other economic deals based on social concepts of fairness, not individual self-interest.