Anthropology

Anthropology

Iceman mummy shares last meals

DNA analyses of food remains from the intestines of a 5,000-year-old mummified man found in Europe's Tyrolean Alps indicate that his last two meals included meat from mountain goats and red deer, as well as wild cereals.

Anthropology

Court releases ancient skeleton

A judge's decision gives scientists the right to study the 9,000-year-old skeleton dubbed Kennewick Man rather than turn the remains over to a coalition of Native American tribes for reburial.

Anthropology

Neandertals return at German cave site

Researchers who tracked down the location of a German cave where the first Neandertal skeleton was discovered in 1856 have unearthed new Neandertal finds.

Anthropology

Lost-and-Found Fossil Tot: Neandertal baby rises from French archive

The approximately 40,000-year-old skeleton of a Neandertal baby, filed and forgotten in a French museum for nearly 90 years, has been recovered by an anthropologist.

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

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

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.