Anthropology

Anthropology

Lasers reveal construction inspired by ancient Mexican pyramids in Maya ruins

Archaeologists have uncovered structures in Guatemala that are remarkably similar to La Ciudadela and its temple at the ancient city of Teotihuacan.

Archaeology

The earliest evidence of tobacco use dates to over 12,000 years ago

Burned seeds at an archaeological site in Utah hint at tobacco’s popularity long before it was domesticated.

Anthropology

How catching birds bare-handed may hint at Neandertals’ hunting tactics

By pretending to be Neandertals, researchers show that the ancient hominids likely had the skills to easily hunt crowlike birds called choughs.

Anthropology

50 years ago, X-rays revealed what ancient Egyptians kept under wraps

In the 1970s, scientists used X-rays to unravel mummy secrets. Now, advances in technology are providing unprecedented views of ancient Egyptians.

Anthropology

‘Ghost tracks’ suggest people came to the Americas earlier than once thought

Prehistoric people’s footprints show that humans were in North America during the height of the last ice age, researchers say.

Humans

Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins

Paleoanthropologists have sketched a rough timeline of how human evolution played out, centering the early action in Africa.

Earth

This pictogram is one of the oldest known accounts of earthquakes in the Americas

The Telleriano-Remensis, a famous codex written by a pre-Hispanic civilization, describes 12 quakes that rocked the Americas from 1460 to 1542.

Anthropology

Stone Age humans or their relatives occasionally trekked through a green Arabia

Hominids periodically inhabited ancient Arabia starting around 400,000 years ago when lakes temporarily formed as a result of monsoons, a study finds.

Anthropology

Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex

Ancient DNA from a hunter-gatherer skeleton points to earlier-than-expected human arrivals on Southeast Asian islands known as Wallacea.

Archaeology

A 1,000-year-old grave may have held a powerful nonbinary person

A medieval grave in Finland, once thought to maybe hold a respected woman warrior, may belong to someone who didn’t have a strictly male or female identity.

Genetics

An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA

Genetic comparisons crown the Indigenous Ayta Magbukon people as having the most DNA, 5 percent, from the mysterious ancient hominids.

Psychology

Psychology has struggled for a century to make sense of the mind

Research into what makes us tick has been messy and contentious, but has led to intriguing insights.