Anthropology
Big Neandertal noses weren’t made for cold
Tiny cameras threaded inside a Neandertal skull provide evidence that their big noses were not an adaptation to cold climates.
Anthropology
More Stories in Anthropology
- Anthropology
Two tiny genetic shifts helped early humans walk upright
Scientists have linked bipedalism to changes in how the human pelvis developed millions of years ago.
- Anthropology
DNA reveals Neandertals traveled thousands of kilometers into Asia
DNA and stone tool comparisons suggest Eastern European Neandertals trekked 3,000 kilometers to Siberia, where they left a genetic and cultural mark.
- Humans
An ancient bone recasts how Indigenous Australians treated megafauna
A new look at cuts on a giant kangaroo bone reveal First Peoples as fossil collectors, not hunters who helped drive species extinct, some scientists argue.
- Science & Society
Our relationship with alcohol is fraught. Ancient customs might inspire a reset
As evidence of alcohol's harms mounts, some people are testing out sobriety. Look to ancient civilizations' ways for a reset, scholars suggest.
- Anthropology
What Jane Goodall taught me about bones, loss and not wasting anything
A personal reflection recalls Jane Goodall’s quiet pragmatism, her deep bond with Gombe’s chimps and the scientific legacy of her skeletal collection.
- Archaeology
12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past
Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.
- Anthropology
An ancient Chinese skull might change how we see our human roots
Digital reconstruction of a partially crushed skull suggests new insight into Homo sapiens’ evolutionary relationship to Denisovans and Neandertals.
- Anthropology
The oldest known mummies have been found — in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asian groups mummified bodies over smoky fires before burying them as early as 12,000 years ago, long before Egyptians began making mummies.
- Anthropology
A 104-centimeter-long hair could rewrite recordkeeping in Inca society
Analysis of the hair used in a knotted device reveals the owner’s simple diet. That suggests commoners, not just the elite, kept records in Inca society.
