Archaeology
- Climate
A lush, green Arabian Desert may have once linked Africa and Asia
Mineral formations in caves reveal recurring periods of humidity in the Arabian Desert over the last 8 million years.
- Archaeology
Stone Age hunter-gatherers may have been surprisingly skilled seafarers
New archaeological finds in Malta add to an emerging theory that early Stone Age humans cruised the open seas.
- Archaeology
Ancient Arabian cymbals ring up Bronze Age musical connections
Copper instruments discovered at a 4,000-year-old site in Oman echo ritual influences from South Asia.
- Archaeology
Neandertal-like tools found in China present a mystery
A style of primitive stone tools named for the French site where they were first discovered have shown up half a world away.
- Archaeology
These ancient Maya-era puppets may have been used in rituals
The puppets, unearthed in El Salvador, have movable heads, strange facial expressions and may have been dressed for ritual roles.
- Archaeology
Human ancestors made the oldest known bone tools 1.5 million years ago
The excavation of bone tools at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania expands the range of ancient hominids’ cultural innovations.
- Archaeology
Mount Vesuvius turned this ancient brain into glass. Here’s how
Transforming the brain tissue to glass would have required an extremely hot and fast-moving ash cloud, lab experiments suggest.
- Archaeology
Humans moved into African rainforests at least 150,000 years ago
This oldest known evidence of people living in tropical forests supports an idea that human evolution occurred across Africa.
- Anthropology
An African strontium map sheds light on the origins of enslaved people
While genetic tests can reveal the ancestry of enslaved individuals, strontium analysis can now home in on where they actually grew up.
- Archaeology
Here’s how ancient Amazonians became master maize farmers
Casarabe people grew the nutritious crop year-round on savannas thanks to networks of drainage canals and ponds.
- Archaeology
Ancient, engraved stones may have been buried to summon the sun
Members of a Stone Age culture in Denmark may have ritually buried stones to counter the effects of a volcanic eruption.
- Genetics
Iron Age Celtic women’s social and political power just got a boost
Ancient DNA indicates women stayed in their home communities and married partners from outside the area.
