Archaeology
- Archaeology
Ancient South American populations dipped due to an erratic climate
Scientists link bouts of intense rainfall and drought around 8,600 to 6,000 years ago to declining numbers of South American hunter-gatherers.
- Archaeology
An ancient pouch reveals the hallucinogen stash of an Andes shaman
South American shamans in the Andes Mountains carried mind-altering ingredients 1,000 years ago, a study finds.
- Archaeology
Excavations show hunter-gatherers lived in the Amazon more than 10,000 years ago
Early foragers may have laid the foundation for farming’s ascent in South America’s tropical forests.
- Archaeology
Ancient sculptors made magnetic figures from rocks struck by lightning
Carved ‘potbelly’ stone sculptures suggest people in what’s now Guatemala knew about magnetism more than 2,000 years ago.
- Archaeology
Newly translated Cherokee cave writings reveal sacred messages
Cherokee inscriptions highlight the tribe’s rituals nearly 200 years ago in what’s now a tourist cave in Alabama.
- Archaeology
‘Cities’ reveals common ground between ancient and modern urban life
In the book ‘Cities,’ archaeologist Monica Smith sees the positives in past and present metropolises.
- Archaeology
The oldest known astrolabe was used on one of Vasco da Gama’s ships
A navigational device for taking altitudes at sea was found in a Portuguese shipwreck in the Arabian Sea and dates back to 1496.
- Archaeology
A 2,000-year-old tattoo tool is the oldest in western North America
The artifact is made of two pigment-stained cactus spines, and has been sitting in storage since its discovery in 1972.
- Archaeology
Ancient Angkor’s mysterious decline may have been slow, not sudden
Analyzing sediment from the massive city’s moat challenges the idea that the last capital of the Khmer Empire collapsed suddenly.
- Archaeology
Tooth plaque shows drinking milk goes back 3,000 years in Mongolia
The hardened plaque on teeth is helping scientists trace the history of dairying in Mongolia.
- Archaeology
The spread of Europe’s giant stone monuments may trace back to one region
Megaliths spread across the continent due to seafarers’ influence, researcher says.
- Genetics
DNA reveals early mating between Asian herders and European farmers
A new genetic analysis could upend assumptions about the origins of Indo-European languages.
