Archaeology
- Plants
50 years ago, a 550-year-old seed sprouted
Old seeds can sprout new plants even after centuries of dormancy.
- Archaeology
Laser mapping shows the surprising complexity of the Maya civilization
A large-scale lidar survey of Guatemalan forests reveals evidence of ancient, interconnected Maya cities.
- Archaeology
This South African cave stone may bear the world’s oldest drawing
The Stone Age line design could have held special meaning for its makers, a new study finds.
- Genetics
German skeletons hint that medieval warrior groups recruited from afar
Graveyard finds may come from an ancient European warrior household with political pull.
- Science & Society
Cheese found in an Egyptian tomb is at least 3,200 years old
Solid cheese preserved in an ancient Egyptian tomb may be the world’s oldest.
- Archaeology
The debate over people’s pathway into the Americas heats up
Defenders of an ice-free inland passage for early Americans make their case.
- Anthropology
Cremated remains reveal hints of who is buried at Stonehenge
Ancient stone monument held burials of people from more than 200 kilometers away, a new study suggests.
- Anthropology
Conflict reigns over the history and origins of money
Thousands of years ago, money took different forms as a means of debt payment, archaeologists and anthropologists say.
- Anthropology
How an ancient stone money system works like cryptocurrency
Money has ancient and mysterious pedigrees that go way beyond coins.
- Archaeology
Ötzi loaded up on fatty food before he died
A new analysis provides a complete picture of what was in Ötzi the Iceman’s stomach when he died.
- Archaeology
Texas toolmakers add to the debate over who the first Americans were
Stone toolmakers inhabited Texas more than 16,000 years ago, before Clovis hunters arrived.
- Archaeology
Stone tools put early hominids in China 2.1 million years ago
Newly discovered stone tools in China suggest hominids left Africa 250,000 years earlier than we thought.
