Archaeology

  1. Earth

    Indigenous people may have created the Amazon’s ‘dark earth’ on purpose

    Modern Amazonians make nutrient-rich soil from ash, food scraps and burns. The soil strongly resembles ancient dark soils found in the region.

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  2. Anthropology

    Homo naledi may have lit fires in underground caves at least 236,000 years ago

    Homo naledi may have joined the group of ancient hominids who built controlled fires, presumably for light or warmth, new finds hint.

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  3. Archaeology

    A spider monkey’s remains tell a story of ancient diplomacy in the Americas

    A 1,700-year-old spider monkey skeleton unearthed at Teotihuacan in Mexico was likely a diplomatic gift from the Maya.

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  4. Anthropology

    Carvings on Australia’s boab trees reveal a generation’s lost history

    Archaeologists and an Aboriginal family are working together to rediscover a First Nations group’s lost connections to the land.

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  5. Archaeology

    Some Maya rulers may have taken generations to attract subjects

    Commoners slowly granted authority to kings at the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito, researchers suspect.

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  6. Archaeology

    50 years ago, Stonehenge’s purpose mystified scientists. It still does

    In 1972, scientists thought Stonehenge may have been a calendar. Today, we still don’t know its purpose, but we have gained insight on its origin.

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  7. Humans

    This ancient Canaanite comb is engraved with a plea against lice

    The Canaanite comb bears the earliest known instance of a complete sentence written in a phonetic alphabet, researchers say.

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  8. Archaeology

    King Tut’s tomb still has secrets to reveal 100 years after its discovery

    More of Tut’s story is poised to come to light in the coming years. Here are four things to know on the 100th anniversary of his tomb’s discovery.

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  9. Genetics

    Black Death immunity came at a cost to modern-day health

    A genetic variant that boosts Crohn’s disease risk may have helped people survive the 14th century bubonic plague known as the Black Death.

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  10. Archaeology

    Drone photos reveal an early Mesopotamian city made of marsh islands

    Urban growth around 4,600 years ago, near what is now southern Iraq, occurred on marshy outposts that lacked a city center.

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  11. Anthropology

    How mythology could help demystify dog domestication

    The path that dog myths took around the world closely parallels that of dog domestication, a new study finds.

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  12. Archaeology

    Indigenous Americans ruled democratically long before the U.S. did

    Oklahoma’s Muscogee people, among others, promoted rule by the people long before the U.S. Constitution was written.

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