Archaeology

Archaeology

Ancient bacterial DNA hints Europe’s Black Death started in Central Asia

Archaeological and genetic data pin the origins of Europe’s 1346–1353 bubonic plague to a bacterial strain found in graves in Asia from the 1330s.

Anthropology

A new origin story for domesticated chickens starts in rice fields 3,500 years ago

Chickens, popular on today’s menus, got their start in Southeast Asia surprisingly recently, probably as exotic or revered animals, researchers say.

Archaeology

Lasers reveal ancient urban sprawl hidden in the Amazon

South America’s Casarabe culture built a network of large and small settlements in what’s now Bolivia centuries before the Spanish arrived.

Archaeology

A special brew may have calmed Inca children headed for sacrifice

The mummified remains contained a substance that may reduce anxiety and is found in ayahuasca, a psychedelic ceremonial liquid still drunk today.

Humans

Prehistoric people may have used light from fires to create dynamic art

When brought near flickering flames, prehistoric stone engravings of animals seem to move, experiments with replicas and virtual reality show.

Archaeology

Ancient ‘smellscapes’ are wafting out of artifacts and old texts

In studying and reviving long-ago scents, archaeologists aim to understand how people experienced, and interpreted, their worlds through smell.

Particle Physics

Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures

Tracking travel patterns of subatomic particles called muons helps reveal the inner worlds of pyramids, volcanoes and more.

Archaeology

This hieroglyph is the oldest known record of the Maya calendar

Plaster fragments with the markings date to at least 200 B.C. and indicate that the calendar system, still used today, might be centuries older.

Anthropology

North America’s oldest skull surgery dates to at least 3,000 years ago

Bone regrowth suggests the man, who lived in what’s now Alabama, survived a procedure to treat brain swelling by scraping a hole out of his forehead.

Archaeology

Ancient seafarers built the Mediterranean’s largest known sacred pool

The Olympic-sized pool, once thought to be an artificial inner harbor, helped Phoenicians track the stars and their gods, excavations reveal.

Archaeology

Ancient Homo sapiens took a talent for cultural creativity from Africa to Asia

Excavations at two sites continents apart show that Stone Age hominids got culturally inventive starting nearly 100,000 years ago.

Archaeology

The world’s oldest pants stitched together cultures from across Asia

A re-creation of a 3,000-year-old horseman’s trousers helped scientists unravel its complex origins.