Archaeology
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Anthropology
‘The Five-Million-Year Odyssey’ reveals how migration shaped humankind
A globe-trotting trek through history shows how past population migrations changed the course of human biology and culture.
