Anthropology
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Anthropology
Homo erectus, not humans, may have invented the barbed bone point
Carved artifacts excavated from Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge suggest now-extinct hominids made barbed bone points long before humans did, researchers say.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable
An East African sediment core unveils ecological changes underlying a key Stone Age transition.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Neandertal babies had stocky chests like their parents
Our evolutionary relatives may have inherited short, deep rib cages from their ancient ancestors.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Bones from an Iron Age massacre paint a violent picture of prehistoric Europe
Bones left unburied, and in one case still wearing jewelry, after a massacre add to evidence that prehistoric Europe was a violent place.
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Anthropology
Seven footprints may be the oldest evidence of humans on the Arabian Peninsula
In what’s now desert, people and other animals stopped to drink at a lake more than 100,000 years ago, a new study suggests.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
A stray molar is the oldest known fossil from an ancient gibbon
A newly described tooth puts ancestors of these small-bodied apes in India roughly 13 million years ago.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Ancient sculptures hint at universal facial expressions across cultures
Interpreting the emotions carved onto sculptures from long ago offers a new way to study how humans perceive facial expressions.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Better playground design could help kids get more exercise
Playgrounds designed for imaginative play can make a difference in how much kids move
By Emily Anthes -
Genetics
South Americans may have traveled to Polynesia 800 years ago
DNA analyses suggest that Indigenous people from South America had a role in the early peopling of Polynesia.
By Bruce Bower -
Life
Scientists want to build a Noah’s Ark for the human microbiome
Just as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault protects global crop diversity, the Microbiota Vault may one day protect the microbes on and in our bodies.
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Genetics
The oldest genetic link between Asians and Native Americans was found in Siberia
DNA from a fragment of a 14,000-year-old tooth suggests that Native Americans have widespread Asian ancestry.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Africa’s biggest collection of ancient human footprints has been found
Preserved impressions in East Africa offer a glimpse of ancient human behavior.
By Bruce Bower