Anthropology
- Humans
Evolving an arch across the foot’s width helped hominids walk upright
The arch across the foot evolved at least 3.4 million years ago, possibly before the lengthwise arch. Both arches help humans to walk and run.
- Archaeology
An ancient skeleton from an underwater Mexican cave sheds light on early Americans
A nearly 10,000-year-old skeleton discovered in a submerged Mexican cave provides more clues to how and when people settled the Americas.
- Genetics
Ancient kids’ DNA reveals new insights into how Africa was populated
Four long-dead youngsters from west-central Africa have opened a window on humankind’s far-flung African origins.
- Anthropology
Neandertals dove and harvested clamshells for tools near Italy’s shores
The discovery of sharpened shells broadens the reputation of Stone Age human relatives: Neandertals weren’t just one-trick mammoth hunters.
- Humans
Homo erectus arrived in Indonesia 300,000 years later than previously thought
The extinct, humanlike hominid likely reached the island of Java by around 1.3 million years ago, a study finds.
- Anthropology
Homo erectus’ last known appearance dates to roughly 117,000 years ago
New evidence helps resolve a debate over how long ago Home erectus survived in what’s now Indonesia, a study finds.
- Science & Society
These science claims from 2019 could be big deals — if true
Some of this year’s most tantalizing scientific finds aren’t yet ready for a “best of” list.
- Humans
Mysterious Denisovans emerged from the shadows in 2019
Denisovan fossil and DNA finds this year highlighted the enigmatic hominid’s complexity and our own hybrid roots.
- Science & Society
A Dallas museum hosts rare hominid fossils from South Africa
Fossils of the South African hominids Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi are on display at the Perot Museum of Science and History in Dallas.
- Humans
The medieval Catholic Church may have helped spark Western individualism
Early Catholic Church decrees transformed families and may help explain why Western societies today tend to be individualistic and nonconformist.
- Humans
Fossils suggest tree-dwelling apes walked upright long before hominids did
A partial skeleton from an 11.6-million-year-old European ape still doesn’t answer how hominids adopted a two-legged gait.
- Archaeology
A toe bone hints that Neandertals used eagle talons as jewelry
An ancient eagle toe bone elevates the case for the use of symbolic bird-of-prey pendants among Neandertals, researchers say.
