Anthropology
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Anthropology
Fossil finds amplify Europe’s status as a hotbed of great ape evolution
A kneecap and two teeth belonged to the smallest known great ape, a study contends. If so, it’s the first to coexist with another great ape in Europe.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
50 years ago, evidence showed that an extinct human ancestor walked upright
Fossil finds have since pushed back the ability of hominids to walk on two legs by millions of years.
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Anthropology
Ancient primates’ unchipped teeth hint that they ate mostly fruit
Of more than 400 teeth collected, just 21 were chipped, suggesting that early primate diets were soft on their choppers.
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Anthropology
Spanish horses joined Indigenous South Americans’ societies long before Europeans came to stay
By the early 1600s, hunter-gatherers at the continent’s southern tip adopted horses left behind by colonial newcomers, new finds suggest.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Ancient Maya power brokers lived in neighborhoods, not just palaces
Lidar discoveries and recent excavations are forcing archaeologists to rethink ancient Maya political structures.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
A mysterious ancient grave with a sword and mirror belonged to a woman
The items hint that she fought in or helped plan raids and defensive actions in what’s now southwestern England about 2,000 years ago, scientists speculate.
By Bruce Bower -
Psychology
Why scientists are expanding the definition of loneliness
Feeling detached from animals, places and routines can cause loneliness, researchers are learning, which may expand the list of interventions.
By Sujata Gupta -
Anthropology
Surprisingly long-lived wild female chimps go through menopause
Chimpanzees in Uganda are the first known example of wild, nonhuman primates experiencing the hormonal changes, raising questions about how menopause evolved.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Neandertals hunted cave lions at least 48,000 years ago
A new study reports the first direct evidence of Neandertals slaying the big cats, and the earliest evidence of any hominids killing a large predator.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Human footprints in New Mexico really may be surprisingly ancient, new dating shows
Two dating methods find that human tracks in White Sands National Park in New Mexico are roughly 22,000 years old, aligning with a previous estimate.
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Anthropology
Interlocking logs may be evidence of the oldest known wooden structure
Roughly 480,000-year-old wooden find from Zambia suggests early hominids were more skilled at structuring their environments than scientists realized.
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Anthropology
Extreme cold may have nearly wiped out human ancestors 900,000 years ago
Ancestral populations had rebounded by about 800,000 years ago, heralding the evolution of people today, a contested DNA analysis suggests.
By Bruce Bower