Anthropology

Archaeology

Twisted textile cords may contain clues to Inca messages

A writing system from the 1700s may illuminate even older knotty Inca messages.

Anthropology

Water tubing accidents, table run-ins cause Neandertal-like injuries

People’s injury patterns today can’t explain how Neandertals got so many head wounds.

Archaeology

First settlers reached Americas 130,000 years ago, study claims

Mastodon site suggests first Americans arrived unexpectedly early.

Humans

Homo naledi’s brain shows humanlike features

South African Homo species had small but humanlike brain, scientists say.

Anthropology

Ötzi the Iceman froze to death

Copper Age Iceman froze to death, with shoulder and head damage.

Archaeology

Shock-absorbing spear points kept early North Americans on the hunt

Ancient Americans invented a way to make spear points last on an unfamiliar continent.

Archaeology

Stone Age hunter-gatherers tackled their cavities with a sharp tool and tar

Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers scraped and coated away tooth decay.

Anthropology

Neandertals had an eye for patterns

Neandertals carved notches in a raven bone, possibly to produce a pleasing or symbolic pattern, scientists say.

Archaeology

Ancient Romans may have been cozier with Huns than they let on

Nomadic Huns and Roman farmers shared ways of life on the Roman Empire’s fifth century frontier.

Archaeology

Ancient nomadic herders beat a path to the Silk Road

Herders’ mountain treks helped mold the Silk Road, an ancient, cross-continental trade network.

Anthropology

‘Monkeytalk’ invites readers into the complex social world of monkeys

In Monkeytalk, a primatologist evaluates what’s known about monkeys’ complex social lives in the wild.

Anthropology

Power may have passed via women in ancient Chaco Canyon society

DNA points to a 330-year-long reign of a maternal dynasty centered in New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon.