Anthropology

  1. Archaeology

    Twisted textile cords may contain clues to Inca messages

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

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  2. 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.

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  3. Archaeology

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

    Mastodon site suggests first Americans arrived unexpectedly early.

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  4. Humans

    Homo naledi’s brain shows humanlike features

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

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  5. Anthropology

    Ötzi the Iceman froze to death

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

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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.

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  8. Anthropology

    Neandertals had an eye for patterns

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

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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