Anthropology
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Humans
Human ancestor Lucy celebrates 40th anniversary
Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson recalls the discovery 40 years ago of the human ancestor known as Lucy.
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Genetics
Easter Islanders sailed to Americas, DNA suggests
Genetic ties among present-day populations point to sea crossings centuries before European contact with Easter Island.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Oldest human DNA narrows time of Neandertal hookups
A 45,000-year-old Siberian bone provides genetic clues about the timing of interbreeding between ancient humans and Neandertals.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Ancient Greek shipwreck found to be world’s largest
Special diving suits enable discovery that much of a nearly 2,100-year-old Greek vessel and its cargo survive.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Indonesian stencils rival age of Europe’s early cave art
Hand prints outlined in pigment were made in Southeast Asia at least 39,900 years ago, making the paintings about the same age as European cave art.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Mysterious foreigner may have ruled ancient Maya kingdom
Bone chemistry suggests one of the early rulers of the Maya kingdom Copan and his retainers had foreign credentials.
By Bruce Bower -
Archaeology
Ancient stone-tool making method arose multiple times
Hominids in both Africa and Eurasia independently invented a flake-tool technique hundreds of thousands of years ago, countering a long-held idea in archaeology.
By Meghan Rosen -
Planetary Science
Feedback
Readers discuss sources of stress in everyday life and tell us what they think about NASA's plan to nab an asteroid.
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Anthropology
Strategy, not habitat loss, leads chimps to kill rivals
Human impacts on chimpanzees have not increased their violence.
By Bruce Bower -
Ecosystems
Artifacts, fossils tell story of changes to Egypt’s animals
Ancient Egyptian artifacts and fossils from the Nile Valley show a correlation between species extinctions and a growing human population in a drying climate.
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Archaeology
More signs emerge of New World settlers before 20,000 years ago
Controversial stone tools of pre-Clovis humans have been excavated in South America.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Siberians came to North American Arctic in two waves
Siberian ancestors of the modern-day Inuit replaced a 4,000-year-old North American Arctic culture, a DNA study reveals.
By Bruce Bower