Anthropology

  1. Archaeology

    Barley elevated Central Asian farmers to ‘the roof of the world’

    Hardy western crops allowed villagers to settle in the cold, thin air atop the Tibetan Plateau.

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  2. Neuroscience

    A species of invention

    From early humans painting on cave walls to modern-day engineers devising ways to help people move better, the drive to innovate is simply part of who humans are.

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  3. 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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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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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  11. Anthropology

    Strategy, not habitat loss, leads chimps to kill rivals

    Human impacts on chimpanzees have not increased their violence.

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  12. 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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