Anthropology
- Archaeology
Nearly 1-million-year-old European footprints found
Erosion temporarily unveils remnants of a Stone Age stroll along England’s coast.
By Bruce Bower - Genetics
Stone Age Spaniard had blue eyes, dark skin
Genetics of 7,000-year-old skeleton suggests blond hair, pale skin came later.
- Anthropology
Skulls from ancient London suggest ritual decapitations
The city’s Roman rulers had special watery places to keep the heads of military enemies or vanquished gladiators.
By Bruce Bower -
- Life
Neandertal genes point to interbreeding, inbreeding
DNA from 50,000 years ago underscores modest levels of mating across hominid populations.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
China trumps Near East for signs of most ancient farm cats
Earliest evidence found for grain as a force in feline domestication.
By Susan Milius - Archaeology
Easter Island’s farmers cultivated social resilience, not collapse
A Polynesian society often presumed to have self-destructed shows signs of having carried on instead.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Ancient hominid bone serves up DNA stunner
Spanish hominid fossil from 400,000 years ago reveals genetic ties to Asia’s mysterious Denisovans.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Little Red Riding Hood gets an evolutionary makeover
A statistical analysis attempts to track the rise of several widespread folktales.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Human ancestors threw stone-tipped spears at prey
African discoveries show that hunting weapons thrown from a distance appeared by 279,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Hunting boosts lizard numbers in Australian desert
Reptiles prefer to live in places aboriginal people have burned.
- Psychology
The bright side of sadness
Bad moods can have unappreciated mental upsides.
By Bruce Bower