Anthropology

Humans

Ancient hominid had an unusual diet

A long-extinct member of the human evolutionary family had an uncommon taste for grasses and sedges.

Humans

An ancient civilization’s wet ascent, dry demise

Cave data suggest that ancient rainfall patterns swayed the course of Classic Maya societies.

Humans

Ancient blades served as early weapons

African find reveals complex toolmaking 71,000 years ago.

Humans

Shoulder fossil may put Lucy’s kind up a tree

Fossils of an ancient child suggest the more than 3-million-year-old hominid mixed climbing with walking.

Math

Living longer comes easier

Human longevity is largely a modern phenomenon.

Humans

Human-Neandertal mating gets a new date

Late Stone Age interbreeding between Neandertals and people may have left a mark on Europeans’ DNA.

Humans

In New Guinea, peace comes with a price

Conflict resolution in small-scale societies may have contributed to declines in state-sponsored violence.

Humans

Feather finds hint at Neandertal art

Plumage found at ancient sites may indicate capability for abstract thought among humans’ Stone Age cousins.

Humans

Herders, not farmers, built Stonehenge

Farming’s temporary demise in ancient Britain may have spurred the creation of the iconic stone circle.

Humans

Language family may have Anatolian origins

Major language family started in Anatolia 8,000 years ago or more, a contentious analysis concludes.

Humans

Good times led to grisly custom

Ancient Chileans developed artificial mummification after an increase in the numbers of living and dead people made naturally preserved bodies hard to ignore.

Humans

New fossils hint at ancestral split

Jaw and face bones suggest two Homo species lived in East Africa nearly 2 million years ago.