Anthropology
- Humans
Ancient walking gets weirder
Fossil footprints and bones suggest variations among human ancestors in upright gait and stance.
- Humans
From the ashes, the oldest controlled fire
A South Africa cave yields the oldest secure evidence for a blaze controlled by human ancestors.
- Humans
New ancestor grasped at walking
By 3.4 million years ago, two human relatives built differently for upright movement inhabited East Africa.
- Anthropology
Measure Your Giant Carefully And His Size Will Shrink
Ongoing controversy over a hobbitlike hominid.
- Humans
Evolution takes Asian refuge
Multiple humanlike species may have arisen in cold-weather retreats and then interbred with ancient people.
- Anthropology
Frozen mummy’s genetic blueprints unveiled
DNA study reveals the 5,300-year-old Iceman had brown eyes, Lyme disease and links to modern-day Corsicans and Sardinians.
- Humans
Shelters date to Stone Age
Middle Eastern foragers inhabited dwellings for months at a time around 20,000 years ago.
- Archaeology
Archaeoacoustics: Tantalizing, but fantastical
While compelling, findings lack scientific rigor.
- Humans
DNA highlights Native American die-off
A genetic analysis points to widespread New World deaths after Europeans arrived.
- Humans
Humans’ entry into Europe pushed earlier
Homo sapiens fossils from Italy and England point to an early arrival and a longer time living alongside Neandertals.
- Humans
Early farmers’ fishy menu
Northern Europeans retained a taste for aquatic foods after farmers arrived 6,000 years ago.
- Humans
Stone Age paint shop unearthed
The discovery of tools for making a substance possibly used in body decoration suggests humans could invent and plan by 100,000 years ago.
