Anthropology
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Humans
Deep African roots for toolmaking method
A method for trimming stone-tool edges appeared 75,000 years ago in southern Africa, archaeologists contend, long before previous evidence of the practice.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Ancient New Guinea settlers headed for the hills
Humans had reached the rugged land by sea and quickly adapted to the mile-high forested interior by nearly 50,000 years ago, stone tools and plant remains indicate.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Neandertals blasted out of existence, archaeologists propose
An eruption may have wiped out Neandertals in Europe and western Asia, clearing the region for Stone Age Homo sapiens.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Clues to child sacrifices found in Inca building
Children killed in elaborate rituals were drawn from all over the South American empire, new research suggests.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Prehistoric ‘Iceman’ gets ceremonial twist
Rather than dying alone high in the Alps, Ötzi may have been ritually buried there, a new study suggests.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Genome of a chief
Ancient DNA experts say they are analyzing a lock of Sitting Bull's hair.
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Archaeology
Lucy’s kind used stone tools to butcher animals
Animal bones found in East Africa show the oldest signs of stone-tool use and meat eating by hominids.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Lucy fossil gets jolted upright by Big Man
Scientists have unearthed a 3.6-million-year-old partial hominid skeleton that may recast the iconic species as humanlike walkers.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Contested evidence pushes Ardi out of the woods
A controversial new investigation suggests that the ancient hominid lived on savannas, not in forests.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Lice hang ancient date on first clothes
Genetic analysis puts garment origin at 190,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
Hobbit debate goes out on some limbs
A new analysis of fossil hobbits’ limb bones links them to much earlier hominids, and immediately attracts criticism.
By Bruce Bower -
Anthropology
For ancient hominids, thumbs up on precision grip
An analysis of a 6-million-year-old bone indicates that a humanlike grasp evolved among some of the earliest hominids.
By Bruce Bower