Anthropology
- 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.
- 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.
- Anthropology
‘Java Man’ takes age to extremes
New dating of Indonesian strata has produced unexpected results.
- Anthropology
Partial skeletons may represent new hominid
Partial skeletons may represent a new hominid species with implications for Homo origins, one researcher claims. But many of his peers disagree.
- Anthropology
Inca cemetery holds brutal glimpses of Spanish violence
Bones from a 500-year-old cemetery have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca death at Spaniards’ hands.
- Anthropology
Ancient footprints yield oldest signs of upright gait
Human ancestors may have been walking with an efficient, extended-leg technique by 3.6 million years ago.
- Anthropology
Farming’s rise cultivated fair deals
A cross-cultural study suggests that the spread of farming unleashed a revolution in concepts of fairness and punishment.
- Anthropology
Ancient DNA points to additional New World migration
Scientists have extracted a nearly complete genome from the hairs of a 4,000-year-old man, suggesting a new scenario for Asian migrations into the New World.
- Anthropology
‘Modern’ humans get an ancient, nonhuman twist
Two new reports suggest that hominids other than Homo sapiens made complex stone tools and fancy necklaces.
- Anthropology
Stone Age campers set up separate activity areas
Hominids displayed advanced organizational thinking almost 800,000 years ago
- Anthropology
Ancient Maya king shows his foreign roots
Copán’s first king may have been part of a colonial expansion by another, distant Maya kingdom.
- Anthropology
Contested signs of mass cannibalism
A new study yields controversial evidence of mass cannibalism in central Europe 7,000 years ago.
