Anthropology

Anthropology

Encore for Evolutionary Small-Timers: Tiny human cousins get younger with new finds

Excavations in an Indonesian cave have yielded more fossils of short, upright creatures that lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Wild gorillas take time for tool use

Gorillas that balance on walking sticks and trudge across makeshift bridges have provided the first evidence of tool use among these creatures in the wild.

Anthropology

Genes tied to recent brain evolution

Two genes already known to influence brain size have undergone relatively recent, survival-enhancing modifications in people and appear to be still evolving.

Anthropology

Chimps to People: Apes show contrasts in genetic makeup

The first comparison of the chimpanzee genome to that of people has revealed new DNA disparities between ourselves and the primate species most closely related to us.

Anthropology

A Seasoned Ancient State: Chinese site adds salt to civilization’s rise

Analyses of remains from an ancient Chinese site situated along a river indicate that salt making occurred there as long as 4,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Reservoirs of Evolution: Rainy periods linked to human origins in Africa

Three phases of heavy rainfall in eastern Africa between 2.7 million and 900,000 years ago created deep lakes and might have played a critical role in the evolution of human ancestors.

Anthropology

The Human Wave

Anatomically modern people evolved in small groups of ancient Homo sapiens that never traveled too far but continually interbred with nearby groups, including other Homo species, creating a genetic wave that moved from Africa across Asia, a new model suggests.

Anthropology

People fired up Aussie extinctions

Early Australian settlers may have altered the continent's landscape around 50,000 years ago, leading to the extinction of many animal species.

Anthropology

Climate shift shaped Aussie extinctions

Stone Age people lived virtually side-by-side with now-extinct animals in western Australia for 6,000 years.

Anthropology

Faithful Ancestors

A controversial fossil analysis supports the view that, more than 3 million years ago, human ancestors living in eastern Africa favored long-term mating partnerships.

Anthropology

Carnivore conflicts gnaw at Neandertals

Discoveries in a French cave indicate that by about 41,000 years ago, Neandertals and hyenas competed for prey and for access to protected sites where they could safely consume their food.

Anthropology

Founding Families: New World was settled by small tribe

A new genetic analysis indicates that only about 200 to 300 people crossed the ice age land bridge from Asia to become the founding population of North America.