Anthropology

Anthropology

The gene that came to stay

A gene thought by some scientists to foster a bold, novelty-seeking personality, as well as attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD), apparently spread substantially in human populations over roughly the past 40,000 years.

Anthropology

Evolving in Their Graves

Understanding what early, rudimentary burials meant to modern humans' antecedents—assuming early humans did, in fact, bury their dead—could help anthropologsts untangle a lasting mystery of human evolution.

Anthropology

Human evolution put brakes on tooth growth

A new analysis of fossil teeth indicates that the slower pace of dental development observed in people today dates back only about 100,000 years.

Anthropology

Humans in eastern Asia show ancient roots

Human ancestors lived in northeastern Asia about 1.36 million years ago, making it the oldest confirmed occupation site in eastern Asia.

Anthropology

Isotopes reveal sources of ancient timbers

Isotopic analysis of architectural timbers from ancient dwellings in the U.S. Southwest has shown from which distant forests the massive logs came.

Anthropology

Neandertals show ancient signs of caring

A partial jaw unearthed in France indicates that Neandertals extensively cared for sick and infirm comrades beginning nearly 200,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Earliest Ancestor Emerges in Africa

Scientists have found 5.2- to 5.8-million-year-old fossils in Ethiopia that represent the earliest known members of the human evolutionary family.

Anthropology

Human fossils tell a fish tale

Fossil clues indicate that Stone Age humans ate a considerable amount of seafood, giving them a broader and more resilient diet than that of Neandertals.

Anthropology

Early agriculture flowered in Mexico

Mexico may have served as a center of early plant domestication in the Americas, according to researchers who have excavated a site near Mexico's Gulf Coast.

Anthropology

Evolution’s Youth Movement

The fossils of ancient children may provide insights into the evolution of modern Homo sapiens.

Anthropology

Peru Holds Oldest New World City

Construction of massive ceremonial buildings and residential areas at a Peruvian site began 4,000 years ago, making it the earliest known city in the Americas.

Anthropology

Human ancestors made ancient entry to Java

Layers of hardened volcanic ash on the Indonesian island of Java have yielded evidence that Homo erectus reached eastern Asia by 1.5 million years ago and remained there until about 1 million years ago.