Anthropology
- Anthropology
Ancient footprints suggest a mysterious hominid lived alongside Lucy’s kind
A previously unknown hominid species may have left its marks in muddy ash about 3.66 million years ago in what is now East Africa.
- Anthropology
Ancient giant orangutans evolved smaller bodies surprisingly slowly
Fossil teeth from Chinese caves indicate that a single, ancient orangutan species gradually trimmed down over nearly 2 million years.
- Anthropology
‘The Dawn of Everything’ rewrites 40,000 years of human history
A new book recasts human social evolution as multiple experiments with freedom and domination that started in the Stone Age.
- Anthropology
A child’s partial skull adds to the mystery of how Homo naledi treated the dead
The isolated discovery of a Homo naledi child’s skull fragments and teeth plays into idea that small-brained species ritually placed the dead in caves.
- Humans
Ancient human visitors complicate the Falkland Islands wolf’s origin story
Scientists have debated how the Falkland Islands’ only land mammal journeyed to the region: by a long-ago land bridge or with people.
- Genetics
DNA from mysterious Asian mummies reveals their surprising ancestry
Ancient DNA indicates that an enigmatic Bronze Age group consisted of genetic, but not cultural, loners.
- Anthropology
Lasers reveal construction inspired by ancient Mexican pyramids in Maya ruins
Archaeologists have uncovered structures in Guatemala that are remarkably similar to La Ciudadela and its temple at the ancient city of Teotihuacan.
- Archaeology
The earliest evidence of tobacco use dates to over 12,000 years ago
Burned seeds at an archaeological site in Utah hint at tobacco’s popularity long before it was domesticated.
- Anthropology
How catching birds bare-handed may hint at Neandertals’ hunting tactics
By pretending to be Neandertals, researchers show that the ancient hominids likely had the skills to easily hunt crowlike birds called choughs.
- Anthropology
50 years ago, X-rays revealed what ancient Egyptians kept under wraps
In the 1970s, scientists used X-rays to unravel mummy secrets. Now, advances in technology are providing unprecedented views of ancient Egyptians.
- Anthropology
‘Ghost tracks’ suggest people came to the Americas earlier than once thought
Prehistoric people’s footprints show that humans were in North America during the height of the last ice age, researchers say.
- Humans
Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins
Paleoanthropologists have sketched a rough timeline of how human evolution played out, centering the early action in Africa.
