Archaeology

Archaeology

New Guinea’s Neolithic period may have started without outside help

Islanders on New Guinea experienced cultural changes sparked by farming about 1,000 years before Southeast Asians arrived, a study suggests.

Archaeology

The Nazareth Inscription’s origins may refute ties to Jesus’ resurrection

Chemical analysis shows the tablet’s marble came from a Greek island, challenging the idea the decree concerned early Christianity in the Middle East.

Archaeology

This is one of the largest Ice Age structures made of mammoth bones

A massive ring of mammoth bones, built by hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age, offers a peek at life 25,000 years ago.

Archaeology

An ancient ball court sheds light on a game made famous by the Aztecs

A 3,400-year-old ball court in the southern mountains of Mexico suggests many societies contributed to the development of an ancient, well-known Mesoamerican ball game.

Anthropology

An ancient social safety net in Africa was built on beads

A Stone Age network of communities across southern Africans was established using ostrich shell beads by around 33,000 years ago.

Anthropology

New fossils and artifacts show Homo erectus crafted a diverse toolkit

Ancient hominid made stone tools demanding a range of skills and planning, a study finds.

Archaeology

South Asian toolmaking withstood the biggest volcanic blast in 2 million years

Toolmakers continued to strike sharp-edged flakes as usual after a volcano’s colossal eruption around 74,000 years ago on what’s now Sumatra Island.

Archaeology

Ancient ‘megasites’ may reshape the history of the first cities

At least two ancient paths to urban development existed, some archaeologists argue.

Archaeology

New cave fossils have revived the debate over Neandertal burials

Part of a Neandertal’s skeleton was found in a hole dug in the same cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where the “flower burial” was found in 1960.

Archaeology

Food residues offer a taste of pottery’s diverse origins in East Asia

Clay pots emerged in different places and for different reasons, starting at least 16,000 years ago, a study suggests.

Archaeology

An ancient skeleton from an underwater Mexican cave sheds light on early Americans

A nearly 10,000-year-old skeleton discovered in a submerged Mexican cave provides more clues to how and when people settled the Americas.

Archaeology

Wasp nests provide the key to dating 12,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art

Dating wasp nest remnants found beneath and atop painted rock art in Australia suggests the pictures were made some 5,000 years later than thought.