Archaeology

Anthropology

These human nerve cell tendrils turned to glass nearly 2,000 years ago

Part of a young man’s brain was preserved in A.D. 79 by hot ash from Mount Vesuvius’ eruption.

Anthropology

Mummified llamas yield new insights into Inca ritual sacrifices

Bound and decorated llamas, found at an Inca site in southern Peru, may have been buried alive as part of events in annexed territories.

Anthropology

How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable

An East African sediment core unveils ecological changes underlying a key Stone Age transition.

Archaeology

Bones from an Iron Age massacre paint a violent picture of prehistoric Europe

Bones left unburied, and in one case still wearing jewelry, after a massacre add to evidence that prehistoric Europe was a violent place.

Humans

Drones find signs of a Native American ‘Great Settlement’ beneath a Kansas pasture

An earthwork buried under a cattle ranch may be part of one of the largest Native American settlements ever established north of Mexico.

Archaeology

Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument

Scientists created a scale model one-twelfth the size of the ancient stone circle to study its acoustics.

Archaeology

X-rays reveal what ancient animal mummies keep under wraps

A new method of 3-D scanning mummified animals reveals life and death details for a snake, a bird and a cat.

Archaeology

The oldest known grass beds from 200,000 years ago included insect repellents

Found in South Africa, 200,000-year-old bedding remnants included fossilized grass, bug-repelling ash and once aromatic camphor leaves.

Archaeology

A submerged Inca offering hints at Lake Titicaca’s sacred role

Divers found a stone box holding a figurine and a gold item, highlighting Lake Titicaca’s sacred status to the Inca.

Archaeology

Ancient DNA suggests Vikings may have been plagued by smallpox

Viral genetic material from human remains provides direct evidence that smallpox infected people dating back to the year 603.

Archaeology

Stone artifacts hint that humans reached the Americas surprisingly early

Finds uncovered in a Mexican cave suggest North America may have had human inhabitants more than 30,000 years ago — way before archaeologists thought.

Archaeology

This 1.4-million-year-old hand ax adds to Homo erectus’ known toolkit

A newly described East African find, among the oldest bone tools found, shows the ancient hominids crafted a range of simple and more complex tools.