Archaeology

Humans

Quarrying stone for Easter Island statues made soil more fertile for farming

Easter Island’s Polynesian society grew crops in soil made especially fertile by the quarrying of rock for large, humanlike statues, a study suggests.

Archaeology

Ancient European households combined the rich and poor

Homes combined “haves” and “have-nots” in a male-run system, suggests a study that challenges traditional views of ancient social stratification.

Archaeology

Baby bottles may go back millennia in Europe

Europe’s early farmers used spouted vessels to wean infants, an analysis of residue from animal milk left in the containers suggests.

Humans

An island grave site hints at far-flung ties among ancient Americans

Great Lakes and southeastern coastal hunter-gatherers had direct contact around 4,000 years ago, a study suggests.

Humans

The longest Dead Sea Scroll sports a salt finish that the others lack

A newly discovered salty lamination on the Temple Scroll could help explain why the ancient manuscript’s parchment is remarkably bright.

Humans

DNA indicates how ancient migrations shaped South Asian languages and farming

Farming in the region may have sprung up locally, while herders from afar sparked language changes.

Humans

Stone tools may place some of the first Americans in Idaho 16,500 years ago

Newly discovered stone artifacts support the idea that North America’s first settlers traveled down the Pacific coast and then turned eastward.

Humans

Textile archaeologists use ancient tools to weave a tapestry of the past

Using tools leftover from ancient spindles and looms, textile archaeologists are starting to understand the fabrics of the past.

Humans

India’s Skeleton Lake contains the bones of mysterious European migrants

Not all of the hundreds of skeletons found at a north Indian lake are from the same place or period. What killed any of these people is still unknown.

Humans

Engraved bones reveal that symbolism had ancient roots in East Asia

Denisovans might have etched line patterns on two animal bone fragments more than 100,000 years ago in what’s now northern China.

Anthropology

Ancient Maya warfare flared up surprisingly early

Extreme conflicts broke out well before the decline of the Maya civilization, researchers say.

Archaeology

Satellites are transforming how archaeologists study the past

In ‘Archaeology from Space,’ Sarah Parcak takes readers on a lively tour of the past, and archaeology of the 21st century.