Archaeology
- 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.
- Archaeology
‘Fruit from the Sands’ explores the Silk Road origins of apples, tea and more
A new book explains how many of today’s popular foods got started on Central Asia’s ancient Silk Road trade networks.
- Anthropology
Ancient humans used the moon as a calendar in the sky
Whether the moon was a timekeeper for early humans, as first argued during the Apollo missions, is still up for debate.
- Anthropology
East Asians may have been reshaping their skulls 12,000 years ago
An ancient skull-molding practice had a long history in northeastern Asia, researchers say.
- Archaeology
Peru’s famous Nazca Lines may include drawings of exotic birds
Pre-Inca people depicted winged fliers from far away in landscape art.
