Archaeology
- Archaeology
How the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war in the 1960s
50 years after the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war, another possible scroll cave offered tantalizing new clues.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
The story of humans’ origins got a revision in 2017
Human evolution may have involved the gradual assembly of scattered skeletal traits, fossils of Homo naledi and other species show.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Strong-armed women helped power Europe’s ancient farming revolution
Intensive manual labor gave ancient farm women arms that female rowers today would envy.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Hidden hoard hints at how ancient elites protected the family treasures
A secret stash at an ancient site in Israel called Megiddo illuminates the Iron Age practice of hoarding wealth.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Skeletons could provide clues to who wrote or protected the Dead Sea Scrolls
Skeletons suggest a group of celibate men inhabited Dead Sea Scrolls site.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
How Asian nomadic herders built new Bronze Age cultures
Ancient steppe herders traveled into Europe and Asia, leaving their molecular mark and building Bronze Age cultures.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Ancient European farmers and foragers hooked up big time
Interbreeding escalated in regionally distinct ways across Neolithic Europe.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Mystery void is discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza
High-energy particle imaging helps scientists peek inside one of the world’s oldest, largest monuments.
- Archaeology
Europe’s Stone Age fishers used beeswax to make a point
Late Stone Age Europeans made spears with beeswax adhesive.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Christina Warinner uncovers ancient tales in dental plaque
Molecular biologist Christina Warinner studies calculus, or fossilized dental plaque, which contains a trove of genetic clues to past human diet and disease.
- Anthropology
The rise of agricultural states came at a big cost, a new book argues
In ‘Against the Grain,’ a political scientist claims early states took a toll on formerly mobile groups’ health and happiness.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Skeleton ignites debate over whether women were Viking warriors
Scientists spar over a 10th century woman who may have had serious fight in her.
By Bruce Bower