Archaeology

Archaeology

Easter Island people used sharpened stones as tools, not weapons

Sharp-edged stone tools enabled daily survival, not warfare, on Easter Island.

Archaeology

Babylonians used geometry to track Jupiter’s movements

Babylonians took a geometric leap to track Jupiter’s movements long before European astronomers did.

Archaeology

Humans visited Arctic earlier than thought

Human weapon injuries on mammoth bones show humans were in the Arctic up to 15,000 years earlier than researchers thought.

Archaeology

Ancient stone tools raise tantalizing questions over who colonized Sulawesi

Hominids reached an island not far from hobbits’ home by around 200,000 years ago.

Anthropology

Iceman has the world’s oldest tattoos

A more than 5,000-year-old European mummy gets his tattoos confirmed as world’s oldest.

Archaeology

Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites

Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, study finds.

Archaeology

Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites

Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, a study finds.

Archaeology

6,000-year-old skeletons in French pit came from victims of violence

Human bones in a French pit recall lethal conflicts and limb lopping 6,000 years ago.

Anthropology

People roamed tip of South America 18,500 years ago

Stone tools, charred animal bones and fire ash found at the Monte Verde site in Chile indicate people reached South America’s southernmost territory at least 18,500 years ago.

Archaeology

Search for fossils from the comfort of home

The citizen science website FossilFinder.org lets anyone with an Internet connection look for fossils and characterize rocks at Kenya’s Lake Turkana Basin

Archaeology

Mystery still surrounds Neandertals

Neandertals’ relationship to modern humans is still a matter of debate.

Archaeology

Honeybees sweetened early farmers’ lives

Residue on pottery pegs ancient farmers as devotees of honeybee products.