Archaeology

Humans

Aerial radar sizes up ancient urban sprawl

Angkor, the capital of Cambodia's Khmer empire, included carefully planned  suburbs that spread across the landscape.

Archaeology

Ancient Siberians may have rarely hunted mammoths

Occasional kills by Stone Age humans could not have driven creatures to extinction, researchers say.

Archaeology

Italians taught French wine-making

Archaeology suggests Etruscans brought the grape to Gaul.

Humans

Maya civilization’s roots may lie in ritual

Cultural exchanges in southern Mexico and Guatemala tied to ancient society's rise.

Humans

Disputed finds put humans in South America 22,000 years ago

Brazilian site may have been home to people before the Clovis hunters.

Humans

Ancient people and Neandertals were extreme travelers

Stone Age folk were built for journeying farther than even the most active individuals today.

Humans

Radial routes ran outside Mesopotamia

Cold War–era imagery reveals transportation networks extended throughout Middle East.

Archaeology

A king’s final hours, told by his mortal remains

The skeleton of Richard III reveals a violent and chaotic end for a controversial English monarch.

Humans

Pots bear oldest signs of cheese making

Some of Europe’s first farmers created perforated vessels to separate curds from whey.

Earth

Mexican silver made it into English coins

Chemical tests of currency help reveal where New World riches flowed.

Humans

Oldest examples of hunting weapon uncovered in South Africa

A common ancestor of people and Neandertals may have flung stone-tipped shafts at animal prey.

Humans

An ancient civilization’s wet ascent, dry demise

Cave data suggest that ancient rainfall patterns swayed the course of Classic Maya societies.