Archaeology

Earth

Indigenous people may have created the Amazon’s ‘dark earth’ on purpose

Modern Amazonians make nutrient-rich soil from ash, food scraps and burns. The soil strongly resembles ancient dark soils found in the region.

Anthropology

Homo naledi may have lit fires in underground caves at least 236,000 years ago

Homo naledi may have joined the group of ancient hominids who built controlled fires, presumably for light or warmth, new finds hint.

Archaeology

A spider monkey’s remains tell a story of ancient diplomacy in the Americas

A 1,700-year-old spider monkey skeleton unearthed at Teotihuacan in Mexico was likely a diplomatic gift from the Maya.

Anthropology

Carvings on Australia’s boab trees reveal a generation’s lost history

Archaeologists and an Aboriginal family are working together to rediscover a First Nations group’s lost connections to the land.

Archaeology

Some Maya rulers may have taken generations to attract subjects

Commoners slowly granted authority to kings at the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito, researchers suspect.

Archaeology

50 years ago, Stonehenge’s purpose mystified scientists. It still does

In 1972, scientists thought Stonehenge may have been a calendar. Today, we still don’t know its purpose, but we have gained insight on its origin.

Humans

This ancient Canaanite comb is engraved with a plea against lice

The Canaanite comb bears the earliest known instance of a complete sentence written in a phonetic alphabet, researchers say.

Archaeology

King Tut’s tomb still has secrets to reveal 100 years after its discovery

More of Tut’s story is poised to come to light in the coming years. Here are four things to know on the 100th anniversary of his tomb’s discovery.

Genetics

Black Death immunity came at a cost to modern-day health

A genetic variant that boosts Crohn’s disease risk may have helped people survive the 14th century bubonic plague known as the Black Death.

Archaeology

Drone photos reveal an early Mesopotamian city made of marsh islands

Urban growth around 4,600 years ago, near what is now southern Iraq, occurred on marshy outposts that lacked a city center.

Anthropology

How mythology could help demystify dog domestication

The path that dog myths took around the world closely parallels that of dog domestication, a new study finds.

Archaeology

Indigenous Americans ruled democratically long before the U.S. did

Oklahoma’s Muscogee people, among others, promoted rule by the people long before the U.S. Constitution was written.