Anthropology
A Little Boy Found a Strange Stone on the Beach. Archaeologists Told Him It Was a Neanderthal's Hand Ax
The artifact is now on display at a museum in southern England. Experts say the find is "so rare that most qualified archaeologists would never find one themselves"
Footprints Reveal Two Early Human Species Walked the Same Lakeshore in Kenya 1.5 Million Years Ago
A new, “mind-blowing” discovery reveals evidence that Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei stepped at the same site within days—or hours—of each other
What 'Lucy,' One of the World's Most Important Fossils, Has Taught Scientists in the 50 Years Since Her Discovery
The famous early human is still providing lessons to anthropologists about prehistoric Earth and its inhabitants
The World's Oldest Cheese Was Buried in a Chinese Tomb 3,600 Years Ago. Now, Scientists Have Sequenced Its DNA
New research has revealed that the mysterious white substance found alongside three ancient mummies was once a soft cheese called kefir
How Did Ice Age Humans Kill Huge Animals Like Mammoths? Probably Not by Throwing Spears, Study Finds
New research theorizes that hunters used pikes planted in the ground—with their sharp tips pointing upward—to impale approaching wildlife using the creature's own weight and momentum
Did Prehistoric Children Make Figurines Out of Clay?
Fingerprints and scratch marks found in artifacts in the Czech Republic suggest youngsters of the Upper Paleolithic used the soil like Play-Doh, according to a pending new study
Ancient Egyptian Scribes Were Worked to the Bone
The administrators spent long periods writing in odd postures, which damaged their joints, researchers discovered
Was This Mysterious Woman a Medieval Warrior?
Buried at a castle in Spain, the woman was found alongside the remains of 22 men who likely died on the battlefield
Long-Distance Running May Have Evolved to Help Humans Chase Prey to Exhaustion
Scientists found hundreds of recent examples from around the globe of hunters using "endurance pursuits" to tire out their prey, furthering the debate over the hunting technique
In a First, an Orangutan Healed His Own Wound Using a Known Medicinal Plant
The primate named Rakus chewed up yellow root and applied it to an open facial wound, closing the sore within days
This Neolithic Monument Found in France Has No Equal
A trio of interlocking enclosures, the structure may date to the time of the Bell Beaker culture, but experts are unsure of its exact age and purpose
Why the Daughter of an American Archaeologist Sent Her Father's Collection to Peru
Unlike many of his peers, John Howland Rowe viewed the country as a source of partnership, not a laboratory to play in
Did Ancient South Americans Keep Foxes as Pets?
At a cemetery in Argentina, a 1,500-year-old fox buried alongside humans suggests a "close relationship" between the species, researchers say
How Did Humans Evolve to Use Everyday Tools?
An anthropologist explains why we experience many objects, from tennis rackets to cars, as extensions of our bodies
Stone Age People Used This 35,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Tusk Tool to Make Rope, Scientists Say
To test their hypothesis that the perforated object was a tool, researchers used a replica to create a 16-foot-long rope from cattail reeds
Meet Elma, a Woolly Mammoth Who Roamed Far and Wide More Than 14,000 Years Ago
By analyzing a fossilized tusk, scientists have pieced together the animal's movements
What Happened to the Extinct Woolly Dog?
Researchers studying the 160-year-old fur of a dog named Mutton in the Smithsonian collections found that the Indigenous breed existed for at least 5,000 years before European colonizers eradicated it
Construction Workers Discover Indigenous Burial Ground in Toronto
Researchers who investigated the site estimate that it's about 700 years old
Early Primates May Have Feasted on Soft, Sweet Fruits
An analysis of more than 400 fossilized teeth suggests the creatures weren't eating many seeds, nuts or other hard foods
Here's What We Know About Neanderthals So Far
Today, thanks to new artifacts and technologies, findings about our closest relatives are coming thick and fast
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