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Asian History

Left: a burial mound in Kazakhstan. Right: the Golden Man's head ornaments.

Kazakhstan’s Iron Age ‘Golden Man’ and Other Elite Scythians of Eurasia Inherited Their High Social Status, Ancient DNA Suggests

Researchers have long wondered whether upper-class members of the ancient nomadic warriors earned their social status through individual achievements or birthright

Homo floresiensis (center) had a skull about the size of a grapefruit and stood a little more than three feet tall.

How a Hungry Komodo Dragon Led Scientists to Determine Our Small, Hobbit-Like Cousins Probably Weren’t That Smart After All

New research indicates “Homo floresiensis” probably wasn’t hunting big game or using fire on Flores Island, suggesting the small-brained species wasn’t quite as “behaviorally advanced” as once hypothesized

A nomad on his horse, from the sixth to seventh century 

Genghis Khan Is Remembered for His Vast Empire and Fearsome Warriors. This Exhibition Explores His Cultural Legacy

The Royal Armouries Museum will show nearly 250 rare artifacts—from saddles to early paper money—that reveal a side of the Mongol Empire that’s often neglected

An abandoned section of the railway in Myanmar photographed in 2015

This Infamous ‘Death Railway’ Station, Built by Forced Labor From Prisoners of War and Civilians in World War II, Was Just Revealed in Thailand

The Nithe Station, usually submerged under a reservoir, will be accessible this summer as officials drain the site to perform dam maintenance

Neanderthals and modern humans have differently shaped skulls, which scientists have long assumed meant they also had different brains. But new research challenges that assumption.

New Research

Did Homo Sapiens Really Outsmart Neanderthals? Different Skull Shapes Didn’t Necessarily Mean Unequal Brain Capacity, New Research Shows

A study from U.S. and Chinese researchers suggests Neanderthals and early modern humans probably had similar cognitive abilities

Nicknamed “Gabi,” the humanoid robot monk took part in ceremonies at a temple in Seoul this week. 

Meet ‘Gabi,’ the Robot That Just Became a Monk at a Buddhist Temple in South Korea. It’s the Latest Robot to Take Up Religious Practice

The humanoid promised to obey humans, save energy and treat other robots peacefully. South Korean Buddhist leaders have recently started to embrace artificial intelligence

New research indicates that Neanderthals had the genetic hardware for language.

Did Neanderthals Have Language? New Research Suggests They Had the Genetic Hardware for It, Like Humans

Specific genomic regions that seem to play a role in human language development evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, before humans and Neanderthals diverged from a common ancestor, a new study finds

A red aurora over Engaru, Hokkaido, Japan, similar to those documented throughout history, which helped the researchers reconstruct past solar activity

Medieval Writings and Tree Rings Helped Researchers Track a Solar Storm From 800 Years Ago and Reconstruct Past Solar Cycles

Diary entries by the Japanese poet Fujiwara no Teika, along with other historical sources from across Asia and Europe, played pivotal roles in a new study

Modern celebrations of Songkran in Bangkok

Songkran Is Thailand’s Splashing New Year’s Festival, When Everyone Gets Out a Super Soaker and Prepares to Get Drenched

The memorable tradition has a deep cultural history rooted in Buddhism and increasing global notoriety for its rowdy water fights

Magawa the rat detected unexploded ordnance in Cambodia

A Small Rodent Hero Left a Giant Legacy. Now, Cambodia Honors This Famous Bomb-Sniffing Rat With a Seven-Foot Statue

Magawa the African giant pouched rat cleared more 1.5 million square feet of land mines during his five-year career, making him one of the most successful bomb-sniffing rodents in the country’s history

A photograph of Sophia Duleep Singh (on the right) with her older sisters, Catherine (left) and Bamba (middle)

This Punjabi Princess Fought for Women’s Suffrage and Sheltered Refugees During World War II. A Goddaughter of Queen Victoria, She Rejected British Imperialism

A new exhibition at Kensington Palace tells the riveting story of Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last maharaja of the Sikh Empire

The tenth-century temple of Banteay Srei, northeast of Angkor, where Clara and André Malraux planned an audacious 1923 heist. The Hindu shrine complex, built from intricately carved red sandstone, is celebrated for some of the finest surviving decorative stonework of the Khmer era.

To Finance Their Lifestyle, a Young French Couple Went to Cambodia to Steal Antiquities. They Did Almost Everything Wrong

Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamation

An artist's depiction of dogs living alongside humans at a site in Turkey 15,800 years ago

Scientists Identify the World’s First Known Dog, Which Pushes Back the Animals’ Genetic Record by About 5,000 Years

Two new ancient DNA studies suggest that domesticated dogs were widespread in western Eurasia more than 14,000 years ago

Gertrude Lawrence as Anna Leonowens and Yul Brynner as Mongkut in the 1951 Broadway production of The King and I. The musical turns 75 on March 29.

Based on a True Story

‘The King and I’ Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins

The beloved musical is loosely based on a Eurasian schoolteacher’s accounts of her time at King Mongkut’s court. These memoirs masked her mixed-race status and unfairly portrayed the monarch as a tyrant

A view of Mei Lanfang performing in 1930

Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

He is considered one of China’s greatest 20th-century opera performers, and his influence on the art form is still felt today

The Asama Maru, a Japanese ship that transported Allied civilians to the east coast of Africa, where they were traded for Japanese civilians from North and South America during World War II

After Pearl Harbor, Americans Living in Japan Endured Imprisonment, Torture and a Lengthy Battle to Return Home

A new book chronicles the tense negotiations that secured the return of nearly 3,000 Allied civilians held by the Japanese during World War II

A statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia

New Research

Are 1 in 200 Men Alive Today Really Related to Genghis Khan? Probably Not, According to New Research

A new DNA analysis suggests that the genetic legacy of the Mongol Empire’s founder is likely more complicated than historians previously assumed

Once treated by humans as prey, horses became key to transportation, warfare, trade and companionship. Their history is intertwined with our own.

Gallop Into the Year of the Horse With These Five Amazing Equine Discoveries

Since their domestication, horses have changed the course of human history. It’s no wonder the Chinese zodiac associates them with prosperity and success

A woman's firefighting jacket and hood from 1800-50

This New Samurai Exhibition Will Challenge Your Understanding of the Japanese Warrior Class

Silk screens, women’s firefighting robes and a Darth Vader costume are among the more than 280 unexpected items that are on display at the British Museum

A third-century B.C.E. plaque unearthed at Ai-Khanoum in Afghanistan depicts the mother goddess Cybele in a chariot driven by Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

Afghanistan Was a Crossroad of the Ancient World, Where Hellenistic Culture Blended With Buddhist Influences

Alexander the Great conquered the region around 329 B.C.E., leaving behind Greek and Macedonian settlers who intermarried with locals. Their descendants eventually formed new kingdoms whose legacies continue to be debated today

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