Bones

This Austrian Ossuary Holds Hundreds of Elaborately Hand-Painted Skulls

Step inside Europe's largest intact collection of painted remains

This reconstruction of the grave site shows how the woman may have originally looked.

This High-Ranking Viking Warrior Was a Woman

DNA analysis shows that the elaborate grave of what appears to be a Viking officer was a real-life shieldmaiden

The skeletal remains found in a Mexican cave before their looting

Skeleton Stolen From Underwater Cave in Mexico Was One of Americas' Oldest

A new study shows that the human remains looted in 2012 are more than 13,000 years old

Brawling was one of the few ways available to settle disputes among lower-class Londoners, potentially leading to injuries and deaths

Medieval Graveyards Unearth London’s Violent Past

A new analysis of hundreds of ancient skulls shows how often violent trauma affected the poor and the rich

The fossil was found to actually comprise bones of three living penguin species, including the Snares crested penguin.

This 'Extinct' Penguin Likely Never Existed in the First Place

DNA analysis helps untangle the species behind a jumble of bone fragments

An ancient knee joint that shows signs of grinding between the bones, a result of osteoarthritis

What a 6,000-Year-Old Knee Can Teach Us About Arthritis

By studying bones dating back thousands of years, researchers find that the disease may not be just a part of getting old

William Maples holds a bone fragment during a presentation about the Romanov Investigations, circa 1992.

William R. Maples Popularized Forensic Anthropology Long Before CSI

Maples worked on a number of high-profile cases that helped to bring the field of forensic anthropology to prominence

Christina Gebhard prepares to measure a condor's wingspan

Behind the Scenes: Skinning Condors in the Name of Science

One intrepid reporter documents the careful science, artistry and gross factor of a very strange party

The Hohlenstein-Stadel femur

Humans May Have Bred With Neanderthals Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

DNA from a Neanderthal femur is offering new clues to ancient interactions

The Huey Tzompantli

Aztec "Skull Tower" Contains Remains of Women and Children

The tzompantli were once believed to only contain the skulls of conquered male warriors

The statues and carvings from Gobekli Tepe were found with fragments of carved skull from thousands of years ago.

Unprecedented Carved Skulls Discovered at a Stone Age Temple in Turkey

Three carved skull fragments from Gobekli Tepe offer tantalizing hints about the lives of Neolithic people

Ancient DNA revolutionized archaeology. Now, researchers think they can use it to create a GPS system for the remains of the long-dead.

Ancient DNA Could Unravel the Mystery of Prehistoric European Migration

New research pinpoints the geographic origins of ancient Eurasians, showing how the continent’s population changed

This spine is the earliest intact reference for how humans' skeletons may have developed.

This 3.3-Million-Year-Old Hominin Toddler Was Kind of Like Us

Analysis of the ancient spine reveals tantalizing similarities—and questions about human evolution

The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving

How the nation got hooked on sweets

View of the exhibition Body Worlds Pulse Gunther von Hagens that counts the history of human body in the 21st century at Discovery Times Square in New York in the United States.

Why Are We So Obsessed With Dead Bodies?

<i>Body Worlds</i> taps into a long, fraught history of humans displaying the deceased for "science"

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

While excavating at Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon during the 1970s and 1980s, Canadian archaeologist Cinq-Mars found cut-marked horse bones and other traces of human hunters that seemed to date to 24,000 years ago—thousands of years before the Clovis people.

What Happens When an Archaeologist Challenges Mainstream Scientific Thinking?

The story of Jacques Cinq-Mars and the Bluefish Caves shows how toxic atmosphere can poison scientific progress

The horse mandible marked by traces of stone tools, which might prove humans came to North American 10,000 years earlier than previously believed.

Humans May Have Arrived in North America 10,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought

A 24,000-year-old horse jawbone is helping rewrite our understanding of human habitation on the continent

The Field Museum's famed T-Rex Sue may be long dead, but she still requires a lot of TLC.

Preserve and Protect: How Paleontologists Care for Their Long-Dead, High-Maintenance Stars

Fossil collections are where the science of paleontology truly lives. Valuable dino bones must be treated accordingly

Anthropologists have long debated the origins of human violence.

Can Resource Scarcity Really Explain a History of Human Violence?

Data from thousands of California burial sites suggests that a lack of resources causes violence. But that conclusion may be too simplistic

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