Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Human Evolution

The team analyzed 260 engraved objects discovered in caves in what is now southwest Germany, including this 40,000-year-old mammoth figurine.

New Research

Humans May Have Used These Mysterious Symbols to Encode Information Tens of Thousands of Years Before the First Writing Systems

The symbols, discovered on 40,000-year-old artifacts in caves in southwest Germany, may have been a precursor to the first written language

The study focused on Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo who died in March 2025 at the age of 44.

Can Apes Play Pretend? What Scientists Learned From Having Imaginary ‘Tea Parties’ With Kanzi the Bonobo

A new study provides evidence for imagination in a captive-raised, English language-trained animal

Chins are a uniquely human feature.

Why Do Humans Have Chins? They Might Be an Evolutionary Accident, New Research Suggests

The bony facial protrusion might be an evolutionary byproduct that resulted from changes to other parts of the skull, according to a new study

This wooden tool, which was likely used to dig through mud, was found near elephant bones.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearthed a 430,000-Year-Old Stick. After Careful Analysis, They Say It Could Be the Oldest Wooden Tool Ever Discovered

Found in southern Greece, the stick was one of two wooden artifacts that appear to have been shaped intentionally, according to a new study

Researchers used an electron microscope to take a closer look at the bone fragment.

New Research

This Hammer Created From an Elephant Bone 480,000 Years Ago May Be the Oldest Known Tool of Its Kind Ever Found in Europe

Discovered in southern England in the mid-1990s, the artifact may have been made by Neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis, according to a new study

Traces of the hand stencil are still visible among younger works of art.

New Research

Can You See the Faded Outline of a Hand? Archaeologists Say This 67,800-Year-Old Stencil May Be the World’s Oldest Known Rock Art

The prehistoric artist likely created the image by spraying ochre mixed with water over a hand flattened on the wall of a cave in Indonesia

Same-sex behaviors seem to be common among rhesus macaques.

Biologists Reveal How Same-Sex Sexual Behavior May Have Given Some Primates an Evolutionary Advantage

Nonhuman primates like bonobos and chimpanzees might engage in same-sex sexual activities to strengthen bonds, particularly in harsh environments or within strict social structures, a new study suggests

Brainless upside-down jellyfish, like this one in its natural habitat near Eilat, Israel, spend about one-third of their time asleep.

Even Though They Don’t Have Brains to Rest, Jellyfish and Sea Anemones Sleep Like Humans

Sleep may have evolved to help reduce DNA damage in nerve cells long before they became centralized in the brain, a study suggests

Bones from a chimpanzee on the left, Sahelanthropus tchadensis in the center, and an Australopithecus species on the right

New Fossil Analysis Suggests This Seven-Million-Year-Old Primate Walked on Two Legs, Potentially Making It the Oldest Known Human Ancestor

Fresh findings about arm and leg bones advance the debate over whether Sahelanthropus tchadensis was bipedal, but not everyone is convinced

Paranthropus boisei composite hand

The Top Human Evolution Discoveries of 2025, From the Intriguing Neanderthal Diet to the Oldest Western European Face Fossil

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists examine the year’s most fascinating revelations

An artist's interpretation of an early human ancestor striking flint on a piece of iron pyrite.

New Research

Could These 400,000-Year-Old Rock Fragments Be the Oldest Known Evidence of Human Fire-Making?

Evidence from a site in southeast England suggests early humans were purposefully and repeatedly igniting blazes roughly 350,000 years earlier than previously thought

A new study hints that Australia's first people arrived via a major northern route and a smaller southern route. 

Modern Humans Reached Australia Around 60,000 Years Ago via Two Routes, Genetic Analysis Suggests

The study bolsters one hypothesis of when people arrived at the landmass that became Australia and other islands, and presents some of the earliest evidence of seafaring

For the study, the researchers worked with two adult male macaques that had previously been trained to tap in time with a metronome.

These Monkeys Learned to Tap to the Beat of the Backstreet Boys. Can They Teach Researchers About the Origins of Human Musicality?

Two macaques learned to keep time with various songs, which might point to how humans got their sense of rhythm. But some scientists doubt that the primates’ feat, which required extensive instruction, can give evolutionary clues

The Burtele foot, discovered in 2009

The Human Relative Who Owned This 3.4-Million-Year-Old Foot May Have Belonged to a Species That Lived Alongside Lucy

Newfound fossils in modern-day Ethiopia suggest that the mysterious foot belonged to a recently named species, Australopithecus deyiremeda. The finding could alter the story of human evolution

The Altamura Man was discovered in a cave in southern Italy in 1993.

Stunningly Well-Preserved Neanderthal Skull Suggests the Species’ Large Noses Weren’t Adapted for the Cold

A new study analyzes the nasal cavity of the “Altamura Man,” a Neanderthal who died between 130,000 and 172,000 years ago

Chimpanzees, like some other apes, kiss each other on the lips. 

How Did Humans End Up Smooching on the Lips? It May Have Started Out With a 21-Million-Year-Old Kiss

Our ancient primate relatives—including Neanderthals—may have enjoyed a nice peck on the lips. But researchers still don’t know why we do it

Hyper-realistic reconstructions of Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy foreground, Selam background) by Élisabeth Daynès in the National Museum’s “People and Their Ancestors” exhibition, Prague

Meeting Lucy: How a World-First European Exhibition Brought Visitors Face to Face With the Fossil That ‘Shrinks Time’

Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague

An ancient ochre fragment that shows signs of re-use 

Remarkable New Research on Ochre ‘Crayons’ Colors in Scientists’ Understanding of How Neanderthals Made Art

A recently published study suggests humans’ creative inclinations go back much further than previously thought

New research suggests a genetic dynamic that may have contributed to Neanderthals' extinction.

A Single Gene Could Have Contributed to Neanderthals’ Extinction, Study Suggests

New research posits that a genetic incompatibility between female offspring of humans and Neanderthals and their children could have led to pregnancy complications and the eventual end of the species

An illustration shows the types of megafauna that may have lived near Australia's Mammoth Cave about 50,000 years ago. From left to right: Murrayglossus hacketti, a giant long-beaked echidna; Procoptodon browneorum, the giant kangaroo whose bone is the subject of new research; Zygomaturus trilobus, a giant diprotodontid; and Thylacinus cynocephalus, a Tasmanian Thylacine

A Giant Kangaroo Bone Is Challenging the Idea That Humans Wiped Out Australia’s Megafauna

Indigenous Australians may have been early “paleontologists,” not big-game hunters, according to a new analysis

Page 2 of 24