Tools
Like Humans and Chimps, Cockatoos Can Use a Set of Tools to Get a Meal
In lab experiments, the brainy birds carried a stick and scooped with them to get at cashews kept in a box
Stone Flakes Made by Monkeys Raise Questions About Early Human Tools
The flakes accidentally produced by long-tailed macaques resemble those thought to have been made by early humans
Is This Wooden Artifact an Ancient Roman Phallus?
Thirty years ago, researchers thought that the 2,000-year-old object was a darning tool
Who Made the First Stone Tool Kits?
A nearly three-million-year-old butchering site packed with animal bones, stone implements and molars from our early ancestors reignites the debate
Unearthed Near Stonehenge, This Toolkit Was Used for Goldwork 4,000 Years Ago
The toolkit was discovered in 1801—but until recently, researchers didn't understand its purpose
Neanderthals and Modern Humans May Have Shared Ideas for Tools
Modeling research provides a “good starting point” for finding where these species overlapped
This Is the Oldest Human-Made Object in the Smithsonian Collections
Roughly two million years ago, simple items like the Kanjera tool sparked a revolution in the way humans lived
Researchers Discover Oldest-Known Ochre Workshop in East Asia
Tools and pieces of the clay earth pigment found in northern China date to about 40,000 years old, and introduce new theories about early human migration
Discovery of Ancient Baby Tooth Places Humans in Western Europe 10,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
The archeologists also uncovered a number of Neanderthal artifacts suggesting the two species coexisted in the area
Ancient People May Have Sipped Beer Through These 5,500-Year-Old Drinking Straws
Eight gold and silver tubes might be the oldest known drinking straws, according to a new study from the Russian Academy of Sciences
Archaeologists Discover Oldest Domesticated Dog Remains in Americas
Exciting secrets unearthed on Haida Gwaii include a canine tooth, roughly 11,000-year-old stone tools and the tantalizing signs of far more to come
Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave
Humans likely sported clothes made of jackal, fox and wildcat skins some 120,000 years ago
Hand-Carved, 400,000-Year-Old Bone Tool Used for Smoothing Leather Found in Italy
Found near Rome, the utensil is 100,000 years older than previous finds of this kind
These Millennia-Old Cave Paintings May Be Among India's Oldest
Locals have known about the artworks for generations, but government archaeologists only began documenting them this summer
Burrowing Bunnies in Wales Unearth Trove of Prehistoric Artifacts
Rabbits on Skokholm Island discovered Stone Age tools and fragments of a Bronze Age cremation urn
Rare Ancient Tool Found in Australia May Have Been Made With Kangaroo Bone
The rare find is helping archaeologists piece together Indigenous technologies used thousands of years ago
Why Did Ancient Indigenous Groups in Brazil Hunt Sharks?
New studies show that shark meat may have constituted half of their diet and that the beasts' teeth were used as arrow tips and razor blades
120,000-Year-Old Cattle Bone Carvings May Be World's Oldest Surviving Symbols
Archaeologists found the bone fragment—engraved with six lines—at a Paleolithic meeting site in Israel
Bronze Age Europeans Used Rings, Ribs and Ax Blades as Money
New research identifies similarly sized artifacts found across the continent as one of the world's oldest currencies
The Lost History of Yellowstone
Debunking the myth that the great national park was a wilderness untouched by humans
