Digging Up the Roots of Human Culture
What led humans on the unique path of cultural development? And can we do anything useful with newly reconstructed histories of this process?
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Cover Stories
New footprints offer evidence of co-existing hominid species 1.5 million years ago
Wyoming research shows early North Americans made needles from fur-bearers
Findings shed new light on the evolution of the human brain
Research uncovers major trends in the evolution of hominin brain size over a period of about million years.
A complex structure created by Neanderthals discovered in Gibraltar
The Hunter-Gatherer Guide to Keeping Society Equal
Focaccia: a Neolithic culinary tradition dating back 9,000 years ago
Viking colonizers of Iceland and nearby Faroe Islands had very different origins, study finds
Band of Viking men from all over Scandinavia first settled Faroe Islands show geneticists.
Cities Made Differently: Try Imagining Another Urban Existence
We know from history that there are many ways we can live together—let’s explore the idea.
An ancient, massive fish-trapping network found in a Belizean wetland likely aided the rise of the Maya
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Other Stories
Research reveals ancient Maya lessons on surviving drought
Huge variety of plant foods made their starvation unlikely.
Nits on ancient mummies shed light on South American ancestry
New technique means head lice can provide clues about ancient people and migration.
Scientists digitally ‘unwrap’ mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I for the first time in 3,000 years
Study shows that 21st dynasty restorers ‘lovingly restored’ mummy, dispelling theory that they were bent on reusing old royal burial equipment.
New dates for Viking trade
Solar flare throws light on ancient trade between the Islamic Middle East and the Viking Age.
Humans Reached Remote North Atlantic Islands Centuries Earlier Than Thought
Faroes Settled Well Before Vikings Arrived, Lake Sediments Show.
Mystery solved: Footprints from site A at Laetoli, Tanzania, are from early humans, not bears
Findings provide conclusive evidence that multiple species of hominins co-existed on the landscape.
Volcanic eruptions contributed to collapse of China dynasties
Eruptions create sulfuric acid clouds in the upper atmosphere and can cool the climate.
A Child of darkness
The first partial skull of a child of Homo naledi begins to give us insight into all stages of life of this remarkable species.
More than ceremonial, ancient Chaco Canyon was home, new study says
Early puebloans impacted the ecosystem around Chaco Canyon earlier than previously believed.
