Early humans used chopping tools to break animal bones and consume the bone marrow
The toolkit of prehistoric humans.
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Cover Stories
On the origins of money: Ancient European hoards full of standardized bronze objects
Early Bronze Age cultures traded in bronze objects of standardized weight.
Learning from Native American fire management
Resurrecting the Wisdom of the Past
How archaeological research today helps humanity engineer a better future.
Beyond Monuments: Ancient Maya Landscapes Revealed Through Technology
Scientists are now seeing, more than ever, what the ancient Maya created beyond the more visible monumental structures everyone sees today.
New perspectives in human behavior and culture
A Newly Discovered Indonesian Cave Painting May Be the World’s Oldest Known Figurative Artwork
First modern human stone tool culture lasted 20,000 years longer than thought
Some 11 thousand years ago, Africa's furthest west harbored the last populations to preserve tool-making traditions first established by the earliest members of our species.
Sharing leftover meat may have contributed to early dog domestication
Oldest hominins of Olduvai Gorge persisted across changing environments
~2.0 to 1.8 million year-old archaeological site demonstrates that early humans had the skills and tools to cope with ecological change.
See the full Cover Articles archive →
Other Stories
Multispectral imaging reveals ancient Hebrew inscription undetected for over 50 years
Military correspondence from the First Temple period discovered on reverse side of well-studied artifact at The Israel Museum, Tel Aviv University researchers say.
New research reveals earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa
Scientists have pioneered a technique to directly date prehistoric rock paintings in southern Africa, which revealed dates much older than previously thought.
Springs were critical water sources for early humans in East Africa, Rutgers study finds
Scientists show how groundwater-fed springs may have influenced human evolution.
Shared genetic heritage from Sicily to Cyprus
A new genomic study on southern Mediterranean reveals a genetic continuity across geographic and national borders.
Bonobos may be better representation of last common ancestor with humans
Study examined muscles of bonobos and found they are more closely related to humans than common chimpanzees.
Secrets of the paleo diet: Discovery reveals plant-based menu of prehistoric man
A collection of 780,000-year-old edible plants found in Israel is the largest and most diverse in the Levantine corridor linking Africa and Eurasia.
Bitumen from Middle East discovered in 7th century buried ship in UK
Presence of rare tar-like material may suggest trade between Middle East, British Isles.
Bone scans suggest early hominin ‘Lucy’ spent significant time in trees
Australopithecus afarensis arm bones were strong relative to leg bones; walking gait was likely inefficient.
A National Treasure Tells the Story of Hawaii’s Heritage
Archaeology meets the public at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.
Neanderthal inheritance helped humans adapt to life outside of Africa
Traits inherited for skin and the immune system may have helped buttress survivability through the ages, new study suggests.
Middle Stone Age ochre processing tools reveal cultural and behavioral complexity
Range of ochre processing techniques produced powder of varying color and coarseness.
The Once and Future Cobá
Best known for its Maya ruins, today’s living community of Cobá is set to get a major face lift.
Study finds earliest evidence in fossil record for right-handedness
Teeth striations of Homo habilis fossil date back 1.8 million years.
