The lost golden age of language diversity
New modeling suggests that tens of thousands of languages were spoken between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago - and that their decline began well before European colonial expansion.
Cover Stories
Australian cave discovery shows grass was burned for magic, healing, and cursing for 25,000 years
Perfectly preserved ‘phytolith’ plant crystals reveal that indigenous Australians took grasses into cave for ritual burning since last Ice Age.
Dice from Mesopotamia and familiar casino rules – what is known about gambling in antiquity
How Digital Archives Reshape Archaeological Research
Digital archives have changed what archaeologists can access, compare, and verify. Here's what that shift actually looks like in practice and where the field is heading.
Ancient Egyptian princesses born 4,000 years ago were skilled archers, new study shows
Strong muscle attachments and healed fractures show that royal women could use the weapons they were buried with — but also that high status didn’t prevent hardship.
Cracking the Indus Script
Long undeciphered, has the mystery of the Indus Script finally been solved?
Latnija Cave: Malta’s Game-Changing Revelation
Discoveries in a cave on the Island of Malta have opened the eyes of scholars on what was possible for humans before the Neolithic in the Mediterranean.
Temples on the Edge
Modern development on Malta has already led to irreversible cultural destruction. Can it be stopped before it gets worse?
Before the Pyramids: Malta’s Prehistoric Landscape and the People Who Keep It
A remarkable island country with a deep past.
Alba Longa: the City that Gave Birth to Rome
The ancient city that foreshadowed Rome.
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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.
