Archaeology

Archaeology

Fossils unearthed in Israel reveal possible new human ancestor

They come from a previously unknown Stone Age group that may represent a complex mashup of early members of our genus Homo.

Archaeology

Tennessee site yields oldest known American tattoo tools

Native Americans may have used sharpened turkey leg bones as tattoo needles between 5,520 and 3,620 years ago.

Genetics

Europe’s ancient humans often hooked up with Neandertals

DNA from ancient bones shows humans and Neandertals were regularly mixing genes by about 45,000 years ago.

Archaeology

Unusual mud shell covers an Egyptian mummy

In ancient Egypt, commoners may have been mummified and then encased in mud to repair damage to the body or to imitate royal techniques used with royals.

Archaeology

Harsh Ice Age winters may have helped turn wolves into dogs

In the Ice Age, Arctic hunters may have turned to some game for their fatty bones. Much of those animals’ meat might have been left to domesticate dogs.

Math

What the mummy’s curse reveals about your brain

A man died soon after opening a mummy’s tomb. But don’t assume the mummy killed him. Statistics help explain why coincidences may not be meaningful.

Archaeology

This prehistoric woman from Peru hunted big game

Women in the Americas speared large prey as early as 9,000 years ago, new archaeological evidence suggests.

Archaeology

See what these animal mummies are keeping under wraps

A new method of 3-D scanning mummified animals reveals life and death details of a snake, a bird and a cat that lived in ancient Egypt.

Archaeology

Stonehenge enhanced voices and music within the stone ring

Scientists built a 'Stonehenge Lego' model in a sound chamber to study how sound would have behaved in the ancient stone circle.

Archaeology

Let’s learn about ancient technology

Ancient people didn’t have the internet. Instead, they performed surgeries, made weapons and built monuments with wood, stones, rope and fire.

Archaeology

Women like Mulan didn’t need to go to war in disguise

Female skeletons in Mongolia show injuries like those of fighting men — evidence that they could be warriors, too.

Humans

Let’s learn about early humans

Homo sapiens are the last member left of our genus. But many other species of early humans existed before us.