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88 articles-
The Poison-Arrow Technology of Our Hunter-Gatherer Ancestors
Tipping their arrowheads with poison may have tipped the survival odds in their favor -
Did Humans or Climate Push the Neanderthals Over the Edge?
A new model of what went down in one of the Neanderthals’ last holdouts -
How Christianity Redrew Ancient Nubian Tattoos
Markings on remains unearthed from modern-day Sudan suggest that the religion’s rise influenced the design and application of body ink -
Top Roman Military Officers Loved Their Pet Monkeys
An animal cemetery at a once-bustling port adds to growing evidence that Romans collected and deeply cared for these primates -
How Monogamous Are Humans Actually?
How we rank among species on fidelity to a single partner may have shaped our evolution -
Archaeologists Uncover Lost Opioid Tradition in Ancient Egypt
Chemical traces in a royal vase suggest the narcotic may have been a routine part of life -
Was This Mysterious Mountain Feature an Incan Tax Document?
Thousands of holes dot a mountain in Peru—they might have been used by the Inca to tally tributes -
Neanderthals: Do a Little Art and Take a Stroll on the Beach
Two recent discoveries about the extinct human species refine our understanding of our evolutionary kin -
Have We Learned King Tut’s Lessons?
Just over a century ago today, British archaeologists discovered the entrance to the Ancient Egyptian monarch’s tomb … eventually scattering its treasures far and wide -
This Inca Building was the Original Boom Box
A 600-year-old temple was likely designed to amplify drum beats and music
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How Scavenging Made Us Human
Our early ancestors were more like vultures than we might like to think
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How the Statues of Easter Island Walked Into Place
The iconic heads hewn from volcanic rock may have been wobbled into place by the Rapa Nui people who created them
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These Aren’t Your Pharoah’s Mummies
Other cultures across Asia were preserving their dead for millennia before the Egyptians
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Long Lives Helped Early Humans Thrive
Michael Gurven on the 3 greatest revelations he had while writing Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer
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How Indigenous Knowledge Could Save Fishing
We need both modern data and the wisdom of the First Nations to preserve aquatic ecosystems
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This Mummy’s Tattoos Are Better Than Yours
Lasers reveal hidden details of ancient body ink -
How Big Is Your Family?
Living with a Papua New Guinea tribe in the ’80s presented this anthropologist with a question for today. -
An Archaeological Reckoning
Jennifer Raff is on a mission to rewrite the history of human origins in the Americas. -
7 Famous Fossil Hoaxes
How scientists over history excavated the fakes. -
Excavating a Language at the End of the World
How an old dictionary is revealing new perspectives on an Indigenous culture.