Tiny ear bones help archaeologists piece together the past
Archaeologists from the University of Bradford have examined ear ossicles taken from the skeletons of 20 juveniles, excavated from an 18th and 19th century burial
Category : Anthropology
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Student reveals the face of Iron Age female druid
A University of Dundee student has revealed the face of one of Scotland’s oldest druids, believed to have been more than 60 years old when
Murder in the Paleolithic? Evidence of violence behind human skull remains
New analysis of the fossilized skull of an Upper Paleolithic man suggests that he died a violent death, according to a study published  by an
Maize-centric diet may have contributed to ancient Maya collapse
The question of how to best adapt to extreme climate is a critical issue facing modern societies worldwide.
DNA from 31,000-year-old milk teeth leads to discovery of new group of ancient Siberians
Two children's milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown group of people lived there
Ancient ritual bundle contained multiple psychotropic plants
A thousand years ago, Native Americans in South America used multiple psychotropic plants -- possibly simultaneously -- to induce hallucinations and altered consciousness, according to
Funerary customs, diet, and social behavior in a pre-Roman Italian community
Analysis of human remains from a Pre-Roman Celtic cemetery in Italy shows variations in funerary treatment between individuals that could be related to social status,
Ancient DNA research shines spotlight on Iberia
The largest study to date of ancient DNA from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Portugal and Spain) offers new insights into the populations that lived in
From Stone Age chips to microchips: How tiny tools may have made us human
Anthropologists have long made the case that tool-making is one of the key behaviors that separated our human ancestors from other primates.
Pottery reveals America’s first social media networks
Long before Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and even MySpace, early Mississippian Mound cultures in America's southern Appalachian Mountains shared artistic trends and technologies across regional networks
Sexing ancient cremated human remains is possible through skeletal measurements
Ancient cremated human remains, despite being deformed, still retain sexually diagnostic physical features, according to a study released January 30, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS
Modern humans replaced Neanderthals in southern Spain 44,000 years ago
A study carried out in Bajondillo Cave (in the town of Torremolinos, in the province of Malaga) by an international team made up of researchers
Returning indigenous remains to their ancestral lands, thanks to ancient DNA
Genomic analyses can reveal the geographic origins of indigenous Aboriginal Australian remains currently held in museums, a new study reports.
The whole tooth: New method to find biological sex from a single tooth
A team led by UC Davis researchers have come up with a new way to estimate the biological sex of human skeletal remains based on
The Dark Ages were relatively healthy
The early medieval period, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, is often called the Dark Ages. But in the age of legendary heroes such as Siegfried,
Fern plant infusion keeps the doctor away in Medieval Europe
The remains of a medieval skeleton has shown the first physical evidence that a fern plant could have been used for medicinal purposes in cases
UC anthropologist rewrites history using science, art
Art often imitates life, but when University of Cincinnati anthropologist and geologist Kenneth Tankersley investigated a 2000-year-old carved statue on a tobacco pipe, he exposed
Violence in pre-Columbian Panama exaggerated, new study shows
Buried alive. Butchered. Decapitated. Hacked. Mutilated. Killed. Archaeologist Samuel K. Lothrop did not obfuscate when describing what he thought had happened to the 220 bodies
Research proves South East Asian population boom 4,000 years ago
Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have uncovered a previously unconfirmed population boom across South East Asia that occurred 4,000 years ago, thanks to
Nomadic hunter-gatherers show that cooperation is flexible, not fixed
In the realm of evolutionary biology and survival of the fittest, cooperation is a risky business. Yet humans do it on a scope and a
What Anglo Saxon teeth can tell us about modern health
Evidence from the teeth of Anglo Saxon children could help identify modern children most at risk from conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Turtle shells served as symbolic musical instruments for indigenous cultures
Turtles served as more than tasty treats for many Native American tribes throughout North America.