Infant skull binding shaped identity, inequality in ancient Andes
The idea of binding and reshaping a baby's head may make today's parents cringe, but for families in the Andes between 1100-1450, cranial modification was
Category : Anthropology
HeritageDaily – Anthropology news and anthropological press releases from across the globe
Mass grave dates from Viking Era
Archaeologists from the Anthropology and Archaeology department at the University of Bristol has revealed that a mass grave discovered in the 1980s dates from Viking
Northern European population history revealed by ancient human genomes
An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, analyzed ancient human genomes from 38
Improved accuracy in estimations of deceased age discovered by forensic researchers
A more accurate method for assessing an individuals age of death has been announced by forensic researchers at North Carolina State University.
4000-year-old Ancient Egyptian Mummy mystery solved
Researchers from the University of Manchester have discovered that the famous “two brothers” Khnum-Nakht and Nekht-Ankh were actually half-brothers thanks to advanced DNA sequencing.
Bones of the victims at Roman Herculaneum
Are human remains the archaeology of death or the archaeology of life? This strange paradox stated in Pearson (1999), addresses that the surviving bones, tissues
Redefining knowledge of elderly people throughout history
An archaeologist from The Australian National University (ANU) is set to redefine what we know about elderly people in cultures throughout history, and dispel the
Ancient Native American population discovered through DNA
DNA studies on the ancient remains of an infant discovered in Alaska has revealed a new group of native population previously unknown to scientists.
Could ancient bones suggest Santa was real?
Was St Nicholas, the fourth century saint who inspired the iconography of Santa Claus, a legend or was he a real person?
First-of-its-kind mummy study reveals clues to girl’s story
Who is she, this little mummy girl? Northwestern University scientists and students are working to unravel some of her mysteries, including how her body was
Prehistoric women had stronger arms than today’s elite rowing crews
A new study comparing the bones of Central European women that lived during the first 6,000 years of farming with those of modern athletes has
Plague likely a Stone Age arrival to central Europe
A team of researchers led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History has sequenced the first six European genomes
‘Wooden shoe’ rather wear sneakers?
Bio-archeologists have discovered a pattern of unusual bone chips in the feet of clog-wearing 19th-Century Dutch farmers -- injuries that offer clues to the damage
Neolithic farmers coexisted with hunter-gatherers for centuries in Europe
New research answers a long-debated question among anthropologists, archaeologists and geneticists: when farmers first arrived in Europe, how did they interact with existing hunter-gatherer groups?
Science meets archaeology with discovery that dental X-rays reveal Vitamin D deficiency
Human teeth hold vital information about Vitamin D deficiency, a serious but often hidden condition that can now be identified by a simple dental X-ray,
6,000-year-old skull could be from the world’s earliest known tsunami victim
Tsunamis spell calamity. These giant waves, caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and underwater landslides, are some of the deadliest natural disasters known; the 2004 tsunami
Genome-wide data from a 40,000-year-old man in China reveals complicated genetic history of Asia
The biological makeup of humans in East Asia is shaping up to be a very complex story, with greater diversity and more distant contacts than
Paleogenomic analysis sheds light on Easter Island mysteries
Easter Island is a place of mystery that has captured the public imagination. Famous for ancient carved statues and a location so remote it boggles
Prehistoric humans are likely to have formed mating networks to avoid inbreeding
Prehistoric humans are likely to have formed mating networks to avoid inbreeding
Morbidity and mortality of leprosy in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, nearly everyone in Europe was exposed to the disfiguring, painful and ostracizing disease of leprosy. But did contracting the disease necessarily
Bones reveal social differences between the people buried in dolmens and those in caves
The researcher Teresa Fernández-Crespo, lead author of this study, had in a previous piece of work found demographic differences between the people buried in dolmens
Isotopic analyses link the lives of Late Neolithic individuals to burial location in Spain
An isotopic analysis of megalithic graves and caves in Spain may suggest the existence of a degree of differentiation in the lifeways of people buried