Anthropology

  1. An overhead photo of a skeleton.
    Archaeology

    The Yamnaya may have been the world’s earliest known horseback riders

    5,000-year-old Yamnaya skeletons show physical signs of horseback riding, hinting that they may be the earliest known humans to do so.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  2. composite image of stone tool artifacts on a black background
    Anthropology

    Hominids used stone tool kits to butcher animals earlier than once thought

    Finds in Kenya push Oldowan tool use back to around 2.9 million years ago, roughly 300,000 years earlier than previous evidence.

    By Bruce Bower
  3. A pile of cremated animal and human bone fragments suggests Vikings travelled from Scandinavia across the North Sea to England.
    Archaeology

    Vikings brought animals to England as early as the year 873

    A chemical analysis of cremated remains offers physical evidence of the arrival of Norse animals to England in the ninth century.

    By Anna Gibbs
  4. A photo of an ancient cave marking of aurochs (similar to modern cattle) with four dots on the animal's torso.
    Archaeology

    Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping

    Hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age may have recorded when prey mated and gave birth, suggesting that these people possessed complex cognitive skills

    By Anna Gibbs
  5. Two monkeys standing on a tree branch; a juvenile monkey is being groomed by a female silvered-leaf monkey
    Life

    These science discoveries from 2022 could be game changers

    Gophers that farm, the earliest known hominid, a strange hybrid monkey and the W boson's mass are among the findings awaiting more evidence.

    By Elizabeth Quill
  6. a child's partial skull, belonging to Homo naledi, against a black backdrop. The area around the bridge of the nose and eyebrows is brown, while the rest of the skull is mostly white.
    Anthropology

    Homo naledi may have lit fires in underground caves at least 236,000 years ago

    Homo naledi may have joined the group of ancient hominids who built controlled fires, presumably for light or warmth, new finds hint.

    By Bruce Bower
  7. A photo of a large boab tree in the center with several smaller trees spread out around it
    Anthropology

    Carvings on Australia’s boab trees reveal a generation’s lost history

    Archaeologists and an Aboriginal family are working together to rediscover a First Nations group’s lost connections to the land.

    By Freda Kreier
  8. profile photo of the top section of a gold sarcophagus belonging to King Tutankhamun
    Archaeology

    King Tut’s tomb still has secrets to reveal 100 years after its discovery

    More of Tut’s story is poised to come to light in the coming years. Here are four things to know on the 100th anniversary of his tomb’s discovery.

    By Bruce Bower
  9. An illustration of a Siberian Neandertal father carrying his young daughter on his shoulders.
    Genetics

    Ancient DNA unveils Siberian Neandertals’ small-scale social lives

    Females often moved into their mate’s communities, which totaled about 20 individuals, researchers say.

    By Bruce Bower
  10. black and white image of Louis Armstrong holding a trumpet surround by other jazz musicians
    Humans

    Here’s where jazz gets its swing

    Swing, the feeling of a rhythm in jazz music that compels feet to tap, may arise from near-imperceptible delays in musicians’ timing, a study shows.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  11. Tina Lasisi
    Anthropology

    Tina Lasisi wants to untangle the evolution of human hair

    Tina Lasisi is pioneering studies of human variation in an ethical and scientifically sound way.

    By Aina Abell
  12. painting on the side of a Maya vase that depicts a ruler speaking to a kneeling attendant while tamales are prepared
    Anthropology

    In Maya society, cacao use was for everyone, not just royals

    Previously considered a preserve of Maya elites, cacao was consumed across all social strata, a new study finds.

    By Richard Kemeny