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hominin extinctions - New research suggests some of our species’ closest relatives died out because of significant changes in climate, findings that may offer a warning for humanity today.

Climate Change May Have Been a Major Driver of Ancient Hominin Extinctions

A new study suggests at least two close relatives of Homo sapiens may have died out as their environments changed.
Researchers found these ancient flint blades in Israel’s Qesem Cave.

Ancient Humans Used Fire to Make Stone Tools

A new study, borrowing techniques from artificial intelligence research, suggests hominins in the eastern Mediterranean used heat from fire in manufacturing flint blades.
Mexico City mammoth find - Archaeologists, restorers, and laborers have worked together to uncover thousands of late Pleistocene animal remains.

A Mammoth Find Near Mexico City

Scientists have identified the largest ever assemblage of mammoth bones.
A group of people wearing gloves crouch down and dig in the dirt, while another person stands close by observing.

Archaeologists Respond to the Black Lives Matter Movement

A recent panel discussion encouraged scholars from across the U.S. to consider the experiences and contributions of Black people in this discipline.
A piece of tan pottery shows a black abstract drawing that appears to be a horse and a woman.

Were Women the True Artisans Behind Ancient Greek Ceramics?

A new paper makes the case that scholars have ignored the role of female ceramicists in Greece going back some 3,000 years—and that this failing could speak to a more consequential blind spot involving gender.
The Booker T. Washington High School parade processes along Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Unearthing the True Toll of the Tulsa Race Massacre

With the 99th anniversary at hand, a community works with archaeologists to answer longstanding questions about a brutal tragedy.
Herculaneum - The volcanic Mount Vesuvius is visible above the ruins of Pompeii, now an archaeological site in Italy.

What Really Happened at Herculaneum?

A new study offers insight into the lives lost when Italy’s Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.
south africa repatriation - A man stands on the farm in Sutherland, South Africa, where a medical student once unethically exhumed nine bodies for scientific study.

Restoring Dignity to Stolen Ancestors

In the first effort of its kind, a team at a South African university not only returns human remains to families but also provides a window into the world of ancestral San and Khoe people.
Dispersal - Researchers excavate in Jordan’s Zarqa Valley.

Should the Story of Homo’s Dispersal Out of Africa Be Rewritten?

A new finding suggests hominins left the African continent at least 500,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Researchers tested the cutting potential of knife-shaped frozen human feces.

Case Closed: You Can’t Make a Knife Out of Frozen Poop

Testing out a tale from the Arctic, one archaeologist takes matters into his own hands.
Starches

Scientists Find First Evidence of Humans Cooking Starches

More than 100 millennia ago, people were roasting tubers over the fire, a culinary practice that fueled their bodies and may have aided their migrations.
Athletic Sudden Death

Genetic Factors May Help Explain Athletic Sudden Death

Biological anthropologists and other researchers investigate why there is a diversity of symptoms and outcomes in people with sickle cell trait.

The Sacrificial Puppies of the Shang Dynasty

A new study suggests young dogs were frequently buried with humans in China some 3,000 years ago, but the precise reasons remain elusive.
Callao Cave on Luzon Island, Philippines, where the fossils were discovered.

New Hominin Shakes the Family Tree—Again

What does the discovery of Homo luzonensis mean for our understanding of humanity’s history?
brain evolution

Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

A new theory challenges assumptions about when and how our ancestors altered their behaviors to boost brainpower.
Three researchers stand in Denisova Cave in Russia, home to the newly classified Denisovan skull fragments.

First Confirmed Denisovan Skull Piece Found

Fragments of a hominin skull add to the sparse collection from our obscure cousins.