How a 600-million-year-old one-eyed creature shaped human sight
Long before humans, dinosaurs, or even fish existed, one of our distant ancestors looked very different from anything alive today.
Researchers now say that all...
Ancient love stories: How Neanderthal–human relationships shaped our DNA
Our DNA carries the history of ancient migrations, encounters, and relationships between different human groups.
A new study suggests that intimate connections between modern humans...
Ancient eggshell engravings reveal early humans’ surprising math skills
More than 60,000 years ago, early humans in southern Africa were carving patterns onto ostrich eggshells—and new research shows these designs were far more...
Iron age mass grave reveals targeted killing of women and children in Europe
Archaeologists have uncovered chilling evidence of a large-scale massacre from about 2,800 years ago in what is now northern Serbia.
The discovery, made at the...
40,000-year-old symbols may be humanity’s first step toward writing
Long before the first known writing systems appeared in ancient Mesopotamia, early humans were already carving mysterious symbols into tools, ornaments, and sculptures.
A new...
Ancient DNA reveals Europe’s last hunter-gatherers survived until 2500 BCE
New research using ancient DNA has revealed that hunter-gatherer communities in parts of northwestern Europe survived far longer than previously believed — continuing their...
5,300-year-old drill discovery rewrites history of ancient Egyptian technology
A small metal object discovered more than a century ago is changing what scientists know about ancient Egyptian technology.
Researchers from Newcastle University and the...
430,000-year-old wooden tools found in Greece rewrite early human history
Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools ever used by humans, and the discovery is changing what we know about early technology.
Found...
Ancient DNA solves a 12,000-year-old medical mystery
Scientists have uncovered the oldest known genetic diagnosis of a rare inherited disease, thanks to advances in ancient DNA research.
By analyzing the DNA of...
A lost ice age giant speaks again—from inside a wolf’s stomach
Scientists have recovered the complete genome of a woolly rhinoceros that lived more than 14,000 years ago—and they did it using tissue preserved inside...