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...
Whale hunting in south America began 5,000 years ago—far earlier than we thought
The history of whale hunting is much older—and more global—than researchers once believed.
A new study shows that Indigenous communities living along the southern coast...
Walking on two legs began earlier than we thought
Scientists may have just pushed back the timeline for when our ancestors first started walking upright.
A new study suggests that Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a species...
How a 4,000-year-old sheep solved a long-standing plague mystery
The Black Death is one of the most infamous pandemics in human history, killing roughly a third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.
That...
Scientists discover 125,000-year-old elephant tracks in southeastern Spain
For the first time, scientists have uncovered fossilized footprints of large land animals preserved in ancient coastal sand dunes in the Spanish region of...
Not just cold and conflict: Roman troops at Hadrian’s Wall battled parasites
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Roman soldiers stationed on the edge of the empire faced more than cold winds, enemy raids, and homesickness.
New research shows...