Why the Vikings left Greenland?
One of the great mysteries of late medieval history is why the Norse, who established successful settlements in southern Greenland in 985, abandoned them...
Prehistoric people created art by firelight, shows study
Our early ancestors probably created intricate artwork by firelight, an examination of 50 engraved stones unearthed in France has revealed.
The stones were incised with...
Scientists turn to Neandertals, an extinct human relative, for the answer of lower back...
Examining the spines of Neandertals, an extinct human relative, may explain back-related ailments experienced by humans today, a team of anthropologists has concluded in...
How early humans lived, traveled and interacted
A new analysis of human remains buried in African archaeological sites has produced the earliest DNA from the continent
This tells a fascinating tale of...
Was Facebook the original social network? Not by a long shot
Between 80,000 and 50,000 years ago, people across early eastern and southern Africa left behind traces of an explosion of symbolic expression reflected in...
Everyone has heard of King Arthur, but 90% of medieval manuscripts of chivalric and...
New research finds that, while the Knights of the Round Table have won global fame, most medieval English heroic or chivalric stories have been...
Scientists find locations of ancient Maya sacred groves of cacao trees
For as much as modern society worships chocolate, cacao — the plant chocolate comes from — was believed to be even more divine to...
Archaeologists uncover ancient gold coin hoard in Germany
An Iron Age hoard of gold coins has been uncovered near the village of Baitz, in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district of Germany.
The discovery was made...
Ancient Mayan civilization not likely to collapse due to drought, shows study
A new study casts doubt on drought as the driver of ancient Mayan civilization collapse.
There is no dispute that a series of droughts occurred...
Dawn of humanity pushed back 30,000 years, shows fossil study
The age of the oldest fossils in eastern Africa widely recognized as representing our species, Homo sapiens, has long been uncertain.
Now, dating of a...