Anthropology

The Sterkfontein Caves in Johannesburg, South Africa, reveal nearly 4 million years of evolution, scientists say.

Scientists have discovered Herculaneum victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius were blasted with such extreme heat that their soft tissue disappeared.

"As a professional [anthropologist] this is the kind of stuff we like to find because we're so interested in history," Josef Garrett told Newsweek.

Scientists say the young Homo naledi was between 8-15 years old. Further research could determine whether the species was more ape-like or human-like in its maturation.

Ballgames played an important role in the civilizations of ancient Central America.

Some researchers consider Homo erectus to be the immediate ancestor of our own species, Homo sapiens.

"The quantity of fish we have found and studied are unprecedented in the central Sahara," researcher Savino di Lernia told Newsweek.

The findings demonstrate that Australia's earliest known human population consumed a range of plant foods, including those that required processing.

"In recent years we have seen increasing evidence that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than previously thought," researcher Emma Pomeroy said.

Researchers say the discovery shows the human body was used for social expression as much in the Pleistocene as it was today.

Researchers also found evidence indicating that Neanderthals collected volcanic pumice stones.

Computer simulations suggest Neanderthals were already on the brink of extinction and had been for hundreds of thousands of years when demographic fluctuations and inbreeding pushed them over the edge.

Researchers spent five years painstakingly creating a database which features music created by people around the world.

Scientists discovered new evidence that the Greek island of Naxos was inhabited by Neanderthals and humans at least 200,000 years ago—tens of thousands of years earlier than previously believed

Humans have been cultivating the cannabis plant for thousands of years, but we know very little about when it was first used for its psychoactive properties.

The findings shed new light on the history of human migration in the region and the ancestry of the people who first settled the Americas.

"The finding of these sites extends by several millennia the history of human occupation of southwestern Amazonia," José Capriles said.

Researchers have been unable to agree when human settlement on the island began.

Providing healthcare was a fundamental collaborative survival strategy for Neanderthals, according to researchers.

Scientists found ancient residues of beer in stone mortars.

Wild animals played a significant role in ancient Mesoamerican culture.

The "hashtag" predates the earliest previously known ancient abstract and figurative human drawings from Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia by at least 30,000 years.

"Decorating our bodies isn't just a trivial activity."

The traditional narrative of the island's history suggests that the local people destroyed their own society through infighting and overexploitation of natural resources, while a new study suggests a society with a high level of collaboration.

Ötzi is the oldest naturally preserved ice mummy.

These products would eventually go on to serve as universal currencies across the different Maya regions and were used to finance state activities, as well as household needs.

But brutal rulers like Genghis Khan could also be to blame.

Scientists have been pondering the Pacific Coast route for about 50 years as an alternative to the idea that humans sneaked past the ice further inland, to the east.

If you lived in New Guinea 100 years ago, that is.

Modern humans first emerged between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago.