How do archaeologists know where to dig?
Archaeologists used to dig primarily at sites that were easy to find thanks to obvious visual clues. But technology – and listening to local people – plays a much bigger role now.
Dec. 4, 2020 • ~10 min
architecture archaeology citizen-science maya lidar remote-sensing indigenous-knowledge curiosity belize archaeologists excavation archaeological-dig land-surveying traditional-indigenous-knowledge
When did humans first go to war?
A war with Neanderthals makes a compelling narrative but the evidence is limited is best.
Nov. 9, 2020 • ~8 min
archaeology neanderthals fossils war homo-sapiens
Did prehistoric women hunt? New research suggests so
New research is challenging the hypothesis that men did the hunting in prehistoric societies.
Nov. 4, 2020 • ~5 min
archaeology women hunting hunter-gatherer pleistocene-era
Cahokian culture spread across eastern North America 1,000 years ago in an early example of diaspora
Five centuries before Columbus arrived, migrants were spreading across North America, carrying their culture with them and mixing with those they encountered in new places.
Oct. 30, 2020 • ~11 min
anthropology archaeology native-americans human-migration diaspora pre-columbian
Turbulent environment set the stage for leaps in human evolution and technology 320,000 years ago
A new environmental record for a prehistoric site in Kenya helped researchers figure out how external conditions influenced which of our ancient ancestors lived there, with what way of life.
Oct. 21, 2020 • ~11 min
anthropology human-evolution archaeology fossils homo-sapiens paleoanthropology stone-tools human-origins middle-stone-age ancient-sediments human-fossils sediment sediment-cores
Archaeologists determined the step-by-step path taken by the first people to settle the Caribbean islands
Did people settle these islands by traveling north from South America, or in the other direction? Reanalyzing data from artifacts discovered decades ago provides a definitive answer.
Sept. 29, 2020 • ~10 min
archaeology caribbean cuba radiocarbon-dating jamaica islands human-migration trinidad human-settlements artifacts human-settlement
Ancient DNA is revealing the genetic landscape of people who first settled East Asia
By studying the DNA of people who lived in East Asia thousands of years ago, scientists are starting to untangle how the region was populated.
Sept. 15, 2020 • ~11 min
ancient-dna hunter-gatherers china agriculture archaeology genes genomics southeast-asia rice adna siberia paleoanthropology human-migration east-asia hunter-gatherer start-of-agriculture paleogenomics
When did we become fully human? What fossils and DNA tell us about the evolution of modern intelligence
Artefacts suggest a ‘great leap’, a recent evolution of modern intelligence. Fossils and DNA argue that’s an illusion.
Sept. 9, 2020 • ~9 min
evolution anthropology human-evolution archaeology fossils intelligence
Brewing Mesopotamian beer brings a sip of this vibrant ancient drinking culture back to life
Beer was extremely popular in ancient Mesopotamia. Sipped through straws, it differed from today’s beer and was enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
Aug. 24, 2020 • ~8 min
alcohol archaeology poetry pandemic university-of-chicago epidemics beer iraq wine mesopotamia brewing gilgamesh bars alcohol-use babylonians sumerians ancient-mesopotamia
Boxgrove: how we found Europe's oldest bone tools – and what we learned about their makers
The Boxgrove people, like all other human species, were capable of sharing time, care and knowledge in all parts of their life.
Aug. 12, 2020 • ~6 min
archaeology britain stone-age stone-tools
/
2