Fossil footprints reveal what may be the oldest known handcarts - new research

How people got stuff around before wheels.

Sally Christine Reynolds, Associate Professor in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth University • conversation
Feb. 24, 2025 • ~5 min

Ancient DNA study shows women at the centre of societies in iron age Britain – supporting decades of archaeology

Genetics shows that women stayed put in Late Iron Age Dorset, while men moved to other groups.

Rachel Pope, Reader in European Prehistory, Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool • conversation
Jan. 23, 2025 • ~9 min

Hundreds of 19th-century skulls collected in the name of medical science tell a story of who mattered and who didn’t

Marked with numbers, demographic information and provenance – though not name – these skulls tell a story of racist hierarchies but also diversity in the early United States.

Pamela L. Geller, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Miami • conversation
Nov. 14, 2024 • ~10 min

Socially distanced layout of the world’s oldest cities helped early civilization evade diseases

Whether intentional or not, the way mega-settlements in southeastern Europe from 6,000 years ago were laid out would have cut down on the spread of disease.

R. Alexander Bentley, Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee • conversation
Oct. 15, 2024 • ~11 min

Scientists have found evidence of past extreme solar storms. Their return could be disastrous for our technology-based societies

Extreme solar storms could play havoc with technological infrastructure.

Tim Heaton, Professor of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds • conversation
Sept. 17, 2024 • ~7 min

Domesticating horses had a huge impact on human society − new science rewrites where and when it first happened

New analyses of bones, teeth, genetics and artifacts suggest it’s time to revise a long-standing hypothesis for how humans domesticated horses.

William Taylor, Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Sept. 3, 2024 • ~10 min

DNA reveals secrets of cave-dwelling medieval community that survived conquest and epidemics

It’s unclear why people chose to live in the caves, but DNA is shedding light on their lives.

Ricardo Rodriguez Varela, Research in Molecular Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm University • conversation
Aug. 28, 2024 • ~8 min

Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came all the way from north-east Scotland – here’s how we worked out this astonishing new finding

This is the longest known journey for any stone used in a Neolithic monument.

Rob Ixer, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology, UCL • conversation
Aug. 14, 2024 • ~8 min

We’ve found there was an overseas trade supplying horses for sacrifices during the late Viking age

Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the late Viking age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals according to a new study.

Richard Madgwick, Lecturer in Archaeological Science, Cardiff University • conversation
Aug. 13, 2024 • ~7 min

The first farmers often made landscapes more biodiverse – our research could have lessons for rewilding today

Scientists analysed thousands of years of pollen data and made a surprising discovery.

Brennen Fagan, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York • conversation
July 26, 2024 • ~7 min

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