How was popcorn discovered? An archaeologist on its likely appeal for people in the Americas millennia ago

Corn has its roots in Mexico about 9,000 years ago.

Sean Rafferty, Professor of Anthropology, University at Albany, State University of New York • conversation
July 1, 2024 • ~6 min

Lucy, discovered 50 years ago in Ethiopia, stood just 3.5 feet tall − but she still towers over our understanding of human origins

A photo of Lucy’s reconstructed skeleton next to a live four-year-old girl shows how human Lucy was – and how small.

Denise Su, Associate Professor of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University • conversation
June 27, 2024 • ~4 min

Rocks on Rapa Nui tell the story of a small, resilient population − countering the notion of a doomed overpopulated island

Satellite data shows the amount of food the residents of the tiny Pacific island have grown over time, pointing to a small but stable population.

Carl Lipo, Professor of Anthropology and Associate Dean for Research, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
June 21, 2024 • ~10 min

Digital public archaeology: Excavating data from digs done decades ago and connecting with today’s communities

Archaeologists preserve records of their excavations, but many are never analyzed. Digital archaeology is making these records more accessible and analyzing the data in new ways.

Emily Fletcher, Ph.D. Candidate in Archaeology, Purdue University • conversation
June 18, 2024 • ~7 min

Scientists and Indigenous leaders team up to conserve seals and an ancestral way of life at Yakutat, Alaska

Collaborative research by archaeologists, environmental scientists and tribal elders combines science and Indigenous knowledge to tell the story of centuries of life at a glacier’s edge.

Judith Dax̱ootsú Ramos, Assistant Professor of Northwest Coast Arts, University of Alaska Southeast • conversation
June 7, 2024 • ~9 min

How Neanderthal language differed from modern human – they probably didn’t use metaphors

The two human species had many similarities but their communication would have been different.

Steven Mithen, Professor of Early Prehistory, University of Reading • conversation
May 20, 2024 • ~10 min

Humans have been altering nature for thousands of years – to shape a sustainable future, it’s important to understand that deep history

Understanding how humans came to exert such enormous pressure on Earth’s ecosystems can inform more sustainable ways of living.

Todd Braje, Executive Director, Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon • conversation
May 16, 2024 • ~8 min

The reconstruction of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman’s face makes her look quite friendly – there’s a problem with that

Scientists can’t yet tell how soft tissue overlayed bones, so this reconstruction is inevitably based on artistic licence.

Fay Bound Alberti, Professor in Modern History and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, King's College London • conversation
May 8, 2024 • ~7 min

Stonehenge may have aligned with the Moon as well as the Sun

The monument’s ancient connection to the skies may run even deeper than we realised.

Erica Ellingson, Professor in Astrophysics, Emeritus, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
April 19, 2024 • ~8 min

Stone Age ‘megastructure’ under Baltic Sea sheds light on strategy used by Palaeolithic hunters over 10,000 years ago

The find represents Europe’s largest human-made megastructure.

Stephanie Piper, Lecturer in Archaeology, University of York • conversation
Feb. 15, 2024 • ~8 min

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