Oldest legible sentence written with first alphabet is about head lice
9 November 2022
The early adopters of the alphabet cared about their personal hygiene, judging by the inscription on the side of an ancient ivory comb
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Premium
Was warfare responsible for the origin of complex civilisation?
24 June 2022
An effort to track global changes in human society over the past 10,000 years concludes that warfare drove an increase in social complexity – but others are unconvinced by the work
AI finds hidden evidence of ancient human fires 1 million years ago
13 June 2022
An AI tool has spotted subtle evidence of changes in flint tools that indicate ancient humans had cooking fires at a 1-million-year-old archaeological site in Israel
We may now know when chickens were domesticated – but not why
6 June 2022
Chickens were domesticated later than we thought, but probably not for their meat. Instead, they may have acted as early alarm systems or spiritual guides to the afterlife
Proteins in human bones near Pompeii survived temperatures of 500°C
27 May 2022
Many ancient Romans died when the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by hot volcanic ash, but the high temperatures didn’t destroy proteins in their skeletons
An ancient Roman who died in Pompeii has had their genome sequenced
26 May 2022
The ancient town of Pompeii was buried under hot volcanic ash in AD 79, but DNA still survives in the bones of the people who died in the disaster
Stone Age Europeans may have gathered to watch animations by the fire
20 April 2022
The campfire was a social hub for ancient humans, and a virtual reality investigation suggests that the flickering light may have made art etched on flat rocks look animated
Ancient footprints show children splashed in puddles 11,500 years ago
6 April 2022
A set of ancient footprints seems to show children splashing around in water that had pooled in tracks left by a now-extinct ground sloth
Tyrannosaurus rex may actually be three separate species
1 March 2022
After analysing the teeth and thigh bones of 38 T. rex fossils, some researchers propose reclassifying them as three different species, but others are unconvinced
A West African writing system shows how letters evolve to get simpler
11 January 2022
The characters used to write the Vai script, which was invented in Liberia in 1833, have become visually simpler over time, reflecting the evolutionary pressures acting on writing
