Search | New Scientist

Carved giant sloth bones may have been worn as personal ornaments

Early humans made jewellery from giant sloth bones

11 July 2023

The bones were shaped by people using stone tools before they were fossilised, adding new evidence for humans’ arrival in the Americas before the end of the last glacial period

Furrows row pattern in a plowed field prepared for planting crops in spring. Growing wheat crop in springtime. Horizontal view in perspective with cloud and blue sky background.; Shutterstock ID 423151204; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Was the shift to farming really the worst mistake in human history?

22 February 2023

The notion that our ancestors’ shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming was disastrous for our health is well established, but a new study should prompt a rethink, says Michael Marshall

3D models of the femur and ulnae of Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Human ancestors may have walked on two legs 7 million years ago

24 August 2022

An analysis of thigh and forearm bones from Sahelanthropus tchadensis suggests the early hominin was mainly bipedal, but the claim is controversial

Homo bodoensis, a new species of human ancestor, lived in Africa during the Middle Pleistocene.

New human species has been named Homo bodoensis - but it may not stick

28 October 2021

Researchers who reanalysed ancient fossils say they come from a new group of hominins living in Africa around 600,000 years ago, and so deserve a new species name

Homo erectus used two different kinds of stone tools

5 March 2020

Skull fragments from Homo erectus found alongside stone tools in Ethiopia suggest the ancient hominin used more tool technology than we thought

A skull suggests humans have been getting piercings for 12,000 years

27 January 2020

The teeth of a man who lived in prehistoric Africa are worn in a way that suggests he had three facial piercings, the second oldest such find in the world

Humans across cultures may share the same universal musical grammar

21 November 2019

Music appears to be made from the same simple building blocks of pitches and chords around the world, upending the prevailing view that universals don’t exist

Wealthy families in prehistoric Europe may have had live-in slaves

10 October 2019

Ancient DNA suggests that during the Bronze Age, wealthy families once lived with poorer individuals, suggesting live-in slavery could be 1300 years older than we thought

Description:Picture of drinking vessel: Greek drinking cup from the Early Celtic princely burial mound Kleinaspergle. This vessel is similar to those whose pottery fragments were found in the Celtic settlement on the Mont Lassois

Ancient Celts were partial to beer, mead and imported Greek wines

19 June 2019

Analysing ancient pots has revealed the drinking habits of Celts in France. Over 2000 years ago they were drinking beer, mead and imported Greek wines

Did the ancestor of all humans evolve in Europe not Africa?

16 April 2019

A study of some 8-million-year-old teeth found in Greece suggests a controversial idea: that hominins arose in Europe and then moved into Africa later