ANTHROPOLOGY

Fossilized human footprints in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park are between 21,000 and 23,000 years old and pre-date the Clovis people in North America.

8 Ancient Archaeological Sites That Pre-Date the Clovis People

Archaeologists used to think that the Clovis people were the first inhabitants of the Americas some 13,500 years ago. The evidence from these ancient sites says otherwise.

An exact replica of some of the drawings in Chauvet Cave, including the quartet of horses and a woolly rhinoceros.

13 Facts About the Chauvet Cave Paintings

The Chauvet Cave paintings are tens of thousands of years old and depict iconic animals that are now extinct. Even Werner Herzog was impressed.

Stenciled human hands in a cave near Rio Pinturas, Argentina, dating from the last ice age.

5 Misconceptions About Early Humans

We break down some common myths about our early human ancestors—and what makes our species, ‘Homo sapiens,’ so different from them.

Foot pain and sprained ankles are just a few of the common problems affecting our ill-adapted feet.

6 Downsides of Human Evolution

From back injuries to difficult childbirth, here are six annoying parts of being human that you can blame on evolution.

A Neanderthal skull against a backdrop of the German valley where the first specimens of the human ancestor were found.

‘Thal Order: 11 Things You Might Not Know About Neanderthals

Often dismissed as “primitive,” our extinct relatives were surprisingly thoughtful. Some were also cannibals.

Thanksgiving is a day filled with small rituals.

7 Overlooked Thanksgiving Rituals, According to Sociologists

The first major sociological study of Thanksgiving appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research in 1991. Here’s what the authors learned.

A 1920 mural by paleoartist Charles Robert Knight depicting Cro-Magnon people painting on cave walls at Font-de-Gaume, France.

Neanderthal vs. Cro-Magnon: What’s the Difference?

These prehistoric members of our genus, ‘Homo,’ occupy different branches of the human family tree.

A replica of the Laetoli footprints discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania; The original footprints were dated to 3.6 million years ago.

9 Fascinating Discoveries that Changed Our Understanding of Human Evolution

Scientists have uncovered ancient fossils, prehistoric artwork, and other clues to human evolution. Here are nine of the most revealing discoveries that have changed our understanding of our early ancestors—and ourselves.

The Discoveries of 21 Human Ancestors, Mapped

Within the last 200 years, we’ve discovered about two dozen species of hominins in Europe, Africa, and Asia—which you can see laid out in this map.

Meet some of your famous family members.

10 Famous Hominin Fossils That Changed Our Thinking About Human Origins

Each of these ancient fossils, even if just a small part of a skeleton, represents an identifiable character in the story of humankind.

An artist’s rendering of what Lucy may have looked like in life.

On the Origin of Lucy: How One Extraordinary Fossil Helped Alter Our View of Human Evolution

Lucy walked on her own two feet. Scientists weren’t expecting that.

Tollund Man—a bog body at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark

8 Kinds of Mummies That Aren’t From Ancient Egypt

China, Chile, and New Zealand are a few places that have historic mummies of their own.

Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, the site of humankind's earliest ancestors.

8 Facts about Olduvai Gorge, the “Cradle of Mankind”

The gorge in northern Tanzania has yielded many of the oldest fossils of humankind, shedding new light on our ancient ancestors.

A portrait of the scientists who found and examined the Piltdown Man skull (accompanied by a picture of Charles Darwin on the wall).

10 Famous Archaeological Hoaxes

From forged artworks to fake mummies and even fraudulent orangutan bones, archaeological hoaxes fool scientists and stir the public’s imagination—until the culprits are forced to come clean.

A replica of Paleolithic cave drawings of deer, horses, and aurochs, dating to 15,000 BCE, from Lascaux cave in France.

7 Misconceptions About the Stone Age

The Stone Age timeline encompasses a huge chunk of prehistory—and life wasn’t only about hunting and gathering.

Tollund Man on display at the Silkeborg Museum, Denmark.

A Brief History of Bog Bodies

The bodies of Iron Age Europeans are so well preserved in peat bogs that they’re sometimes mistaken for modern murder victims.

New Fossils Add to Mystery Surrounding the “Hobbit,” Our Smallest Human Ancestor

A fragment of an arm bone found on Flores, Indonesia, suggests that some of our human ancestors were even smaller than we thought.

Detail of a diorama of a Neanderthal mother and child at the Moravian Provincial Museum in Brno, Czech Republic.

Neanderthals Cared for a Child with Down Syndrome

A fossilized ear bone supports the idea that Neanderthals helped raise the child collectively and altruistically.

A pixelated version of an illustration by Édouard-Henri Avril from the 1824 book ‘De figuris Veneris.’

The Research Error That Gave Us the Phrase ‘Missionary Position’

The origins of the phrase 'missionary position' involve Alfred Kinsey, some shoddy research, and zero actual missionaries.

A replica of the Denisovan finger bone discovered in 2010.

9 Facts About the Denisovans, Our Mysterious Human Ancestor

The Denisovans went extinct around 30,000 years ago. Scientists are just beginning to unravel their genetic legacy.

The Iceman Baldeth: New Genome Analysis Shows Ötzi Had Surprising Ancestry—and Male-Pattern Baldness

Ötzi the Iceman may have gone bald in middle age—but hey, at least he had tattoos.

Zora Neale Hurston in a portrait by Carl Van Vechten.

10 Fascinating Facts About Zora Neale Hurston

Writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston’s literary legacy is a class apart. Here are some facts you might not have known about the author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Why Do We Have Eyebrows?

Eyebrows are the Swiss Army knife of the human face.

The Tollense Valley battle site contains hundreds of victims.

10 Prehistoric Battle Sites Around the World

We sometimes think human prehistory was much more peaceful than today. But archaeological evidence suggests otherwise.