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Ian Dagnall Computing / Alamy The Mystery of Why Our Ancestors Left Africa
An enduring scientific debate is about humanity’s past—and its future.
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Getty / The Atlantic A Giant Chalk Figure Is Finally Starting to Make Some Sense
And we have snails to thank for that.
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Ulrich Baumgarten / Getty Your Life Story Is Growing on Your Head
What archaeologists are learning from the hair of dead people
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Farrell Monaco What Bread Tasted Like 4,000 Years Ago
How an archaeologist and the creator of the Xbox brought an ancient Egyptian sourdough starter back to life
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Lauri Travis The Dogs That Sniff Out 5,000-Year-Old Bones
Archaeologists are using canine assistants to uncover ancient remains.
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FBI The FBI Agents Who Return Stolen Cultural Artifacts
Figuring out where looted treasures belong can take a whole lot of detective work.
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Ciro De Luca / Reuters A Twist in the 2,000-Year-Old Mystery of Herculaneum
Scientists have long thought that the 340 victims of Mount Vesuvius died instantly. But a new analysis suggests they suffered a slower demise.
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Nikola Solic / Reuters Neanderthals Were About as Right-Handed as Modern Humans
In one study, at least 85 percent of Neanderthal tools appeared to be made for a user whose right side was dominant.
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USA TODAY / Reuters A Break in the Mystery of Sudden Running Deaths
A handful of genes could explain why sickle cell trait leaves some athletes at risk, and others perfectly healthy.
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Wally Santana / AP Puppy Sacrifice Was Widespread During the Shang Dynasty
Juvenile canines might have been a cheaper alternative to full-grown dogs.
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MB Photography / Getty Ancient Humans Might Have Had a Marrow Advantage
New evidence suggests that meat wasn’t the key to dramatic cerebral growth.
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Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Zambia’s Most Famous Skulls Might Finally Be Headed Home
Some scientists think the Kabwe skull could be an evolutionary link between humans and Neanderthals. It hasn’t left the U.K. in nearly a century.
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Shutterstock The Reason Some Hyperlocal Languages Survive
Uncommon tongues are more likely to last when young people are actively speaking them.
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Baz Ratner / Reuters The Underestimated Reliability of Oral Histories
Not only written narratives have stood the test of time.
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Wayde Carroll / AP The Ritual Sacrifice of Man’s Best Friend
How human culture shaped canine evolution
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Yves Herman / Reuters How Liquefying Brains Changed the Story of the Human Mind
In the race for intelligence, one key evolutionary moment may have separated primates from other mammals.
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Barbara Fraser / SAPIENS How Ayahuasca Tourism Jeopardizes Traditional Medicine
The booming popularity of the Amazonian hallucinogen can be great for business in remote communities, but it has a dark side.
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David Williams / Sapiens The Clues That Neanderthals Didn't Know How to Make Fire
New evidence from two caves in Western France deepens an old mystery about our fellow hominins.
