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Researchers have analyzed the DNA from 7,000-year-old bones of two cavemen unearthed in Spain, and have managed to sequence fragments of their genomes, making them the oldest modern human specimens ever found thus far. Ironically, the researchers found that the cavemen bear little genetic resemblance to people living in the region today, instead sharing ancestry with current populations […]
That’s right. Scientists have found that one of our early ancestors, the Australopithecus sediba, South African species from two million years ago, used to have an unique diet of forest fruits and other woodland plants. Basically, all the other hominids, we currently know of, focused more on grasses and sedges. This makes A. sediba a truly […]
Hand stencils, red dots and animal figures currently represent the oldest examples yet found so far in cave art in Europe; using a new, improved technique, researchers have dated the walls at 11 Spanish locations, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo, and found that one motif, a faint red […]
A new study from anthropologists at University of Tennessee analyzed the skulls of caucasian American men and women from between the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Their findings showed that the average American’s skull today is larger and narrower than it used to be seven generations ago. In total, over 1,500 skulls have been analyzed, and though […]
Researchers from New Zealand working in remote Cambodian mountains are shedding new light on the lost history of an enigmatic unidentified tribe by studying their eerie burial rituals. The University of Otago scientists have been working since 2003 to geo-locate and survey 10 interment sites and to used radiocarbon dating on samples of coffin wood, […]
Evolution, in very loose lines, is defined as the process which allows a species to survive by passing on the differentiating traits most likely to help offspring adapt to the world through means of natural and sexual selection. Considering the world around us has been shaped so much by human hand, a lot of people […]
Part of a study which sought to see how deeply rooted is our psychological projection inherited from our ancestors when faced with a physical situation, scientists concluded that holding a knife or gun causes one to be perceived as bigger. Anthropologists consider this behavior as evidence, coupled with other studies, that backs up the idea according to which humans, […]
She was a sacrifice, so you can look at it this way: the Inca chose her to go and live with the gods. But you can look at it this way too: the Inca brutally killed a 15 year old girl, for no other reason than religion. Furthermore, grim evidence showed that the Inca fattened […]
Africa proves yet again that it’s the cradle of the hominid family, and in consequence the human species. Scientists have found foot fossils in Ethiopia that don’t match those of any kind of hominid discovered thus far, dating from 3.4 million years ago, making the specimen contemporary with Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis specimen, of vast […]
One of the biggest anthropological mysteries scientists have been trying to unravel is the long put question of how did humans develop bipedal movement. There have been many theories formulated hypothesizing why our ancestors eventually switched from four limbs walking to two – some appealing, some a bit too far the edge. A recent study […]
An incredible find was publicized just earlier – fossils remains from stone age people were unearthed from two caves in China. Upon further inspection it was found that the bone features, particularly skulls, were unlike any other human or early ancestor remains ever found, suggesting that the researchers may have actually found a new species […]
A new study which analyzed Neanderthal DNA suggests that our close, now extinct relatives were on the point of dying off as a race well before humans made their appearance in Western Europe. The team of international researchers analyzed the mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones of 13 Neanderthals, and studied its variation. Mitochondrial DNA is copious […]
A fresh look at some already known fossilized remains revealed quite a surprise: they turned out to be the earliest people in Europe. From analyzing stone tools and other such artifacts, researchers have long believed the earliest Homo Sapiens to settle on the continent some 42-44.000 years ago; the only problem is, there were no […]
Overlooking the Indian Ocean, lies the beautiful Blombos Cave in South Africa. It was here that archeologists uncovered red and yellow dyes, as well as shell containers that could have been used as paint pots – all around 100,000 years old! This extraordinary find proves humans were thinking in a modern way hundreds of thousands of […]
Paleontologists in South Africa have reported finding an extraordinary number of fossils of a species that predated humans, belonging to the prehuman species Australopithecus Sediba that lived almost 2 million years ago. The species had human-like hands and ape-like feet; it was found in a rearkable collection of fossils which includes the most complete early […]
The mating between Neanderthals and modern homo sapiens has been a highly controversial matter between scientists in the anthropology scene for decades now. That was until last year, however, when anthropologists convened that the two related species did indeed mate, but the genes passed down from Neanderthals were inactive. Recently, there’s been another reason for […]
A new Oxford University study shows how people living further away from the equator have bigger eyes and brains than those living closer to it. This is to cope with the harsh colder climate, scientists say. Anthropologists come to this conclusion after examining 55 skulls, dating from the 1800s, representing 12 different populations from around […]
Humanity’s right handedness began at least 500.000 years ago, according to a new study conducted by University of Kansas researchers. The right handed trait is believed to actually be a “side effects” of the development of language. “We are right-handed because the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and […]
According to a research conducted by anthropologists from Arizona State University, there seems to be a big increase in the general negative attitude people living in diverse societies have towards obese individuals. The study was made on 680 correspondents across 9 countries who were asked to agree or disagree with various statements expressed by scientists […]
We now know that pre-modern human tool use dates back far beyond we previously might have thought, each discovery proving that our early ancestors showed sign of intelligence and early social evolution. A recent finding in central China of a prehistoric tool mill dating back 600,000 years ago used by Homo Erectus in the Lushi […]
In a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have shown that our closest relatives behave very similarly to humans when put in a situation where close cooperation is needed for maximizing results. The research, conducted by a team of scientists from Georgia State University, was tested on three […]
Although the oldest sexual toy may have dated from the stone age, a newly published discovery of two fossils bearing the mark of tool used to scrub off the meat dating back 3.39 million years could be enough to make anthropologists revise their current text books. What makes this study potentially monumental is the fact […]
It’s often remarkable the ways in which seemingly disparate characteristics of personality mingle. Whether this interaction is remarkable due to the vast complexity and multifaceted nature of the human persona or instead because our understanding of such matters is so paltry, our library of the “psychical” patterns that give rise first to cognition and then […]
In a meta-analysis study researchers from the University of Ontario, Penn State, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that the second to fourth finger length ratio (2d:4d) serves as an indicator of sexual orientation.
This is possibly one of the earliest sex toys in human history.
Yes ladies and gents, researchers have produced the whole genome sequence of the 3 billion “letters” (nucleotides) in the Neanderthalian genome, and the results are interesting to say the least. For starters, up to 2 percent of present day human DNA outside of Africa originated in Neanderthals; this result suggests that the Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis […]
Imagine an average day in your life; the odds are, it’ll include either logging onto facebook, tweeting, browsing some pics on flickr and videos on youtube, or some of these combined. The blazing speed at which social media is developing is catching many off guard and forcing numerous persons and firms (even corporations) to adapt. […]
There has been a lot of debate around the whole ‘hobbit issue‘ and I’ve been watching that pretty closely. It was especially interesting to see how creationists adapted to the situation. The thing is every answer raises even more questions. Recently, researchers discovered thousands of small, sharp-edged objects made from volcanic tuff or chert in […]
In almost every belief there’s an apocalypse, hanging above the believers’ head like the sword of Damocles. But as far as we know so far, such an apocalypse is yet to come; this is where Mike Moseley, a distinguished professor of anthropology at the University of Florida steps in, claiming that actually, the earliest American […]
The enigma of the South American peoples who created the Nazca Lines and collected heads as trophies slowly starts to find its answers. A new study shows that these heads weren’t taken from enemies, but in fact belong to people who had lived in the same place as the collectors, about 2.000 to 1.500 years […]
Feeling the need for scientific research to back up the ‘dirty old men’ myth, Gothenburg University and Oxford University scientists performed a study on 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose their partners. What they wanted was to test some theories about how men and women pick their partners in general. […]
It’s not as if this was a novelty, but now there’s the scientific background to prove it. Actually, this refers more to when children deny something has happened rather than just making things up. Adults to a little better at this one. This research has been made mostly to help in forensic searches, when dealing […]
If you ever visited a neighboring country and found that the people there had little or no connection to your own country’s culture, language or even physical appearance, it’s only natural that you wonder how this can be; after all, if the countries share a border, they have to resemble many traits?? Not really. It […]
It’s hard to say that during last year’s G8 summit the “world leaders” made promises and predictions that were just words for the voters without feeling ridiculous; I’m not one to fall for fine words that sounds identical to what you want to hear, but I was expecting at least few of those I heard […]
If you were to be optimistic, where do you think mankind would get most of its energy a century from now? Most would say from renewable sources. In fact, this project has been going on for a few years now. But just as any project needs, this one has an experiment which so far has […]
The salt and pepper of any religion, mythology or folklore is represented by legendary figures, known to us, mortals, as heroes; and with all the fascinating legends and myths, it’s really hard to choose just five of them, which is why there will probably be an epic sequel to this. Heracles Heracles or Hercules (meaning […]
When I read what Ray Kurzweil said about the future, I was just awed! I mean, coming from somebody else, it would seem ludacris (even from him, I find it really hard to believe), but c’mon, the man is one of the best futurists we have, so he HAS to know what he’s talking about. […]
Photo by Stefan Everybody (or almost everybody) believes that no matter what, USA remains “polluter no. 1”. Don’t take my word for it, just ask BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin – he says the same thing. The industry is by far the most developed, so that would seem logical, despite the fact the China and […]
The media seems to be repeating the idea that we use just 10% of our brains and taking it as a given. Scientists have tried for years to change this misconception and they have clearly stated that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains. In fact it […]
