An analysis concludes that pigments were transported into the cave, and the marks were made with intention, though their ultimate meaning remains unknown.

A massive, well-preserved skull discovered in China in the 1930s belongs to a new species called Homo longi, researchers report, but experts remain skeptical about the evidence.

A forensic investigation of Seqenenre Taa II’s traumatic injuries suggests he died with his hands tied behind his back, perhaps the end result of fighting to liberate his kingdom.

Listen to a musicologist blow through the oldest known shell horn.

Early investigations of the microbial communities in and around sunken boats reveal that there are patterns to where bacteria settle.

Sharp drops in global temperatures helped seal the fate of three extinct hominin species, including our close relatives, the Neanderthals, according to thousands of archaeological specimens and a model of past climate conditions.

A selective advantage may have led the modern human Y chromosome to sweep through the Neanderthal population after it was introduced via interbreeding more than 100,000 years ago.

Watch researchers travel to a cave deep in the Amazon to search for clues about the first humans to populate the Americas.

Africa’s sparse fossil record alone cannot reveal our species’ evolutionary history.

While questions still outnumber answers, new findings from archaeology, genetics, and other disciplines are revealing surprising insights into the early cultures of the most recently populated continent.

Modern human genomes and bones left behind from ancient hominins in Africa tell a complex story about the origins of our species.

Microscopic analysis of charred, shapeless lumps from archaeological sites revealed ancient cereal grains that may have undergone malting to make beer.

Genetics and archaeology yield clues as to when humans first arrived on the continent and how these early settlers lived.

If confirmed, the result means people migrated to North America much earlier than thought, but some experts remain unconvinced.

An isotopic analysis of eggshell beads dating back more than 30,000 years indicates that they helped build networks that stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

Genetic evidence points to individuals from South America having possibly floated on a raft to Polynesian islands about 500 years before Europeans navigated there.

A tooth and six bone fragments are the oldest confirmed Homo sapiens fossils in Europe.

Researchers discover a fragment of cord between 41,000 and 52,000 years old that points to Neanderthals’ complex cognitive abilities.

The crania of individuals who lived in the Yucatán Peninsula during the late Pleistocene show a high degree of anatomical diversity among them, and their skull shapes differ from that of other North American populations of the time.