Archaeology

Meteorite impacts thousands of years ago may have helped to inspire ancient religion

Tens of millions of years passed between the emergence of land animals and the evolution of an efficient apparatus for munching on the available fare. Karen Hopkin reports

The development of complex tools and even art may have been spurred by shifts in weather

An analysis of chemicals in primate teeth shows that a Neandertal infant nursed exclusively for a little more than seven months

A discovery of the oldest known fossils from two major primate groups fills in a 10-million-year gap in the record and reveals new information about evolution

Ancient DNA suggests that the ancient Cretans descended from Neolithic populations

DNA analyses find that early Homo sapiens mated with other human species and hint that such interbreeding played a key role in the triumph of our kind

Consumer genetic-testing companies report how much of one's DNA comes from archaic human species, but what do the results really mean?

Dinosaurs — or at least their ancestors — may have gotten an earlier start than once believed

At least 27 human species have walked the Earth, but only our lineage survived. Our ancestors may have crossed a cerebral Rubicon that led to babies being born “early”

Consumer genetic-testing companies report how much of one's DNA comes from archaic human species, but what do the results really mean?

An exhumation this week of the Chilean poet's remains might raise as many questions as it answers. His death officially was caused by prostate cancer but new allegations have been made