Humans

Archaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old mass grave in Slovakia containing 38 skeletons, with all but one decapitated. The remains were found at the Vráble-Vèlke Lehemby site in Slovakia, one of the largest settlements of the European Neolithic period. Early studies suggest the heads were removed purposefully after death, an author of the study told Insider.

Many of us are returning to work or school after spending time with relatives over the summer period. Sometimes we can be left wondering how on earth we are related to some of these people with whom we seemingly have nothing in common (especially with a particularly annoying relative). However, in evolutionary terms, we all

At 3.63 meters (12 feet) tall and 4.37 meters across, the painting known commonly as The Night Watch is Rembrandt’s largest painting. Centuries after its creation, we’re still uncovering the smallest of details in its pigments, thanks to advances in modern technology. A team of researchers from across Europe have found an unexpected molecule while

Night is naturally suited for paranormal activity, with less light and sound to limit the imagination. While the relationship is still murky, new research shows an interesting link between paranormal beliefs and one of the most important night-time activities for we earthly beings: sleep. In a new study, researchers found subjective measures of poorer sleep

Ramesses II, often revered as the ‘greatest pharaoh’ in Egyptian history, is a man of many faces. In statues and drawings from more than 3,000 years ago, the sacred sovereign is depicted as a handsome, godly man with a rounded face, a prominent nose, and high cheekbones. His mummy, which was uncovered in 1881, holds

One of the most hotly debated questions in the history of Neanderthal research has been whether they created art. In the past few years, the consensus has become that they did, sometimes. But, like their relations at either end of the hominoid evolutionary tree, chimpanzees and Homo sapiens, Neanderthals‘ behavior varied culturally from group to

When it comes to discovering lost civilizations, it’s a pretty big find: close to 1,000 previously hidden Maya settlements have been found in northern Guatemala thanks to LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) laser scanning from the air. The area that these settlements cover is vast: the buildings and structures spotted by researchers stretch across some

After more than 200 years of being on public display, the 7-foot, 7-inch (2.31-meter) tall skeleton of ‘Irish giant’ Charles Byrne is being removed as an exhibit from the Hunterian Museum in London. Byrne had an undiagnosed benign tumor of the pituitary gland, causing an abundance of the body’s growth hormone and gigantism. The showcasing

Scientists have discovered a new way to identify the average ages when men and women reproduced throughout human evolutionary history. By studying DNA mutations in modern humans, they discovered a window that let them peek 250,000 years back in time. “Through our research on modern humans, we noticed that we could predict the age at

Archaeologists used a battered skull, found in the crypt of a Medieval Italian church, to reconstruct a brutal scene that took place more than 800 years ago. The skull belongs to a young male, and because he was buried in the San Biagio’s main atrium, he is thought to be a member of the wealthy

The global pandemic has forced entire populations around the world into working from home, often bringing people into close proximity with loved ones and relatives 24/7. According to a recent study by researchers from the US and China, the experience of mingling domestic needs with career tasks poses very different challenges for the respective halves

Smallpox has left an unmistakable mark on human history, killing at least 300 million people in the 20th century alone. In spite of its notoriety, the virus‘s origins still remain elusive. Now, a team of scientists in Italy has pushed our best estimates for the emergence of smallpox back by another 2,000 years, verifying historical

Fur is a defining feature of being a mammal. But bald is beautiful for several mammalian weirdos, including dolphins, mole rats, elephants, and of course, humans. Not to mention a handy adaptation. Yet all our ancestors had plenty of fur. According to a new study on relatively hairless mammals, we still have the means to

For most people around the world, physical work takes up a great amount of time and energy every day. But what determines whether it is men or women who are working harder in households? In most hunter-gatherer societies, men are the hunters and women are the gatherers – with men seemingly walking the furthest. But

Researchers say they have discovered what they call a “proto-writing system” embedded in 20,000-year-old cave paintings, making it the earliest form of some sort of writing we’ve ever found. Hunters from the Upper Palaeolithic era would have used the symbols daubed on the walls to pass on essential survival information: The researchers suggest they show

New year, new resolutions. It is that time once again. A recent survey shows that almost 58 percent of the UK population intended to make a new year’s resolution in 2023, which is approximately 30 million adults. More than a quarter of these resolutions will be about making more money, personal improvement, and losing weight.

Many believe our particularly large brain is what makes us human – but is there more to it? The brain’s shape, as well as the shapes of its component parts (lobes) may also be important. Results of a study we published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution show that the way the different parts of

Ancient bones retrieved from an archaeological site in Germany suggest that archaic humans were peeling bears for their skins at least 320,000 years ago. The markings found on phalanx and metatarsal paw bones of a cave bear (Ursus spelaeus or U. deningeri) represent some of the earliest known evidence of this type, and demonstrate one

Many parents make it clear that honesty is good while lying is bad, and yet an adult’s responses to their kid’s lies aren’t always consistent. New experiments emphasize this hypocrisy by showing parents can be more judgmental of overtly honest, harshly expressed truth-tellers, than polite, subtle liars. The authors think children can sense the discrepancy.

Mini brains grown in a lab from stem cells spontaneously developed rudimentary eye structures, scientists reported in a fascinating 2021 paper. On tiny, human-derived brain organoids grown in dishes, two bilaterally symmetrical optic cups were seen to grow, mirroring the development of eye structures in human embryos. This incredible result could help us to better

If you’ve ever caught yourself talking to someone and thought, “Gee, I sound just like them”, it might be a sign that you’re engaged in the conversation or the task at hand. The same goes, as a new study shows, for solving puzzles in an immersive virtual game environment. Over the years, researchers have found

Mummification may never have been intended to preserve the bodies of ancient Egyptians after death, experts say, a sharp contrast to the popular understanding of the practice. An increasing number of archaeologists say that the preservative effects of mummification were likely accidental and blame early modern Egyptologists for propagating a misunderstanding based on little evidence.

It was August 13, 1945, and the ‘demon core’ was poised, waiting to be unleashed onto a stunned Japan still reeling in fresh chaos from the deadliest attacks anyone had ever seen. A week earlier, ‘Little Boy’ had detonated over Hiroshima, followed swiftly by ‘Fat Man’ in Nagasaki. These were the first and only nuclear

The constant distraction of social media could be preventing our minds from settling into a deeper, more complete feeling of boredom, according to a new study. Which is a shame, given complete boredom can be fertile grounds for innovation. This ‘profound’ level of boredom is different to the initial, superficial level of tedium we experience

In re-examining artifacts from a significant 4,000-year-old Bronze Age burial site near Stonehenge in the UK, archaeologists discovered a toolkit for working with gold objects and coatings that hadn’t previously been identified. The site of the find, the Upton Lovell G2a ‘Wessex Culture’ burial area, was excavated more than 200 years ago and is crucial

From France to Indonesia and Australia, ancient life is painted across the walls of darkened caves, seemingly motionless silhouettes in earthen colors that echo an earlier time. But in recent years, archaeologists have imagined how these simple images may have captured moving scenes in ways we had perhaps overlooked. Animation, it seems, has its roots

The eyes are often said to be the window to someone’s soul, but the nose could be a backdoor to their bedroom. Experiments have found heterosexual women can actually smell which suitors are available and which are taken. In recent years, the science of human scent has been sniffing up a storm in the lab,

Can you tell just from a whine, grunt, bleat, or a moo whether a hoofed animal is happy or in distress? If you can, it might be a sign that you are particularly empathetic – or you spend a lot of time around animals. A study led by ethologist Elodie Briefer from the University of

An ancient and well-preserved skeleton – potentially a remnant of a ritual sacrifice practiced over 5,000 years ago – was discovered by archeologists in Denmark. Researchers at ROMU, an organization representing 10 museums in Denmark, had been excavating on the site of a planned housing development in the Egedal Municipality, near Copenhagen. During their survey,

We may have parted ways with our primate cousins millions of years ago, but a new study shows just how human beings continue to evolve in ways we never imagined. Researchers from Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming” (BSRC Flemming) in Greece and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have identified 155 genes in our genome that

Israel on Tuesday unveiled pilgrims’ lamps and other finds from the so-called Tomb of Salome, a burial site named for a woman said to have assisted at the birth of Christ. The tomb was discovered by grave robbers in what is now Lachish national park, west of Jerusalem, in the 1980s.​ Subsequent excavations by archaeologists

Archaic humans may have worked out how to sail across the sea to new lands as far back as nearly half a million years ago. According to a new analysis of shorelines during the mid-Chibanian age, there’s no other way these ancient hominins could have reached what we now call the Aegean Islands. Yet archaeologists

In December 2010, a 76-year-old man burned to death on his living room floor in Ireland. Nearly a year later, a coroner officially ruled that he’d died of a peculiar phenomenon, the Irish Independent reported – spontaneous human combustion. This phenomenon, as it has been understood over the centuries, involves a body suddenly bursting into

Thousands of years ago, a man living in what is now India wrote down all the grammatical guidelines that govern Sanskrit; one of the earliest documented languages in the ancient world. His name was Pāṇini, and his 4,000-some grammatical sūtras, or rules, are supposed to work like an algorithm that can generate grammatically correct words

When we are shown two options, our eyes tend to flick from one to the other and back again several times as we deliberate on the pros and cons of each. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US have found that the speed with which our eyes dart between options gives away our true

The fire that nearly destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 has led to the discovery of two mysterious lead coffins hidden beneath its floor. The sarcophagi were unearthed earlier this year during a dig by France’s national archaeological institute, Inrap, but it was only recently announced what was found inside. From the ashes and

Archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove that reveals a brief period in medieval English history where pagan and Christian traditions melded together, and women held positions of power in the church. The artifacts were uncovered from a 1400 year-old grave found just outside of Northampton, England, and are considered to be some of the most

The Nazca desert in Peru is like an art gallery for the gods above. Yet even with decades of surveyance from the skies, we’ve barely explored a small wing of this fading collection of giants among the stones. Last year, an archaeologist in Peru told The Guardian he thought scientists had found only 5 percent

A new study has shown how ancient civilizations in central Mexico might have once used specific features of their rugged landscape to mark key points in the seasons, allowing them to plan the planting of crops needed to keep a thriving population of millions alive and well. Led by University of California, Riverside plant ecologist

The deserts of Saudi Arabia were once the lush and fertile homes of ancient people more than 8,000 years ago. Today, the remnants of these long-gone communities still stand – frozen, or rather, desiccated in time. Right across the Arabian peninsula, from Jordan to Saudi Arabia to Syria, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Iraq, researchers have identified

An 11,000-year-old wall carving discovered in Turkey has a strong claim to being the oldest narrative scene we’ve found yet, according to new research – though it’s not something that you’d want to gaze at while you’re at work or when there are children present. The carving depicts two separate scenes on adjacent stone blocks,

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered full-color portraits of mummies – the first to be found in over a century – the Egyptian government has announced. Researchers found the two full portraits of Egyptian mummies and fragments of others at the Gerza excavation site in Fayoum, Egypt, making these artworks the first of their kind to be

An encounter with a mysterious and extinct human relative – the Denisovans – has left a mark on the immune traits of modern Papuans, in particular those living on New Guinea Island. This is a new discovery we describe in a study published in PLOS Genetics today. It further suggests that our modern human diversity

In 2003, workers building a highway through a small township in Ireland chanced upon a long-lost medieval graveyard. Of the roughly 1,300 bodies found at the site near the township of Ballyhanna, a couple of the ancient interred stood out. Their bones were riddled with benign tumors caused by a rare disease, but for strangely

Many pet owners know that our connections with animals can be on an emotional par with those we share with other humans – and scientific research backs this up. The key ingredients of human attachment are experiencing the other person as a dependable source of comfort, seeking them out when distressed, feeling enjoyment in their

An ancient jawbone previously thought to have belonged to a Neanderthal may force a rethink on the history of modern humans in Europe. A new analysis of the broken mandible reveals that it has nothing in common with other Neanderthal remains. Rather, it could belong to a Homo sapiens – and, since it’s dated to

Have you ever heard a word in a foreign language and thought it sounded profane or rude for some inexplicable reason? Well, a new series of studies suggests you might be onto something. Psychologists from the University of London have found a characteristic of words we use to swear that’s consistent across a variety of

Thousands of ancient owl-shaped slate plaques found in tombs and pits across the Iberian Peninsula were thought to represent deities or hold ritualistic significance to the Copper Age societies that crafted them. But new research suggests the palm-sized plaques decorated in geometric patterns and with two engraved circles at the top might be the work