Showing 20 articles starting at article 201

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Anthropology: Early Humans, Anthropology: General

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Cranial modification is a form of body alteration where the head is pressed or bound to permanently deform the skull. The practice has been reported across various cultures throughout history. Researchers report that the Hirota people -- who lived on the southern Japanese island of Tanegashima between the 3rd to 7th century CE -- also conducted cranial modification, with indication that both males and females performed the practice.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has used advanced sequencing technology to analyze Ötzi's genome to obtain a more accurate picture of the Iceman's appearance and genetic origins.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent paleogenomic research revealed that interbreeding was common among early human species. However, little was known about when, where, and how often this hominin interbreeding took place. Using paleoanthropological evidence, genetic data, and supercomputer simulations of past climate, a team of international researchers has found that interglacial climates and corresponding shifts in vegetation created common habitats for Neanderthals and Denisovans, increasing their chances for interbreeding and gene flow in parts of Europe and central Asia.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of complex engineering feats without the need for a centralized state authority, finds a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that the cheek teeth of proboscideans (elephants and their ancient relatives) evolved in response to dietary changes due to vegetation changes and climate change in East Africa during the last 26 million years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that past changes in atmospheric CO2 and corresponding shifts in climate and vegetation played a key role in determining when and where early human species interbred.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that around 1.12 million years ago a massive cooling event in the North Atlantic and corresponding shifts in climate, vegetation and food resources disrupted early human occupation of Europe.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using ancient DNA, researchers have determined cattle were imported from Africa to the Americas much earlier in the process of European colonization than documented. The first records of African cattle in the Americas date back to the 1800s, leading some historians to conclude that early colonists relied entirely on a small stock of European cattle initially shipped to the Caribbean Islands. DNA from archaeological specimens pushes the introduction of African cattle back by more than 100 years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A population genetics team recently identified the genetic relationship between over 40,000 23andMe users and a population of enslaved and free African Americans that lived in Catoctin Furnace, Maryland between 1776--1850. Over the course of this study, the researchers considered how best to inform descendants and other genetic relatives of their genetic connection to the site.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ancient pathogens that escape from melting permafrost have real potential to damage microbial communities and might potentially threaten human health, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of linguists and geneticists has achieved a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the origins of Indo-European, a family of languages spoken by nearly half of the world's population.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Neolithic burial site of Gurgy 'les Noisats' in France revealed two unprecedentedly large family trees which allowed a Franco-German team to explore the social organization of the 6,700-year-old community. Based on multiple lines of evidence, the team describes a close kin group which practiced monogamy and female exogamy, and experienced generally stable times.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The genetic changes that made it possible for humans to walk upright have been uncovered in a study that also shows how slight variations in skeletal proportions are linked to arthritis.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Butterflies and moths share 'blocks' of DNA dating back more than 200 million years, new research shows.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified the oldest decisive evidence of humans' close evolutionary relatives butchering and likely eating one another.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The El Gigante rockshelter in western Honduras is among only a handful of archaeological sites in the Americas that contain well-preserved botanical remains spanning the last 11,000 years. Considered one of the most important archaeological sites discovered in Central America in the last 40 years, El Gigante was recently nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to a new study, eukaryotes -- complex life forms with nuclei in their cells, including all the world's plants, animals, insects and fungi -- trace their roots to a common Asgard archaean ancestor. That means eukaryotes are, in the parlance of evolutionary biologists, a 'well-nested clade' within Asgard archaea, similar to how birds are one of several groups within a larger group called dinosaurs, sharing a common ancestor.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fifteen years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in northeastern Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site. The team's excavations through the layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years reveals that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years -- and likely even longer.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research sheds light on human evolution, and demonstrates an approach for identifying significant differences in how genes are used between closely-related species.