2+ mon, 3+ week ago  (982+ words) The 67, 800-year-old hand stencil looks like a claw'and provides new clues about early human cognition and the migration to Australia. On Muna, a tropical island off southeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia, lies a cave decorated with prehistoric paintings. Locals call it Liang…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (586+ words) Claudette Colvin's bold stand comes into focus during Black History Month, highlighting young activists who helped shape the fight for civil rights. Police boarded the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, handcuffs and batons at the ready. A young Black woman had…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (243+ words) The Roman prefect, known to Christians as the man responsible for Jesus' death, is one of the few New Testament figures to appear in the archaeological record. He is the only Roman official and non-Christian person named in Christian creeds:…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (243+ words) Across cultures, early spring is a time to let loose and play pranks'but historians can't agree on who invented the custom of April 1 fun. Despite its murky origins, some textual evidence suggests the holiday could be over 600 years old. Folklorist…...

3+ week, 2+ hour ago  (1038+ words) Biblical archaeologists have long looked for evidence of the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have learned she was with child. Here's what they've learned. Exactly nine months before Christmas, Christians celebrate the annunciation, honoring the day they…...

3+ week, 14+ hour ago  (666+ words) By sequencing ancient DNA from the fetus, scientists revealed a severe genetic bottleneck that reshaped Neanderthal history long before they vanished. Then, in 2006, a scientist in Germany formally announced the identity of the bones: they belonged to a Neanderthal fetus…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (652+ words) When a fellow pilot investigated the crash, he determined that a series of critical errors may have added up to catastrophe for the famous aviator on her final flight. Listen to this story here On November 28, 1971, Elgen Long set his…...

1+ mon, 1+ day ago  (517+ words) Marcus Junius Brutus was a Roman politician, leader, orator'and one of history's most infamous assassins. Why did he launch a conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar? (He was the golden boy of ancient Rome. Did someone want him dead?) As for…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago  (794+ words) Researchers revisited the 1970s discovery of ancient stone tools at Monte Verde'an iconic site in Chile that transformed our understanding of how and when humans arrived in the Americas. On the banks of a creek flowing through temperate rainforest in southern…...

4+ week, 22+ hour ago  (124+ words) National Geographic The Maya didn't disappear'a leading archaeologist clears up what happened National Geographic Explorer David Stuart has been critical to unraveling the mysteries of the Maya. In our latest Ask an Expert Anything, he sheds light on the lasting…...