Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Stonehenge's royal burial roots
SHEFFIELD, England, May 31 (UPI) -- British researchers said radiocarbon dating suggests Stonehenge was used as a cemetery for about 500 years after it was built around 3,000...
Drug gang jungle fires threaten Guatemala ruins
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Illegal settlers likely working for drug smugglers are starting fires to clear land in the Guatemalan jungle and threatening investigations into an ancient Mayan city with...
Cleopatra Bust Among Treasures Found in Egypt Temple
The alabaster carving and a mask that might have belonged to Marc Antony were found at a site where teams have been searching for the famous couple's lost tombs.
Medics solve an ancient riddle -- and offer new tool for diagnosis
A puzzling medical condition, identified more than 2,000 years ago by Hippocrates, has finally been explained by researchers at the University of Leeds.
Volcanic bug aids 'Children of the Moon'
Scientists probing an ancient microbe have shed new light on a rare condition that causes acute sensitivity to the sun.
Quake-Hit Panda Center May Move to Safer Ground
With bamboo supplies closed off due to landslides, Chinese officials are considering moving the rare animals to another location.
Egypt planning DNA test for 3,500-year-old mummy
(AP) -- Egypt plans to conduct a DNA test on a 3,500-year-old mummy to determine if it is King Thutmose I, one of the most important pharaohs, the country's...
DNA Offers Clues to Greenland’s First Inhabitants
The earliest inhabitants of the New World’s northern extremes were the descendants of eastern Asian populations, researchers say.
Ancient Islamic coin found in Norway
OSLO, Norway, May 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists in Norway say an ancient Islamic coin dating back to 805 AD was found just west of Oslo.
Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle?
A pair of researchers have developed a model that suggests shuffling emerged millions of years ago as a precursor to walking on two feet as a way of saving metabolic...
Two new shipwreck sites found: U.S. treasure hunters
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. treasure hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration said on Thursday it had found two shipwreck sites near the English Channel with artifacts from the colonial...
Years after slaughter, Peru opens giant burial pit
PUTIS, Peru (Reuters) - Forensic scientists pulled human skeletons from the biggest known mass grave in Peru on Thursday, searching for proof the army slaughtered more than 100 people at...
Reed Elsevier makes its final farewell to arms
Company stops organising arms trade fairs following sustained campaign by international writers and shareholders
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Giant Flyers Hunted Dinos on Foot?
Yes, they had wings, but the largest flying creatures ever to have lived preferred to hunt baby dinosaurs and similar-size snacks on foot, scientists say.
Score One for Monogamy
Complex insect societies may have evolved because females chose a single mate
VIDEO: Goodall Pushes EU on Animals
The famed chimpanzee researcher was in Brussels on Wednesday to urge the European Union to ban animal testing for medical and scientific research.
Ancient Eskimos Came from Asia, Study Says
The first Eskimos to colonize the New World did not descend from Native Americans, nor are they the ancestors of modern-day Inuit, according to a new analysis of ancient hair.
PHOTOS: Stonehenge Was ''Domain of the Dead''
Archaeologists may have finally solved the enduring puzzle of the prehistoric monuments: They are giant tombstones of the dead.
Rewriting Greenland's immigration history
The first immigrants in Greenland were not Indians from the North American continent or Canadian Inuit as previously suggested. And it is not just a question of revising the Greenlandic...
The 10 worst jobs in science
The list starts with scientists who collect and dig through whale dung for a living — and it counts down to the worst job in the entire science profession.
Fossilized fish reveals first vertebrate sex
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists unveiled on Thursday the fossilized remains of the oldest vertebrate mother ever discovered, a 375-million-year-old placoderm fish with embryo and umbilical cord attached.
Indiana Jones And The Plunder Of Cultural Heritage
As Indiana Jones' fourth adventure hits to the big screen, an international team of archaeologists, anthropologists, museum specialists, ethicists and lawyers is pondering these ethical and legal issues. Their focus...
Flying reptiles ate dinosaurs for lunch
Ancient flying reptiles could have snacked on Tyrannosaurus rex babies and other landlubbing runts of the dinosaur world, paleontologists report.
Ancient Egyptian city unearthed in Sinai
(AP) -- Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed 3,000-year-old remains from an ancient fortified city, the largest yet found in Egypt, antiquities authorities announced...
Malaria parasites fine-tune offspring's gender: study
LONDON (Reuters) - Malaria parasites fine-tune the number of male and female offspring they produce to maximize the odds of infecting another host, a finding that could help fight the...
Researchers retrieve authentic Viking DNA from 1,000-year-old skeletons
Although “Viking” literally means “pirate,” recent research has indicated that the Vikings were also traders to the fishmongers of Europe. Stereotypically, these Norsemen are usually pictured wearing a horned helmet...
Fossil prints reveal giant winged reptile was a stalker
Largest creatures that ever flew may have spent much of their time on the ground, research suggests
Part of Ancient Egyptian Fertility Temple Found in Nile
Egyptian archaeologists found the portico, or covered entryway, to the temple of the ram-headed fertility god Khnum while conducting the first-ever underwater surveys of the Nile.