Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Oldest Neolithic bow discovered in Europe
Researchers have discovered the oldest Neolithic bow in Europe at La Draga Neolithic site in Banyoles. The complete bow measures 108 cm long and was constructed of yew wood.
Pottery finds suggests oldest cooking
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29 (UPI) -- Pottery fragments found in a cave in China suggest an ice age, not the development of agriculture, pushed human ancestors to start cooking,...
Cave art in Wales said Britain's earliest
BRISTOL, England, June 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists say an engraving of a reindeer on a cave wall in Wales is at least 14,500 years old, making it the oldest...
Dinosaur coldblooded theory gets dash of cold water
Dinosaurs: coldblooded or warmblooded? Inquiring paleontologists have long wanted to know, and a new study offers thoughts on the issue. Basically, it says that a central line of evidence for...
‘Spider-Man,’ the scavenger hunt
When Sony Pictures contacted the Harvard Museum of Natural History about doing something fun to accompany the release of the new movie “The Amazing Spider-Man,” museum officials had a creative idea. The museum...
Tiny tyrannosaur's origins a mystery
Years before the Mongolian president intervened in the auction of a tyrannosaur skeleton thought to have been illegally taken from that country, a fossilized dinosaur with similarly controversial origins followed...
The Most Amazing Science Images of the Week, June 25-29, 2012
Croc Baby Hey buddy! You are already kind of scary. Scary-cute. This photo was taken at a crocodile farm in the Philippines. Check out more amazing photojournalism like this over...
Earliest baby animals found in ancient volcanic ash
A volcano eruption half a billion years ago preserved some of the oldest baby animal remains ever discovered
Video: Tomb Raiders: Treasures looted amid Egypt's turmoil
Since the Arab Spring that launched Egypt into political turmoil began, there has been a spike in the looting of the ancient tombs and sites that have made Egypt famous....
Well: Think Like a Doctor: Too Sick to Smoke Solved!
Readers solve the mystery of a 48-year-old lawyer suffering from breathlessness, fatigue and strange lesions on his shoulder and thigh.
More dinosaur-smuggling cases likely
Mongolia's claim to a tyrannosaur skeleton that experts agree was smuggled out of the country has captured international attention. However, this dinosaur's situation does not appear unique.
Speaking of Skinks: Short-Limbed, Long-Tailed and Prehistoric
What is a skink? What do they eat? How long have they lived on earth? These are some of the questions Smithsonian herpetologist George Zug answers in a short...
Asteroid Threat: Sizing Up Earth's Vulnerability to Space Rock Strikes
A civilization-threatening impact isn't imminent, but lots of asteroids out there could do serious damage.
Rare Roman find made in Scotland
A Roman artefact and a weight set that may be evidence of an illegal trade in goods are among archaeological finds made in Scotland.
Picture desk live: the day's best news images
Picture desk live: the day's best news images
'Lost world' flower a new species
A dandelion found on St Kilda is new to science, according Edinburgh and Northumberland botanists.
Rare mussels almost 'wiped out'
The largest population of an endangered freshwater pearl mussel in English waters is almost "wiped out" in Cumbria.
New technologies help us better understand Ancient Rome
Historians and archaeologists have studied the ruins of the Roman Forum for centuries, employing the tools on hand to add to the knowledge of this center of Roman public life...
Accidents in ancient bakeries produced 8,000 years of brew
When next you reach for a cold one in the buzzing heat of a summer day, you will probably give no thought to the glorious history, complicated chemistry, and abundant...
Tiny tracks of 1st complex animal life found
A teensy sluglike animal that wriggled around the sediment in search of food at least 585 million years ago didn't die in vain. The tiny mover left behind tracks that...
Maya text cites 2012 as end of calendar cycle
A newly discovered Mayan text reveals the "end date" for the Mayan calendar. But unlike some modern people, ancient Maya did not expect the world to end on that date,...
Date of earliest animal life reset by 30 million years
Researchers have uncovered physical proof that animals existed 585 million years ago, 30 million years earlier than all previous established records show. The discovery was made U of A geologists...
Spanish researchers recover part of the genome of two hunter-gatherer individuals from 7,000 years ago
A team of scientists, led by researcher Carles Lalueza-Fox from CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), has recovered - for the first time in history - part of the genome of...
Bones yield oldest modern human DNA
What may be the oldest fragments of the modern human genome found yet have now been revealed — DNA from the 7,000-year-old bones of two cavemen unearthed in Spain, researchers...
Rare book of midwifery horror up for auction
Observations in Midwifery by obstetrician Percival Willughby tells of 17-century midwives who tried to pull out babies with a hooked stick before labour began – and worseThought the conditions under which women gave...
Mysterious African 'fairy circles' stump scientists
In the sandy desert grasslands of Namibia in southern Africa, mysterious bare spots known as "fairy circles" will form and then disappear years later for no reason anyone can determine....
Philippines rice terraces off endangered list: UN
The Philippines' ancient rice terraces, carved into mountains like giant green stairs, have been removed from a UN list of endangered world heritage sites, the UN office in Manila said...
World's Oldest Purse Found—Studded With a Hundred Dog Teeth?
Studded with a hundred Stone Age dog teeth, the world's oldest purse may have been found in Germany.