Scientists say tiny bones dating back 700,000 years on the Indonesian island of Flores shine new light on how these mysterious, 3-foot-tall creatures got that way.
Some archaeologists excavate Roman ruins. Others dig up garbage. In England, a project is underway to study what people threw out in Victorian times, to learn about the start of the consumer era.
One of the worst weeds in the world had its start as an ancient and valuable tuber used for food and medicine. Now tiger nuts are making a comeback in the health food aisle.
As cultural heritage advocates grapple with how to fight the destruction of ancient treasures, a full-size replica of the ancient Syrian town's triumphal arch will go on display in London on Tuesday.
The question of what caused Easter Island's demise is a matter of hot debate. War is often blamed, but new research suggests that obsidian blades on the island were used for farming — not fighting.
Some of the genetic variations in human DNA that have been linked to quick clotting or depression or diabetes lie within or near the genetic stretches we picked up from Neanderthals, a study finds.
Clay tablets show that Babylonian astronomers tracked planets using a method that was thought to be invented 1,400 years later. In a way, scientists say, the ancient techniques were "very modern."
Archaeologists found the 2,100-year-old tea leaves in the tomb of a Han dynasty emperor, suggesting tea was highly valued. But was the emperor drinking tea as we do, or using it as medicine?
A group of hunter-gatherers died 10,000 years ago in modern-day Kenya. Archaeologists say the remains suggest warfare — often seen as a trait of settled societies, not nomadic ones.