ATH 102 Intro to Archaeology: Get Started

An international genomics study has revealed that early Asians undertook humanity's longest known prehistoric migration. These early humans, who roamed the earth over 100,000 years ago, are believed to have traveled more than 20,000 kilometers on foot from North Asia to the southernmost tip of South America. Scientists have mapped the unexpectedly vast genetic diversity of Asians, who make up more than half of the world's population. These findings overturn long-held assumptions of European genetic dominance and show that native South Americans are of Asian descent. The study also sheds light on how such a vast migration and differing environments have shaped human evolution, including how populations have adapted to diseases and how their immune systems have evolved.

Scientists have found new evidence for how our fossil human relatives in South Africa may have used their hands. Researchers investigated variation in finger bone morphology to determine that South African hominins not only may have had different levels of dexterity, but also different climbing abilities.

Scientists have now discovered the oldest ancestor for all the Australian tree frogs, with distant links to the tree frogs of South America.

Researchers analyzed 788 obsidian artifacts from Tenochtitlan, revealing that the Mexica (Aztec) Empire sourced this important material from at least eight different locations, including regions outside their political control. While 90% of artifacts were made from green obsidian from Sierra de Pachuca (especially for ceremonial purposes), the diversity of obsidian sources suggests sophisticated trade networks rather than just conquest-based acquisition. The study tracked changes in obsidian use from 1375-1520 CE, showing how the Mexica standardized ritual obsidian sources after consolidating power around 1430 CE, providing insights into the empire's economic networks and political influence.

Modern HIV medicine is based on a common genetic mutation. Now, researchers have traced where and when the mutation arose -- and how it protected our ancestors from ancient diseases.

Life depends on genes being switched on and off at exactly the right time. Even the simplest living organisms do this, but usually over short distances across the DNA sequence, with the on/off switch typically right next to a gene. This basic form of genomic regulation is probably as old as life on Earth. A new study finds that the ability to control genes from far away, over many tens of thousands of DNA letters, evolved between 650 and 700 million years ago. It probably appeared at the very dawn of animal evolution, around 150 million years earlier than previously thought. The critical innovation likely originated in a sea creature, the common ancestor or all extant animals.

New research questions the evolutionary history of some of our most peculiar mammals.

Bite marks found on a skeleton discovered in a Roman cemetery in York have revealed the first archaeological evidence of gladiatorial combat between a human and a lion.