1+ hour ago   (554+ words) Around 7,500 languages are spoken or signed across the world today. A new study suggests this number is far lower than in the past. Researchers estimate Earth held tens of thousands of languages between 3,000 and 1,000 years ago before a long period…...

8+ hour, 14+ min ago   (370+ words) Without written records, researchers turned to the people themselves. Bones and teeth became the main source of evidence. The project grew into one of the largest studies of medieval life ever carried out in Flanders. During the 13th century, Ypres ranked…...

1+ day, 7+ hour ago   (426+ words) Silkworm farming reached Central Asia about 4,000 years ago, almost 2,000 years earlier than historians long believed, according to a new study. The finding comes from three ancient silkworm cocoons uncovered at the Bronze Age site of Sapalli Tepe in present-day Uzbekistan....

1+ day, 13+ hour ago   (382+ words) The latest finds raise the minimum number of known individuals from the site to between 13 and 15. The biggest change comes from the number of adults. Earlier fossil collections held mostly children and teenagers, which limited studies of the group’s age…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago   (492+ words) A new study suggests the ancient Egyptians chose two very different animals to represent the moon god Thoth for one simple reason. The sacred ibis and the hamadryas baboon both reflect light in a way that closely matches moonlight. The…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago   (512+ words) An unusual early medieval burial found in the former Temple of Artemis district at Ephesus reveals how families cared for newborn children who died soon after birth. A new study examined the remains of two perinatal children placed inside an…...

2+ day, 2+ hour ago   (404+ words) A new study of three Inca child mummies offers a fresh look at the Capacocha ceremony, a state ritual that joined long pilgrimages, human sacrifice, and the spread of Inca rule across the Andes. By combining modern medical imaging, chemical…...

2+ day, 10+ hour ago   (398+ words) Small human figures painted inside ancient tombs on Japan’s Kyushu Island have puzzled archaeologists for decades. A new study argues these figures were never meant to show the people buried inside. Instead, they formed part of a shared visual tradition…...

2+ day, 14+ hour ago   (513+ words) A 25,000-year record from Cloggs Cave in southeastern Australia shows how the GunaiKurnai people’s Old Ancestors used plants during ritual activities. Researchers studied tiny plant remains called phytoliths to trace how grasses were brought into the cave, burned, and placed…...

2+ day, 19+ hour ago   (460+ words) Ancient artists who painted caves in the Basque region between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago followed a clear visual plan, according to a new study. The research found the paintings were arranged using shared rules instead of being placed at random, pointing…...