diet
Lactase and the Neandertals
New research shows that a common gene variant that may explain some lactase persistence in East Asia is introgressed from Neandertals.
Plant-eating and meat-eating in Australopithecus
A new approach to sampling nitrogen-15 in tooth enamel opens a window into the diets of early hominins.
Pounding starches on Jordan's ancient banks
New research highlights starch grains from many kinds of plants that were processed by pounding tools at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov.
A look at the fossil skull from Steinheim
The skull provides some of the best evidence for the ancestral population of Neandertals, and had a tumultuous history in the decades after its discovery.
The real story of myosin, jaw muscles, and ancient brains
The provocative idea that our genus arose with a deactivated muscle gene turned out to be wrong.
Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2022
Research on ancient genomes has moved way beyond population mixture into broader questions about how ancient people lived and interacted with their environments.
A Neandertal recipe that tasted like the foods of later people
Looking at a fascinating new study that finds mixtures of different plants within ancient morsels of charred foods.
Bison bones show butchery practices 400,000 years ago
In the Gran Dolina cave site, ancient people left a bone bed of bison killed in two seasons and butchered at the site with expedient tools.
Neandertals hunted dangerous prey. How they killed them.
With deep experience in the hunt, Neandertals could anticipate the behavior of many of the most dangerous prey animals.
Research highlight: Sexual dimorphism in the relationship between the gut and pelvis
We test the notion that pelvis dimensions can yield accurate estimates of gut size in fossil hominins by looking at today's people.
Cooking rhizomes in the Middle Stone Age
Border Cave has exceptional preservation of plant remains, giving a window into the diets of hominins.
An unusual rate of dental chipping may give clues about Homo naledi's diet
Research by Ian Towle and coworkers finds that Homo naledi may have been eating foods with lots of grit.
Why are humans evolving to lack their wisdom teeth?
The frequency of M3 agenesis varies greatly among human populations. It may have to do with agricultural diets, but anthropologists aren't sure.
Why do male bonobos have such low body fat?
Work by Adrienne Zihlman and Debra Bolter looks at the interesting tissue proportions and what they may imply about energy and diet.
Remarkable preservation of an Acheulean campsite at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov
My notes on a publication describing evidence for cooking and eating fish, crabs, and plants
A new study of old shells shows shoreline resource use by Homo erectus
Notes on a study by José Joordens and coworkers on the Trinil collection associated with Eugene Dubois' original Pithecanthropus dig
Did giant humans walk the Middle Pleistocene earth?
A National Geographic documentary program prompts questions about some fossils from South Africa with large body size estimates.