What does it mean to be human? For a long time, the answer seemed clear. Our species, Homo sapiens — with our complex thoughts and deep emotions — were the only true humans to ever walk the Earth.

In the last decade, archaeologists have learned to read the genetic traces that ancient humans and Neanderthals left not only ...

A genetic analysis of dozens of ancient skeletons from East Africa helps pin down the origins of coastal Swahili society. By Elie Dolgin A long history of mercantile trade along the eastern shores of ...

Researchers have retrieved Neanderthal nuclear DNA from cave deposits in northern Spain and southern Siberia, yielding new clues to the population history of Neanderthals. With the advent of nuclear ...

A groundbreaking genetic study has revealed that Italians who reach 100 carry significantly more ancient Western hunter-gatherer DNA than their younger counterparts. The research, published in ...

The famous insect biologist, Edward O. Wilson, who died this week once said, “There is a need for a discipline of anthropological genetics.” Indeed, in the past few decades, the growing efficiency and ...

On 22 February 1498, a well-weathered mid-40s Christopher Columbus ordained in writing that his estate in the Italian port city of Genoa would be maintained for his family "because from it I came and ...