A new study challenges long-held assumptions about human evolution by repositioning carrion consumption as a fundamental survival strategy rather than a primitive behavior our ancestors abandoned. The research, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, presents scavenging as a consistent and highly efficient practice that shaped our species from the earliest hominins to modern populations.
A 3,000-year-old Maya complex in southeastern Mexico functioned as a city-sized map of the cosmos, new research reveals. Aguada Fénix, the oldest and largest monumental architecture in the Maya region, was designed as a cosmogram representing how its builders conceived universal order and the passage of time. The artificial plateau with connecting causeways, canals and
Archaeologists in Prague are searching for the remains of three Czechoslovak soldiers executed by the Communist regime nearly 80 years ago, offering their families a chance for proper burial after decades of waiting. The excavation at Ďáblice Cemetery targets Vilém Sok, Miloslav Jebavý, and Karel Sabela—men who fought Nazis during World War II only to
Archaeologists excavating in southern France have uncovered more than 160 cremation burials that illuminate Roman funerary practices between the first and third centuries A.D. The graves, discovered at the ancient city of Olbia on the French Riviera, reveal detailed cremation processes and unique methods for honoring the dead through liquid offerings. Olbia began as a
Archaeologists working at Kani Shaie in Iraqi Kurdistan have uncovered a monumental building dating to the Uruk period, around 3300–3100 BC. The structure, discovered during the 2025 excavation season, appears to have served an official or religious function and demonstrates the far-reaching influence of Uruk, the world’s first metropolis, into the Zagros Mountains. The Kani
A certified metal detectorist scanning a field near Leipzig, Germany, has unearthed the oldest coin ever found in the state of Saxony. The 2,200-year-old gold coin, known as a “rainbow cup,” represents a rare example of Celtic currency discovered far beyond the traditional Celtic settlement areas. The discovery occurred in July in Gundorf, a neighborhood