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Tag Archives: anthropology

American cannibals

By Stephen Ornes / May 8, 2013

Artists and scientists worked together to create this sculpture that shows what Jane, a colonial American, might have looked like. A study of the teen’s remains indicates she was cannibalized after she died. Credit: StudioEIS, Don Hurlbert/Smithsonian

Skull fragment suggests starving colonists may have eaten one of their own

Posted in Ancient Times | Tagged anthropology, archaeology, bones, cannibal, cannibalism, colonial, Douglas Owsley, forensics, getinvolved, history, hunger, James Horn, Jamestown, Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project, shin, skull, Smithsonian Institution, starvation, topstories, William Kelso, Williamsburg

Cool Jobs: Museum science

By Sharon Oosthoek / February 27, 2013

Royal Ontario Museum scientist Oliver Haddrath must wear protective clothing when working with ancient DNA. This ensures his DNA doesn’t get mixed up with the genetic material he is analyzing. Credit: Royal Ontario Museum

Samples collected long ago may hold answers to important questions in science and medicine today

Posted in Ancient Times, Animals, STEM Careers | Tagged Adaptation, ancient DNA, anthropology, antibody, arenavirus, British Museum, Charles Fulhorst, collections, computed tomography, cool jobs, crime scene, CSI, CT scan, Daniel Antoine, deer mouse, Egypt, evolution, feature, flightless birds, forensics, hantavirus, holdings, moa, mummy, Museums, Oliver Haddrath, outbreaks, pack rat, Robert Baker, Robert Bradley, rodents, Royal Ontario Museum, Texas Tech, tinamou, topstories, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, viral RNA, virus, X-ray

Shoulder bones fuel debate

By Stephen Ornes / November 16, 2012

This shoulder blade is from a 3-year-old humanlike female who lived more than 3 million years ago. Scientists are studying the fossil to learn whether the creature climbed trees. Credit: Courtesy of Zeresenay Alemseged/Dikika Research Project

Fossil shoulder blades suggest an ancient humanlike species may have been at home in the trees as well as on the ground

Posted in Ancient Times | Tagged adaption, Alemseged, anthropology, Australopithecus afarensis, Big Man, California Academy of Sciences, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, David Green, fossils, getinvolved, great apes, hominids, human origins, humanlike, Lucy, Midwestern University, paleontology, primate evolution, scapula, Selam, shoulder blade, topstories, trees, Yohannes Haile-Selassie

The origins of mummies

By Stephen Ornes / August 27, 2012

South America’s Chinchorro people mummified their dead long before the ancient Egyptians. One of the Chinchorro methods used human-hair wigs and red dye made from ochre. Credit: Bernardo Arriaza

Scientists speculate on why ancient South Americans started preserving their dead

Posted in Ancient Times | Tagged ancient people, anthropology, Chile, culture, Daniel Sandweiss, desert, ecology, environment, getinvolved, mummification, mummy, Pablo Marquet, Peru, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, preservation, religion, South America, topstories, University of Maine in Orono

Monkeys’ mistake detector

By Roberta Kwok / August 26, 2012

A small part of a macaque’s brain is activated when it sees another monkey making a mistake. Credit: Elisabeth Aardema/iStockphoto

Specific brain cells in macaques respond to fellow animal’s error

Posted in Animals | Tagged animal behavior, anthropology, brain, Ellen de Bruijn, error detection, getinvolved, macaques, Masaki Isoda, Matthew Shane, mistakes, monkeys, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, psychology, topstories, University of Leiden

A Big Discovery about Little People

By Emily Sohn / May 30, 2007

Humans may have once walked the Earth with tiny people—a possible newly discovered species that scientists have nicknamed “hobbits.”

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged anthropology, DNA, evolution, fossils, human evolution

Strong Bones for Life

By Emily Sohn / February 2, 2004

Weak bones are an increasing problem for kids and teenagers.

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged anthropology, bone, bones, calcium, osteology, osteoporosis, Skeletal system, skeletal/muscular, vitamin D