Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have extracted Ancient DNA from human bones to re-write early Japanese history by underlining that modern day populations in Japan have a tripartite genetic origin – a finding that refines previously accepted views of a dual genomic ancestry.

Researchers from the Universities of Tübingen and Zaragoza have discovered a previously unknown species of otter from 11.4-million-year-old strata at the Hammerschmiede fossil site.

A new study details more than 60 tools made of bone and one tool made from the tooth of a cetacean, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. These finds, first unearthed from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco in 2011, are highly suggestive proxy evidence for the earliest clothing in the archaeological record and attest to the pan-African emergence of complex culture and specialized tool manufacture.

A new study published in iScience details more than 60 tools made of bone and one tool made from the tooth of a cetacean. These finds, first unearthed from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco in 2011, are highly suggestive proxy evidence for the earliest clothing in the archaeological record and attest to the pan-African emergence of complex culture and specialized tool manufacture.

When researchers first started to look at animal bones from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, they wanted to learn about the diet and environment of early human ancestors who lived there between 120,000 and 90,000 years ago. But they soon realized that the bones they had found weren’t just meal scraps. As reported in the journal iScience on September 16, they’d been shaped into tools, apparently for use in working leather and fur.

The long-distance migrations of early Bronze Age pastoralists in the Eurasian steppe have captured widespread interest. But the factors behind their remarkable spread have been heavily debated by archaeologists. Now a new study in Nature provides clues regarding a critical component of the herders’ lifestyle that was likely instrumental to their success: dairying.