In the largest study of its kind, researchers have used DNA from a 6,700-year-old cemetery in France to reconstruct the lives of everyday Neolithic people.
This whirlwind tour of social history describes how infectious diseases have shaped humanity at every stage. It suggests reducing inequality will give us our best chance of surviving future plagues.
Today, teens are often seen as troublesome and difficult. Ancient Roman writers also described adolescence as a period of “hooliganism and debauchery.”
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Teens across millennia have yearned to explore, try new things and participate in risky behaviours. The key difference, however, seems to be the experience of a rebellion or restlessness.
Ancient farmers ensured their children were fed and entertained in a similar way to modern parents.
An Islamic State photo purports to show the destruction of a Roman-era temple in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in 2015.
Islamic State/Handout via Reuters
Considering language from a biological perspective led researchers to the idea that new food processing technologies affected neolithic human beings’ jaws – and allowed new language sounds to emerge.
Trying to save Neolithic rock art made by our ancient ancestors is no easy task. But it tells us how people used to live.
Digging in Traders Cave in the iconic Niah Caves archaeological complex. Darren Curnoe excavates while Roshan Peiris observes. (Photo: Mhd. S. Sauffi/Darren Curnoe)
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From the tropics of Borneo, Darren Curnoe posted a daily diary sharing his team’s dig to explore ancient cemeteries. Through two metres of clay, human bones and tools were discovered.
Cat’s Brain long barrow is near the more famous Stonehenge (pictured) but predates it by hundreds of years.
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