Articles by

Bruce Bower

Silk Road cities reached surprising heights in Central Asia’s mountains

Two high-altitude, medieval cities built by mobile herders along Silk Road trade routes in Central Asia have...

Fossils of an extinct animal may have inspired this cave art drawing

African rock art depicting a mythical tusked creature may mirror the look of fossils of real-life...

Ancient DNA unveils a previously unknown line of Neandertals

Neandertals traveled at least two evolutionary paths on their way to extinction around 40,000 years ago, a...

Stonehenge’s mysterious Altar Stone had roots in Scotland

Stonehenge had a hard Scottish heart, a new study suggests. The ancient site’s central stone, a large...

A new study challenges the idea that Rapa Nui islanders caused an ‘ecocide’

Early settlers of the island of Rapa Nui are famous for having created massive stone statues. They...

Child sacrifices at famed Maya site were all boys, many closely related

Genetic clues have unveiled a type of ritual child sacrifice at an ancient Maya site that consisted...

Fossil finds amplify Europe’s status as a hotbed of great ape evolution

Two lines of ancient apes, including what may be the smallest great ape yet, lived alongside each...

One of the world’s earliest farming villages housed surprisingly few people

A farming-fueled baby boom long thought to have sparked the rise of ancient cities in southwest Asia...