A new study claims that humans were hunting in California 130,000 years ago, but skeptics abound.
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Centuries Old Pemmican-Making Camp Uncovered in Montana
The camp, used by Blackfoot peoples from to the 14th to 17th centuries, sheds light on a key commodity of the pre-contact Northern Plains.
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World’s Oldest Bed Bugs Found in Oregon Cave Where Ancient Americans Slept
Archaeologists have found the remains of bed bugs dating back 11,000 years — the oldest ever — in an Oregon cave thought to be among the earliest known sites of human habitation in the West.
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Giant Skull Found in Alaska May Be Evidence of Elusive ‘King’ Polar Bear, Experts Say
A giant skull discovered in Alaska may belong to a subspecies of polar bear that’s new to scientists but familiar to indigenous people in the Arctic.
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Elite ‘Dynasty’ at Chaco Canyon Got Its Power From One Woman, DNA Shows
New DNA evidence shows that elite leaders at Chaco Canyon weren’t just members of the same class — they were members of the same extended family, a “dynasty” that traced its ancestry to a single woman.
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Chaco’s Elites Were Natives of Chaco Canyon, Not Migrants, Their Remains Show
The elites of Chaco Canyon were born and raised there, and weren’t migrants from distant regions, as many thought, new research finds.
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Wyoming Wildfire Reveals ‘Massive’ Shoshone Camp, Thousands of Artifacts
A wildfire high in the mountains of Wyoming has revealed a vast, centuries-old Shoshone campsite, with artifacts numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
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Bones in Yukon Cave Show Humans in North America 24,000 Years Ago, Study Says
A close look at bones found in a Yukon cave may confirm a controversial finding made decades ago: that humans arrived in North America 10,000 years earlier than many experts believe.
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How Did People of Chaco Canyon Grow Their Food? Expert Says, They Didn’t
Recently, researchers have been at odds over a simple, central question in Southwestern archaeology: How did the people of Chaco Canyon manage to grow their food? According to new research: They didn’t.
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Top 5 Archaeology Discoveries in the American West of 2016
Glass blades, unusual crescent-shaped tools, and a “shadow dagger” were some of the more striking finds reported this year by archaeologists around the American West.
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New Evidence Reveals Violent Final Days at Arizona’s Montezuma Castle
The final days at one of Arizona’s most famous ancient landmarks were fraught with violence and death, new research shows.
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Earliest Known Clay Figurines in the Southwest May Be Fertility Symbols, Study Says
Curious clay figurines found in Arizona may be fertility symbols used by farmers as much as 3,000 years ago.
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Mummified Bird, Baby Found in Cave Shed Light on Earliest Desert Farmers
Archaeologists investigating a cave have discovered an unusual burial that’s providing new insights into the ways of some of the earliest farmers of the Chihuahuan Desert.
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Asian Metal Found in Alaska Reveals Trade Centuries Before European Contact
A bronze buckle and metal bead found in Alaska are the first hard evidence of trade between Asia and the North American Arctic, centuries before contact with Europeans.
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Cliff Dwelling in Utah Found to Have Unique Decoration: Dinosaur Tracks
In a Utah cliff dwelling, researchers have found a decoration that’s never been reported before: dinosaur tracks above the front door.
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Grave of Disabled Young Woman Reveals Touching Tale of Care in Prehistoric Arizona
Human remains found buried in downtown Tempe, Arizona, are revealing a touching story about one young woman’s painful life and the community that cared for her more than 800 years…
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