A new study may finally put to rest one of the most vexing theories about America’s natural history: that the giant fauna of the Ice Age — and the culture of humans who hunted them — were wiped out by a cosmic impact.
Read MoreAuthor: Blake de Pastino
Mesa Verde’s Sun Temple Reveals Geometrical ‘Genius,’ Physicist Says
An 800-year-old structure in Mesa Verde National Park was built using the same basic geometry found in ancient monuments around the world, a new study reports.
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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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Top 5 Fossil Finds Around the American West in 2016
The year in paleontology around the American West was full of surprises, and so is Western Digs’ most-read natural history news of 2016.
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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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Ancient Predator of the Northern Plains Had Fiercest Bite of Any Mammal Ever, Study Says
A scrappy mammal that lived alongside dinosaurs packed the most powerful bite of any mammal, living or extinct, scientists say.
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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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Ice Age Cave Dwellers in Oregon Lived Among Extinct ‘Stout-Legged’ Horses, Fossils Show
Some of the earliest known inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest lived alongside a now-extinct species of ‘stout-legged’ horse, scientists say.
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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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‘Unusual’ Mammoth Fossil Discovered on California Island
Scientists have discovered the remains of an “unusual” mammoth that lived alongside some of the earliest known human inhabitants of Southern California.
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