Skull Hints at Caveman Compassion

(NEWSER) - Horses were domesticated 1,000 years earlier than thought, a finding that could prompt a rethinking of ancient human history, the BBC reports. A team from Exeter University found evidence of the use of harness bits on teeth—as well as horse meat and horse milk beverages—in Kazakhstan that date back 5,500 years. Historians have previously figured that humans tamed horses during the Bronze Age. More»

Broad faces linked to unethical behavior, finds researchers

(NEWSER) - Wide-faced men tend to be a lot trickier than their narrow-faced counterparts, according to researchers who measured the faces of hundreds of business school students before running them through assorted behavioral tests. The study found that broad-faced men are three times more likely to lie and nine times more likely to cheat, reports the Independent . No such link was found among women. More»

Remains found in Georgia suggest mankind's evolution had Eurasian chapter

(NEWSER) - Theories of human evolution have been thrown into disarray by ancient human remains found in Georgia, the Independent reports. The skulls, unearthed near Tbilisi, are from 1.8 million years ago, 800,000 years before modern humanity's ancestors were believed to have first moved out of Africa. The find, scientists say, suggests our ancient ancestors evolved into modern humans in Eurasia before migrating back to Africa. More»

(NEWSER) - A nearly perfectly preserved 37,000-year-old baby mammoth is giving up tantalizing secrets about her species, scientists report. The creature, dubbed Lyuba by researchers, still sports clumps of hair and eyelashes, according to the Telegraph. Scientists have been able to examine stomach contents and the mineral makeup of the bones and teeth in the animal, found 2 years ago by reindeer herders in Siberia. More»

DNA probe sheds light on early humans' doom

(NEWSER) - Analysis of DNA from a thigh bone is helping solve the longstanding question of what happened to Neanderthals. Did they simply die off, were they killed by more modern humans—or did the two groups interbreed? DNA from the Neanderthal bone is so different from that of modern humans that interbreeding now appears highly unlikely, the Independent reports, making it likely that our ancestors were to blame. More»