hunter-gatherers

Florida Divers Bring Up Signs of People 14K Years Ago

'Bering Strait theory' takes another knock

(Newser) - What divers found in a Florida sinkhole may help overturn a long-held theory—that people first colonized the Americas thousands of years ago by crossing the Bering Strait, the Guardian reports. Scientists say that fossilized dung, mastodon bones, and a stone knife discovered at the site near Tallahassee suggest people... More »

This May Be First Evidence of Hunter-Gatherer War

27 people killed in 10,000-year-old massacre in what is now Kenya

(Newser) - Scientists working on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya have uncovered a grisly scene : the bodies of 27 people, killed around 8,000BC. Experts say the spot, called Nataruk, may be the first to reveal evidence of a massacre—or perhaps even war—between two nomadic hunter-gatherer groups, one... More »

Maybe You Don't Need 8 Hours of Sleep After All

New research sheds light on sleeping patterns of our ancient ancestors

(Newser) - You've heard of the Paleo diet, but the next big thing in health may well be the Paleo sleep schedule. A UCLA researcher studied three hunter-gatherer and hunter-farmer groups—the Hadza in Tanzania, San in Namibia, and Tsimane in Bolivia, "who live roughly the same lifestyle humans did... More »

4K-Year-Old Home Turns Up in Ohio

Hunter-gatherers apparently lived there during colder months

(Newser) - One tribe lived in Ohio so long ago we don't even have a name for them. Archaeologists recently uncovered one of their 4,000-year-old homes in Lorain County and say it belonged to hunter-gatherers who visited periodically during the fall and winter, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. "There'... More »

How 'Pygmy' People's Rampant Pot Use Protects Them

May lower rates of infection by parasitic intestinal worms: study

(Newser) - Marijuana was a painkiller in ancient Egypt and an anesthetic in ancient China and Taiwan, Medical Daily reports. Now, an anthropologist says the Aka foragers of the Central African Republic may be unconsciously using the plant to ward off parasitic intestinal worms. Ed Hagen of Washington State University Vancouver surveyed... More »

Elephant Ancestor's Bones Alter Our Continent's History

Gomphotheres appear to have roamed North America as recently as 13,400 years ago

(Newser) - North America's prehistoric Clovis people were known hunters of large mammoths and mastodons. But another elephant ancestor, the smaller gomphothere, may also have fallen prey to the ambitious hunter-gatherers. An archaeological dig begun in 2007 in northwestern Mexico now carbon dates that site—which has given up Clovis spear... More »