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In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Inca Empire was the largest South America had ever known. Centered in Peru, it stretched across the Andes' mountain tops and down to the shoreline, incorporating lands from today's Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru - all connected by a vast highway system whose complexity rivaled any in the Old World. Rich in foodstuffs, textiles, gold, and coca, the Inca were masters of city building but nevertheless had no money. In fact, they had no marketplaces at all. More »
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People have been making graffiti since there was writing — everywhere we go we find messages lost in time. Some of these ancient writings give us priceless insight into lost civilizations. Other pieces, though, just give us big lumps of awesome. More »
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How did mammoths grow up? It's a simple question, but one that has been difficult to answer. Much of what paleontologists know about the great Ice Age beasts come from teeth, bones, and comparisons to living elephants, but our knowledge of their early lives has been restricted by a lack of well-preserved mammoth calves. Now that has changed. More »
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Yes, you're looking at a real Viking sword here — and it's over 1000 years old. This is just part of a new archeological discovery, the 16-foot tomb of a Viking warrior who came to Scotland and never went home again. The high-status warrior was buried with his boat and all his gear. More »
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Archaeologists have dug up many ancient, notched bones all around the world, but the Ishango bone is different. On it, there are markings that suggest its owners were making the first attempts at actual mathematics. More »
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A satellite equipped with infrared cameras led to an amazing discovery: archeologists were able to see, for the first time, some of Egypt's long-buried pyramids. Find out how infrared scanning revealed over 3,000 ancient structures deep underneath the sand. More »
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Scientists developed an experiment that reveals whether our long-dead evolutionary cousins Neanderthals are right or left handed - just from dental records. They did it by relying on evidence from stone tools, and humankind's innate klutziness. More »
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Pooping. Everyone does it, right? Might as well make it count. Here are some ways that poop made a difference in the world. More »
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Modern archeologists have found two artificial big toes in Egyptian tombs: the linen and plaster "Greville Chester toe," which dates back past 600 BC (below); and the wood and leather "Cairo toe," which was built between 950-710 BC and was unearthed affixed to a female mummy. Researchers were unsure if these devices were functional or merely aesthetic, but after some sure-footed testing, they appear to be the earliest prosthetics discovered yet. More »
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An archeobotanist has figured out how they made beer in 500 BC. With a ditch in the back yard, some barley seeds, and some henbane, you too can drink up like the ancient Celts. More »
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Far from being the staid lectures academics attend, symposia in ancient Greece were wine-stravaganzas. The kind of cups the Greeks drank from turns out to say a lot about them. More »
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In one of the most hilarious stories of the week, a four-hundred-year old French mummy head has been officially identified as King Henry IV of France. How did researchers figure that out? More »
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Science fiction takes us out of our own time and place, and confronts us with alien objects as well as incomprehensible future artifacts. By doing this, argues Daniel Rourke, SF brings us closer to seeing things as they really are. More »
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Archaeologists have discovered hand axes in Crete that were made roughly 130,000 years ago, most likely by homo erectus, an ancient hominid species from Africa. And evidence is mounting that these proto-humans got from Africa to Crete in boats. More »
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Scientists have long debated whether Neandertals were as sophisticated as the early homo sapiens who lived alongside them. New evidence from a 50-thousand-year-old Neandertal campsite suggests they were our ancestors' mental equals, wearing jewelry and painting with homebrew pigments. More »
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Global warming often evokes images of melting icecaps, disappearing landmasses, and natural disasters. But the results aren't always so dire. For the Incas, global warming meant 400 years' prosperity and growth, allowing them to create a formidable empire. More »
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Last night, the Annals of Improbable Research held its 18th annual Ig Nobel Prizes. The prizes are awarded for scientific and social achievements "that first make people laugh, then make people think." And this year’s winners include studies on puzzle-solving slime molds, the spermicidal capabilities of Coca-Cola, and the economics of ovulating strippers. More »
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