As long as 220,000 years ago—far earlier than previously thought—people quarried rocks for their tools in places they ...

Early humans were quarrying stone in southern Africa over 200,000 years ago, reveals new research. People quarried rocks for ...

When a stone sits on the Earth’s surface, cosmic rays quietly pepper it, leaving behind rare isotopes like tiny time stamps. Bury the stone deep enough, and that cosmic “printing press” shuts off.

For modern residents of the Levant, the "Red Sea Trough" usually brings a brief, dusty transition between seasons. But 127,000 years ago, this same weather pattern may have been the literal key to ...

Our prehistoric human ancestors relied on deliberately modified and sharpened stone tools as early as 3.3 million years ago. The selection of rock type depended on how easily the material could be ...

The generally accepted theory of the spread of ancient humans from Africa, where they first evolved, known as “Out of Africa,” holds that a single species, Homo erectus, subsequently migrated to ...

A new species of ancient primate challenges what we think we know about where human ancestors diverged from monkeys.

It's easy to take for granted that with the flick of a lighter or the turn of a furnace knob, modern humans can conjure flames — cooking food, lighting candles or warming homes. For much of our ...

Early humans may have created fire 400,000 years ago, according to evidence unearthed at an archaeological site in England. Although there is evidence that early humans used natural fire in Africa as ...