Articles by Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Understanding the use of aromatic substances in history can contribute knowledge about many aspects of the past

Researchers showed that writing very quickly becomes “compressed” for efficient reading and writing

New research shows milk consumption in eastern Africa began before the evolution of lactase persistence

Paper identifies how working practices can be remodeled to overcome the challenges brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the current pandemic

Coprolite identification of ancient feces makes this archaeological find far more informative

Modern humans evolved in Africa, and we now know that human groups from all over the continent contributed to that process. A group of scientists says that means it is time to stop arguing about where in Africa humans 'really' came from

A chemical residue study of incense burners from ancient burials at high elevations in western China has revealed psychoactive cannabinoids

A new article suggests wetter climates may have allowed Homo sapiens to expand across the deserts of Central Asia 50-30,000 years ago

Our species' ability to occupy diverse and "extreme" settings around the world stands in stark contrast to the ecological adaptations of other hominin taxa

A pair of 3,800-year-old skeletons buried together in Russia test positive for a strain of the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis