Prehistory
Prehistory, the vast period of time before written records or human documentation, includes the Neolithic Revolution, Neanderthals and Denisovans, Stonehenge, the Ice Age and more.
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The die-off of the dinosaurs, known as the K-T event, took place some 65.5 million years ago.
Our human ancestors may have lost 98.7 percent of their population around 900,000 to 800,000 years ago, according to genetic research.
Some of the oldest known art may hint at the beginning of language development, while later examples portray narratives with human and animal figures.
More than 3,200 years ago, a vast, interconnected civilization thrived. Then it suddenly collapsed. What happened?
Unearthing Dinosaurs
Unearthing Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs can reveal fascinating details of how life was 65 million years ago. But unearthing them can prove to be challenging.
3 Bronze Age Weapons
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The Fertile Crescent, known as the “cradle of civilization,” is the crescent-shaped region comprising ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The discovery of the Lascaux cave in France helped prove that Stone Age humans could be great artists—and technological innovators.
Neanderthals had greater upper-body strength than modern humans.
Africa wasn’t the only stomping ground for our human forebears.
Archaeologists have found remarkable human-made objects dating back hundreds of thousands (and even millions) of years.
Did humans first set foot in the Americas after walking—or sailing or paddling by sea?
Sweets and starches played an essential role in evolution, study says, especially for the brain.
These apex predators ate whales, dolphins and maybe other megalodons.
The die-off of the dinosaurs, known as the K-T event, took place some 65.5 million years ago.
Hint: It wasn't a carnivore.
The prehistoric reptiles known as dinosaurs arose during the Middle to Late Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, some 230 million years ago. They were members of a subclass of reptiles called the archosaurs (“ruling reptiles”), a group that also includes birds and crocodiles.
The mysterious coalition of seafaring raiders terrorized the ancient Mediterranean—and may have helped accelerate the Bronze Age collapse.
Language makes us human, but exactly when humans began speaking remains a mystery.
DNA from 5,500-year-old skeletons rewrites the history of one of the world's deadliest diseases.
These human species lived at the same time as Homo sapiens.
The ritual gesture has existed since ancient times—but its use as an everyday greeting is a more recent phenomenon.
