Yale Says Its Vinland Map, Once Called a Medieval Treasure, Is Fake

For decades, researchers at Yale and elsewhere have questioned the authenticity of a map that seemed to reflect Viking travels to North America. The school now says the case is closed.

The World’s Deadliest Bird Was Raised by People 18,000 Years Ago

Researchers studying ancient cassowary egg shells in New Guinea found signs that the sharp-taloned bird was being domesticated.

Ancient Footprints Push Back Date of Human Arrival in the Americas

Human footprints found in New Mexico are about 23,000 years old, a study reported, suggesting that people may have arrived long before the Ice Age’s glaciers melted.

Cave Featuring Native American Wall Art Is Sold to Anonymous Bidder

The cave, which sold for $2.2 million in St. Louis on Tuesday, is considered a sacred site by members of the Osage Nation. A tribal leader called the sale “heartbreaking.”

Unearthed at a British Golf Course: A Log Coffin From the Bronze Age

Workers digging in a pond at the Tetney Golf Club discovered a waterlogged coffin containing the remains of a man who archaeologists said was buried about 4,000 years ago.

A Skeleton for Diplomacy: How a Plan to Reconcile France and Russia Collapsed

The remains of a Napoleonic general who died on a Russian battlefield came home in July. But the chance for rapprochement collapsed over concerns about Moscow’s policies.

A Shifting Climate Gave Humans Many Opportunities to Leave Africa

A new paleoclimate model finds many favorable windows when Homo sapiens might have survived a migration out of Africa.

Last Stop on the Way to the Cosmos? No Thanks.

A small Southern county hopes to land a starring role in the commercial space race. But for residents of the exclusive islands in the flight path, the stakes feel sky-high.

Iraq Reclaims 17,000 Looted Artifacts, Its Biggest-Ever Repatriation

The cuneiform tablets and other objects had been held by the Museum of the Bible, founded by the family that owns the Hobby Lobby craft store chain, and by Cornell University.

Is It Art? You May Have to Ask a Neanderthal Critic.

A bone to pick from Germany’s Unicorn Cave. Plus fireflies in sync, peer review in crisis and China’s astronauts at work in their spacesuits.

Inked Mummies, Linking Tattoo Artists With Their Ancestors

As scientists find more tattoos on preserved remains from Indigenous cultures, artists living today are drawing from them to revive cultural traditions.

Colosseum Opens Its Belly to the Public

The underground warren where ancient Roman gladiators and animals awaited their fates has been restored.

On the Pointlessness of Pointy Shoes

Archaeological advice on post-pandemic footwear. Plus: brittle stars in a “weirdo box,” a possible Viking ransom and more in the Friday edition of the Science Times newsletter.

Why Did the Cave Art Vanish? It Was Erased by This Furry Creature and Its Feces.

Bats roosting in caves produce ample guano, which may explain why prehistoric marks left by humans cannot be found in some places where they are expected.

Search for Victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre Has Uncovered 27 Coffins

There are strong reasons to suspect that the mass grave was for victims of the 1921 killing, given contemporary evidence.

The New Detectorists

As an old outdoor hobby draws new followers, metal detectors are sweeping the country.

Archaeologists Uncover Decapitated Bodies From Roman Britain

Technological advances, including DNA and tooth enamel analyses, allowed researchers to form new conclusions about capital punishment under Roman rule.

Archaeologists vs. Computers: A Study Tests Who’s Best at Sifting the Past

When it came to the tedious task of categorizing pottery fragments, a deep-learning model was found to be just as accurate as four human experts, and far more efficient.

The Sunday Read: ‘Neanderthals Were People, Too’

Research has shown that they shared many behaviors that we long believed to be uniquely human. Why did science get them so wrong?