Surprising findings about people continue to “spice up” archaeology. Brian Handwerk sketches the new image of “reverse migrations” from the New World to Eurasia. Among the surprises is “the discovery of an entirely new population that lived in Siberia’s Altai Mountains.” Certainly nothing to sniff at, but neither is the realization that Sinuses Offer New Way of Studying the Evolution of Ancient Humans. That from James Ashworth, who says the value of fossil sinuses has been overlooked. It may not seem as significant now as it did in the last century, but a Study Suggests Smallpox Originated 2,000 Years Earlier Than Thought. Cara Murez tells how researchers used math to deal with the “time-dependent rate phenomenon” to determine the smallpox virus emerged even before the Egyptian New Kingdom, much to the discomfort of a 20th-dynasty pharaoh. And we leave you with something to chew on, as Terry Madenholm teaches in A Brief History of Cannibalism: Not Just a Matter of Taste. The human practice has a long history, and even those reacting against the idea have used that to justify horrendous evils, with modern impacts. Truly, food for thought. (WM)
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