Archaeology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Archaeology is the study of the artefacts and other physical evidence left by past societies of humans and closely related species. It uses scientific analysis of field samples to inform historical understanding.

Featured

News & Views | 17 May 2023

One species, many roots?
- Eleanor M. L. Scerri
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-2

Latest Research and Reviews

Research
31 May 2023 | Open Access

The largest prehistoric mound in Europe is the Bronze-Age Hill of Udine (Italy) and legend linked its origin to Attila the Hun
- A. Fontana
- , G. Vinci
- & S. Bonomi
Scientific Reports 13, 8848
Research
30 May 2023 | Open Access

Yersinia pestis genomes reveal plague in Britain 4000 years ago

An extinct prehistoric plague lineage of Yersinia pestis has been documented from Central Europe to Asia during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Here, Swali et al. show that this lineage spread to Europe’s northwestern periphery by sequencing three ~4000 year-old Yersinia pestis genomes from Britain.
- Pooja Swali
- , Rick Schulting
- & Pontus Skoglund
Nature Communications 14, 2930
Research
30 May 2023 | Open Access

Mapping the field of cultural evolutionary theory and methods in archaeology using bibliometric methods
- David N. Matzig
- , Clemens Schmid
- & Felix Riede
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10, 271
Research
29 May 2023 | Open Access

Cultural-ecosystem resilience is vital yet under-considered in coastal restoration
- Jayur Madhusudan Mehta
- & Elizabeth L. Chamberlain
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10, 265
Research
25 May 2023 | Open Access

Unravelling the resilience of the KGK VI population from the Gumelnița site (Romania) through stable isotopes
- Ana García-Vázquez
- , Adrian Bălășescu
- & Cătălin Lazăr
Scientific Reports 13, 8499
Research
19 May 2023 | Open Access

Reconstructing the earliest known composite-tiled roofs from the Chinese Loess Plateau
- Yijing Xu
- , Jing Zhou
- & Hai Zhang
Scientific Reports 13, 8163

All Research & Reviews

News and Comment

Comments & Opinion | 30 May 2023

I use a robot to restore Pompeii’s shattered frescoes

Cultural and heritage researcher Arianna Traviglia uses robotic technology to painstakingly reconstruct 2,000-year-old mural paintings in Pompeii.
- Stav Dimitropoulos
Nature 618, 206
Research Highlights | 19 May 2023

Human DNA from a prehistoric artefact

A study in Nature identified the presumed owner or maker of a 20,000-year-old pendant.
- Michael Attwaters
Nature Reviews Genetics, 1
News | 18 May 2023

Human-evolution story rewritten by fresh data and more computing power

Humans did not emerge from a single region of Africa, suggests a powerful modelling study. Rather, our ancestors moved and intermingled for millennia.
- Jude Coleman
Nature
Research Highlights | 17 May 2023

Oldest known ‘blueprints’ aided human hunters 9,000 years ago

Prehistoric engravings depict vast hunting traps with extraordinary precision.

Nature 617, 654
News & Views | 17 May 2023

One species, many roots?

A new genetic study provides strong support for the view that our species evolved from exchanges between several ancestral populations in different African regions.
- Eleanor M. L. Scerri
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-2
News & Views | 03 May 2023

Ancient woman’s DNA recovered from a 20,000-year-old pendant

An innovative method was used to obtain a woman’s rich DNA record from a 20,000-year-old pendant found in Siberia, providing the first direct genetic evidence for the identity of an individual who handled an object in the deep past.

Nature

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Archaeology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Featured

One species, many roots?

Latest Research and Reviews

The largest prehistoric mound in Europe is the Bronze-Age Hill of Udine (Italy) and legend linked its origin to Attila the Hun

Yersinia pestis genomes reveal plague in Britain 4000 years ago

Mapping the field of cultural evolutionary theory and methods in archaeology using bibliometric methods

Cultural-ecosystem resilience is vital yet under-considered in coastal restoration

Unravelling the resilience of the KGK VI population from the Gumelnița site (Romania) through stable isotopes

Reconstructing the earliest known composite-tiled roofs from the Chinese Loess Plateau

News and Comment

I use a robot to restore Pompeii’s shattered frescoes

Human DNA from a prehistoric artefact

Human-evolution story rewritten by fresh data and more computing power

Oldest known ‘blueprints’ aided human hunters 9,000 years ago

One species, many roots?

Ancient woman’s DNA recovered from a 20,000-year-old pendant

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