Bones | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/bones/RSS feed for BonesenThu, 24 Jul 2025 19:34:49 +0000Archaeologists Discover Mysterious Medieval Knight Buried Beneath an Ice Cream Parlor in Polandhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-mysterious-medieval-knight-buried-beneath-an-ice-cream-parlor-in-poland-180987021/The well-preserved skeleton was buried under a rare limestone tombstone, which suggests the individual may have been an important member of Gdańsk society during the Middle AgesThu, 24 Jul 2025 19:34:49 +0000An Archer Shot This Bronze Age Human in the Back. 4,000 Years Later, the Arrow Is Still Embedded in the Victim's Rib Bonehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/an-archer-shot-this-bronze-age-human-in-the-back-4000-years-later-the-arrow-is-still-embedded-in-the-victims-rib-bone-180987036/The attack took place during a period of conflict between groups living in the Pyrenees mountains in modern-day SpainWed, 23 Jul 2025 19:10:35 +0000These Odd Bony Structures Were Hiding Beneath the Skin of Far More Lizards Than Thought, Researchers Findhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-odd-bony-structures-were-hiding-beneath-the-skin-of-far-more-lizards-than-thought-researchers-find-180987023/Called osteoderms, the chain mail-like plates may have helped some species adapt to Australia’s harsh environmentTue, 22 Jul 2025 19:22:38 +0000A Child's Skull That Has Long Confounded Archaeologists Might Be a Human-Neanderthal Hybrid, Study Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-childs-skull-that-has-long-confounded-archaeologists-might-be-a-human-neanderthal-hybrid-study-suggests-180986981/According to new CT scans and models, parts of the 140,000-year-old skull resemble those of modern humans, while the jaw appears to be more similar to those of our extinct relativesMon, 21 Jul 2025 21:12:20 +0000Cut Marks on Animal Bones Suggest Neanderthal Groups Had Their Own Unique Culinary Traditionshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/Neanderthals in two nearby caves used different techniques when butchering animal carcasses in what is now Israel, according to a new paperThu, 17 Jul 2025 20:06:47 +0000Preserved Blood Vessels Discovered in a Rib Bone From the World's Largest T. Rex Could Shed Light on How Dinosaurs Healedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/preserved-blood-vessels-discovered-in-a-rib-bone-from-the-worlds-largest-t-rex-could-shed-light-on-how-dinosaurs-healed-180986987/Scotty, a specimen unearthed in Canada, was probably injured in a fight, then died several months laterTue, 15 Jul 2025 18:38:56 +0000A Paleontologist Matched Two Halves of the Same Fossil Stored at Different Museums—and Discovered a New Specieshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-paleontologist-matched-two-halves-of-the-same-fossil-stored-at-different-museums-and-discovered-a-new-species-180986974/Meet Sphenodraco scandentis, a tree-dwelling, lizard-like reptile that roamed around with the dinosaurs during the Late Jurassic period roughly 145 million years agoFri, 11 Jul 2025 21:13:38 +0000Neanderthals May Have Been Running a Sophisticated 'Fat Factory' in Germany 125,000 Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neanderthals-may-have-been-running-a-sophisticated-fat-factory-in-germany-125000-years-ago-180986951/New research suggests that they smashed animal bones into tiny pieces before boiling them to extract the high-calorie grease insideFri, 11 Jul 2025 18:01:03 +0000'Nothing Short of Magical': Scientists Discover a Dinosaur Bone Nearly 800 Feet Beneath a Parking Lot at a Denver Museumhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nothing-short-of-magical-scientists-discover-a-dinosaur-bone-nearly-800-feet-beneath-a-parking-lot-at-a-denver-museum-180986967/The partial vertebra appeared inside a 2.5-inch-diameter column of rock that researchers drilled, earning the title of the oldest and deepest dinosaur fossil found in DenverThu, 10 Jul 2025 19:44:42 +0000A Rare, Pregnant Ichthyosaur Fossil Discovered in Chile Is Revealing More Secrets About the Early Cretaceous Worldhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-pregnant-ichthyosaur-fossil-discovered-in-chile-is-reavealing-more-secrets-about-the-early-cretaceous-world-180986936/The fossil helps scientists better understand not just the animal, but our planet's geologyTue, 08 Jul 2025 19:51:14 +0000Scientists Have Sequenced an Ancient Egyptian Skeleton's Entire Genome for the Very First Time. Here's What They Foundhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-have-sequenced-an-ancient-egyptian-skeletons-entire-genome-for-the-very-first-time-heres-what-they-found-180986935/Dating back more than 4,500 years, the skeleton belonged to a middle-aged man who may have worked as a potter and likely descended from ancestors in North Africa and MesopotamiaMon, 07 Jul 2025 19:26:52 +0000These Cod Have Been Shrinking Dramatically for Decades. Now, Scientists Say They've Solved the Mysteryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-cod-have-been-shrinking-dramatically-for-decades-now-scientists-say-theyve-solved-the-mystery-180986920/Eastern Baltic cod grow to much smaller sizes than they did just 30 years ago, because overfishing altered their genes, according to new researchThu, 03 Jul 2025 20:29:45 +0000Fishermen in the Brazilian Amazon Discover Enormous Funerary Urns Beneath a Toppled Treehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fishermen-in-the-brazilian-amazon-discover-enormous-funerary-urns-beneath-a-toppled-tree-180986926/The ceramic vessels contained the bones of pre-Columbian Indigenous people, as well as fish, frog and turtle remainsThu, 03 Jul 2025 16:53:06 +0000This Young Woman With a Cone-Shaped Skull Died After Suffering a Severe Head Wound 6,000 Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-young-woman-with-a-cone-shaped-skull-died-after-suffering-a-severe-head-wound-6000-years-ago-180986894/Found in the Chega Sofla cemetery in Iran, the skull appears to have been struck by a blunt object. Archaeologists don't know whether the incident was intentional or accidentalMon, 30 Jun 2025 20:49:59 +0000'Enigmatic' Dog-Sized Dinosaur Reveals a New Species That Scampered Around Jurassic North Americahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enigmatic-dog-sized-dinosaur-reveals-a-new-species-that-scampered-around-jurassic-north-america-180986895/The speedy, plant-eating creature lived in what is now Colorado roughly 150 million years ago, and its skeleton went on display in London this weekFri, 27 Jun 2025 20:01:06 +0000A Jar of Fossil Bones Long Stored at a Museum Led Scientists to Discover a Goblin-Like Lizard From 76 Million Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-jar-of-fossil-bones-long-stored-at-a-museum-led-scientists-to-discover-a-goblin-like-lizard-from-76-million-years-ago-180986843/Fossils described in a new study speak to a previously unknown large-bodied lizard diversity that existed alongside dinosaursFri, 20 Jun 2025 14:45:51 +0000These 'Dragon Prince' Fossils Spent Decades in Museum Drawers. Now, They Could Rewrite the T. Rex Family Treehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-dragon-prince-fossils-spent-decades-in-museum-drawers-now-they-could-rewrite-the-t-rex-family-tree-180986787/Two partial skeletons housed in a Mongolia museum were reexamined by researchers and found to represent a previously unknown speciesFri, 13 Jun 2025 16:32:02 +0000Journey Into a Prehistoric Cave That Trapped and Entombed Animals for Millenniahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/journey-into-a-prehistoric-cave-that-trapped-and-entombed-animals-for-millennia-180986775/The animals that plummeted 85 feet into Wyoming’s Natural Trap Cave provide a layered history of life dating back to the PleistoceneThu, 12 Jun 2025 11:00:15 +0000Scientists Find the First Evidence of Birds Nesting in the Arctic Alongside Dinosaurshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-find-the-first-evidence-of-birds-nesting-in-the-arctic-alongside-dinosaurs-180986720/The researchers analyzed rare fossils of hatchling birds found in northern Alaska, which offered the earliest evidence of the creatures reproducing in a polar regionMon, 02 Jun 2025 15:25:29 +0000This Bewildering Byzantine Bucket Stumped Archaeologists for Decades. Now, They've Finally Discovered Its Purposehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-bewildering-byzantine-bucket-stumped-archaeologists-for-decades-now-theyve-finally-discovered-its-purpose-180986701/Fragments of the bucket were first found at England's Sutton Hoo burial site in 1986. New research has revealed that the 1,500-year-old artifact was probably used as a cremation vesselThu, 29 May 2025 18:20:16 +0000Scientists Discover the Oldest Known Tools Made From Whale Bones, Crafted in Western Europe 20,000 Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discover-the-oldest-known-tools-made-from-whale-bones-crafted-in-western-europe-20000-years-ago-180986696/Stone Age humans scavenged the skeletons of several whale species along the Bay of Biscay in what is now southwestern France and northern Spain, according to a new studyWed, 28 May 2025 17:04:05 +0000