The Best of SAPIENS

An archaeologist considers what farming simulators reveal about humanity’s ancient and evolving relationship with agriculture.

An anthropologist who migrated from India to the U.K. illustrates how fellow migrants from India maintain cultural heritage through food.

An anthropologist explains the evolutionary origins of why so many people seem practically programmed to love sugar.

In the Caucasus, researchers are using aerospace technology to expose the clandestine obliteration of Armenian cultural heritage.

In a new book, Growing Up Human, a bioarchaeologist chronicles the most surprising evolutionary adaptations of babies and parents.

An archaeologist examines zinc levels in bones to explore if the carnivorous diets of Neanderthals contributed to their extinction.

An evolutionary anthropologist argues that Paleolithic diets were more varied than people think based on research with the Hadza of Tanzania.

One anthropologist has made it her mission to remove racial prejudices from the study of hair and find the evolutionary roots of hair diversity.

An anthropologist explores whether Lebanese turning to solar power is a story of resilience, environmental triumph, or something else.

An archaeologist speculates about how to uncover evidence of depression, anxiety, and neurodiversities in ancient humans.

Linguistic anthropologists are digging into evolution of the West African Vai script for insights into human cognition and society.

Climate change skeptics point to ice and snow to seed doubt about global warming—but visible evidence of the changing climate is all around us.

An anthropologist traces the origins and world travels of one of his favorite kinds of plants: chili peppers.

Experts debate whether Neanderthals created art. A paleoanthropologist explores the evidence and the sources of people’s skepticism.