Scientists say some of the traits that define modern humans may have evolved only after long-standing biological and cultural barriers were broken. Human evolution is often presented as a clear progression: brains grew larger, faces became smaller, tools improved, and our ancestors gradually became more like us. A new study suggests that this familiar story [...]

An Iliad fragment discovered inside an Egyptian mummy shows how Homer’s influence extended across Roman culture, from imperial identity and education to everyday life in Roman Egypt. Archaeologists have found something unexpected inside a 1,600-year-old Roman-era Egyptian mummy: a fragment of Homer’s Iliad. It wasn’t placed beside the body but inside the mummy’s abdomen. But [...]