Glimpses of the past can sometimes be unearthed in the most ordinary places. In a dig for an underground parking facility for the Zurich opera house in Switzerland, evidence of ancient human occupation has been uncovered. Local archaeologist Niels Bleicher found of particular interest a well-preserved wooden door.

What do the oldest European artworks and the domestication of animals have in common? A Penn State University paleoanthropologist suggested that they are evidence of a unique connection with animals that profoundly shaped the evolutionary development of early man.

Do chimpanzees have their own culture? If so, some researchers would connect their behaviors to aspects of human culture, which they believe supports an evolutionary relationship. But current developments shed doubt on that idea.

Humans don’t need to learn the ability to move to a rhythm, according to a new study. They are born with it. Two researchers from Finland and the United Kingdom wanted to find out how soon in life people begin to dance to rhythms. They were surprised to find that babies as young as five months old match body motion to music.

Evolution holds that mankind emerged from “primitive” primates about 3.5 million years ago. Afterward, man continued to add habits and features that distinguished him from his humble predecessors, resulting fairly recently in what are considered modern humans. However, new artifact finds have not corroborated this naturalistic story.