The Americas
Latest about The Americas

Tiwanaku: A little-known pre-Incan civilization that built temples and cities high in the Andes
By Owen Jarus, Laura Geggel last updated
This ancient city in modern-day Bolivia is almost 13,000 feet above sea level. Only a small portion of the ruins have been excavated.

Rare face tattoos on 800-year-old mystery mummy baffle archaeologists
By Kristina Killgrove published
Analysis of a mummy kept for a century at the University of Turin in Italy has revealed rare face tattoos made with a special black ink.

Humans reached southern South America by 14,500 years ago, genomes from 139 Indigenous groups reveal
By Kristina Killgrove published
A large-scale genome study shows that Indigenous peoples in the Americas split off several times, resulting in loss of important genetic diversity.

Plains viscacha: A rodent that builds vast underground cities and ovulates more than any other mammal
By María de los Ángeles Orfila published
The plains viscacha looks a lot like a chinchilla, but it's known for building vast tunnels underground and for producing more than 300 eggs at one time.

How a 'mudball' meteorite survived space to land in the jungles of Central America
By Keith Cooper published
"The fall of Aguas Zarcas was huge news in the country. No other fireball was as widely reported and then recovered as stones on the ground in Costa Rica in the past 150 years."

Tumaco-Tolita gold figurine: A 2,000-year-old statue with a 'fancy nose ornament' from a vanished South American culture
By Kristina Killgrove published
The Tumaco-Tolita people, who lived in an area rich in natural gold, crafted intricate and delicate metal objects until the group disappeared 1,500 years ago.

Great potoo: The 'tree stump' bird with a haunting growl and can see with its eyes closed
By Lydia Smith published
Throughout the night, great potoos emit a loud, moaning growl that has earned the bird a mythical status, with some communities believing the sounds to be children calling for lost parents.

'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse: Stunning photos of our celestial neighbor turning red over the Americas
By Patrick Pester published
Skywatchers snapped photos of the "blood moon" hovering above North and South America last night. Here's a gallery of images to celebrate the total lunar eclipse.

2,400-year-old puppets with 'dramatic facial expression' discovered atop pyramid in El Salvador
By Kristel Tjandra published
These striking puppets suggest that Indigenous people in what is now El Salvador had rituals that were more connected to the rest of Central American culture than previously thought.

Australia's 'upside down' dinosaur age had two giant predators, 120 million-year-old fossils reveal
By Patrick Pester published
A new study has revealed that "hug of death" megaraptorids and previously unknown carcharodontosaurs shared Australia's unique Antarctic dinosaur ecosystem during the Cretaceous.
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