Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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2,400-year-old grave of possible ancient pro wrestler discovered in TurkeyA tomb excavated in Aspendos, Turkey, revealed a skeleton buried with several coins featuring ancient wrestlers.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Berlin gold hat: A 3,000-year-old ceremonial headdress that a cult used to track the sun, moon and lunar eclipsesAstonishing Artifacts The pointy gold hat reveals evidence of a Bronze Age sun cult whose leader could predict eclipses.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Rock crystal scraper: 45,000-year-old Neanderthal tool that shows they had an 'eye for beauty of form and color'Astonishing Artifacts A chance find of rare rock crystal tools a century ago paved the way for a better understanding of Neanderthals today.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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40,000-year-old bird figurines the size of a thumbnail discovered in German caveTwo newly discovered bird carvings reveal early humans' keen eye for artistry in the ice age world 40,000 years ago.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Lasers reveal hundreds of geoglyphs made by a mysterious civilization in the Amazon rainforest thousands of years agoA new lidar survey of dense Amazonian rainforest has revealed hundreds of earthworks made by a mysterious civilization two millennia ago.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
3 Commentsamericas -
Ancient human relative cannibalized both adults and children in a cave in Spain 850,000 years ago, fossils revealNewly excavated bones from Gran Dolina cave in Spain reveal an ancient human relative practiced cannibalism on adults and children, but researchers still don't know why.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Relief fragment with vanquished enemies: A 3,400-year-old depiction of an Egyptian pharaoh crushing western Asian soldiers under his royal chariotAstonishing Artifacts This battle scene painted on stone was repurposed three centuries later to help build an Egyptian tomb.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Archaeologists find 2,800-year-old burial of person clutching sea turtle vessel in El SalvadorAn unusual 2,800-year-old Mesoamerican burial found in El Salvador included a face-down skeleton clutching a sea turtle vessel.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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1,200-year-old infant burial found near famous Temple of Artemis in Turkey contains twins — one with an unusual extra ribThe two infants buried in the same Byzantine-era grave may have been twins who died around the time of birth.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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'Extremely rare' Roman military camp found in Slovakia holds hastily buried remains of Marcus Aurelius' soldiers — with some dumped in wellsArchaeologists found a Roman military camp in Slovakia with unusual burials of soldiers who likely fought in Marcus Aurelius' Marcomannic Wars.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Mummy mask with wig: A 1,000-year-old 'false head' found in Peru that was crafted with real human hair and toxic red cinnabarAstonishing Artifacts Stylized masks like this one adorned pre-Inca mummies in Peru hundreds of years ago.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Scientists show that DNA can last for up to 50,000 years in Africa — much longer than previously thoughtResearchers extracted DNA from long-dead animals that lived in South Africa during the last ice age, revealing that genetic material lasts longer in hot climates than was previously thought.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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5 'extremely rare' iron shackles discovered in France highlight Celtic slave trade 2,300 years agoArchaeologists were surprised to find evidence of shackles in a pre-Roman settlement in France.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
archaeology -
Elamite helmet with divine figures: A warrior king's 3,500-year-old bronze armor depicting a raptor and gold-plated godsAstonishing Artifacts This bronze helmet has been decorated with ancient deities from a civilization that flourished before the Persian Empire took over the area that is now Iran.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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'Some people called it horrifying': 'Dinner with King Tut' author on using Egyptian mummification techniques on a modern-day human bodyInterview "A lot of the book was actually me floundering around, failing to complete the projects or figuring out what I was doing wrong," author Sam Kean says about his experimental archaeology adventures.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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'He looked like Ramses the Great': How experimental archaeologists used ancient techniques to mummify a modern-day personExcerpt In his new book, "Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations," science writer Sam Kean explains the odd and intriguing world of experimental archaeologists.
By Sam Kean Published
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Medieval babies and adults buried together in Sweden were not related, archaeologists discover — raising big questions about early Christian burial practicesIn an unexpected discovery, researchers found that three medieval Swedish cemeteries held children buried with unrelated adults.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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100,000 years ago, one of the earliest Homo sapiens outside Africa was stabbed in the face, analysis findsA microscopic analysis of the skull of Qafzeh 25 revealed a cut mark likely made by a stone tool 100,000 years ago.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
3 Commentshuman-evolution -
'One of the oldest gravestones of a free Black person in America' discovered in BostonExperts have identified the gravestone of Boston, a free Black man who died in 1729.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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2,500-year-old tomb of a 'warrior prince' with chariot and helmet discovered on Italy's Adriatic coastArchaeologists have excavated a royal burial ground of the Piceni, a mysterious pre-Roman civilization in Italy that is not well known historically.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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The Stargazer: A 5,000-year-old marble statuette of a Stone Age woman looking skywardAstonishing Artifacts Only a handful of these small, sleek, marble figurines carved by enigmatic Stone Age people are known to exist.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Diminutive species 'the Hobbit' did not hunt or control fire, deepening the mystery of its ancestry, dwarf elephant bones revealThe extinct human species Homo floresiensis was a scavenger, not a hunter, an analysis of fossil animal bones reveals.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
8 Commentshuman-evolution -
Elite families ruled nomadic Scythian society 2,500 years ago, DNA analysis revealsNomads of the Eurasian steppe were ruled by elite dynastic families, including women, a large-scale genetic analysis reveals.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Ancient-DNA analysis solves 500-year-old mystery of what killed 2 Medici brothersAn ancient-DNA analysis of the bones of two members of the Renaissance Medici family has confirmed they had malaria when they died.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
4 Commentsarchaeology
