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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Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius: The only surviving larger-than-life-size statue of a pagan Roman emperor — a rarity that Michelangelo refurbishedAstonishing Artifacts The giant, one-of-a-kind statue of a Roman emperor on horseback depicts him addressing his troops.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Children wearing bronze 'warrior' belts discovered in 2,500-year-old cemetery in ItalyArchaeologists have uncovered the graves of two pre-Roman children who were buried like male warriors.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Russian Revolution gold coin hoard worth over $500,000 discovered during house constructionArchaeologists excavating the foundation of a historic house in Russia discovered 409 coins buried before the revolution in 1917.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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2,000-year-old Phoenician coin was used as bus fare in England, but 'how it got there will always be a mystery'The ancient coin was probably minted in what is now Spain in the first century B.C., but no one knows why it was used to pay a 1950s transport fare.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Asante spider: A rare African sword ornament from Ghana's Gold Coast that later helped a man in Texas barter for his lifeAstonishing Artifacts The spider-shaped sword ornament was created in Ghana in the 19th century and was passed down in a Texas family for generations.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Ancient 'alien-like' skulls have been found on every continent but Antarctica. Anthropologists are starting to figure out why.Humans have practiced head shaping for tens of thousands of years, and anthropologists are beginning to uncover clues as to why.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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9 ways people have modified their bodies since the dawn of time, from foot binding to castrationMany types of body modification date back hundreds or thousands of years, revealing our ancient ancestors were not that different from us.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Climate disasters caused societal upheaval 3,000 years ago in China, study of 'oracle bones' hintsSome civilizations in inland China underwent dramatic changes and population drops 3,000 years ago. Now, researchers are using oracle bones, archaeological evidence and climate modeling to find out why.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Stone Age woman was buried like a man, revealing flexible gender roles 7,000 years ago in HungaryA study of 125 skeletons from two Neolithic cemeteries in Hungary has revealed that men and women had clear gender roles — but sometimes those roles were fluid.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Lady of Elche: A 2,400-year-old bust of a mysterious 'highborn' woman from pre-Roman SpainAstonishing artifacts The mysterious Lady of Elche was crafted from a large limestone block before the Romans ruled Spain.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Paleolithic humans invented an 'early predecessor to writing' at least 40,000 years ago, carved signs suggestA statistical analysis of a series of signs carved into artifacts from around 40,000 years ago suggests humans developed proto-writing in the Stone Age.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Stone Age boy in Sweden was buried in deerskin and a woodpecker headdress, archaeologists discoverA new method of studying the contents of soil samples has revealed Stone Age people in Sweden were buried in decorated fur-and-feather clothing.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Humans and Neanderthals interbred — but it was mostly male Neanderthals and female humans who coupled up, study findsA preference for pairings between male Neanderthals and female Homo sapiens may answer the question of why there are "Neanderthal deserts" in human chromosomes.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Babies weren't supposed to be mourned in the Roman Empire. These rare liquid-gypsum burials prove otherwise.Despite historical records saying otherwise, Roman babies were mourned at death, research into unique plaster burials from York reveals.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Far fewer people are related to Genghis Khan than previously assumed, new genomic study suggestsSome experts have suggested as many as 1 in 200 men in the world are related to Genghis Khan. But a new genomic study reveals the number is significantly lower.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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2,800-year-old mass grave of women and children discovered in Serbia reveals 'brutal, deliberate and efficient' violenceAn analysis of a mass grave found in northern Serbia is revealing new information about violence in Early Iron Age Europe.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Lotus shoes: Tiny footwear for Chinese women whose feet were bound as childrenLotus shoes are tiny footwear associated with foot-binding, a beauty practice that lasted for at least a millennium in China.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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2,000-year-old skulls reveal people in ancient Vietnam permanently blackened their teeth — a stylish practice that persists todayIn a study of 2,000-year-old skulls from Vietnam, archaeologists discovered that iron was the primary component that dyed teeth black.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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A coffin holding a dead 'princess' fell from an eroded cliff over 100 years ago — archaeologists just solved a major mystery about herDendrochronological analysis of a mysterious log coffin that tumbled from a cliff a century ago reveals clues to life in Roman-era Poland.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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In a 'race against time,' archaeologists uncovered Roman-era footprints from a Scottish beach before the tide washed them awayArchaeologists raced against the tide to record a unique set of footprints made 2,000 years ago on a Scottish beach.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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2,500-year-old 'primitive prosthetic' found on jaw of mummified Scythian woman who survived complex jaw surgeryResearchers used CT scans to peer inside a partially mummified skull and discovered the woman survived jaw surgery 2,500 years ago.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Research group claims preeclampsia doomed the Neanderthals, but experts say it's just a 'thought experiment'Preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy that involves high blood pressure, could have led to a decline in Neanderthals' fertility, a new study suggests.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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5,500 years ago, a teenage girl was buried with her father's bones on her chest, new DNA study revealsA novel DNA analysis of skeletons excavated from a Neolithic hunter-gatherer cemetery in Sweden has revealed surprising family relationships.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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Tumaco-Tolita Seated Elder: This 2,000-year-old depiction of an aged man with wrinkles struck fear in people because it held 'the power'Tumaco-Tolita artists were known for their intense realism in sculpting clay representations of humans.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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