Scientists have discovered the first evidence of preindustrial mercury pollution from mining that took place in Peru more than 3,000 years ago.

Long before the industrial revolution, long before the conquistadors set foot in South America, ancient Americans were mining mercury, a new study says.

The glittering "grills" of some hip-hop stars aren't exactly unprecedented. Sophisticated dentistry allowed Native Americans to add bling to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago, a new study says.

Forget those drawings of long-necked dinosaurs munching on treetops. New research suggests sauropods didn't have the heart to eat like giraffes do.

Priests and other elites performed smoking and drinking rituals on the lake island, home to the Tarascan Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Ancient peoples whipped up an adhesive of powdered red ochre and acacia-tree gum that required more intelligence than we give our ancestors credit for, one scientist says.

The "remarkable," yard-long, horseshoe crab-like arthropods roamed in swarms of up to a thousand animals, a new study suggests.

The tiny humans from the island of Flores had no arches in their feet, an important trait for runners, according to a new analysis that says the 18,000-year-old fossils represent a unique species.

After a factory had found a 40-million-year-old whale fossil in a limestone kitchen counter, researchers investigated the stone's fossil-packed quarry, which could shed light on the origins of African wildlife. Video.

The fossils, which contain the only known extinct seahorse species, shed light on the mystery of how the poor swimmers were able to disperse across the globe, scientists say.

Three thousand years ago, a fortified city on Egypt's border was both a warning to invaders and an awe-inspiring gateway for travelers--as evidenced by newly revealed grand temples and rare cravings.

An isolated group of dinosaurs may have outlived their doomed relatives by as much as half a million years, a new study suggests.

The earliest known dinosaur soft tissue has been extracted from an 80-million-year-old duckbill, a new study says.

Swine flu started sweeping the globe, a unique Roman artifact was unearthed, and a baby gorilla was found in an animal trafficker's suitcase, as seen in this week's selection of the best news pictures.

A temple filled with broken metal, ivory carvings, and stone slabs engraved with a dead language could cast new light on the "dark age" that was thought to have engulfed the region from 1200 to 900 B.C.