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Articles on Artifacts

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Artist AbdulAlim U-K (Aikin Karr) combines the fractal structure of traditional African architecture with emerging technologies in computer graphics. AbdulAlim U-K

Heritage algorithms combine the rigors of science with the infinite possibilities of art and design

By bridging culture and computation, heritage algorithms challenge the myth of ‘primitive cultures’ and forge a new understanding of science and art.
Animals that shared the landscape with humans disappeared as the ice age ended. Mauricio Antón/Wikimedia Commons

Forensic evidence suggests Paleo-Americans hunted mastodons, mammoths and other megafauna in eastern North America 13,000 years ago

A forensic technique more often used at modern crime scenes identified blood residue from large extinct animals on spearpoints and stone tools used by people who lived in the Carolinas millennia ago.
Archaeologist and paleoenvironmental researcher Isaac Hart of the University of Utah surveys a melting ice patch in western Mongolia. Peter Bittner

Melting Mongolian ice reveals fragile artifacts that provide clues about how past people lived

From the high Yukon to the mountains of Central Asia, melting ice exposes fragile ancient artifacts that tell the story of the past – and provide hints about how to respond to a changing climate.
What route did the first settlers to colonize the islands of the Caribbean take? M.M. Swee/Moment via Getty Images

Archaeologists determined the step-by-step path taken by the first people to settle the Caribbean islands

Did people settle these islands by traveling north from South America, or in the other direction? Reanalyzing data from artifacts discovered decades ago provides a definitive answer.
Brazil’s gutted National Museum now resembles an archaeological ruin itself. AP Photo/Mario Lobao

Lesson from Brazil: Museums are not forever

It’s a comforting falsehood that once an artifact joins a museum’s collection, it’s safe for eternity. Museums face many foes in the fight to preserve – a lack of funds might be the biggest.

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