• Because Your DNA Says So

    Your DNA is unique, and it makes you a human, not any other animal. Sequencing DNA lets us identify genetic similarities and differences that relate to species similarities and differences.

Ask An Anthropologist

Ask An Anthropologist is an educational resource for students, teachers, parents, and life-long learners. We encourage anyone interested in anthropology to make use of its content.

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Becoming human brings together interactive multimedia, research and scholarship to promote greater understanding of the course of human evolution.

Field and lab anthropology image
If you like being outdoors, digging up bones, and doing science, then check out what it’s like to be an anthropologist.
Paleontologist thumbnail

To make it easier to find fossils, you need to know how and where to look. Luckily, there are clues all around, and a good fossil detective knows to ask the four Ws: who, what, when, and where.

LInk to When Did Our Brains Get Big?

Big brains are one of the features that make us human. Find out when during our evolution our brains got big and why this change occurred.

Two hands holding a straw without using thier thumbs
When you tape down your thumb, you’ll get a sense of how hard it would be to do many things if our hands were shaped differently. Even a simple task like placing a straw in a bottle becomes difficult!