Top Questions header

Have you ever wondered what questions we have received and answered over the years? You are not alone. Others have wondered the same thing. We have sorted through our collection of queries and are listing a few of our top questions and answers.

We hope you enjoy them.

Rock painting
Why do humans cooperate and live in groups?
Human skulls hold our disproportionately large brains
Why did the size of our brains change over time?
Spear tips
When did human ancestors use stone tools?
Footprint in sand
When did human ancestors begin walking on two legs and how do we know?
Fossilized plants
What plants and animals lived with our ancient ancestors?
Excavating a cave
What is it like to be an anthropologist in the field?
A young anthropologist inspecting a specimen
What does an anthropologist do?
Baboons grooming
What can we learn about human development from chimpanzees and baboons?
Rocky coastline
What can rocks and sediments tell us about how our ancient ancestors developed over the last 4 million years?
Public domain image of a fish fossil
I think I found a fossil/artifact! What should I do with it?
Hills of Hadar, Ethiopia
How did changes in the Earth’s climate affect our human ancestors?

What is it like to be an anthropologist in the field?
Answer »

Read this page in

[Español (Spanish)]

Be part of Ask An Anthropologist

By volunteering, or simply sending us feedback on the site. Scientists, teachers, writers, illustrators, and translators are all important to the program. If you are interested in helping with the website we have a volunteers page to get the process started.

Donate icon  Contribute