A radically expanded view of the origin of civilization, extending far beyond Mesopotamia is being proposed. Mesopotamia is widely believed to be the cradle of civilization, but a growing body of ...

Researchers studying clay balls from Mesopotamia have discovered clues to a lost code that was used for record-keeping about 200 years before writing was invented. The clay balls may represent the ...

In a startling revelation, researchers now report that lip kissing was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago, moving the earliest documentation for kissing back 1,000 ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

Findings show that Çayönü was a genetically diverse population because it carried mixed ancestry from the west and east sides of the Fertile Crescent - caused by immigration. New data on people living ...

AN ADVANCED civilisation that ruled large swathes of the Middle East 4,000 years ago may have been wiped out by a spot of bad weather. The Akkadian Empire flourished during the Bronze Age and new ...

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. WASHINGTON (AP) — Ancient DNA has revealed a ...

When was the first kiss? Recent papers have suggested that romantic or sexual kissing began 3,500 years ago in what is now India. But a new review paper in the journal Science says that this style of ...