Why humans struggled to make 'f' and 'v' sounds until farming came along

Love to drop F-bombs? Thank the shift to agriculture.

Blasi et al.
  • A new study suggests that the f and v sounds were made easier to pronounce by the change in our diets the invention of farming made possible.
  • The idea isn't a new one, but is only now being taken seriously.
  • Even today, many hunter-gather cultures lack labiodentals in their languages.
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Cahokia: North America's massive, ancient city

It was a sprawling civilization.

Public Domain
  • Near modern-day St. Louis, Missouri, you can find towering mounds of earth that were once the product of a vast North American culture.
  • Cahokia was the largest city built by this Native American civilization.
  • Because the ancient people who built Cahokia didn't have a writing system, little is known of their culture. Archaeological evidence, however, hints at a fascinating society.
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Discovered: The birthplace of Europe's ancient megaliths

Sacré bleu!

Photo credit: Matthew Cattell / Getty Images for Samsung Galaxy S8
  • New research uses radiocarbon dating to create a timeline of the construction of 2,410 megaliths across Europe and Britain.
  • The original builders were people believed to be solely hunter-gatherers who were actually also sailors.
  • The megaliths studied go back 7,000 years.
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Did ancient cave artists share a global language?

The same 32 symbols show up in prehistoric European cave art.

Photo credit: PIERRE ANDRIEU / AFP / Getty Images
  • Many of these symbols are found in caves in Africa, Asia, Australia and America as well.
  • At least 40,000 years old, the set of symbols may have been a universal communications tool.
  • Among these symbols is the iconic hashtag.
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Solved? The mystery of the Easter Island statues.

They're positioned as they are for a good reason.

Image source: Thomas Barrat / Shutterstock
  • A new study may finally have learned what the Easter Island moai signify
  • The were important to survival on an inhospitable island
  • Hundreds of the stone figures dot Rapa Nui
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