There's a long standing question among archaeologists and anthropologists: If Neanderthals were so much more powerful than modern human's ancestor, how come we won and they disappeared from the face of the earth?

A recent discovery based on the analysis of Neanderthal bones indicates that diet may have played a factor.

From the New Scientist article:

Chemical signatures locked into bone suggest the Neanderthals got the bulk of their protein from large game, such as mammoths, bison and reindeer. The anatomically modern humans that were living alongside them had more diverse tastes. As well as big game, they also had a liking for smaller mammals, fish and seafood.

"It seems modern humans had a much broader diet, in terms of using fish or aquatic birds, which Neanderthals didn't seem to do," says Michael Richards, a biological anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and the University of British Columbia in Canada.

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Read the full article here.

Anthropologists are using forensic techniques to unravel the mystery of a mass murder of children from 900 B.C.

From the article on TheOpenCase.com

The murder was brutal—and it took place over 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists first found the skulls in the 1920s when they excavated a Neolithic settlement called "Wasserburg". At the time, the Neolithic settlement was a relatively bustling place. The people kept horses that they used to pull wagons and sleds, and even had a metal workshop that was able to cast bronze artifacts.

The scientists found six skulls equally spaced on the outside of the palisade fence surrounding the settlement. Only the skulls of the victims were found. Five of the skulls were children three to sixteen years old. The sixth skull was from a 50 year old woman.

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You can read the full article here.

If you have any information or may have witnessed this crime, please contact local law enforcement officials.