
Kristina Killgrove
Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Killgrove holds postgraduate degrees in anthropology and classical archaeology and was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
Latest articles by Kristina Killgrove

Over 400 gold and silver Roman-era coins unearthed in the Netherlands depict rulers from Rome, Britain and Africa
By Kristina Killgrove published
A hoard of over 400 coins dated to the first century is a rare mix of Roman and British money.

1,200-year-old remains of dismembered pregnant woman in Ecuador hint at 'enigmatic' sacrifice to thwart El Niño
By Kristina Killgrove published
The unusual burial of a woman and fetus in prehistoric Ecuador may reflect the community's fear of her power.

Bayeux Tapestry: A 1,000-year-old embroidery depicting William the Conqueror's victory and King Harold's grisly death
By Kristina Killgrove published
A long roll of cloth embroidered with key scenes from British history is a unique medieval chronicle.

Neanderthal quiz: How much do you know about our closest relatives?
By Kristina Killgrove published
Quiz Think you know everything about Neanderthals? Take our quiz to find out.

What is the world's deadliest food?
By Kristina Killgrove published
Organisms from three different natural kingdoms battle it out for the title "deadliest food."

Neanderthals' blood type may help explain their demise, new study finds
By Kristina Killgrove published
Human populations that left Africa evolved quickly whereas Neanderthals stayed the same, according to an analysis of blood group systems.

Bad Dürrenberg headdress: An elaborate 9,000-year-old headpiece worn by a female shaman in Europe
By Kristina Killgrove published
A lavish 9,000-year-old grave in central Germany revealed the burial of a powerful female shaman.

'ELIZA,' the world's 1st chatbot, was just resurrected from 60-year-old computer code
By Kristina Killgrove published
Researchers discovered long-lost computer code and used it to resurrect the early chatbot ELIZA.

Stone Age people made sun stone 'sacrifice' to banish 'darkened sun' after a volcanic eruption, archaeologists say
By Kristina Killgrove published
Hundreds of stone artifacts discovered on a Danish island may have been offered to the gods to ward off a climate crisis.

Were the Celts matriarchal? Ancient DNA reveals men married into local, powerful female lineages
By Kristina Killgrove published
An analysis of dozens of British Iron Age skeletons has revealed that Celtic society was organized around women.

Curse tablet found in Roman-era grave in France targets enemies by invoking Mars, the god of war
By Kristina Killgrove published
Excavation of a Roman-era cemetery in France yielded nearly two dozen lead tablets inscribed in Latin and Gaulish.

Lasers reveal hidden patterns in tattoos of 1,200-year-old Peru mummies
By Kristina Killgrove published
A new method for imaging tattoos reveals intricate designs on Chancay mummies from Peru.

10th-century woman buried with weapons in Hungary is 1st of her kind, but researchers are hesitant to call her a warrior
By Kristina Killgrove published
A woman buried with archery equipment in 10th-century Hungary is unusual but may not necessarily have been a warrior.

Doban-kun: A 'cute' human-shaped counting tool from prehistoric Japan
By Kristina Killgrove published
This anthropomorphic clay tablet was likely used in an ancient ritual by the Jōmon culture in Japan.

'Big surprise' reveals supposed skull of 'Cleopatra's sister' actually belongs to an 11-year-old boy
By Kristina Killgrove published
A cutting-edge analysis of a skull found in Turkey in 1929 proves once and for all that it is not Arsinoë IV, Cleopatra's half sister.

Medieval crowns of Eastern European royalty hidden in cathedral wall since World War II finally recovered
By Kristina Killgrove published
A cache of precious metal regalia recently discovered in a Lithuanian cathedral sheds light on medieval royalty.

2,000-year-old painted penis bone found in quarry shaft from Roman Britain
By Kristina Killgrove published
A canine baculum (penis bone) covered in red ochre may be from a long-lost Romano-British ritual.

Dancing dwarf: A 2,300-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of a godlike man with a muscular 6-pack
By Kristina Killgrove published
This marble statuette is emblematic of Ptolemaic-era art: a mishmash of styles with a decidedly Egyptian twist.

1,500 ancient European genomes reveal previously hidden waves of migration, study finds
By Kristina Killgrove published
Researchers developed a more precise method of understanding ancestry from ancient DNA and used it to identify previously unknown waves of migration.

2,000-year-old RSVP: A birthday invitation from the Roman frontier that has the earliest known Latin written by a woman
By Kristina Killgrove published
This wafer-thin wooden tablet from a first-century Roman fort in the U.K. includes a heartfelt birthday party invitation.

Early human ancestor 'Lucy' was a bad runner, and this one tendon could explain why
By Kristina Killgrove published
By digitally modeling muscles and tendons for the skeleton of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), researchers determined that our hominin ancestors could run well but topped out around 11 mph.

What do you know about Jesus Christ, the man? Test your knowledge of biblical archaeology
By Kristina Killgrove published
How much do you know about the archaeology of early Christianity? Take our quiz to find out.

1,500-year-old tomb in Peru holds human sacrifices, including strangled son next to father's remains, genetic analysis reveals
By Kristina Killgrove published
A genetic analysis of six people buried in a Moche tomb around A.D. 500 revealed that two teenagers were sacrificed to their close relatives.
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