In the Bronze Age, Bagels Were Tiny

Researchers exploring an archaeological site in Austria have found three pieces of 3,000-year-old charred bread that look suspiciously like the remains of little bagels. They are not complete rings — only parts of what were once ring-shaped pieces of dough. They were made from finely ground flour, but the scientists are not ready to claim…

At Happy Hour, Kindergarten Rules Apply

Send questions about the office, money, careers and work-life balance to workfriend@nytimes.com. Include your name and location, even if you want them withheld. Letters may be edited. How Can I Reject an Invitation I Don’t Receive? How should I feel about not being invited to after-work socializing? My boss and most of my co-workers are…

Lorna Simpson Embraces the Blues

The mood is blue in the new paintings of Lorna Simpson. Blue like glaciers in polar night. Blue like a frigid ocean. Blue like premonition, blue like the blues. “Dark times, to me, mean dark paintings,” the artist said recently, in her spacious new studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Big, brooding landscapes, up to…