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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Evolution & Human Origins

We bring you all the latest news and discoveries relating to human origins and evolution. The more fossils that are unearthed, the more researchers admit that there is much that is still unknown about the evolution of humans.

3.3-million-year-old stone tools overturn archaeological record, predate early humans

Our human ancestors may not have been the first to spearhead new technologies millions of years ago. It would seem other hominins were crafting tools 700,000 years before previously thought. A paper...
Skull of Malapa hominid 1 (MH1) from South Africa, named "Karabo".

Preserved Tissue on 2-Million-Year-Old Human Ancestor May be Oldest Skin Ever Found

A team of scientists investigating early human species in an ancient cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, have revealed that preserved tissue found on a 2-million-year-old fossil may be the oldest...
Cova del Gegant, Sitges, Barcelona

Neanderthal child remains found in Catalonia Cave

Archaeologists in Catalonia have discovered the skeletal remains of a 5-year-old Neanderthal child in the Cova del Gegant (Cove of the Giant) in Sitges, Barcelona. The discovery represents the first...
‘The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopa’ exhibit at Houston Museum of Natural Science featuring a model of “Lucy”, Australopithecus Afarensis.

Oldest Tools in the World Found at Lake Turkana, Predate Early Humans

Half a million years before early humans arrived on the scene, the prehistoric hominins living in East Africa were shaping tools out of stone. These rare artifacts have been discovered by scientists...
Pleistocene of Northern Spain showing woolly mammoth, cave lions eating a reindeer, tarpans, and woolly rhinoceros.

New Study says early humans migrated into Europe due to warming climate

Rising temperatures approximately 1.4 million years ago might have assisted the migration of hominins out of Africa and into Europe, a new study suggests. Dr. Jordi Agustí and colleagues have...
Artist's depiction of a Neanderthal burial ritual

Strange rituals or cannibalism? Neanderthals manipulated bodies of adults and children shortly after death

Neanderthals from the French region of Poitou-Charentes cut, beat and fractured the bones of their recently deceased companions, as revealed by the fossil remains of two adults and a child found at...
Prehistoric Skull and Jaw Found in Laos

Prehistoric Skull and Jaw Found in Laos Rewrite Timelines and Reveal Diversity of Early Humans

Ancient human fossils found in a cave in northern Laos are revealing to scientists that early modern humans were quite physically diverse, and they reveal an earlier migration timeline in Southeast...
Zana, Russian Ape Woman

DNA Evidence Suggests Captured Russian Ape Woman Might Have been Subspecies of Modern Human

The story of Zana, supposed Ape Woman of the Caucasus Mountains is one often revisited and reexamined by historians, explorers, and scientists alike. Now a leading geneticist believes that the wild...
Image of reconstructed faces of three early humans in profile view.

White Skin Developed in Europe Only As Recently as 8,000 Years Ago Say Anthropologists

The myriad of skin tones and eye colors that humans express around the world are interesting and wonderful in their variety. Research continues on how humans acquired the traits they now have and...
Altamura Man, surrounded by limestone deposits in the Grotta di Lamalunga

Calcified remains of Altamura Man yield oldest ever Neanderthal DNA sample

Just over two decades ago in the Grotta di Lamalunga, near the city of Altamura in Italy, a team of scientists discovered the remains of a prehistoric hominid branded ‘Altamura Man’. For years, the...
Researchers carrying out excavations in the Nihewan Basin

Archaeologists in China claim to have found two million-year-old stone toys

Researchers excavating an eroded basin in Hebei province, China, claim to have made a remarkable discovery - a two-million-year-old ‘playground’ of ancient hominids complete with stone artifacts...
Forensic facial reconstruction of Homo erectus pekinensis, commonly known at Peking Man.

Tooth from prehistoric woman reveals life and times of Peking Man

A single tooth from a rare and important shipment of fossil finds – forgotten for decades in an unopened box in museum storage – has been rediscovered, and it is giving experts new knowledge about...
A painting depicting the nomadic Xiongnu people of Mongolia.

The Prolific Legacies of Ancient Conquerors, 11 Men Shaped Asian Genetics

Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan was renowned for his domination of ancient Asia, and genetic studies have indicated that his powerful reach extends into modern times, as his DNA is thought to be...
A family of Neanderthals in Eurasia, during the Pleistocene epoch

Did light-skinned, redheaded Neanderthal women hunt with the men?

A team of Spanish researchers theorizes, based on grooves and nicks on the teeth of Neanderthals, that gender roles among that species were similar to gender roles of modern Homo Sapiens. Neanderthal...
Child from the Karo tribe with the Valley of the Omo River behind.

Cradle of Mankind in Danger of Losing Ancient Cultures and Lands to Foreign Corporations

The Omo Valley of Ethiopia is known as a beautiful, biologically and culturally diverse land, distinctive and vital for many reasons. The Omo River empties into the unique Lake Turkana in Kenya - the...
50,000-year-old Skull

50,000-year-old Skull May Show Human-Neanderthal Hybrids Originated in Levant, not Europe as Thought

A 55,000-year-old skull found at Manot Cave in northern Israel is shedding light on the origins and migrations of ancient humanity. The skull, suggested to be evidence of a pairing between...
Statue of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan Not the Only Genes in Town - Genetic Founding Fathers of Asia were Mystery Men

Genghis Khan was not just an infamously ruthless warrior, and founder of the largest contiguous empire in history, but was also a prolific father as well, siring so many children that now 0.5 percent...
Comparison of Modern Human and Neanderthal skulls.

Prehistoric teeth found in China may point to mysterious new human species

The more research that is done into the prehistoric origins of humans, the more crowded it gets. According to a new study, there may well have been multiple species of primitive humans between 60,000...
An archaeologist works in the Bronze Age Burnt City of southeastern Iran

Scholars rethink the beginnings of civilizations following discoveries in Burnt City of Iran

Archaeologists digging in the Burnt City of southeastern Iran have excavated a piece of leather adorned with drawings from the Bronze Age. The Burnt City, known as Shahr-e Sukhteh in Persian, is a 5,...
Neolithic dog-shaped pottery gui, Dawenkou Culture, Shandong

Chinese civilization may have begun 2,400 years earlier than previously thought

The first dynasty of China described in classic texts and historical documents was the Xia Dynasty, established in 2070 BC in the Yellow River valley. However, the origins of Chinese civilization...
Prehistoric Okinawa

9,000-year-old human remains may shed light on prehistoric Okinawa

Human bones as old as 9,000 years have been unearthed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Researchers hope they will help elucidate what people’s lives and burial practices were like in the...
Mammoth hunting scene

First humans in Florida lived alongside giant animals

Recent research has confirmed an old theory that the first humans in Florida lived alongside giant animals that have since become extinct. A geologist made the proposal a century ago following the...
A volcanic eruption

New study refutes theory that a volcano wiped out the Neanderthals

A new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco refutes a previous theory that Neanderthals became extinct due to a massive volcanic eruption about 40,...
Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers

Khoisan people of South Africa were once the most populous humans on Earth

The Khoisan, an indigenous population in Namibia, may once have comprised the majority of living humans on the planet, for much of the past 150,000 years. The Khoisan population declined about 22,000...

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