homo erectus

Male and female Neanderthals were one of our ancestors, but recent DNA research suggests we also have a mysterious archaic human ancestor. Credit: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

7 August, 2020 - 17:33 Ed Whelan

DNA Study Reveals We Have a Mystery Human Ancestor

A new method for analyzing modern and archaic human DNA has thrown up some fascinating results. It appears that modern humans ( Homo Sapiens ) mated earlier and more frequently with an archaic human...

Both sides of the recent Ethiopian bone hand axe find.

15 July, 2020 - 11:46 ancient-origins

1.4-Million-Year-Old Bone Hand Axe Revises Toolmaking Timeline

In Ethiopia , a team of experts have uncovered a bone hand axe made, a staggering 1.4 million years ago, by an ancestor of modern humans. It was probably made by the archaic human species Homo...

Working tables of palaeontologists in a science museum, Spain. Source: Joaquin Corbalan / Adobe Stock

15 April, 2020 - 01:59 Ed Whelan

A Site of Archaeological Treasure and Murder at Atapuerca, Spain

The Atapuerca archaeological site is one of the most important in Europe, if not the world as it has provided a great many relics and remains related to some of the earliest hominids yet found...

A new study finds that three different human species lived alongside each other. Source: pict rider / Adobe Stock.

3 April, 2020 - 18:52 ashley cowie

Three Different Human-like Species Lived Concurrently in Ancient Africa

The oldest known Homo erectus and Paranthropus robustus fossils have been found in a hilltop cave and a new study details a critical period of hominin evolution showing that two million years ago “...

This small, gracile, almost complete cranium was found near Homo erectus tools in Ethiopia. Source: Dr. Michael J. Rogers, Southern Connecticut State University

5 March, 2020 - 23:04 Alicia McDermott

Homo Erectus Tools Challenge Single Species-Single Tech Thinking

Even a million and a half years ago, our ancestors understood that sometimes you need a simple hammerstone and other times a finely-made hand axe would better suit the task in front of you. New...

Representation of Homo Erectus. Source: crimson

18 December, 2019 - 18:00 Alicia McDermott

New Study Reveals Where Homo erectus Took Their Final Stand

Between 117,000 and 108,000 years the end was nigh for the hominins we call Homo erectus . They were the first of our ancestors to stand tall and walk upright, but even this ancient human species...

A Neanderthal skull shows head trauma, evidence of ancient violence. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

21 November, 2019 - 23:01 ancient-origins

Were Other Humans the First Victims of the Sixth Mass Extinction?

Nick Longrich / The Conversation 300,000 years ago, nine human species walked the Earth. Now there’s just one. The Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis , were stocky hunters adapted to Europe’s cold...

23 October, 2019 - 01:45 Ed Whelan

Contested Yet Fascinating Bones Found in the Bacho Kiro Caves

In the past, we were drawn to caves, viewing them as sacred or mysterious places . And it would seem not much has changed, as caves still hold an enduring fascination for humans. One of the most...

Pachystruthio dmanisensis, new species of giant bird has been discovered. Source: nicolasprimola / Adobe Stock.

27 June, 2019 - 23:39 ancient-origins

First Giant Bird Found In Europe Lived Alongside Early Humans

Experts in Crimea have found a fossil of a gigantic bird , that lived some 1.6 to 1.8 million years ago. The find demonstrates that giant birds once made their home in Europe and reveals for the...

Penablanca, Cagayan Province, Philippines, near the entrance to the limestone Callao Cave where there is evidence of a new human species. Source: Michael / Adobe. Inset: A foot bone from Homo luzonensis. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

18 April, 2019 - 14:00 ancient-origins

How Much Evidence is Enough to Declare a New Species of Human from a Philippines Cave Site?

The announcement of a new species of ancient human (more correctly hominin) from the Philippines , reported today in Nature , will cause a lot of head-shaking among anthropologists and archaeologists...

The Stoned Ape theory proposes magic mushrooms helped the Homo erectus evolve quickly.

3 April, 2019 - 19:02 Sarah P Young

The Stoned Ape Theory and the Dawn of Human Consciousness: Did Our Prehistoric Ancestors Evolve by Getting High?

The origins of behavioral modernity and what exactly makes us human are topics which have fascinated people for hundreds of years. There is a plethora of theories as to which archaic human ancestor...

Homo erectus pekinensis, forensic facial reconstruction.

13 February, 2019 - 01:57 ancient-origins

A Snapshot of Our Mysterious Ancestor Homo erectus

By Ian Moffat / The Conversation If you bumped into a Homo erectus in the street you might not recognize them as being very different from you. You’d see a certain “human-ness” in the stance, and his...

Native American Tiny 'Elephant Stones', Mammoth Effigies, Carvings, Totems From Pennsylvania. Portable rock art such as this has been found globally.

31 October, 2018 - 18:05 Jul Jones

Life Before the Clovis: Portable Rock Art as Evidence of Pre Ice Age Humans in North America

The worship of carved stone dates back to man’s earliest evolution. Portable rock art is human made markings on movable natural rock or stone. A global phenomenon, these Stone Age objects have been...

Representations in the Boxer Codex of two of the ethnic groups of people living in the Pre-Colonial Philippines - A Zambal Couple (Public Domain) and Pintados of the Visayas (Leyte or Samar). (Public Domain)

1 October, 2018 - 23:04 Caleb Strom

The Rarely Told Story of Pre-Colonial Philippines

The Philippines were ruled by Western powers - first the Spanish and later the United States, for some 350 years. Except for a few religious minorities, the Philippines has also become thoroughly...

This restoration is based on evidence from the Daka Member, Ethiopia. The photo in the background is from a gallery forest on the Kebena River, a tributary of the modern Awash River. The squatting posture is based on femoral anteversion frequent in Homo erectus. The hand ax is African latest early or early middle Acheulean. The cranial shape is based on BOU-VP-2-66, the Daka Calvaria.

16 August, 2018 - 01:57 ancient-origins

Idle Not Innovative? New Study Says Laziness Led to the Extinction of Homo erectus

The path of least resistence may not be the best to take. New archaeological research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found that Homo erectus , a species of primitive humans, went...

In this illustration, the modern pygmy village, Rampasasa, is shown at left; in the center, a modern Rampasasa pygmy wearing the traditional head covering and clothing is juxtaposed against the face of a Homo floresiensis reconstruction; at right, pygmy elephants play in the Liang Bua cave where theH. floresiensis fossils were discovered in 2004.

5 August, 2018 - 22:55 ancient-origins

Scientists Understand Why there are Short-statured Indonesians Today, But Can they Explain Hobbit Height?

Michael Westaway & Francis David Bulbeck / The Conversation Humans are diverse in size and shape – but some populations are of relatively low average height, and historically described using the...

Pages

Myths & Legends

Detail of a bowl from the Hildesheim Silver Treasure featuring a seated Athena, 1st century BC.

The Hidden Identity of the Woman Glorified as Athena: Her Link to the Pre-Flood World

Here is that woman in all her splendor, reconstructed in the imitation Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, based on the original in her ancient temple atop Athens’ Acropolis —the high place of the...

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

The ancient origins of the legendary griffin

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Pterodactyl of New Guinea

Was Dracula Story inspired by Abhartach, the Bloodsucking Chieftain of Ireland?

Legendary Black Knights: Mysterious Medieval Entities of Neutrality

Human Origins

Little Human Subspecies: Where’s the Evidence?

From the lush oases of Africa’s Ethiopia, across the planet to the sweltering jungles of Mexico, beyond the horizon to the primordial coasts of Hawaii, and back again to the gardens, olive groves, and marble columns of ancient Greece, an obscure common thread of small human subspecies endures.

Footprints, Fairies and even a Foreskin: 10 Bizarre Relics from History

The Little Ice Age and Its Giant Impact on Human History

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Zecharia Sitchin and the Mistranslation of Sumerian Texts

Did Ancient People Really Have Lifespans Longer Than 200 Years?

Ancient Technology

Reservoir at Nabataean city of ancient Hawara

The sophisticated water technologies of the ancient Nabataeans

The Nabataeans were an ancient Semitic people dating back to 586 BC, who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant. The desert climate created agricultural difficulties for the Nabataeans,...

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time?

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

Mysterious GodSelf Icon Found Worldwide: Lost Symbol of an Ancient Global Religion?

Ancient Places

Island in the Clouds: Is Mount Roraima Really A ‘Lost World’ Where Dinosaurs May Still Exist?

Deep within the rainforests of Venezuela, a series of plateaus sit more than 9000 feet (2743 meters) above sea level and rise up 1310 feet (400 m) from the surrounding terrain like table tops. From...

The Beauty of Loulan and the Tattooed Mummies of the Tarim Basin

The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs

Pavlopetri: 5,000-Year-Old Town Discovered Underwater in Greece

The Ancient Rock City of Sigiriya

Rebala Heritage Reserve, A Glimpse Into 5000 Years of Human History

Opinion

Unearthing Ancient Magic in The Runes –Messages with Hidden Symbols and Powerful Numbers

The etymology of the word “rune” means: “to carve, or to cut.” In Low German the word is “raunen.” As the runes were cut and carved into wood, metal or stone, the word “rune” was analogous to the rune letters themselves.

Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

Was There Ever a Trojan War?

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.