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homo sapiens

The discovery of an upper canine milk tooth that belonged to a Neanderthal child, aged 11 or 12, is believed to be about 48,000 years old. The discovery could help understand some of the last Neanderthals in Europe and why they became extinct. Source: Journal of Human Evolution.

48,000-Year-Old Tooth Belonged to One of the Last European Neanderthals

The discovery of a milk tooth from a Neanderthal child has been hailed as a major breakthrough. The tiny tooth possibly belonged to one of the last Neanderthals to have lived in Europe and is...
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

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...
Tools featuring Nubian Levallois technique found in situ by Dimona, in the Negev Desert, Israel. Source: Emil Eladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority

Artifacts Reveal Out of Africa Route Through Negev Desert

A spectacular Meso-Paleolithic site has been found in the Negev Desert in Israel. Artifacts from this desert site are enhancing archaeologists’ understanding of how modern humans made their way into...
Researchers have sampled an enormous stalagmite in the Pozzo Cucù cave in Italy in order to conduct paleoclimatic reconstruction of the last ice age. Their conclusions have helped answer questions related to the demise of Neanderthals. Source: O. Lacarbonara / University of Bologna

Climate Change Did Not Cause the Demise of Neanderthals

On August 29th 2018 The Smithsonian Institute announced “Climate records gathered from stalagmites in Romanian caves show two extremely cold dry periods correspond with the disappearance of...
Neanderthal Reconstruction

Top Ten Myths about Neanderthals

Neanderthals are generally classified by palaeontologists as the species Homo neanderthalensis , but some consider them to be a subspecies of Homo sapiens ( Homo sapiens neanderthalensis ). The first...
Man using bow and arrow. Credit: Oksana Volina / Adobe Stock

45,000-Year-Old Weapons Discovered In Sri Lankan Cave

Evidence of the earliest use of the bow and arrow by humans outside of Africa has been discovered in Sri Lanka , dating back around 45,000 to 48,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic Period began...
Main: View over the excavations in Schöningen in Germany. Inset: The ‘killing stick’ that was unearthed at the excavation site.           Source: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

300,000-Year-Old ‘Killing Stick’ Sheds Light on Evolution of Hunting

In Germany, a team of experts have made a very important discovery. They have established that an ancient wooden artifact is a throwing stick (or ‘killing stick’). This is allowing them to understand...
Ancient couple

Super Archaic Humans Mixed with Unknown 'Ghost' Species

Do you remember those school science posters that depicted human evolution with a primate standing up and becoming a modern human? Of course you do, but you may not have noticed that these posters...
The Shum Laka rock shelter in Cameroon, home to an ancient population that bears little genetic resemblance to most people who live in the region today.    Source: Pierre de Maret

Ancient DNA From West Africa Reveals ‘Ghost’ Lineage

Saint Louis University Africa is the homeland of our species and harbors greater human genetic diversity than any other part of the planet. Studies of ancient DNA from African archaeological sites...
Southwest Africa, one of the places of human origins. Source: mezzotint_fotolia / Adobe Stock.

New Findings Change the Theories of Human Origins

The evolution and spread of Homo sapiens is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries in all of science. Until recently, it was believed that the origins of the species and the ancestors of every person...
Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania, one of Africa’s ‘cradles of humankind’.  Source: CC BY 2.0

Archaeological Discoveries Are Occurring Faster Than Ever

In 1924, a 3-year-old child’s skull found in South Africa forever changed how people think about human origins. The Taung Child, our first encounter with an ancient group of proto-humans or hominins...
Depiction of an ancient human smile

Ancient Human Smile Used as an Effective ‘Get-Sex’ Tool

A study on the history of facial expressions has discovered humans developed friendly facial expressions to attract less-aggressive, selected breeding partners, as a result of ‘self-domestication’...
A Neanderthal skull shows head trauma, evidence of ancient violence. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

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...
Study shows Neanderthals had fire starting ability.    Source: EmotionPhoto / Adobe Stock

New Study On Early Human Fire Acquisition Settles Debate

Fire starting is a skill that many modern humans struggle with in the absence of a lighter or matches. The earliest humans likely harvested fire from natural sources, yet when our ancestors learned...
Possibilities for human origins are being explored with the finds at Qesem cave Israel.            Source: ginettigino / Adobe Stock

New Shocking Clues Into Human Origins From Qesem Cave

Just one week after it was announced that the inhabitants of the Qesem Cave, located 12 kilometers east of Tel Aviv in Israel, perhaps practiced swan shamanism as much as 420,000 years ago, comes...
Ancient humans competed with fierce animals for the Denisova cave. Source: anibal / Adobe Stock.

Humans Competed with Fierce Animals for the Denisova Cave

Fossil animal droppings, charcoal from ancient fires and bone fragments litter the ground of one of the world's most important human evolution sites, new research reveals. The latest evidence from...
Archaeologists have discovered hundreds of Neanderthal footprints in France dating to around 80,000 years ago, mostly from children. (trendobjects/AdobeStock)

The Pitter Patter of Tiny Neanderthal Feet Echo Across Time as Footprints Found in France

They walked and perhaps played along the beach in a prehistoric world; we know this as archaeologists have discovered hundreds of Neanderthal footprints in France— with most of them left by children...
Stone Age early human child. Source: pxhere / Public Domain.

The Stone Age: The First 99 Percent of Human History

The Stone Age is the longest period of human history, lasting from 2.6 million years ago to about 5,000 years ago. It is also the period of human history that is the least well known relative to...
Early hominin works with tools. (procy_ab/AdobeStock)

Finger Bone Points the Way to Revealing Denisovan DNA Secrets

A Denisovan finger fossil is revealing secrets about this extinct Stone Age race. A decade ago, scientists excavating Denisova Cave , an ancient archaeological site in southern Siberia, discovered...
Ancient human. Credit: procy_ab / Adobe Stock

Surprise Discovery of 45,000-Year-Old Tools in Mongolia Indicates Early Human Migration

Stone tools uncovered in Mongolia by an international team of archaeologists indicate that modern humans traveled across the Eurasian steppe about 45,000 years ago, about 10,000 years earlier than...
Neanderthals have been commonly found to suffer from ear problems. Source: Kovalenko I / Adobe Stock

Half of Neanderthal Population Suffered from Surfer’s Ear!

A new study suggests that Neanderthals commonly suffered from “swimmer's ear” or “surfer’s ear” - dense bony growths that protrude into the ear canal. This is usually caused by a habitual exposure to...
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

The Epic of Gilgamesh is regarded as one of mankind’s greatest literary and historical works. Many authors have studied the text in an effort to explain the nature of Gilgamesh’s tyranny and his...
Finger bone fragment containing Denisovan DNA. Source: Thilo Parg / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Did the Denisovans Walk to North America?

For a people from whom one 41,000 year old finger bone fossil from a nine year old girl, along with a bracelet she wore, were (until recently) the only authenticated known artifacts, the mysterious...
Golden eagle, majestic bird revered by Neanderthals who used eagle talons to make jewelry.

Ancient Raptor Captors Weren’t Thugs: Neanderthals Caught Eagles and Treasured Their Talons

The golden eagle has had a special place in many human societies for millennia. They have been hunted , used to hunt and also honored. But the Neanderthals also seem to have prized and revered these...

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