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Recent DNA analysis of Neanderthal bones from Russia are providing insight into mating and migration habits, as well as social dynamics. Source: Gorondenkoff / Adobe Stock

First Known Neanderthal Family Identified with Ancient DNA from Russian Cave

DNA from Neanderthal bones found in a cave in Russia have revealed the first known family of Neanderthals – a father, his teenage daughter, and others who were probably cousins. A 2020 study...
Neanderthal and modern human skulls. Source: Bruder / Adobe Stock

Big Difference Between Neanderthal and Modern Human Brains Discovered

Neanderthals, a subspecies of archaic humans who split from modern humans sometime between 300,000 and 80,000 years ago, have been the subject of a new study. This study has revealed the presence of...
Study Shows Humans and Neanderthals Interbred Primarily in the Near East

Study Shows Humans and Neanderthals Interbred Primarily in the Near East

Multiple research projects have proven that Neanderthal DNA can be found in the genome of modern humans. This likely happened as a result of many interbreeding events that took place in the various...
Excavation area in Cueva de Ardales with evidence from the Middle Paleolithic period.	Source: Ramos-Muñoz et al., CC-BY 4.0

The Ice Age Art Gallery Just Got Excavated at Cueva de Ardales

Last year mainstream archaeologists struggled to accept that almost 70,000 years ago someone painted rock art in Cueva de Ardales, a cave in modern day Spain. Now, a team of researchers has shown...
Researchers over the last decade have narrowed in on the cause of Neanderthal extinction in prehistoric Spain and the answer is that they were unable to trap or capture smaller prey, especially rabbits.		Source: Akkharat J. / Adobe Stock

How Rabbits Led to Neanderthal Extinction in Iberia and Elsewhere

There were undoubtedly many reasons why the Neanderthals finally went extinct in Europe 40,000 years ago. One hypothesis states that the inability of the species to adapt to hunting small animals...
Neanderthal spine (bottom) and post-industrial modern human spines (top) depicting differences in wedging and curvature of the lower back. Source: Scott Williams / NYU’s Department of Anthropology

Neanderthals and Modern Humans Had Similar Posture, New Study Finds

It had long been believed that the now-extinct Neanderthals walked differently and had a different posture than modern humans. This was based on comparative anatomical studies between ancient...
This undated photo provided by Ludovic Slimak shows scientists working at the entrance of the Mandrin cave, near Montelimar, southern France where the oldest modern human remains in Europe were found.	Source: Ludovic Slimak / CNRS)

French Rock Shelter Changes Story of Neanderthals and Sapiens In Europe

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of Europe’s first Homo sapiens in Grotte Mandarin rock shelter in southern France. The considerable range of evidence found in the rock shelter cave at Grotte...
The Top 10 Human Evolution Discoveries in 2021. Source: Ancient Origins

The Top 10 Revelations in Human Evolution in 2021

The year 2021 was filled with all kinds of human evolution discoveries and scientific progress. From the 250,000-year-old skeletal remains of a Homo naledi child in South Africa, to the smiley face...
Now we know that Neanderthals, like this one who seems to kill wildlife and burn forests, altered ecosystems. More and more the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are disappearing or getting blurred. 		Source: regis allouet / Adobe Stock

“German” Neanderthals Altered Ecosystem 125,000 Years Ago, Study Shows

Archaeologists from Leiden University in the Netherlands have released the results of a study that proves Neanderthals altered ecosystems in significant ways. The evidence was found in a spot...
We have remains of Tibetan Plateau Denisovans, who lived for long periods in this landscape. But now we know that they passed their high-altitude adaptability genes on to Tibetans and other peoples that ultimately settled in the Himalayas.						Source: zah108 / Adobe Stock

Tibetan Plateau Denisovans Gave Modern Tibetans Altitude Superpowers

Little is known about our extinct archaic hominin cousins, the Denisovans, who populated Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, due to limited DNA fragments and evidence. This makes...
A Neanderthal boy looking at his reflection not knowing that Neanderthal development was faster than that of modern humans. Some kids have it easier!		Source: EmotionPhoto / Adobe Stock

Neanderthal Child Development Was Faster than Humans, Study Reveals

Neanderthal development was faster than the maturation process in modern humans according to the latest study. This means Neanderthal children were able to reach physical maturity at earlier ages,...
: England’s Althorp House, Lady Diana’s family home, is the center of a huge estate on which archaeologists discovered a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal camp.		Source: Steve Daniels / The rear of Althorp House / CC BY-SA 2.0

Neanderthal Camp Discovered at Princess Diana’s Althorp House Estate

At Althorp House, the stately home on the late Princess Diana’s family estate northwest of central London, excavations have led archaeologists to suspect that its known history may be predated by...
Neanderthal hunting birds in a cave at night. The latest study, using role play, has shown that Neanderthals were likely also nocturnal hunters, which is a completely new aspect for our ancient cousins.		Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

Researchers Role Play Neanderthals Hunting, In the Name of Science

A recent research study published in the online journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution has thrown up exciting new evidence about collaboration on complex tasks amongst our closest ancient human...
This is what the human papillomavirus looks like in the body. The latest research has indicated that modern humans got HPV from interbreeding with Neanderthals in Eurasia. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection globally.                Source: Naeblys / Adobe Stock

Neanderthals Passed Human Papillomavirus to Homo Sapiens in Eurasia

It is well-known that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals during the time they co-existed in Europe and Asia. A 2018 study revealed an interesting and intriguing detail about that interbreeding...
Middle Paleolithic flint cores from the Sontheim Neanderthal hunters camp in southwest German: By reassembling the original flint stone, the research team was able to understand the Neanderthal’s branched production concept.		Source: University of Tübingen

Neanderthal Hunters Had “Great Mental Flexibility” Says Recent Study

Between 52,000 and 45,000 years ago, Neanderthal hunters in the Swabian Alps, in southwestern Germany, possessed “great mental flexibility” concludes the latest study. The study authors go on to say...
Neanderthal Public Relations: From Misconceptions To More Confusion

Neanderthal Public Relations: From Misconceptions To More Confusion

In the mid-nineteenth century AD, researchers and explorers began finding bones in the remote caves of Europe. At first, they believed these to be no different than modern human skulls, but as the...
A closeup of a few of the 98 verified elephant bone tools found in Rome, Italy, which have been attributed to an archaic hominin species based on a recent study published in the Plos One journal.		Source: 	Plos One

Archaic Hominin Made Elephant Bone Tools 400,000 Years Ago, Study Finds

Archaeologists examining artifacts collected from a site in Italy found that an archaic hominin species had made elephant bone tools, including pointed tools for carving meat and wedge-shaped tools...
The stalagmite section in the Ardales Cave in Malaga, Spain that was painted with red ochre, pigment making it probably the oldest Neanderthal painting ever found in a European cave. Source: University of Barcelona

Study Confirms Cave Painting Was Made By Neanderthals

A team of European archaeologists used high-tech testing procedures have confirmed that painted stalagmites found in the Ardales Cave (Cueva de Ardales in Spanish) in Malaga, Spain really were...
Neanderthal Extinction Tied to Disorder Caused by Mating with Humans

Neanderthal Extinction Tied to Disorder Caused by Mating with Humans

There has been much speculation about Neanderthal extinction and why they disappeared 40,000 years ago. The latest research suggests they lived side-by-side with modern humans (Homo sapiens) for up...
Neanderthal skull (left) compared with a modern human skull (right). A recent study has revealed that only 7% of human DNA is unique. The other 93% of human DNA is shared with our ancient “cousins” the Neanderthals and Denisovans.                     Source: procy_ab / Adobe Stock

Just 7% of Human DNA Is Unique, Says Latest Large-scale Genetic Study

Among all the species of man that ever existed, Homo sapiens (modern man) is the sole survivor. But that doesn’t make us quite as special as we thought. A genetic study carried out by researchers at...
Neanderthals Were Likely Battling the Common Cold 700,000 Years Ago!

Neanderthals Were Likely Battling the Common Cold 700,000 Years Ago!

Evidence has emerged that the common cold virus has been around for longer than previously believed. A lot longer, in fact. In a study published online in the open access journal bioRxiv , a team of...
Neanderthals cohabited with modern humans in the Negev desert. Source: Kovalenko I / Adobe Stock

Humans and Neanderthals Met and Mated 50,000 Years Ago in Negev Desert

A recent re-examination of artifacts collected from Israel’s central Negev desert has revealed important details about the development of human culture in the region, according to a new study...
Discovery of Genetic Mutation Separating Humans and Neanderthals

Discovery of Genetic Mutation That Separates Humans and Neanderthals

An international team of scientists representing Russia, Germany, and the United States have found a unique mechanism at work in the DNA of human beings that helped shape our species’ evolution, the...
Neanderthal Brains Grew Larger With Greater Carbohydrate Consumption

Neanderthal Brains Grew Larger With Greater Carbohydrate Consumption

Roughly a million years ago, Neanderthal brains doubled in size in about 200,000 years, which is a paltry number in evolutionary terms. For long, brain evolution has been credited to the increasingly...

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