neuropsychology

A genetic study hints strongly that the Denisovans, who roamed the earth down to the end of the last ice age, possessed autistic skills, which were then passed on to their modern-human descendants. If correct, then this might at last provide an explanation for the Denisovan’s advanced human behavior and technological innovations. More than this, it could now help explain the recurrence across many thousands of years of cyclic numbers such as 72, 108, 216, and 432 in ancient king-lists, long-term calendrical systems, and the geometry and design of sacred architecture in southeastern Asia. The story begins with the sequencing of the Denisovan genome in 2010, achieved using a fragment of finger bone unearthed in Siberia’s Denisova Cave and found