The recent find in Germany rewrites the book on Neanderthal sophistication. Archaeologists have found a “fat factory” site where Neanderthals processed bones to extract grease which dated back to about 125,000 years ago. This discovery indicates that the need to extract calories for survival from animal fats was a full 100,000 years more advanced than ...
In a discovery that reshapes our understanding of early human migration in Southeast Asia, scientists have recovered the first hominin fossils from the now-submerged lowlands of ancient Sundaland. Published in Quaternary Environments and Humans, the study reveals that Homo erectus and other archaic humans once inhabited this vast landmass—now hidden beneath the Java Sea—during the ...
Scientists have perplexed for decades over a basic question: How could a small group of Homo sapiens effectively leave Africa around 50,000 years ago, spreading to every corner of the planet, while earlier migration attempts failed? According to a ground-breaking research that was written about in Nature, our predecessors did not merely happen onto fresh ...
Archaeologists have found an object in a quiet rock shelter in Segovia, Spain, that questions accepted wisdom regarding Neanderthal cognition: a granite pebble with a red ochre dot and a clearly identifiable Neanderthal man fingerprint. More than just an old fingerprint, this discovery dated to 43,000 years is a tantalizing clue that Neanderthals might have ...
For decades, the story of human evolution has been pieced together from fragments of fossilized bones, stone tools, and, more recently, ancient DNA. But what happens when DNA degrades beyond recovery, leaving scientists with only enamel and dentin to decode the secrets of our ancestors? A groundbreaking new study has cracked the code, using proteins ...
For tens of thousands of years, people have been enthralled with red not only for its beauty but also for its power, symbolism, and usefulness. Red colors have shaped art, trade, war, even survival from the deep, earthy tones of ochre to the vivid carmine of crushed cochineal bugs. But why did prehistoric people travel ...
A groundbreaking genetic study has uncovered a Neanderthal population in France that remained completely isolated for 50,000 years. Unlike other Neanderthal groups, which often exchanged genes with neighboring populations, this group remained genetically and culturally separate. The discovery raises new questions about the role of isolation in Neanderthal extinction and challenges long-held assumptions about their ...
New research has revealed that Homo erectus in Java persisted far longer than previously believed, possibly overlapping with early Homo sapiens. Fossil evidence suggests that the species survived in Southeast Asia until at least 108,000 years ago, significantly later than previous estimates. This discovery challenges long-standing evolutionary timelines and raises new questions about interactions between ...
For centuries, historians and scientists have speculated about the physical appearance of our ancestors. What color were their eyes? Did they have dark or light skin? Were early Europeans blond, brown-haired, or redheaded? Thanks to advancements in genetics, researchers can now analyze ancient DNA to reconstruct these traits, offering us a vivid glimpse into the ...
