early humans – News Stories About early humans - Page 1

'Neanderthal Pompeii' Upends Theories on Replacement by Humans

Cave Find 'Literally Rewrites
All Our Books of History'

in case you missed it

Feb 13, 2022 1:45 PM CST

Cave Find 'Literally Rewrites All Our Books of History'

Site repeatedly changed hands between Neanderthals, Homo sapiens

(Newser) - A cave in southern France that one researcher calls a Neanderthal Pompeii has upended theories about how our species replaced the earlier hominid species in Europe tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists had thought Homo sapiens arrived in western Europe around 40,000 and quickly wiped out the Neanderthals,...

Oldest Known Grave of Baby Girl Found in Europe

Rare Find: Infant Girl
Buried 10K Years Ago

NEW STUDY

Dec 16, 2021 12:12 PM CST

Rare Find: Infant Girl Buried 10K Years Ago

Burial suggests females were highly regarded at the time

(Newser) - The earliest known burial of a female infant in Europe has convinced some archaeologists that humans living 10,000 years ago considered females as members of society at birth—a find that might be surprising considering many women didn’t gain personhood under law until the 20th century. The child,...

Meet Our
Direct Ancestor:
Homo Bodoensis

NEW STUDY

Oct 29, 2021 10:50 AM CDT

Meet Our Direct Ancestor: Homo Bodoensis

Researchers propose new human species, elimination of 2 others

(Newser) - The Middle Pleistocene brought about the emergence of modern humans in Africa some 300,000 years ago. But plenty else happened during the epoch, stretching from 774,000 to 129,000 years ago, and a new study aims to clarify things with the naming of a new species and direct...

These Footprints May Be an Archaeological 'Holy Grail'

These New Mexico
Footprints May
Be a 'Bombshell'

in case you missed it

Sep 26, 2021 1:00 PM CDT

These New Mexico Footprints May Be a 'Bombshell'

Researchers say the tracks were made 23K years ago

(Newser) - The footprints look ordinary enough, those of young kids and teenagers walking near what was once a lake. But a new study in Science adds a remarkable twist—scientists say the prints were made about 23,000 years ago in what is now White Sands National Park in New Mexico....

What Researchers Just Did
in This Cave Is a Marvel

NEW STUDY

Jun 25, 2021 10:57 AM CDT

What Researchers Just Did in This Cave Is a Marvel

It's most comprehensive study of ancient DNA extracted from sediment at single site

(Newser) - As far as caves go, Siberia's Denisova Cave is a super prominent one, the place where scientists confirmed the existence of a species of hominins (we're one, as are Neanderthals) known as the Denisovans. But the prehistoric treasures the cave has given up have been few—just eight...

Why the Human Brain Almost Tripled in Size

They Ran Out
of Big Game to
Hunt. Then Their
Brains Swelled

NEW STUDY

Mar 3, 2021 10:10 AM CST

They Ran Out of Big Game to Hunt. Then Their Brains Swelled

Researchers say shift to hunting smaller game caused early humans' brains to nearly triple in size

(Newser) - In hunting large mammals to near extinction, early modern humans may have prompted an explosion in brain size—in a good way. Humans emerged as big-game hunters in Africa 2.6 million years ago but would ultimately see large animals dwindle as a result of hunting practices, according to Miki...

Early Humans May Have Acted Like Bears During Winter

Our Ancestors May Have
Slept Through Winter

new study

Dec 21, 2020 8:45 AM CST

Our Ancestors May Have Slept Through Winter

Study suggests early humans hibernated

(Newser) - It's a provocative theory, one that the researchers themselves admit sounds farfetched. But their analysis of ancient bones from a cave in Spain suggests that early humans hibernated—or something close to it—through the winter, reports the Guardian . Scientists poring over skeletal remains dating back 430,000 years...

Discovery Alters Notions
About Early Humans' Travel

new study

May 11, 2020 12:02 PM CDT

Discovery Alters Notions About Early Humans' Travel

It appears they reached Europe earlier than thought, hung out with Neanderthals

(Newser) - Human bones from a Bulgarian cave suggest our species arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought and shared the continent longer than realized with Neanderthals, per the AP . Scientists found four bone fragments and a tooth that detailed radiocarbon and DNA tests show are from four Homo...

Researchers Make Bold Claim
About Human Origins

in case you missed it

Nov 2, 2019 3:00 PM CDT

Researchers Make Bold Claim About Human Origins

Controversial study argues all modern humans originated in Botswana

(Newser) - Where you from? If the authors of a controversial new study are correct, everyone on the planet has the same answer: Botswana, Africa. More specifically, a northern swath of the country, along with small parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe. Researchers led by geneticist Vanessa Hayes of the Garvan Institute of...

200 Skulls Suggest Neanderthal
Stereotype Is Wrong

NEW STUDY

Nov 15, 2018 10:20 AM CST

200 Skulls Suggest Neanderthal Stereotype Is Wrong

Early modern humans just as prone to violence: study

(Newser) - The perception of Neanderthals as big, stupid oafs has been mostly debunked . Now, a new study is helping buck another stereotype depicting the human relatives as especially prone to violence. The idea stems from trauma, particularly to the head and neck, visible among Neanderthal remains. When researchers compiled reports on...

Ancient Rhino Radically
Changes Philippines History

May 5, 2018 7:29 AM CDT

Ancient Rhino Radically Changes Philippines History

Human tools found near 700,000-year-old butchered animal, rewriting first arrival

(Newser) - An international team of researchers has discovered a 700,000-year-old butchered rhinoceros on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, forcing scientists to radically adjust current estimates about when humans first occupied the archipelago. Previously, a 67,000-year-old foot bone found in a cave in northern Luzon was the oldest...

These Stone Tools
Are Smashing
Theories on Africa

NEW STUDIES

Mar 20, 2018 7:14 PM CDT

These Stone Tools Are Smashing Theories on Africa

At 320K years old, they push back date of Middle Stone Age

(Newser) - For decades, the human story was one told through signs of modernity—art, tools, burials—found only after Homo sapiens left Africa. Recent discoveries pushing back the date of departure are helping to change that narrative, as are three new studies in Science. Together, they describe the earliest stone tools...

Humans Mated Outside
Our Species 3 Times

NEW STUDY

Mar 16, 2018 9:31 AM CDT

Humans Mated Outside Our Species 3 Times

Second instance of human-Denisovan interbreeding discovered

(Newser) - Ancient humans weren't against knocking boots with other species: We know they had sex with Neanderthals . We also know they mated with the mysterious Denisovans, as some Australasians (those from Papua New Guinea in particular) have 5% Denisovan DNA. But a "breakthrough" study shows the interbreeding wasn't...

Bones Found in 2nd Chamber
of Cave Spur Huge Questions

in case you missed it

May 13, 2017 10:55 AM CDT

Bones Found in 2nd Chamber of Cave Spur Huge Questions

More bones unearthed from H. naledi species, upending evolution beliefs

(Newser) - In 2015 it was a discovery described as "unlike anything we have seen." Now even more so. A second chamber in a South African cave system has produced bones belonging to Homo naledi, a species scientists now believe may have existed around the same time as Homo sapiens...

Mastodon Bones Spark
Major Claim—and Major Doubt

Mastodon Bones Spark Major Claim—and Major Doubt

Did humans live in California 130K years ago?

(Newser) - Exactly how long have humans been in the Americas? A wealth of evidence suggests they arrived as early as 20,000 years ago, while the earliest record of modern humans in the world dates back 200,000 years to Africa (and they probably didn't leave until around 50,000...

How a Bit
of Cave Dirt
Just Changed
Archaeology

Apr 28, 2017 10:00 AM CDT

How a Bit of Cave Dirt Just Changed Archaeology

In first, scientists pull ancient human DNA from dirt

(Newser) - The study of humans has long relied on bones to reveal human DNA. The problem is that those bones are hard to come by. As the Atlantic points out, scientists have only a finger bone and two teeth belonging to the Denisovans, cousins of Neanderthals. It's no wonder then...

Sorry, Cannibals:
Humans Just Aren't
That Nutritious

NEW STUDY

Apr 7, 2017 8:39 AM CDT

Sorry, Cannibals: Humans Just Aren't That Nutritious

Try a boar instead

(Newser) - A human heart might seem like a hefty chunk of meat, but its 650 calories would hardly fill up a hungry cannibal living in Paleolithic times. It's a finding that is forcing researchers to rethink why cannibalism was practiced in that period if not as a last resort to...

Ancients' Skulls Pose a Puzzle
for Our Family Tree

Mar 6, 2017 7:32 PM CST

Ancients' Skulls Pose a Puzzle for Our Family Tree

They're not quite Neanderthal and not quite Homo sapien

(Newser) - First, back in 2007, they found tools. Then, a bone. Now archaeologists who've continued to return to the same dig in Lingjing, China, report in the journal Science that they've unearthed more than 40 separate skull fragments to pull together two partial skulls that date back 100,000...

Meet the World's
Oldest Known Righty

Oct 25, 2016 12:12 PM CDT

Meet the World's Oldest Known Righty

Telltale scratches on teeth go back nearly 2M years

(Newser) - A lot has changed over 1.8 million years, but perhaps not the tendency of hominids to favor their right hand. An upper jawbone belonging to a human relative who lived in what is now Tanzania almost 2 million years ago has been discovered with scratches on its still-intact teeth,...

Scientists Find
Earth's Oldest
Civilization

study says

Sep 22, 2016 2:15 PM CDT

Scientists Find Earth's Oldest Civilization

Indigenous Australians, Papuans can trace DNA back 50K years

(Newser) - New research suggests that the title of world's oldest civilization goes to the indigenous populations of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Scientists say the DNA of these people can be traced back to an original wave of settlers from Africa more than 50,000 years ago, reports the Guardian ...