Anthropology News

Neanderthals are commonly thought to have relied on dangerous close range hunting techniques, using non-projectile weapons like the thrusting spears depicted here; this hunting approach is thought to have brought them into violent contact with large mammals, resulting in high levels of injury especially to the head and neck when compared to modern humans; Beier et al found similar head injury levels in both Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic humans, casting doubt on this hypothesis. Image credit: Gleiver Prieto.

Strontium Isotope Analysis Provides Insights into Hunting Habits and Diets of Neanderthals

May 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In new research, scientists examined chemical properties locked inside tooth enamel of two Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals and a Magdalenian human from...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Modern Humans Inherited Nose Shape Gene from Neanderthals, Study Says

May 8, 2023 by News Staff

ATF3, a gene that leads to a taller nose (from top to bottom), may have been the product of natural selection as ancient humans adapted to colder climates...

Overview of the non-destructive DNA extraction method: (a) workflow of the gradual, non-destructive DNA extraction method using sodium phosphate buffer at elevated temperatures; (b) four 3D surface texture measurements indicated on the outline of a tooth used for testing before and after non-destructive DNA extraction showing no substantial surface alterations; (c) photographs of the Denisova Cave tooth pendant before and after cleaning and non-destructive DNA extraction. Image credit: Essel et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2.

Scientists Extract Human and Deer DNA from Paleolithic Pendant Found in Denisova Cave

May 4, 2023 by News Staff

Application of a novel non-destructive DNA extraction method to a Paleolithic deer tooth pendant from Denisova Cave, Siberia, resulted in the recovery...

Like humans, great apes voluntarily seek and engage in altered experiences of self-perception and situational awareness. Image credit: We-o.

Great Apes Spin Themselves to Deliberately Make Themselves Dizzy, Scientists Say

Mar 17, 2023 by News Staff

Among animals, humans stand out in their consummate propensity to self-induce altered states of mind. Archaeology, history and ethnography show these activities...

Reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer associated with the Gravettian culture (32,000-24,000 years ago), inspired by the archaeological findings at the Arene Candide site, Italy. Image credit: Tom Bjoerklund.

Scientists Sequence Genomes of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers from Different Eurasian Cultures

Mar 2, 2023 by News Staff

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years. However, our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers...

A model of a Neanderthal man in modern clothing. Image credit: H. Neumann / Neanderthal Museum.

New DNA Study Points to Importance of Balancing Selection in Human Evolution

Feb 22, 2023 by News Staff

Different genetic traits can be beneficial (for example, fending off disease) or harmful (making humans more susceptible to illness), depending on the...

Oldowan tools from the site of Nyayanga in Kenya: a dorsal flake, a ventral flake, and a core. Image credit: Plummer et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abo7452.

3-Million-Year-Old Oldowan Tools and Cut-Marked Bones Unearthed in Kenya

Feb 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Oldowan tools, consisting of stones with one to a few flakes removed, are the oldest widespread and temporally persistent hominin tools. The oldest of...

Professor Gaudzinski-Windheuser standing next to a life-size reconstruction of an adult male European straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany. Image credit: Lutz Kindler, LEIZA.

Neanderthals Hunted Straight-Tusked Elephants 125,000 Years Ago

Feb 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) were the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene epoch, present in Europe and western Asia between...

La Pasiega Cave, section C, cave wall with paintings: the ladder shape composed of red horizontal and vertical lines (center left) dates to older than 64,000 years and was made by Neanderthals. Image credit: P. Saura.

World’s Oldest Art Was Created by Neanderthals, Researcher Says

Jan 24, 2023 by The Conversation

Neanderthal art was perhaps more abstract than the stereotypical figure and animal cave paintings Homo sapiens made after Neanderthals disappeared about...

An examples of animal depiction associated with dots. Image credit: Bacon et al., doi: 10.1017/S0959774322000415.

Archaeologists Uncover Upper Paleolithic Proto-Writing System

Jan 6, 2023 by News Staff

In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper Paleolithic humans drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at...

This map illustrates the geography of Beringia, the land bridge that formed between North America and Asia during the last glaciation. Humans crossed Beringia from Asia to North America during the glacial period depicted on this map. Lakes and drainages have been reconstructed to provide a better perspective on the environment of the land mass according to bathymetric data having a grid spacing of 1 km (100 m for Norton Sound). Some of the lake basins are shallow and may have been wetlands rather than open water bodies. Image credit: J.D. Bond / Yukon Geological Survey / Government of Yukon.

Bering Land Bridge Remained Flooded Until 35,700 Years Ago, Scientists Say

Dec 27, 2022 by News Staff

In new research, led by the University of California, Santa Cruz and Princeton University, scientists reconstructed the history of sea level at the Bering...

Bear skins have high insulating properties and might have played a role in the adaptations of Middle Pleistocene hominins, such as Homo heidelbergensis depicted here, to the cold and harsh winter conditions of Northwestern Europe. Image credit: Benoît Clarys.

320,000-Year-Old Cutmarked Bones Provide Evidence for Exploitation of Bear Skins

Dec 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Researchers from the University of Tübingen and elsewhere have unearthed the cutmarked bones of cave bears at the Middle Pleistocene site of Schöningen...

The flint chips from Schöningen, Germany, which were created as ‘waste’ during the re-sharpening of knife-like tools; they are sorted by size in millimeters. Scale bar - 3 cm. Image credit: Flavia Venditti.

300,000-Year-Old Microartifacts Provide Glimpse into Life of Middle Pleistocene Hominins

Dec 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists at the University of Tübingen have performed a careful and in-depth analysis of tiny resharpening flakes from the famous Middle Pleistocene...

Drummond-Clarke et al. show that trees were an essential component of the hominin adaptive niche, with bipedalism evolving in an arboreal context, likely driven by foraging strategy. Illustration by Arturo Asensio, via Quo.es.

Human Bipedalism May Have Evolved in Trees, Study Says

Dec 15, 2022 by News Staff

Bipedalism — walking upright on two legs — us a defining feature of the human lineage. It is thought to have evolved as forests retreated in...

Denisovan DNA Shaped Papuans’ Immune System, New Study Shows

Dec 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Modern humans have admixed with multiple species of archaic hominins. Papuans, in particular, owe up to 5% of their genome to Denisovans, a sister group...

Iberian owl-like plaques and local owl species: (a) engraved slate plaque found in Cerro de la Cabeza, Valencina de la Concepción, Sevilla, Spain; (b) wild little owl (Athene noctua) pictured in an agricultural area in Valencina de la Concepción in 2021; (c) slate plaque from Mértola, Alentejo, Portugal; the orifices on the upper part may have been used to insert actual feathers; (d) long-eared owl (Asio otus) with erected ear tufts, pictured in Valencina de la Concepción in 2021. Image credit: Juan J. Negro.

Iberian Owl-Shaped Plaques Were Toys Made by Copper Age Children: Study

Dec 5, 2022 by News Staff

In the Copper Age, around 5,000 years ago, owl-shaped, engraved plaques were produced massively in the southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers...

Ancient inhabitants of the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site in Israel likely used some kind of earth oven that maintained a temperature below 500 degrees Celsius to cook their fish. Image credit: Ella Maru / Tel Aviv University.

Scientists Find Earliest Evidence of Hominins Cooking with Fire

Nov 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have found the 780,000-year-old remains of a cooked carp-like fish at the wetland Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel. Ancient...

A hominin footprint at the Matalascañas site in Spain. Image credit: Mayoral et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22524-2.

296,000-Year-Old Hominin Footprints Found in Spain

Nov 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The possible track-makers are individuals from the Neanderthal lineage, according to new research led by Universidad de Huelva paleoanthropologists. The...

A Neanderthal father and his daughter. Image credit: Tom Bjorklund.

Ancient Genomes Provide Insights into Social Organization of Neanderthals

Oct 19, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleoanthropologists have explored the social organization of Neanderthals using ancient nuclear, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA data from the remains...