How our species got smarter: through a rush of blood to the head
The brains of our ancestors grew larger and smarter thanks to an increase in the flow of blood to the brain
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Articles on Early humans
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Revealed: the ancient genetic link between chimpanzees and bonobos
The two species mated 500,000 years ago, leaving a genetic mark to this day. This knowledge could help save them from extinction.
Genetic studies reveal diversity of early human populations – and pin down when we left Africa
New research into how early humans spread across the world settles several long-running debates.
Ancient DNA in lake mud sheds light on the mystery of how humans first reached America
A new study suggests the first humans probably got to America from Siberia via the Pacific coast rather than through a corridor between two giant ice sheets, as previously thought.
Ancient Deep Skull still holds big surprises 60 years after it was unearthed
Another look at a skull unearthed in Malaysian Borneo 60 years ago can shed light on the mystery of how early humans moved throughout Southeast Asia thousands of years ago.
Have humans always gone to war?
Archaeological remains, traditional tribes and conflict among chimpanzees can tell us much about the history of human warfare.
Bone suggests ‘Red Deer Cave people’ a mysterious species of human
A new study is rewriting our understanding of archaic humans and how they may have interacted with early humans.
Why does culture sometimes evolve via sudden bursts of innovation?
Not all technologies are created equal. Researchers devised a new model to explain why, after eons of nothing much new, we sometimes see an explosion of innovation in the archaeological record.
Jaw-bone discovery reveals more about secret sex lives of Neanderthals and early humans
The great grandfather of one of Europe's earliest modern humans had sex with Neanderthals.
Real Paleo Diet: early hominids ate just about everything
Reconstructions of human evolution are prone to simple, overly-tidy scenarios. Our ancestors, for example, stood on two legs to look over tall grass, or began to speak because, well, they finally had something…
First Americans lived on land bridge for thousands of years, genetics study suggests
The theory that the Americas were populated by humans crossing from Siberia to Alaska across a land bridge was first proposed as far back as 1590, and has been generally accepted since the 1930s. But genetic…
How eat-local palaeolithic diet kept our ancestors healthy
During the warm periods between ice ages stretching from 500,000 to 200,000 years ago, the southern parts of Britain were occupied by a species of ancient human, Homo heidelbergensis. These hunter-gatherers…
Neanderthal dispute laid to rest – they buried their dead
Ever since the discovery of the well preserved, nearly complete, 50,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton in a pit dug in a cave in La Chapelle-aux-Saints, southwest France, it has been long debated as to…
How a changing landscape and climate shaped early humans
It should not be a surprise that East Africa was a hotbed of evolution, because over the last five million years everything about the landscape has changed. The extraordinary forces of plate tectonics…
Humans have a long history of coming together to solve a climate crisis
Responding to a crisis often brings out the best in people. Certainly it has in the past, when sudden changes in climate during the Middle Stone Age sparked off surges of cultural evolution and innovation…
Humans hunted in America 800 years earlier than previously thought
A fragment of sharpened bone found embedded in a mastodon rib from an archaeological site in Washington State proves hunter…
Birth of bling: world’s first art studio found in South Africa
Could we have found the first artist’s studio in human history? We may well have. We all recognise the material signs of wealth. Fast cars, large yachts and sparkling bling all tell us who has more. Crowns…
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