tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/early-humans-1659/articlesEarly humans – The Conversation2023-12-11T13:12:05Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2161482023-12-11T13:12:05Z2023-12-11T13:12:05ZWhy do people have wisdom teeth?<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do people have wisdom teeth? – Jack J., age 17, Dedham, Massachusetts</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars located at the very back of the mouth. They look just like the first and second molars, but can sometimes be a little smaller. </p>
<p>They are commonly called wisdom teeth because they are the last of the 32 permanent teeth to appear, emerging <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000151214">between 17 and 25 years of age</a>, when you are older and wiser.</p>
<p>You might know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10367">not everyone grows</a> all four wisdom teeth. You might also know many people get them pulled. So it’s fair to wonder – why do humans even have them? </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0lZq0kYAAAAJ">We</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=GYMrNdIAAAAJ">study</a> teeth and can tell you the answer has a lot to do with the distant past – and a bit about the present day, too. </p>
<h2>More powerful jaws</h2>
<p>Just like you have many features in common with the people you’re related to, humans share features with their extended family – the primates. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fdmed.2023.1158482">Monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees</a> all have wisdom teeth. </p>
<p>A few million years ago, early human ancestors had larger jaws and teeth than humans do today. For example, a species called <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em>, <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-afarensis">nicknamed Lucy’s species</a> after a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/lucy-a-marvelous-specimen-135716086/">famous fossil specimen called Lucy</a>, lived roughly 3 million to 4 million years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A fossilized jaw showing powerful molars and some broken and missing front teeth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560510/original/file-20231120-21-9261y5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fossilized jaw from the extinct human ancestor, <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em>, also known as Lucy’s species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Australopithecus_afarensis_jaw_-_Fossils_in_the_Arppeanum_-_DSC05509.JPG">Daderot/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The jaw and teeth of an <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em> individual were quite a bit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21183">larger and thicker</a> than your own. They had three <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-010-0249-6">big molar teeth with thick enamel</a>. The fossil skulls of some of these very early humans also show evidence of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21183">powerful chewing muscles</a>.</p>
<h2>Changes in diet</h2>
<p>Scientists think more robust jaws and teeth were needed because the foods early human ancestors ate, like raw meat and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.013">plants</a>, were much more difficult to chew than food is today. Researchers look at things like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.353">marks and microscopic wear patterns</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/tooth-be-told-millions-of-years-of-evolutionary-history-mark-those-molars-71428">on fossilized teeth</a> to figure out <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691160535/evolutions-bite">what extinct ancestors may have eaten</a>. </p>
<p>Today’s food is much softer than it was in the past due to many factors, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.13011">agriculture</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-009-9075-3">cooking</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2016.194">food storage</a>. Softer, easier-to-chew food means teeth have a less challenging job. As a result, modern human jaws have evolved to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0865-7">smaller and faces to be flatter</a> than our extinct ancestors’ were, because our meals don’t require the same big, sharp teeth that theirs did. </p>
<p>Given these changes, which took place very slowly over millions of years, the third molars – wisdom teeth – might not be as important now as they once were.</p>
<h2>Missing wisdom teeth</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK572295/">25% of people today are missing at least</a> one wisdom tooth completely, meaning it never formed at all. While people occasionally don’t grow other teeth, it’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34292692/">much more common for wisdom teeth</a>. </p>
<p>Scientists are not sure why this is the case, but it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-022-00761-8">may have to do with the genes</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9050255">you inherit from your parents</a>. Some scientists have argued that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ejo/cjad057">lack of wisdom teeth is an advantage</a> for modern, smaller-jawed humans. It’s certainly easier to fit fewer teeth into a smaller jaw.</p>
<p>Sometimes, due to lack of space, wisdom teeth can get stuck inside the jawbone and never fully come up – or they only partially emerge. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A radiograph showing a back molar growing sideways into its neighbor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560516/original/file-20231120-18-71m6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An impacted wisdom tooth will never come up properly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Impacted_Wisdom_Tooth_aka_Lower_Right_Third_Molar_48_RVG_IOPA_Xray.jpg">Nizil Shah/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A so-called impacted wisdom tooth happens <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2205795/">more often in the lower jaw</a> than in the upper jaw. In cases where wisdom teeth are only partially up, people can sometimes experience pain, tooth decay or gum inflammation, which is why they have them pulled by a dentist.</p>
<p>But wisdom teeth don’t usually need to be removed if they are fully erupted in the mouth, positioned correctly and healthy.</p>
<p>Dentists can examine your mouth to see if your wisdom teeth are present, or look at X-ray pictures of your jaw if these last molars haven’t yet emerged and you suspect they may be impacted.</p>
<p>Dentists can also advise you if any treatment – or removal – is recommended for your wisdom teeth. In the meantime, <a href="https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/brushing-your-teeth">brushing</a> at least twice a day and <a href="https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/flossing">flossing</a> daily will help keep all your teeth healthy. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ariadne Letra receives funding from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seth M. Weinberg receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p>Two dental experts explain that these furthest-back molars may be a not-so-necessary leftover from early human evolution.Ariadne Letra, Professor of Dental Medicine, University of PittsburghSeth M. Weinberg, Professor of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences and Human Genetics, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168472023-11-02T12:20:41Z2023-11-02T12:20:41ZThe wildfires that led to mass extinction: a warning from California’s Ice Age history – podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557169/original/file-20231101-15-12hv68.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C62%2C2946%2C1931&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/french-fire-burns-sequoia-national-forest-2028796637">Ringo Chiu via Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, Californians have had to deal with some <a href="https://ktla.com/news/the-cities-where-wildfires-threaten-the-most-homes-in-california/">deadly and destructive wildfires</a>. But in fact, this part of the western United States has been shaped by fire for millennia. </p>
<p>In this episode of <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a></em> podcast, we hear about new research from California into a decades-old mystery: <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132415">the extinction of large animals</a> at the end of the Ice Age. It’s providing some worrying lessons from history about the way humans, fire and ecosystems interact. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/65438fad29dc900012d158ce" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p></p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In a park in the middle of Los Angeles lies one of the most important fossil sites in the world – the La Brea Tar Pits. The park sits atop a natural oil reserve. Regular earthquakes in the area opened up fissures in the ground, bringing some of that oil to the surface where it sits in pools of tar, or asphalt.</p>
<p>“The asphalt is so sticky that if you were to walk in there, you would not be able to get out without help if you were to get both of your feet stuck. And so that’s what happened over the last part of the Ice Age,” explains Emily Lindsey, a paleoecologist and associate curator at La Brea Tar Pits who also works at the University of California, Los Angeles. </p>
<p>This was a period when large animals roamed the Earth – including, in the area of modern-day California, mammoths, giant ground sloths, sabre-tooth cats and dire wolves. Many of these animals got trapped in the tar pits at La Brea, where their bodies provide a unique fossil record of the animals that moved through the area during the Ice Age – until, that is, about 13,000 years ago, says Lindsey.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What’s unique about the Ice Age is that at the very end of it, after more than 50 million years of having big animals in all global ecosystems, most of those animals went extinct – most of the big ones. And it happened very rapidly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cause of this mass extinction has been debated by scientists for decades. In <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo3594">new research</a>, Lindsey and her colleagues decided to use the fossil records at La Brea, combined with sediment records from a nearby lake, to pinpoint exactly when the extinctions took place in California – and what else was happening at the time. </p>
<p>They found that in the 2,000 years leading up to the extinction event, the climate in southern California was warming rapidly, and drying out. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And then 200 years before the extinction event, about 13,200 years ago, we see something very unusual happen. Everything catches on fire.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lindsey and her team argue that alongside the warming climate, it was humans – whose populations began to expand in this part of North America at around this time – who probably ignited these fires, which eventually led to the extinction of California’s big animals. The findings, she says, are “eerily similar” to what’s happening in the area today. </p>
<p>Listen to <a href="https://podfollow.com/the-conversation-weekly/view">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast for the full interview with Emily Lindsey, plus some insights on the current state of wildfires in North America from Stacy Morford, environment and climate editor at The Conversation in the US. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2901/California_Wildfires_Transcript.docx.pdf?1699551646">full transcript</a> of this episode is now available. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer of the show.</em></p>
<p><em>Newsclips in this episode are from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlVFWcmzueo">CBS Evening News</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpRxPJkZPs">NBC News</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>You can find us on X, formerly known as Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Listen to <em>The Conversation Weekly</em> via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a> or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Lindsey receives funding from the National Science Foundation, which funded some of the research reported in this article. </span></em></p>A changing climate, humans and fire were a deadly combination for the big animals that used to roam southern California. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2147192023-10-04T19:05:09Z2023-10-04T19:05:09ZNew path for early human migrations through a once-lush Arabia contradicts a single ‘out of Africa’ origin<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551581/original/file-20231002-21-9nvrqz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C3456%2C2286&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A general view of Wadi Gharandal riverine wetland, along the Jordan Rift Valley, showing palm trees concentrated at the centre of the wadi near the active spring.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mahmoud Abbas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our species, <em>Homo sapiens</em>, migrated out of Africa multiple times – reaching the Levant and Arabia between 130,000 and 70,000 years ago, as exemplified by human fossils and archaeological sites found at various locations. </p>
<p>Little is known, however, about the pathways of these migrations. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi6838">study</a> published today in Science Advances, we find the now inhospitable and hyper-arid zone of the southern Jordan Rift Valley was frequently lush and well-watered in the past. </p>
<p>Our evidence suggests this valley had a riverine and wetland zone that would have provided ideal passage for hunter-gatherers as they moved out of Africa and deep into the Levant and Arabia.</p>
<h2>Wandering out of Africa</h2>
<p>Researchers hypothesise humans migrating <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116301494">out of Africa</a> would have used platforms in the eastern Sahara, the Nile River Valley, or the margins of the western Red Sea. </p>
<p>From there, these small bands of hunter-gatherers would have passed into the Sinai – a land bridge connecting Africa with the rest of Asia – following migrating animals and hunting a variety of them for sustenance. </p>
<p>For many of these hunter-gatherers, the next stop on the journey would have been the southern portion of the Jordan Rift Valley. This valley is situated in a strategic zone, with the Dead Sea to the north and the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. </p>
<p>Our field work was concentrated on three sites. The first two were <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344122987_A_wetland_oasis_at_Wadi_Gharandal_spanning_125-70_ka_on_the_human_migration_trail_in_southern_Jordan">Wadi Gharandal</a> and an area near the village of Gregra – both in the valley itself. The third site, <a href="https://livinginjordanasexpat.com/2019/08/21/hiking-wadi-al-hasa-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D8%A7/">Wadi Hasa</a>, is located in the more elevated areas of the Jordan plateau. </p>
<p>“Wadi” is an Arabic word describing a temporary riverbed that only contains water during heavy rains.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551922/original/file-20231003-21-di5gym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We researched three sites, including two wadis and an area near a village called Gregra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mahmoud Abbas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When Arabia was a verdant land</h2>
<p>Our goal was to reconstruct the region’s past environmental settings by accurately dating various sections of sediment. We used a technique called luminescence dating to estimate how long sediment grains had been shielded from sunlight, thereby allowing us to calculate how old they were.</p>
<p>Our findings from sedimentary sections ranging 5 to 12 metres in thickness showed ecosystem fluctuations over time, including cycles of dry and humid environments. We also found evidence for the presence of ancient rivers and wetlands.</p>
<p>Luminescence dating showed the sedimentary environments formed between 125,000 and 43,000 years ago, suggesting there had been multiple wet intervals.</p>
<p>At Wadi Gharandal, our team recovered three stone tools associated with a wetland environment. Two of these were made using the <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_391-1">Levallois method</a> – a characteristic manufacturing technique known to have been used by both Neanderthals and <em>Homo sapiens</em>. We dated the tools to 84,000 years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551928/original/file-20231004-29-i2gfqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We collected samples for luminescence dating from the Wadi Hasa area in West Jordan. Pictured are Mahmoud Abbas, Mohammed Alqudah and Yuansen Lai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zhongping Lai/Shantou University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Collectively, our fieldwork in the Jordan Rift Valley demonstrates the valley once functioned as a 360-kilometre-long freshwater corridor that helped funnel humans northward into Western Asia and southward into the Arabian Peninsula. </p>
<p>Further evidence for a northward expansion comes from the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skhul_and_Qafzeh_hominins">Skhul and Qafzeh</a> cave sites in Israel. Fossils of <em>Homo sapiens</em> and Levallois stone tools have been found here. </p>
<p>Towards the south, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03863-;y">fieldwork</a> in northern Saudi Arabia has also demonstrated a network of rivers and lakes was once present in the region. This allowed humans to penetrate a green Nefud Desert replete with savannahs and grassland.</p>
<p>In the heart of the Nefud, the lakeside site of Al Wusta has produced a <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-fossil-finger-discovery-points-to-earlier-human-migration-in-arabia-94670">human fossil and Levallois stone tools</a> dating to 85,000 years ago. These dates coincide with the 84,000-year-old Levallois stone tools found at Wadi Gharandal. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000">Major new research claims smaller-brained _Homo naledi_ made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Multiple migrations into South-West Asia</h2>
<p>Our findings from the Jordan Rift Valley indicate there were multiple early human migrations from Africa, and into Asia, during favourable conditions. This opposes the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/almost-all-living-people-outside-africa-trace-back-single-migration-more-50000-years">theory of a single</a>, rapid wave of human movement out of Africa <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/global-human-journey/">60,000 years ago</a>. </p>
<p>Our results also suggest, together with the Levantine and Arabian evidence, that hunter-gatherers used inland river and wetland systems as they crossed South-West Asia. This contradicts a popular model <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625005-200-humans-took-the-scenic-route-out-of-africa/">suggesting they mainly used</a> coastal routes as super-highways.</p>
<p>Although ancient DNA evidence indicates <em>Homo sapiens</em> interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans multiple times as they spread into Asia, on-the-ground evidence for these encounters has generally been lacking. Our findings provide further evidence this area served as the ground for these encounters.</p>
<p>Yet numerous questions remain unanswered. Large swathes of territory in South-West Asia have not yet been surveyed or dated – and few fossils of our <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aai9067">ancestors have been found</a> to shore up arguments about how early humans really dispersed.</p>
<p>We’ll need to closely investigate more long-neglected areas such as the Jordan Rift Valley to accurately portray how humankind’s voyage out of Africa unfolded. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-reveals-humans-ventured-out-of-africa-repeatedly-as-early-as-400-000-years-ago-to-visit-the-rolling-grasslands-of-arabia-167050">Research reveals humans ventured out of Africa repeatedly as early as 400,000 years ago, to visit the rolling grasslands of Arabia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zhongping Lai receives funding from the China Natural Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahmoud Abbas and Michael Petraglia do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The findings reveal a close association between climatic conditions and early human migrations out of Africa.Michael Petraglia, Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityMahmoud Abbas, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Marine Sciences, Shantou UniversityZhongping Lai, Professor, Institute of Marine Sciences, Shantou UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2062322023-06-13T20:05:08Z2023-06-13T20:05:08ZBones, the ‘Cave of the Monkeys’ and 86,000 years of history: new evidence pushes back the timing of human arrival in Southeast Asia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528694/original/file-20230528-27-d2uomq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2009, when our team first found a human skull and jaw bone in Tam Pà Ling Cave in northern Laos, some were sceptical of its origin and true age. </p>
<p>When we published a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1208104109">timeline</a> in 2012 for the arrival of modern humans in mainland Asia around 46,000 years ago based on the Tam Pà Ling evidence, the sceptics remained.</p>
<p>In short, the site was given a bad rap. One of the most interesting caves in mainland Southeast Asia was frequently overlooked as a possible route on the accepted path of human dispersal in the region. </p>
<p>However, in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38715-y">new research</a> published today in Nature Communications, we report more human remains found in Tam Pà Ling – and a more detailed and robust timeline for the site. This shows humans reached the region at least 68,000 years ago, and possibly as long as 86,000 years ago.</p>
<h2>Plenty of evidence, but hard to date</h2>
<p>Our team of Laotian, French, US and Australian researchers has been excavating at Tam Pà Ling for many years. You can see a detailed, interactive 3D scan of the site <a href="https://mq.pedestal3d.com/r/0DH2py28jD">here</a>.</p>
<p>As we dug, we found more and more evidence of <em>Homo sapiens</em> at earlier and earlier times. </p>
<p>First there was a finger bone, then roughly 2.5 metres deeper, a chin bone, then part of a rib. In total, eight pieces were found in only 4.5 metres of sediment – which may not sound like a lot, but is huge in archaeological terms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a cave in a rocky hill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cross-sectional view of the Tam Pà Ling cave, showing the location of the trench where remains were found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38715-y">Freidline et al. / Nature Communications</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surely, we thought, this would be enough for Tam Pà Ling to take its place among the early human arrival sites in Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>But a hurdle remained: the cave is hard to date. This has prevented its significance being recognised, and without a convincing timeline the cave’s evidence will not be included in the debate over early human movements.</p>
<h2>Many common dating methods can’t be used</h2>
<p>There are a few difficulties with dating Tam Pà Ling. </p>
<p>First, the human fossils cannot be directly dated as the site is a world heritage area and the fossils are protected by Laotian laws. </p>
<p>Second, there are very few animal bones and no suitable cave decorations, either of which might be used for dating.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo from inside a cave, looking up a rocky slope to daylight outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wide, steep entrance to Tam Pà Ling channelled sediments and fossils into the cave over a long time period.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And third, the entrance of the site is wide and steep. This means any charcoal found in the cave, which is useful for dating, may well have come from outside – so it has little relation to the age of the sediment inside.</p>
<p>This means the backbone of the timeline must be established by the dating of the sediment itself, using techniques such as luminescence dating.</p>
<h2>Signals in buried minerals</h2>
<p>Luminescence dating relies on a light-sensitive signal that builds up in buried sediment, resetting to zero when it is exposed to light.</p>
<p>This technique mainly uses two minerals: quartz and feldspar. </p>
<p>Quartz can only be used in the younger levels as it is limited by how much signal it can hold. In the deeper layers it can often underestimate the age, so in Tam Pà Ling we only used quartz to date the top three metres of the sediment. </p>
<p>For the lower levels (four to seven metres), we had to switch to dating using feldspar to fill in the gap in the age profile. Below six metres the feldspar grains started to weather and we had to resort to fine-grain dating, using tiny mineral grains all mixed together. </p>
<h2>Dating teeth</h2>
<p>Tam Pà Ling is relatively poor in animal evidence. Yet, eventually two teeth from a cow-like animal were unearthed at 6.5 metres deep that could be dated using two distinct techniques. </p>
<p>Uranium series dating works by measuring uranium, and the elements into which it transforms via radioactive decay, within the tooth. Electron spin resonance dating relies on measuring the number of electrons in tooth enamel. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/old-teeth-from-a-rediscovered-cave-show-humans-were-in-indonesia-more-than-63-000-years-ago-82075">Old teeth from a rediscovered cave show humans were in Indonesia more than 63,000 years ago</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Each technique offers an individual numerical age for the fossil. By combining the two, we obtained robust direct dates, which can complement the luminescence chronology. </p>
<h2>A closer look at sediment</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of archaeologists at work in a cave." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archaeologists have returned to Tam Pà Ling regularly, steadily accumulating more evidence from a deep 7 m excavation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make the dating as strong as possible, we used every technique we could, such as applying uranium series dating to a stalactite tip that had been buried in sediment. </p>
<p>We also began to support all our dating evidence with a very detailed analysis of the sediments to assess the origin of the fossils. </p>
<p>Micromorphology is a technique that examines sediments under a microscope to establish the integrity of the layers that buried the fossils. </p>
<p>This is a key component of the new chronology, as it helped establish that there was a fairly consistent accumulation of sediment layers over a long period. </p>
<p>By 2022, we had amassed an array of dating evidence that could be modelled to determine the exact age of each layer and the fossils they buried. </p>
<h2>A stop on the route of human dispersal</h2>
<p>Our updated chronology revealed humans were present in the vicinity of Tam Pà Ling Cave for roughly 56,000 years. It also confirmed that, far from reflecting a rapid dump of sediments, the site contains sediments that accumulated steadily over some 86,000 years.</p>
<p>The age of the lowest fossil, a fragment of a leg bone found seven metres deep, suggests modern humans arrived in this region between 86,000 and 68,000 years ago.</p>
<p>The evidence from Tam Pà Ling has pushed back the timing of <em>Homo sapiens</em> arrival in Southeast Asia. This suggests the mainland, along with the coastal and island locations, may have also been a viable dispersal route. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-fossil-tooth-places-enigmatic-ancient-humans-in-southeast-asia-179290">A fossil tooth places enigmatic ancient humans in Southeast Asia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Tam Pà Ling is just a stone’s throw from Cobra Cave, where we found a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29923-z">tooth</a> some 150,000 years old belonging to a Denisovan, the now-extinct human relatives otherwise known only from remains found in Siberia and Tibet. This suggests the site may lie on a previously used dispersal route among hominins.</p>
<p>Tam Pà Ling continues to reveal pieces of the puzzle of the ancient human journey across the world. Only time will tell how many more it has in store.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Westaway receives funding from Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan McAllister-Hayward receives funding from Flinders University College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the ARC Future Fellowship awarded to Associate Professor Mike Morley. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike W Morley receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vito C. Hernandez receives funding from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences of Flinders University, and the ARC Future Fellowship grant of Associate Professor Mike Morley.</span></em></p>New evidence from contested Laos cave site shows humans reached Southeast Asia at least 68,000 years ago.Kira Westaway, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityMeghan McAllister-Hayward, PhD CandidateMike W. Morley, Associate Professor, Flinders UniversityRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversityVito C. Hernandez, Geoarchaeologist and Postgraduate Research Scholar, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2066882023-06-08T09:46:43Z2023-06-08T09:46:43ZQ&A with Ludovic Slimak, the archeologist who wants to rewrite the history of early humans in Europe<p><em>The French archaeologist Ludovic Slimak has spent the past 30 years rummaging fields and caves from the Horn of Africa to the Artic Circle, and, of course, his beloved Rhône Valley in France. For the past year and a half, his team of 45 researchers have been on a roll, publishing paper after paper on early humanity’s history between 54,000 and 42,000 years ago. All in the scientific community recognises his work’s ambition, but some also regard it as controversial. The Conversation caught up with him by phone to his home in the Pyrenees mountains. He talked Homo sapiens, flints and responded to his critics.</em></p>
<p><strong>Natalie Sauer: In early May, you published a potentially groundbreaking paper claiming that Homo sapiens had not colonised Europe in one, but three distinct waves between 54,000 and 42,000 years ago. According to this viewpoint, each migratory wave yielded its own archeological culture: the Neronian (54,000 years ago), the Châtelperronian (between 45 and 46,000 years ago) and the Proto-Aurignacian (42,000 years ago). Could you start off by unpacking the study’s findings, and then situate it within the context of your research in recent years?</strong></p>
<p>Ludovic Slimak: The <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277444">paper of 3 May</a> explains that what we thought to be the first wave of colonisation of Sapiens from the Neart East to Europe was in fact the last of three waves. In the process, Homo sapiens interacted intermittently with the Neanderthals over thousands of years. It’s a large view of continental Europe till the Eastern Mediterranean coast, which claims that we have missed something huge and what we saw in the Rhône Valley is only the visible tip of misunderstandings on the early Sapiens’ presence in the continent.</p>
<p>These findings could not have been possible without the other papers we have published in the past year and a half. The first one, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj9496">“The Modern Human Incursion in Neanderthal Territories”</a>, shows that we find Homo sapiens in the Rhône Valley as early as 54,000 years ago, while we thought that for all continental Europe, Homo sapiens would have come by 45 to 42,000 years ago. We published another major paper, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4675">“Bow and arrow technology of the first modern humans in Europe”</a>, that gives the technical and cultural context of these societies. Again, we claim the bow and arrow technology emerged 40,000 years earlier in Eurasia than was previously estimated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530861/original/file-20230608-25-r1mlll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flint points from Grotte Mandrin in France and Ksar Akil in Lebanon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drawings and measurements by Laure Metz and Ludovic Slimak</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>You reached those conclusions of the first paper by comparing flints between Grotte Mandrin, France, and Ksar Akil, Lebanon, and chancing upon one very special molar.</strong></p>
<p>Yes, we researched thousands of lithics that came from both the Rhône Valley and the Levantine region in the eastern Mediterranean coast, the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/quaternary-of-the-levant/palaeolithic-sequence-of-ksar-akil-lebanon/9042343BB5CA3F8E2D3C82F55ED92676">Ksar Akil site</a>. </p>
<p>When I opened the boxes of artefacts from Ksar Akil in Harvard, I realised suddenly that it was precisely what I call the Neronian in the Rhône Valley. All the technical process, all the phases of production of this point, were precisely the same in both sites, in the same chronology. It is the similar phases in tool technologies from both regions that led me to believe they were spread from the Near East to Europe during three distinct waves of colonisation. This precise community of knowledges and traditions induced that the Neronian was in fact the archeological indication of a very early migration of Sapiens in Europe, far before expected and I published these conclusions in 2017.</p>
<p>Some years later we then analyzed and published the 9 hominin teeth we found over 30 years in Mandrin. They come from different phases of occupations of the cave spanning 42,000 to 120,000 years. At this age, all these teeth should have only been from Neanderthals. But this was not the case. Then one day in 2020, as Clément Zanolli from the French research centre CNRS was halfway through reviewing the data of the collection, the figures from a broken molar jumped out at him: “Oh, this tooth is fascinating,” he thought, “It’s not Neanderthal. It’s an archaic homo sapiens, an ancient of Homo sapiens.”</p>
<p>To confirm this hunch, our team used a very high resolution, micro-CT scan, and then ran statistics on the teeth. According to Clément Zanolli, we are a hundred percent sure that it’s a homo sapiens and not a random Homo sapiens – an archaic Homo sapiens.</p>
<p><strong>Let’s turn to the Grotte Mandrin, one of the key witnesses of Sapiens’ early colonisation of Europe. Could you describe it for us? And as an archaeologist, could you tell us about the first time you stepped into it and what your impressions were?</strong></p>
<p>Well, we call it Grotte Mandrin, which means cave. But it’s not a cave, it’s a rock shelter. This accounts for its very good preservation. When you are in a cave, you usually struggle with preservation. But in this case… It’s a vaulted rock shelter that opens to the north that overhangs the Rhône Valley. And what is very important from an archaeological perspective in the Rhône Valley is its very strong, cold, Northern wind - the Mistral. </p>
<p>The Mistral was already blowing in the time period I research. Back then, the climate in Europe was Polar, so there were no trees and very little vegetation. When the Mistral blew, it took the sand and the silt from the river in the Rhône Valley and cast it in the rock shelter, depositing it year after year.</p>
<p>I like to say it’s like Pompeii but instead of a catastrophic event, we have sand and silt. And instead of one event, we have 12 events: 12 major archeological periods in the site that range from a climatically very warm period, the last interglacial, to the extinction of Neanderthal 42,000 years ago. </p>
<p>The first time I went there was in 1998. I was a 25-year old young man, and had been invited by the team that had just began to work there. I wanted to devote my PhD to this collection, which stood out because all other archeological sites in the region had been excavated 50 or 100 years before with pickaxes. This coarse excavation method, which was commonly deployed back then, had two effects: on the one hand, it prevented archaeologists from landing upon finer artefacts, such as flint arrowheads and all tiny flint byproducts, essential to understand these ancient crafts. On the other, it also blended distinct materials that had nothing to do together.</p>
<p>The Mandrin site, by contrast, was something untouched and unique - unique from anything I had seen before and anything I have seen since.</p>
<p><strong>Your research suggests Neanderthals and Sapiens coexisted intermittently for thousands of years. What do you believe their relations were like?</strong></p>
<p>In the first wave dating back to 54,000 years ago, what we see in Grotte Mandrin is that the Sapiens population must have stayed for one generation, something like 40 years. They are in Neanderthal territories, but they won’t stay there for 12,000 years. After that, we will have other Neanderthals. The question of their relation is something fascinating, because when you have a look at the DNA of any early Sapiens in Europe, we see that all these early Sapiens have Neanderthal DNA. But if we focus on the last Neanderthals, we realise that there’s not a single Neanderthal with a recent Homo Sapiens DNA. </p>
<p>What happened? Why do we have all Sapiens in Europe with Neandertal DNA and not a single Neandertal have Sapiens DNA? So we know from Claude Lévi-Strauss’ <em>Elementary Structures of Kinship</em> that the question of the reproduction of societies is not a question of love. It’s a question of exchanges and alliances between populations. So that means that when two groups meet, it’s very important for them to exchange genes. And we know from DNA how they do it, it’s universal for both Neanderthal and Sapiens: through female mobility. That means: “My sister will go in your group, but your sister will come in my group”. And like that, we will build an alliance - we call this patri-locality. But if your sister comes in my group, my sister will have to come in yours. I can’t have your sister in exchange of flint or 10 horses. </p>
<p>What I explain in <a href="https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03432987/"><em>I Love You, Me Neither</em></a>, is that in the case of the Sapiens and Neanderthals, it’s: “You give me your sister, but I don’t give you mine”. This is rare, but it happens. One possible instance when we see this is when there’s a total war between populations, and one group is going to seek to destroy another group. But in fact, it’s not really a genocide, because when that happens, traditionally what they do is that they keep the children and the women, and then they have children with these women. </p>
<p>Another scenario could have been that these two populations had very good relations, where you’re happy when you see fresh blood coming because you are very tiny group, very isolated, and suddenly you see a new group and say: “Oh, there’s fresh blood coming” - and that’s very good news. </p>
<p>And the two populations certainly tried to exchange genes, but we know from DNA that Sapiens and Neanderthal were separated by 300,000 to 500,000 years of genetic distinction and what we call their inter-fecondity was very partial. This means that if they had children, for example, those children could be boys, sterile or not able to survive. So I would say it’s very likely that the two populations met and tried to exchange genes in Europe, but that only worked very partially.</p>
<p><strong>Given that Sapiens boasted technical superiority, notably bows and arrows, why do you think they took so long to take root in Europe?</strong></p>
<p>Well, I don’t know if Homo Sapiens enjoys a technical superiority over Neanderthals, but their tools are certainly more efficient. Objectively, the bow and arrow is more efficient than a spear on many points, and we know that by all data from ethnography. </p>
<p>But I think the question of weapon is not at all the question of why a population is able to stay on a territory. And I think that the main question when a population arrives on a territory is: “What other social relations will I be able to build?” </p>
<p>We are not dealing with a total war between Neanderthal and Sapiens. I think we are dealing with interrelations between humanities that did not work out at the end.</p>
<p>I would also like to add that while Sapiens’ tools may be more efficient, Neanderthals’ are more singular. If you take crafts from Homo Sapiens, for example, 100 tools or 100 flints from 50 to 100,000 years ago, the 10,000 tools or flints after will be exactly the same. The population has a very clear project in their mind and regardless of the natural geologies, the environment, the climate, they reproduce the same thing. But if you take a Neanderthal tool in comparison, and then you analyze a million after that in the same layer, in the same societies, they are all completely different. Each tool is a specific creation. There’s an incredible creativity among Neanderthals. And there’s also a total absence of standardization that we find in our ancestors and in our contemporary societies.</p>
<p>Ultimately, what this shows and what I try to show in my two last books, <em><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/454664/the-naked-neanderthal-by-slimak-ludovic/9780241617663">The naked Neanderthal</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.odilejacob.fr/catalogue/sciences-humaines/archeologie-paleontologie-prehistoire/dernier-neandertalien_9782415004927.php">The Last Neanderthal</a></em>, is that we have projected all our fantasies on that humanity, saying: “Look, we have been racist, in fact, Neanderthals are just like us”. But the 30 years I have spent in caves and the millions of flints I have seen tell a different story. It’s not at all a humanity that is like us. </p>
<p><strong>While your scientific colleagues recognise your research as ambitious, not everyone is convinced. You said that there was 100% certainty about the identification of that broken molar, but others will say that it could also be an shaped tooth of a young Neanderthal. Likewise, some are sceptical that the sophisticated tools that we found in the Grotte Mandrin, the Châtelperronian tools, were the handicraft of modern humans and not the Neanderthals. What is your answer to them?</strong></p>
<p>The French historian, Emmanuel Todd, once said he was very disappointed when he was young because he thoughts ideas went on to die in intellectual fights. You know, you have a huge fight and an idea will win and the other will die. In the end, he realised the idea dies with the person who carries it. </p>
<p>So we won’t change the ideas of the person who worked for 40 years or 50 years on the question. You know, the structures of the upper Paleolithic (between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago) were last defined by the abbey Breuil in 1906 and so there was no major change for 120 years. I’m not waiting for all researchers to say: “Well, it’s fantastic you changed everything”. </p>
<p>What is very important to respond to, for example, is the objection that the research is not clear and only based on one tooth. Well, no, it’s not only one tooth, it’s millions of flints. </p>
<p>And even if we did not have any hominin remains, we would be able to identify these artefacts as Sapiens’. Like, for example, for the Aurignacians (35,000 years ago) or the Proto-Aurignacians (42,000 years ago), we did not have any teeth for years. Now I think we have two or three for all Europe and in the Levant we have two or three very isolated teeth, but before we find these teeth everybody was happy and was saying: “Well, it’s clear it’s absolutely homo Sapiens because we have this connection with the Near East.”</p>
<p>As for what the paper of the three waves tried to explain, we must see that as a very general overview, and at the scale of the Western Eurasia - not something at the scale of the Rhône Valley or of one tooth. It’s a major historical event and we must see it at this scale.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ludovic Slimak ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Meet the archeologist who is overhauling our understanding of early human history.Ludovic Slimak, Archéologue, penseur et chercheur au CNRS, Université de Toulouse III – Paul SabatierLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2070002023-06-06T02:42:34Z2023-06-06T02:42:34ZMajor new research claims smaller-brained ‘Homo naledi’ made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530232/original/file-20230606-23-klb0fr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C24%2C5306%2C2183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On September 13 2013, speleologists Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker descended deep into South Africa’s Rising Star cave system and discovered the first evidence of an extraordinary assemblage of <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/hominid-and-hominin-whats-the-difference/">hominin</a> fossils. </p>
<p>To date, the remains of more than 15 individuals belonging to a previously unknown species of extinct human, dubbed <em>Homo naledi</em>, have been found in the cave. These short-statured, small-brained ancient cousins are thought to have lived in Southern Africa between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Rising Star Cave is an exceptional resource for exploring the origins of our species. However, archaeological work at the site has been some of the <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pieces-homo-naledi-story-continue-puzzle">most</a> <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/lee-berger-digs-for-bones-and-glory">controversial</a> in the discipline.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543127v1">Three</a> <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1">new</a> <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543135v1">studies</a> made available today (as pre-prints awaiting peer review) claim to have found evidence <em>Homo naledi</em> intentionally buried their dead (a sophisticated practice we usually associate with <em>Homo sapiens</em>) and made rock art, which suggests advanced cognitive abilities. </p>
<p>However, as archaeologists who investigate early humans in Africa, we’re not convinced the new research stacks up.</p>
<h2>Did <em>Homo naledi</em> bury their dead?</h2>
<p>The research purports to have evidence <em>Homo naledi</em> undertook deliberate burial of their dead – a major claim. </p>
<p>So far, the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03457-8">earliest secure evidence</a> for burial in Africa comes from the Panga ya Saidi cave site in eastern Kenya, excavated by our team and dated to 78,000 years ago. This burial of a <em>Homo sapiens</em> child meets rigorous criteria agreed upon by the scientific community for identifying <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004724841100090X?casa_token=Ij7IJcdPIaoAAAAA:-oP3zX8NHW18oJetZcL9X494dJ4EkFBIoGdi8md-th8lFlFbcCDMwCt_pWFIXrcrxYZOIYsD">intentional human burial</a>.</p>
<p>The aim of the criteria is to help differentiate burial from other practices and phenomena that could lead to the depositing of human remains. These include, for example, the natural accumulation of skeletal parts in a predator’s cavern, or the kind of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120919-respect-the-dead">carrying and protecting</a> of dead bodies observed among cognitively advanced non-human species such as gorillas and chimpanzees.</p>
<p>The claimed <em>Homo naledi</em> burials precede the Panga ya Saidi burial evidence by as much as 160,000 years. If the claim is correct, it significantly pushes back evidence for advanced mortuary behaviour in Africa. It also implies intentional burial wasn’t limited to our species or other big-brained hominins.</p>
<p>Such a finding would force us to rethink the role of brain size in advanced “meaning-making” cognition, as well as what distinguishes our species from our ancestors.</p>
<p>But is there actually evidence for funerary behaviour at Rising Star Cave? According to standards set by the palaeoanthropology community, the evidence presented so far indicates no.</p>
<h2>Insufficient evidence</h2>
<p>The site’s researchers <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543127v1">claim to have evidence</a> for three intentional burials. </p>
<p>However, not one of the burials provides compelling evidence of a deliberately excavated pit. Indeed, the shallow cavities may not be dug pits at all, but natural depressions where the bodies accumulated and were later disturbed by trampling, or partial cave collapse. </p>
<p>The alleged burials also fail to meet another fundamental criteria for deliberate burials: anatomical alignment of the body and articulation of skeletal remains. </p>
<p>In a deliberate burial, the body is generally intact and any minimal displacement can be explained by decomposition. That’s because burial involves immediately covering the body with soil, which protects the anatomical integrity of the skeleton.</p>
<p>Rising Star Cave so far hasn’t produced evidence for anything other than the general spatial association of some skeletal elements. At most, it provides evidence for the in-situ decomposition of particular body parts, such as an ankle, and partial hand and foot articulations.</p>
<p>Moreover, confirming intentional burial in the past has required the presentation of human remains in an arrangement that can’t have been achieved by chance. However, the scattered distribution of the remains at Rising Star prevents reconstruction of their original positions.</p>
<p>Other claimed evidence for funerary behaviour is equally uncompelling. A stone artefact supposedly included in the burial as a “grave good” is said to have scratches and edge serrations from use. But this so-called artefact’s shape suggests it may be natural. It’s still encased in sediment and has only been studied through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchrotron_light_source">synchrotron X-ray</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530237/original/file-20230606-17-cso4oh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The purported stone artefact (from synchrotron X-ray) showing so-called scratches and edge serrations may actually be a natural rock and not culturally modified.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lee Berger et al</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But perhaps the biggest barrier to confirming the status of the findings is that so far none of the alleged burials have been fully excavated. It’s therefore impossible to assess the completeness of the bodies, their original position, and the limits of the purported pits.</p>
<h2>Did <em>Homo naledi</em> make rock art?</h2>
<p>An equally splashy claim made in one of the publications is that <em>Homo naledi</em> left rock art on the walls of Rising Star Cave.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1">report</a> describes engravings in the form of deeply impressed cross-hatchings and geometric shapes such as squares, triangles, crosses and X’s. Further claims are made about the preparation of and potential repeated handling or rubbing of the associated rock surface, and the use of a similar “tool” to the one they claim was found with the alleged burial.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530224/original/file-20230606-27-9qrejq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The researchers point to engravings in the wall as evidence of <em>Homo naledi’s</em> capability to create art and symbols. But these etchings haven’t been dated, and some of the lines look relatively recently etched.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1">Lee Berger et al</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This claim has major implications. To date, rock art has only reliably been linked to <em>Homo sapiens</em> and, in rarer cases, some of our large-brained ancestors. Similar to deliberate burial, producing rock art has major implications for the cognitive abilities of a species. It denotes a capacity for representation, and the creation and communication of meaning via abstract symbols. </p>
<p>The problem with the rock art at Rising Star Cave is that it’s undated. To imply any link with <em>Homo naledi</em> requires firm dates. This could be achieved through using dating techniques on associated residues or <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.abd4648">natural deposits</a> covering the art, or by studying materials from excavated and dated archaeological layers that can be linked to the art (for instance, if they contain engraving tools or engraved rock fall fragments).</p>
<p>In the absence of dating, it’s simply spurious to claim the engravings were made by <em>Homo naledi</em>, rather than by another species (and potentially at a much later date).</p>
<h2>Did <em>Homo naledi</em> light up Rising Star Cave?</h2>
<p>The researchers also claim the mortuary and engraving activities in Rising Star Cave involved strategic use of fire for illumination. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOtX_Bcs_F4&ab_channel=CarnegieScience">public lectures</a> and on social media they clarify they have found new evidence for hearths, including charcoal, ash, discoloured clay and burned animal bones. Yet none of the scientific research needed to confirm the use of fire has been carried out. Or if it has, it hasn’t been published.</p>
<p>Previously acquired radiocarbon dates obtained by the site investigators on the apparent hearth material provided <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOtX_Bcs_F4&ab_channel=CarnegieScience">very late dates</a> that distanced the hearths from the remains of <em>Homo naledi</em> by several hundred thousand years.</p>
<p>We’re not opposed to the idea that the Rising Star Cave witnessed precocious mortuary behaviour involving the intentional disposal of bodies by <em>Homo naledi</em>. But it’s clear the latest inferences require further investigation before they’re accepted by the broader scientific community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-was-part-of-the-team-that-found-the-homo-naledi-childs-skull-how-we-did-it-171153">I was part of the team that found the Homo naledi child's skull: how we did it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Homo naledi had a brain less than half the size of our own. Yet the new research claims it had cognitive abilities far beyond what we might expect.Michael Petraglia, Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityEmmanuel K. Ndiema, Senior Research Scientist, National Museums of KenyaMaría Martinón-Torres, CENIEH Director, Atapuerca Research Team and author of "Homo imperfectus" (Ed. Destino), Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)Nicole Boivin, Professor, Max Planck Institute of GeoanthropologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008992023-03-01T19:06:23Z2023-03-01T19:06:23ZWe thought the first hunter-gatherers in Europe went missing during the last ice age. Now, ancient DNA analysis says otherwise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512788/original/file-20230301-22-56r83n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3964%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer associated with the Gravettian culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Bjoerklund</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hunter-gatherers took shelter from the ice age in Southwestern Europe, but were replaced on the Italian Peninsula according to two new studies, published in <a href="https://www.mpg.de/19941740/0223-evan-ice-age-survivors-150495-x">Nature</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-01987-0">Nature Ecology & Evolution</a> today.</p>
<p>Modern humans first began to spread across Eurasia approximately 45,000 years ago, arriving from the near east. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evac045">Previous research</a> claimed these people disappeared when massive ice sheets covered much of Europe around 25,000–19,000 years ago. By comparing the DNA of various ancient humans, we show this was not the case for all hunter-gatherer groups.</p>
<p>Our new results show the hunter-gatherers of Central and Southern Europe did disappear during the last ice age. However, their cousins in what is now France and Spain survived, leaving genetic traces still visible in the DNA of Western European peoples nearly 30,000 years later.</p>
<h2>Two studies with one intertwining story</h2>
<p>In our first study in Nature, we analysed the genomes – the complete set of DNA a person carries – of 356 prehistoric hunter-gatherers. In fact, our study compared every available ancient hunter-gatherer genome.</p>
<p>In our second study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, we analysed the oldest hunter-gatherer genome recovered from the southern tip of Spain, belonging to someone who lived approximately 23,000 years ago. We also analysed three early farmers who lived roughly 6,000 years ago in southern Spain. This allowed us to fill an important sampling gap for this region.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of dark bones on a sandy beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512790/original/file-20230301-23-w9p7rl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human fossils that were genetically analysed in this study were found on the Dutch coast and dated from around 11,000 to 8,000 years ago. They originally came from Doggerland, a now submerged land under the North Sea, where European hunter-gatherers lived.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Museum of Antiquities (RMO), modified by Michelle O‘Reilly</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By combining results from these two studies, we can now describe the most complete story of human history in Europe to date. This story includes migration events, human retreat from the effects of the ice age, long-lasting genetic lineages and lost populations.</p>
<h2>Post-ice-age genetic replacement</h2>
<p>Between 32,000 and 24,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer individuals (associated with what’s known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.025">Gravettian culture</a>) were widespread across the European continent. This critical time period ends at the Last Glacial Maximum. This was the coldest period of the last ice age in Europe, and took place 24,000 to 19,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Our data show that populations from Southwestern Europe (today’s France and Iberia), and Central and Southern Europe (today’s Italy and Czechia), were not closely genetically related. These two distinct groups were instead linked by similar weapons and art.</p>
<p>We could see that Central and Southern European Gravettian populations left no genetic signal after the Last Glacial Maximum – in other words, they simply disappeared. The individuals associated with a later culture (known as the Epigravettian) were not descendants of the Gravettian. According to one of my Nature co-authors, He Yu, they were</p>
<blockquote>
<p>genetically distinct from the area’s previous inhabitants. Presumably, these people came from the Balkans, arrived first in northern Italy around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, and spread all the way south to Sicily.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Central and Southern Europe, our data indicate people associated with the Epigravettian populations of the Italian peninsula later spread across Europe. This occurred approximately 14,000 years ago, following the end of the ice age.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fragments of bones and a skull on a dark background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512793/original/file-20230301-22-fh6yle.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male skull and stone tools from Groß Fredenwalde (Germany), dated to 7,000 years ago. This individual’s population lived side-by-side with the first European farmers without mixing. (Cooperation with Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Volker Minkus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Climate refuge</h2>
<p>While the Gravettian populations of Central and Southern Europe disappeared, the fate of the Southwestern populations was not the same.</p>
<p>We detected the genetic profile of Southwestern Gravettian populations again and again for the next 20,000 years in Western Europe. We saw this first in their direct descendants (known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24931600">Solutrean</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.056">Magdalenian</a> cultures). These were the people who took refuge and flourished in Southwestern Europe during the ice age. Once the ice age ended, the Magdalenians spread northeastward, back into Europe.</p>
<p>Remarkably, the 23,000-year-old remains of a Solutrean individual from Cueva de Malalmuerzo in Spain allowed us to make a direct link to the first modern humans that settled Europe. We could connect them to a 35,000-year-old individual from Belgium, and then to hunter-gatherers who lived in Western Europe long after the Last Glacial Maximum.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512813/original/file-20230301-22-xdhza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archaeological cave site of Cueva del Malalmuerzo from the southern tip of Spain where the 23,000 year old Solutrean individual was discovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pedro Cantalejo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sea levels during the ice age were lower, making it only 13 kilometres from the tip of Spain to Northern Africa. However, we observed no genetic links between individuals in southern Spain and northern Morocco from 14,000 years ago. This showed that while European populations retreated south during the ice age, they surprisingly stopped before reaching Northern Africa.</p>
<p>Our results show the special role the Iberian peninsula played as a safe haven for humans during the ice age. The genetic legacy of hunter-gatherers would survive in the region after more than 30,000 years, unlike their distant relatives further east.</p>
<h2>Post ice-age interaction</h2>
<p>Some 2,000 years after the end of the ice age, there were again two genetically distinct hunter-gatherer groups. There was the “old” group in Western and Central Europe, and the “more recent” group in Eastern Europe.</p>
<p>These groups showed no evidence of genetic exchange with southwestern hunter-gatherer populations for approximately 6,000 years, until roughly 8,000 years ago.</p>
<p>At this time, agriculture and a sedentary lifestyle had begun to spread with new peoples from Anatolia into Europe, forcing hunter-gatherers to retreat to the northern fringes of Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam "Ben" Rohrlach was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology until January 2023, and still holds an affiliation there.</span></em></p>45,000 years ago, people first started arriving in what’s known as Europe today. We thought a worsening ice age made them disappear – but it seems some lineages survived.Adam "Ben" Rohrlach, Mathematics Lecturer and Archaeogeneticist, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1994992023-02-09T19:11:02Z2023-02-09T19:11:02ZWe found 2.9-million-year-old stone tools used to butcher ancient hippos – but likely not by our ancestors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509068/original/file-20230209-21-4zmo2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=209%2C8%2C5158%2C1263&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Louys</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, a short valley extends south towards the looming Mount Homa. From it have emerged some of the oldest-known stone tools used to butcher large animals, as well as the oldest remains of one of our early cousins, <em><a href="https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/paranthropus-species/">Paranthropus</a></em> – a genus we think <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/release/skull-shines-light-on-human-evolution#">co-existed with</a> our direct ancestors.</p>
<p>Similar tool and fossil discoveries had been made before, in different places and at different times. But to find these all together in one place, as old as they are, is truly extraordinary. </p>
<p>In research published today in <a href="https://science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7452">Science</a>, we explain how findings at the Nyayanga site are changing the way experts think about carnivory among hominins – a <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/hominid-and-hominin-whats-the-difference/">group that includes</a> modern humans, extinct humans, direct ancestors and close cousins.</p>
<p>It also raises doubt about who was really responsible for making the stone tools we’d previously <a href="https://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/e-exhibits/oldowan-and-acheulean-stone-tools#:%7E:text=Dating%20as%20far%20back%20as,Homo%20sapiens%2C%20manufactured%20Oldowan%20tools">attributed to <em>Homo</em></a> and <a href="https://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/e-exhibits/oldowan-and-acheulean-stone-tools#:%7E:text=Dating%20as%20far%20back%20as,Homo%20sapiens%2C%20manufactured%20Oldowan%20tools">closely related</a> species.</p>
<h2>Fossils on the Homa Peninsula</h2>
<p>Nyayanga is a typical pastoral valley situated on the Homa Peninsula in western Kenya. This peninsula has long been known to produce various fossils. In 1996, a multidisciplinary team led by one of us (Thomas) began work on a two-million-year-old site called <a href="https://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/anthro/Web_Pages/plummer/plummer3.html">Kanjera South</a>. This work produced a wealth of fossil remains from large mammals, as well as stone tools associated with our genus, <em>Homo</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508774/original/file-20230208-15-37gyqj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Excavations at Kanjera South provide evidence of two-million-year-old stone tools, and butchered antelopes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Louys</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During a field season at Kanjera South, a local man named Peter Onyango who was working with the team suggested we investigate some fossils and stone tools eroding out of a valley on the shores of Lake Victoria. This new site, named Nyayanga after the nearby beach, was situated on a donkey track leading to the lake. </p>
<p>The first stone tools and fossils we collected were eroding out from the gully walls. Beginning in 2015, a series of excavations eventually returned a trove of 330 artefacts and 1,776 animal bone fragments from a range of species characteristic of open savannah and open woodland environments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508775/original/file-20230208-19-pd9ktg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The site of Nyayanga was primarily used as a track for donkeys and cattle, leading to the shores of Lake Victoria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Louys</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bones included animals we’re familiar with today, such as giraffes, antelopes, elephants and hippos. But they also included extinct megafauna such as <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurygnathohippus">Eurygnathohippus</a></em>, an extinct horse ancestor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorovis"><em>Pelorvis</em></a>, the giant buffalo, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megantereon"><em>Megantereon</em></a>, the sabre-toothed cat. </p>
<p>Of particular interest were the remains of two teeth from the extinct hominin <em>Paranthropus</em> – nicknamed the Nutcracker Man as its large flat teeth are thought to have been used to process tough vegetable matter. These teeth, one intact and the other a fragment, were the first direct evidence of an extinct hominin on the Peninsula.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two Paranthropus teeth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508848/original/file-20230208-17-di5tis.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two <em>Paranthropus</em> teeth were recovered from Nyayanga.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">S. E. Bailey, Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What made their recovery even more surprising were the tools we found associated with them. Alongside <em>Paranthropus’s</em> teeth were some stone tools belonging to a technology known as the Oldowan, characterised by three main forms: hammerstone, core, and flake. </p>
<p>Oldowan tools had long been associated with our own genus, <em>Homo</em>, and were once considered a marker for the beginnings of human modernity. While we can’t demonstrate <em>Paranthropus</em> actually made these tools, this species is so far the only suspect at the scene of the crime.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tools belonging to the Oldowan technology." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508846/original/file-20230208-21-v015kd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We found stone tools belonging to the Oldowan technology found at Nyayanga.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">T.W. Plummer, J.S. Oliver, and E. M. Finestone, Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early signs of butchery</h2>
<p>So, what was a nutcracking, plant-chomping hominin using these tools for? Well it turns out in addition to processing plants – the evidence of which we could see on the tools’ edges – these lithics were also used to make hippo tartare. </p>
<p>We found evidence of meat cutting on the edges – but the smoking gun was the cut and percussion marks found on several hippo individuals associated with these stone tools. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Hippo skeleton excavated at Nyayanga." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508845/original/file-20230208-17-7ls67s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hippo skeleton excavated at Nyayanga. This probably represents a single individual, and shows evidence of butchery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">T.W. Plummer, Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, this wasn’t the first time cut marks had been found on megafauna. In fact, some of the earliest evidence of megafauna butchery was <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0062174">reported</a> on by our team at Kanjera South back in 2013. </p>
<p>However, our comprehensive dating program at Nyayanga revealed the site’s deposits to be about 2.9 million years old. This means they’re probably the oldest stone tools found to have butchered hippos and processed plant material. </p>
<p>Not only that, but this is about two million years before the first evidence that people used fire. This suggests raw hippo was on the menu for the hungry hominins.</p>
<p>Adding to that, the tooth fossils are the oldest <em>Paranthropus</em> remains ever found, and the associated tools are the oldest-known Oldowan tools. The second-oldest were uncovered some 1,200 kilometres away in Ethiopia, and dated to about <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1820177116">2.6 million years</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-reveals-humans-ventured-out-of-africa-repeatedly-as-early-as-400-000-years-ago-to-visit-the-rolling-grasslands-of-arabia-167050">Research reveals humans ventured out of Africa repeatedly as early as 400,000 years ago, to visit the rolling grasslands of Arabia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A brave old world</h2>
<p>There’s no evidence <em>Paranthropus</em> was actively hunting megafauna. But it would have been competing with sabre-toothed cats, hyenas and crocodiles for access to carcasses, at the very least. </p>
<p>The Nyayanga deposits provide a glimpse into an ancestral world that’s possibly radically different from any we had pictured. In doing so, they’ve raised even more questions about hominin evolution.</p>
<p>Who were these resourceful toolmakers? How far back does carnivory go? And just how old and widespread is the innovative Oldowan toolkit? Despite more than 100 years of research on the Homa Peninsula, much remains unearthed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-the-oldest-ever-vertebrate-fossil-heart-it-tells-a-380-million-year-old-story-of-how-our-bodies-evolved-190230">We found the oldest ever vertebrate fossil heart. It tells a 380 million-year-old story of how our bodies evolved</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199499/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Louys receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He was formally at Liverpool John Moores University</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Plummer receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the LSB Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the PSC-CUNY Research Award Program. He is research associate in the Human Origins Program of the Smithsonian Institution.</span></em></p>The findings suggest we weren’t the first advanced carnivore among the hominins, as has been previously assumed.Julien Louys, Deputy Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityThomas Plummer, Professor, Anthropology Department, Queens College, CUNYLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939512022-12-26T20:51:52Z2022-12-26T20:51:52ZRituals have been crucial for humans throughout history – and we still need them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502293/original/file-20221221-16-kz3paq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=62%2C26%2C5898%2C3941&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each December, Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, among others, take over our thoughts and our wallets as we participate in ceremonies our ancestors have practised for as long as we can remember. These are all example of traditions. And in most cases, traditions are accompanied by rituals. </p>
<p>What’s the difference?</p>
<p>In scientific terms, a “tradition” refers to the passing down of customs and beliefs from one generation to the next. A “ritual”, on the other hand, is a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order, and which is often embedded in a larger symbolic system, such as religion or philosophy. </p>
<p>For example, while celebrating birthdays is a tradition, blowing out the candles on a cake is a ritual. Similarly, while getting married is a tradition, exchanging vows is a ritual. </p>
<p>New rituals can be created at any time. To become tradition they only need to be understood and replicated by a wider community. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old photo from around 1975 shows newlyweds drinking together at their wedding." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502295/original/file-20221221-20-fi43dc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communities around the world have different rituals practised during weddings, often passed down through generations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And it’s not just in grand gestures that humans practise rituals; some are so embedded into our everyday lives we no longer recognise them. The very particular way someone makes their tea or coffee in the morning is a ritual they enact daily.</p>
<p>Basically, rituals are everywhere. That raises the question: why do we have them at all?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-story-of-legends-families-and-capitalism-a-candid-history-of-the-christmas-tree-196278">A story of legends, families and capitalism: a candid history of the Christmas tree</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Archaeological evidence for the earliest rituals</h2>
<p>Ritual behaviour has very deep origins in humanity. However, tracking these origins and their development is difficult as rituals often leave little or no physical traces behind for archaeologists to find.</p>
<p>Thus far, the best evidence for ancient rituals is the deliberate burial of loved ones. The oldest example is found at Mt Carmel in Israel, where some 130,000 years ago a <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html">Neanderthal woman</a> was laid to rest by her community. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500553/original/file-20221212-24-83uis7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mt Carmel in Israel is the site of the oldest known human burial. A Neanderthal woman was laid to rest here some 130,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Archaeologists also suggest the extensive use of coloured pigments (particularly bright red) to paint bodies, objects and rock walls points to the practice of “symbolic” behaviour, including ritual. The oldest reliable evidence for colourant use dates to between <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/686484">500,000 and 310,000 years ago</a> and comes from several archaeological sites in southern Africa.</p>
<p>Another type of evidence that is often intrinsically tied to rituals and traditions is musical instruments. Bone flutes dating back to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/20563-ancient-bone-flute.html">about 42,000 years ago</a> have been found in Western Europe. How long people have used the very first instruments – the human voice, clapping hands and stomping feet – remains unknown.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=195&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502283/original/file-20221221-18-n138xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This bone flute, found at the German Palaeolithic site of Hohle Fels, is at least 42,000 years old.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jensen/University of Tubingen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-invented-music-the-search-for-stone-flutes-clay-whistles-and-the-dawn-of-song-185285">Who invented music? The search for stone flutes, clay whistles and the dawn of song</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why do we have rituals?</h2>
<p>Rituals play a very important role in human communities for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>First, rituals help reduce individual and collective anxieties, especially when we ourselves, our family, or our whole community is facing uncertain times or crisis.</p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431">Research has shown</a> that by praying or singing together we feel connected and supported and our anxiety is reduced. This may explain why Parisians were moved to sing together as they watched their beloved Notre Dame Cathedral burn in 2019.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/323MpjYoQxE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Parisians sing together as Notre Dame burns – a spontaneous ritual to deal with an unexpected crisis.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rituals also help reduce anxiety by allowing us to feel control over our surroundings. For instance, new parents may be anxious about protecting their baby. Rituals that welcome the infant into the family and community help them feel they’ve done everything possible – including drawing on supernatural protection – to ensure their child’s wellbeing.</p>
<p>Second, rituals bring people together to celebrate or otherwise mark important life milestones. Births, graduations, marriages and deaths are all marked by rituals and traditions across the globe. These events provide a time and place to gather and encourage people to renew their bonds with friends and family.</p>
<p>These bonds are especially important in times of bad luck, which helps explain why the incentive to maintain them has endured through human history.</p>
<p>Imagine living tens of thousands of years ago, when human communities were much smaller and often lived farther apart. If a volcano erupted, the resulting destruction could mean plant and animal resources – essential food and materials needed for survival – would not be available for months, or perhaps years. </p>
<p>You would then have to rely on the bonds you maintained with neighbouring communities through shared rituals. Such bonds would encourage the sharing of resources until circumstances improve.</p>
<p>Finally, rituals help us remember and share huge amounts of cultural information. By learning a format or pattern of behaviour through ritual, we can absorb information and recall it later more easily. </p>
<p>This approach works astonishingly well to ensure information is passed down orally over long periods. Thus far, the oldest story dated using scientific methods is the Aboriginal Gunditjmara people’s story of the Budj Bim volcano eruption, which occurred <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/aboriginal-tale-ancient-volcano-oldest-story-ever-told">37,000 years ago</a> in what is now south-western Victoria.</p>
<p>Being able to retain information about changes in the landscape, its plants, animals and people ultimately increased the likelihood that your family would not only survive – but thrive.</p>
<h2>Rituals will remain</h2>
<p>Without rituals, and the traditions in which they become embedded, it is unlikely humanity would have advanced to its current state of cultural and technological development. </p>
<p>We wouldn’t have been able to continually gather and share information, maintain bonds over extensive geographical areas, or make it through difficult periods.</p>
<p>Despite being surrounding by increasingly complex technologies, rituals today remain more important than ever. With extreme weather events and conflicts continuing to displace people all over the globe, they will act as an essential social glue that holds our communities together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Langley is an Associate Professor of Archaeology in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) and the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University.</span></em></p>Rituals have been around for hundreds of thousands of years – but are they still useful today?Michelle Langley, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1918572022-10-17T19:04:43Z2022-10-17T19:04:43ZNew dates suggest Oceania’s megafauna lived until 25,000 years ago, implying coexistence with people for 40,000 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489728/original/file-20221014-17-p3r3cz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=88%2C29%2C4832%2C3223&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most of Australia’s human past sea levels were lower than they are today. Australia’s mainland was connected to Papua New Guinea and Tasmania as part of a larger landmass called “Sahul”. </p>
<p>During the Ice Ages Sahul was home to a unique range of megafauna, which included giant marsupials, birds and reptiles. The extinction of <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/megafauna/">megafauna</a> in Sahul remains one of the most contested debates in Australian science. </p>
<p>Now, our new paper published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5274">Archaeology in Oceania</a> provides compelling evidence megafauna may have coexisted with people in the region longer than previously thought – and as recently as about 25,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Our research extends the likely period of overlap between megafauna and people to about 40,000 years. It brings new evidence against the theory that people in Sahul drove the megafauna extinction.</p>
<h2>An enduring scientific debate</h2>
<p>Like other regions during the ice ages (a period known as the Pleistocene) Sahul contained the enigmatic megafauna. The term “megafauna” as it’s used in Australia is generally applied to ancient animals that weighed more than about 45kg.</p>
<p>There is disagreement on how Sahul’s megafauna went extinct. Since 1831 – when eminent anatomist Sir Richard Owen received megafauna fossils from Wellington Cave in New South Wales, and a decade later from the Darling Downs in Queensland – there has been speculation about how Sahul’s megafauna went extinct. </p>
<p>Owen argued humans were responsible. Others, such as Prussian scientist <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.627463751345482?casa_token=a69MrpXhe3IAAAAA:ftLRwNOBpEHX-u5y6jbsqgiJpD566GA2mQGdg8PA701tIrN5W9plxqqzscCyiLx6-fXUXkHV4QN7nccJ">Ludwig Leichhardt</a>, favoured environmental change as the cause, proposing megafauna extinction in the Darling Downs occurred as a result of the draining of swamps due to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/tectonics">tectonic</a> uplift.</p>
<p>Today the debate continues along similar lines. Some researchers argue Aboriginal people were responsible for driving all megafauna extinct by <a href="https://epicaustralia.org.au/megafauna-mysteries-plotting-unpredictable-and-complex-extinction-cascades/">42,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-coexisted-with-three-tonne-marsupials-and-lizards-as-long-as-cars-in-ancient-australia-138534">Humans coexisted with three-tonne marsupials and lizards as long as cars in ancient Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Decades of work in Sahul</h2>
<p>The most direct approach to understanding what happened to the megafauna involves excavating sites containing their remains, and applying a range of techniques to understand how these sites (and their surroundings) have changed through time. Revisiting old sites with new techniques helps us gather as much data as possible.</p>
<p>The most significant research into understanding megafauna extinction in northernmost Sahul was conducted in the 1970s by archaeologist Mary-Jane Mountain at the Nombe rockshelter in the Papuan Highlands.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Some men stand to the side at the Nombe rockshelter, with parts of the earth on the bottom-left partially excavated." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489723/original/file-20221014-14-de5ooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Nombe rockshelter excavation in the 1970s provided some of the most significant estimates for when Sahul’s megafauna went extinct.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barry Shaw</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mountain’s careful excavation of a site known to have been inhabited by people in the late Pleistocene also uncovered megafauna fossils. </p>
<p>While the fossils themselves couldn’t be dated, the dating of charcoal samples, non-megafauna animal bones and snail shells from adjacent deposits revealed megafauna existed in the area as recently as 19,000 years ago. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1060264">a paper</a> published in 2001 argued archaeological sites weren’t ideal for testing megafauna extinctions as they lacked near-complete animal fossils that had been moved by people. </p>
<p>Nombe was removed from the list, along with the original dates for megafauna surviving as recently as 19,000 to 25,000 years ago.</p>
<p>In 2016, another <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arco.5114?casa_token=qg2zVKAmwNEAAAAA%3AbuuqNJYJjvJ6LFenCYYqBOqPzLcLB79-KWME2rdplVap6x7ps7ifbsdWbid1VIF_perhCVjRRSkp9mcQZg">important paper</a> was published reassessing these dates. This research used a more modern carbon-dating approach called accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dating. </p>
<p>This method can date much smaller charcoal particles, and once more led researchers to dates that supported the original estimates revealed through Mountain’s work.</p>
<h2>Redating Nombe</h2>
<p>For our new paper, we decided to further test these estimates using uranium-series (U-series) dating of megafauna fossils. The U-series dating technique has been refined over several decades. It allowed us to directly date megafauna fossils from the Papuan Highlands for the first time.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arco.5274">research</a> suggests the fossils date to between 22,000 and 27,000 years ago – which is very close to Mountain’s original estimates and the more recent accelerated mass spectrometry dates.</p>
<p>The U-series dating provides minimum age estimates, which means the fossils <em>could</em> be older. But since our estimates are supported by previous accelerated mass spectrometry dating, collectively the data provide a compelling case for the existence of megafauna in Sahul as recently as 25,000 years ago. </p>
<p>This contradicts the persisting theory these animals were extinct by 42,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Our research also extends the period of overlap between megafauna and people. If the earliest dates for people in Sahul go back 65,000 years, this implies some 40,000 years of overlap.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-australians-co-existed-with-the-megafauna-for-at-least-17-000-years-70589">Aboriginal Australians co-existed with the megafauna for at least 17,000 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Adding to this, <a href="https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-australians-co-existed-with-the-megafauna-for-at-least-17-000-years-70589">recent work</a> at the Willandra Lakes in NSW and the Seton Rockshelter at Kangaroo Island also estimates Sahul’s megafauna were alive some 30,000 years ago. </p>
<h2>Was there another ancient human?</h2>
<p>Some argued the arrival of people to Sahul drove <a href="https://bigthink.com/hard-science/giant-australian-creatures-called-megafauna-went-extinct-because-of-humans-not-climate-change/">significant environmental change</a>, to the point that megafauna could no longer survive. </p>
<p>But our analysis of pollen at Nombe reveals high-altitude forests (called montane forests) persisted from at least 26,000 years ago to the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago. The archaeological evidence shows people weren’t that active in the area during this time – which suggests it’s unlikely they drove the megafauna extinction.</p>
<p>Rather, we raise the possibility megafauna may have coexisted with <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/hominid-and-hominin-whats-the-difference/">hominins</a> (a group including us, <em>Homo sapiens</em>, and our close ancestors) for much longer than previously thought.</p>
<p>Geneticists have found the mysterious ancient humans called Denisovans were likely present in the Papuan Highlands before <em>Homo sapiens</em> arrived. So they may have been familiar with megafauna further back than 65,000 years ago.</p>
<p>But this idea needs to be further investigated. We don’t have Denisovan fossils from Papua New Guinea. We only have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867419302181">genetic data</a> in modern Highland populations to study. </p>
<p>More <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05330-7?sf191362228=1">field work</a> will help us understand not only how megafauna went extinct across Sahul, but how they interacted with their surroundings, and how their collapse may have shaped today’s environments.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giant-marsupials-once-migrated-across-an-australian-ice-age-landscape-84762">Giant marsupials once migrated across an Australian Ice Age landscape</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Westaway receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Our work provides new evidence against the theory that people living in Sahul drove the megafauna extinction.Michael Westaway, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1918992022-10-04T23:15:56Z2022-10-04T23:15:56ZWhat’s next for ancient DNA studies after Nobel Prize honors groundbreaking field of paleogenomics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488157/original/file-20221004-14-rupej6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=360%2C291%2C4414%2C3088&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers need to be careful not to contaminate ancient samples with their own DNA.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/female-scientist-filling-pipette-trays-at-fume-hood-royalty-free-image/1374565126">Caia Image via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first time, a Nobel Prize recognized the field of anthropology, the study of humanity. Svante Pääbo, a pioneer in the study of ancient DNA, or aDNA, was awarded the 2022 <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2022/summary/">prize in physiology or medicine</a> for his breathtaking achievements sequencing DNA extracted from ancient skeletal remains and reconstructing early humans’ genomes – that is, all the genetic information contained in one organism.</p>
<p>His accomplishment was once only the stuff of Jurassic Park-style science fiction. But Pääbo and many colleagues, working in large multidisciplinary teams, <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-prize-svante-paabos-ancient-dna-discoveries-offer-clues-as-to-what-makes-us-human-191805">pieced together the genomes</a> of our distant cousins, the famous Neanderthals and the more elusive Denisovans, whose existence was not even known until their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/science/23ancestor.html">DNA was sequenced</a> from a tiny pinky bone of a child <a href="https://theconversation.com/fresh-clues-to-the-life-and-times-of-the-denisovans-a-little-known-ancient-group-of-humans-110504">buried in a cave in Siberia</a>. Thanks to interbreeding with <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-teenager-the-first-known-person-with-parents-of-two-different-species-101965">and among</a> these early humans, their genetic traces <a href="https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-died-out-40-000-years-ago-but-there-has-never-been-more-of-their-dna-on-earth-189021">live on in many of us today</a>, shaping our bodies and our disease vulnerabilities – for example, to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2026309118">COVID-19</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="5Fzpd" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5Fzpd/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The world has learned a startling amount about <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-recent-discoveries-that-have-changed-how-we-think-about-human-origins-190274">our human origins</a> in the last dozen years since Pääbo and teammates’ groundbreaking discoveries. And the field of paleogenomics has rapidly expanded. Scientists have now sequenced <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-sequenced-the-oldest-ever-dna-from-million-year-old-mammoths-155485">mammoths that lived a million years ago</a>. Ancient DNA has addressed questions ranging from the origins of the <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/">first Americans</a> to the domestication of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/genetic-sequencing-pinpoints-the-origins-of-the-domestic-horse-180978926/">horses</a> and <a href="https://bigthink.com/the-past/ancient-dogs/">dogs</a>, the spread of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-is-revealing-the-origins-of-livestock-herding-in-africa-114387">livestock herding</a> and our bodies’ adaptations – or lack thereof – to <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2331213-evolution-of-lactose-tolerance-probably-driven-by-famine-and-disease/">drinking milk</a>. Ancient DNA can even shed light on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120786119">social questions</a> of marriage, kinship and mobility. Researchers can now sequence DNA not only from the remains of ancient humans, animals and plants, but even from their <a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-deep-dna-molecules-in-ancient-dirt-offer-a-treasure-trove-of-clues-to-our-past-172489">traces left in cave dirt</a>.</p>
<p>Alongside this growth in research, people have been grappling with <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-unearths-fascinating-secrets-but-what-about-the-ethics-85186">concerns about the speed</a> with which skeletal collections around the world have been sampled for aDNA, leading to broader conversations about <a href="https://theconversation.com/rights-of-the-dead-and-the-living-clash-when-scientists-extract-dna-from-human-remains-94284">how research should be done</a>. Who should conduct it? Who may benefit from or be harmed by it, and who gives consent? And how can the field become more equitable? As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3QKcZMoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">archaeologist</a> who partners with geneticists to study <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-helps-reveal-social-changes-in-africa-50-000-years-ago-that-shaped-the-human-story-175436">ancient African history</a>, I see both challenges and opportunities ahead.</p>
<h2>Building a better discipline</h2>
<p>One positive sign: Interdisciplinary researchers are working to establish <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-scholars-have-created-global-guidelines-for-ancient-dna-research-169284">basic common guidelines</a> for research design and conduct.</p>
<p>In North America, scholars have worked to address inequities by designing programs that <a href="https://www.singconsortium.org/">train future generations of Indigenous geneticists</a>. These are now expanding to other historically underrepresented communities in the world. In museums, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1822038116">best practices for sampling</a> are being put into place. They aim to minimize destruction to ancestral remains, while gleaning the most new information possible.</p>
<p><iframe id="ucxNW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ucxNW/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>But there is a long way to go to develop and enforce community consultation, ethical sampling and data sharing policies, especially in more resource-constrained parts of the world. The divide <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.880170">between the developing world and rich industrialized nations</a> is especially stark when looking at where <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1qwXOKV5uoQntgBsxQrxS01YHpbs&ll=-3.81666561775622e-14%2C6.726945455479381&z=1">ancient DNA labs</a>, funding and research publications are concentrated. It leaves fewer opportunities for scholars from parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas to be trained in the field and lead research. </p>
<p>The field faces structural challenges, such as the relative lack of funding for archaeology and cultural heritage protection in lower income countries, worsened by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/archaeology-is-changing-slowly-but-its-still-too-tied-up-in-colonial-practices-133243">long history of extractive research practices</a> and looming <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01280-1">climate change and site destruction</a>. These issues strengthen the regional bias in paleogenomics, which helps explain why some parts of the world – such as Europe – are so well-studied, while Africa – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-increases-the-genetic-time-depth-of-modern-humans-84716">cradle of humankind</a> and the <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-019-1740-1">most genetically diverse continent</a> – is relatively understudied, with shortfalls in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/03/africa-humanity-heritage-archaeologist">archaeology</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d44148-022-00051-6">genomics</a> and <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/with-ancient-human-dna-africas-deep-history-is-coming-to-light">ancient DNA</a>.</p>
<h2>Making public education a priority</h2>
<p>How paleogenomic findings are interpreted and communicated to the public <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0961-8">raises other concerns</a>. Consumers are regularly bombarded with advertisements for personal ancestry testing, <a href="https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/goodbye-lederhosen-hello-kilt-how-a-dna-test-changed-one-mans-identity-forever/">implying that genetics and identity are synonymous</a>. But lived experiences and decades of scholarship show that biological ancestry and socially defined identities <a href="https://theconversation.com/genetic-ancestry-tests-dont-change-your-identity-but-you-might-98663">do not map so easily onto one another</a>.</p>
<p>I’d argue that scholars studying aDNA have a responsibility to work with educational institutions, like schools and museums, to communicate the meaning of their research to the public. This is particularly important because people with political agendas – <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-ancient-dna-gets-politicized-180972639/">even elected officials</a> – <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-supremacists-believe-in-genetic-purity-science-shows-no-such-thing-exists-146763">try to manipulate findings</a>.</p>
<p>For example, white supremacists have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/white-supremacists-science-genetics.html">erroneously equated lactose tolerance with whiteness</a>. It’s a falsehood that would be laughable to many livestock herders from Africa, one of the multiple <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/daily-news/origins-of-lactase-persistence-in-africa-37810">centers of origin</a> for genetic traits enabling people to digest milk.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308159/original/file-20191221-11900-1i8iio9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2010 excavation in the East Gallery of Denisova Cave, where the ancient hominin species known as the Denisovans was discovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bence Viola. Dept. of Anthropology, University of Toronto</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Leaning in at the interdisciplinary table</h2>
<p>Finally, there’s a discussion to be had about how <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-is-a-powerful-tool-for-studying-the-past-when-archaeologists-and-geneticists-work-together-111127">specialists in different disciplines should work together</a>.</p>
<p>Ancient DNA research has grown rapidly, sometimes without sufficient conversations happening beyond the genetics labs. This oversight has provoked a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03773-6">backlash</a> from archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and linguists. Their disciplines have generated decades or even centuries of research that shape ancient DNA interpretations, and their labor makes paleogenomic studies possible.</p>
<p>As an archaeologist, I see the aDNA “revolution” as usefully disrupting our practice. It prompts the archaeological community to reevaluate <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/south-africa-repatriation/">where ancestral skeletal collections come from and should rest</a>. It challenges us to publish archaeological data that is sometimes only revealed for the first time in the supplements of paleogenomics papers. It urges us to grab a seat at the table and help drive projects from their inception. We can design research grounded in archaeological knowledge, and may have longer-term and stronger ties to museums and to local communities, whose partnership is key to doing research right.</p>
<p>If archaeologists embrace this moment that Pääbo’s Nobel Prize is spotlighting, and lean in to the sea changes rocking our field, it can change for the better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Prendergast does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Thousands of ancient genomes have been sequenced to date. A Nobel Prize highlights tremendous opportunities for aDNA, as well as challenges related to rapid growth, equity and misinformation.Mary Prendergast, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rice UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1834912022-05-30T12:25:05Z2022-05-30T12:25:05ZCurious Kids: how did people talk in the Stone Age?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465991/original/file-20220530-18-98wzqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5066%2C2874&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tribe-prehistoric-huntergatherers-wearing-animal-skins-1596021505">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>How did people talk in the Stone Age? – Tsubamé, aged eight, London, UK</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Stone-Age">Stone Age</a> refers to a time in the distant past. It started around 3 million years ago and lasted until about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/upper-paleolithic">40,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>It is named the Stone Age because during that time our distant ancestors made their tools from stones. Humans like us – the species <em>Homo sapiens</em> – appeared long after the start of the Stone Age, only about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/controversial-study-pinpoints-birthplace-modern-humans">200,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>The Stone Age began when several species of apes started to make simple tools by chipping sharp pieces of stone from larger pieces of rock. These apes stood partly upright when they walked and that meant their hands were free to do things, like make tools. These <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/lucy-discovered-africa">early upright apes</a> had small brains, not very different from a chimpanzee’s brain, and they did not speak.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series by <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation</a> that gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskids@theconversation.com">curiouskids@theconversation.com</a> and make sure you include the asker’s first name, age and town or city. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Other apes who walked upright came later in the Stone Age. They have been given names like <em>Homo habilis</em> (handy man) or <em>Homo erectus</em> (upright man). <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-habilis">These species</a> lived in Africa around 1 to 2 million years ago, still long before people like us existed. They had larger brains than the first upright apes, but their brains were still smaller than ours. They were not as intelligent as us and did not speak, even though they would have made sounds.</p>
<p>About 400,000 years ago, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-dna-puts-face-mysterious-denisovans-extinct-cousins-neanderthals">three species</a> that had much larger brains than the earlier upright apes all lived <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-siberian-cave-hosted-neanderthals-denisovans-and-modern-humans-possibly-same">at around the same time</a>. These were called Neanderthals, Denisovans, and an early form of the species <em>Homo sapiens</em> – our ancestors.</p>
<p>The Neanderthals and Denisovans lived outside of Africa in the part of the world <a href="https://www.thesciencebreaker.org/breaks/evolution-behaviour/when-were-denisovans-and-neanderthals-present-in-eurasia">known as Eurasia</a>, which includes Europe. Little is known about the Denisovans, but by around 100,000 years ago Neanderthals had wooden spears and a few simple tools made from the bones of animals such as deer in addition to their tools made from stone. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two skulls on black background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465986/original/file-20220530-16-gpnler.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A modern human skull on the left and a Neanderthal skull on the right from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sapiens_neanderthal_comparison_en_blackbackground.png">hairymuseummatt (original photo), DrMikeBaxter (derivative work), via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some people think that because of their large brains and their ability to make tools other than those from stone, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25465102">Neanderthals could speak</a>. But this is just a guess. The last of the Neanderthals died about <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2019/11/07/new-theory-neanderthal-extinction/">40,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<h2>People like us</h2>
<p>The early humans lived in Africa. By about 200,000 years ago the primitive <em>Homo sapiens</em> had evolved into what we now call <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/controversial-study-pinpoints-birthplace-modern-humans">modern humans</a>. These modern humans were as intelligent as we are today, and could speak using language just as we do today. “Homo sapiens” means “wise humans”.</p>
<p>Later in the Stone Age, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/their-footsteps-human-migration-out-africa">around 60,000 years ago</a>, people travelled out of Africa and eventually spread to the rest of the world. </p>
<p>Early on, even our <em>Homo sapiens</em> ancestors only made tools from stones, but having the ability to speak, they probably used their language to teach one another. </p>
<p>As time went on, they learned to make many different kinds of tools from stones, wood, bones and leather. They had clothing, shoes and made shelters, and they hunted together for food. By 40,000 years ago, and possibly even earlier, modern humans drew pictures on the walls of caves. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZjejoT1gFOc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">National Geographic video on cave painting.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There would have been far fewer different languages in the Stone Age than there are today. But the languages that did exist would have been just like our modern languages. The people would have spoken in sentences with nouns and verbs, even though the words they used would have been different, just as, say, Japanese words are different from English words or French words. </p>
<h2>Different languages</h2>
<p>Languages would have been different among tribes. People might have found it hard to talk to someone from another tribe, just as when we go on holiday to another country we sometimes find it hard to understand the language.</p>
<p>The languages would have had fewer words than we have today because they didn’t need words for things like televisions, cars or computers. But like us, the modern humans of 200,000 years ago would have counted things. They would have had words for “mother” and “father” or “sister” and “brother”. They would have had names for animals and plants, they would have been able to make plans, say “please” and “thank you” and they would have had names for each other.</p>
<p>The early modern humans probably talked about many of the same things we talk about: what to eat, who their friends were. Parents would have talked about their children, and children would have played with each other, probably talking all the time just as children do today. They would also have sung songs to each other.</p>
<p>They might have been Stone Age people, but they were modern when it came to talking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Pagel receives funding from UK Research Councils and private trusts. </span></em></p>Around 200,000 years ago, people were living who were as intelligent as us.Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1655162021-11-01T12:25:40Z2021-11-01T12:25:40ZWhen and how was walking invented?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425087/original/file-20211006-27-14gw1jh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C2113%2C1712&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three upright walkers, including Lucy (center) and two specimens of *Australopithecus sediba*, a human ancestor from South Africa dating back nearly 2 million years.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Australopithecus_sediba_and_Lucy.jpg">Image compiled by Peter Schmid and courtesy of Lee R. Berger/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>When and how was walking invented? — Rayssa, 11, Newark, New Jersey</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>This is an important question because many anthropologists see bipedalism – which means walking on two legs – as one of the defining characteristics of “hominins,” or modern humans, and their ancestors. It is difficult to give a simple answer, though, because bipedalism did not just appear one day. It went through a gradual evolution that began <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/becoming-human-the-evolution-of-walking-upright-13837658/">many millions of years ago</a>. </p>
<p>Of course there are no video clips of the first person ever walking upright. So how do scientists try to answer questions about how people moved in the very ancient past? Luckily, the shape of a creature’s bones and the way they fit together can tell the story of how that body moved when it was alive. And anthropologists can find other evidence in the landscape that indicates how ancient people walked.</p>
<p>In 1994, the first fossils of an unknown hominin were found in Ethiopia. The anthropologists who found the remains called the new discovery, an adult female individual, <em>Ardipithecus ramidus</em>, nicknamed “Ardi.” Over the next 10 years, more than 100 fossils from Ardi’s species were found and dated to between <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/ardipithecus-ramidus">4.2 million and 4.4 million years old</a>.</p>
<p>When scientists examined this collection of bones, they identified certain characteristics that indicated bipedalism. The foot, for example, had a structure that allowed the kind of toe push-off that we have today, which four-legged apes do not have. The shape of the pelvic bones, how the legs were positioned under the pelvis and how the leg bones fit together all suggested upright walking too. It may be that Ardi did not walk exactly as we do today, but bipedalism as the normal way of movement does seem to be characteristic of these fossils from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403659111">as early as 4.4 million years ago</a>. </p>
<p>Anthropologists had already found the nearly 40%-complete skeleton of a hominin species that lived about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/nov24/lucy-discovered-africa/">a million years after Ardi</a>, also in Ethiopia. Because of its similarity to other fossils found in southern and eastern Africa, they called it <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em>, which in Latin means “southern ape from the afar region.” This individual was female, so they nicknamed it “Lucy” after a song by the Beatles that was popular at the time. </p>
<p>Many more fossils from this species – more than 300 individuals – have been added to the group, and today researchers know quite a lot about Lucy and her relatives. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up image of face of a model based on Lucy and other _A. afarensis_ fossils" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425079/original/file-20211006-13-cagg43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of a model based on Lucy and other <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em> skeleton fossils found in East Africa in 1974.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/346/34648_r646x705.jpg?3b599dbcd9a917b42bcb750283a52c57221d8012">Smithsonian</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lucy had a partial but well-preserved pelvis, which was how anthropologists knew she was female. The pelvis and upper leg bones fit together in a way that showed <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/australopithecus-afarensis-lucy-species.html">she walked upright on two legs</a>. No feet bones were preserved, but later discoveries of <em>A. afarensis</em> do include feet and indicate bipedal walking as well.</p>
<p>In addition to fossil remains, scientists found <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19568">other remarkable evidence</a> for how Lucy’s species moved at the Laetoli site in Tanzania. Beneath a layer of volcanic ash dating to 3.6 million years ago, anthropologists found fossilized footprints in what had once been a wet surface of volcanic ash. The tracks go along for almost 100 feet, and 70 individual prints indicate the presence of at least three individuals walking upright on two feet. Given the presumed age, the makers were likely <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em>. </p>
<p>The tracks prove that these hominins walked on two legs, but the gait seems to be a bit different from ours today. Still, Laetoli provides <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/footprints/laetoli-footprint-trails">solid evidence for bipedalism</a> 3.5 million years ago.</p>
<p>A hominin whose anatomy was so like our own that we can say it walked as we do did not appear in Africa until 1.8 million years ago. <em>Homo erectus</em> was the first to have the long legs and shorter arms that would have made it possible to walk, run and <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-erectus">move about Earth’s landscapes as we do today</a>. <em>Homo erectus</em> also had a much larger brain than did earlier bipedal hominins and made and used stone tools <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/acheulean-tradition-169924">called Acheulean implements</a>. Anthropologists consider <em>Homo erectus</em> our close relative and an early member of our own genus, <em>Homo</em>.</p>
<p>So, as you can see, human walking took a very long time to develop. It appeared in Africa more than 4.4 million years ago, long before tool-making appeared.</p>
<p>Why did hominins walk upright? Perhaps it allowed them to see predators more easily, or to run faster, or maybe the environment changed and there were fewer trees to climb as earlier hominins did. </p>
<p>In any case, humans and their ancestors began to walk very early in their evolutionary history. Even though bipedalism came before tool-making, an upright posture freed the hands to make and use tools, which ultimately became one of the hallmarks of humans like us.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Simek has received funding from the LSB Leakey Foundation, the NSF, the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the National Geographic Society.</span></em></p>Walking has taken a very long time to develop, with evidence of bipedalism among early humans in Africa roughly 4.4 million years ago.Jan Simek, Professor of Anthropology, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1670502021-09-01T20:10:52Z2021-09-01T20:10:52ZResearch reveals humans ventured out of Africa repeatedly as early as 400,000 years ago, to visit the rolling grasslands of Arabia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418801/original/file-20210901-13-u6hxli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C16%2C1352%2C740&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eleanor Scerri</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you stood in the middle of the Nefud Desert in central Arabia today, you’d be confronted on all sides by enormous sand dunes, some rising more than 100 meters from the desert floor. </p>
<p>The few scraggly bushes make poor browse for the herds of goats and camels that eke out a living in this harsh environment. But this wasn’t always the case.</p>
<p>Our research published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03863-y">Nature</a> shows that in repeated pulses over the past 400,000 years, the Nefud Desert landscape received monsoon rains that resulted in rolling grasslands, flowing rivers and large lakes home to thousands of wild donkeys, antelopes and hippos.</p>
<p>Humans also inhabited these green corridors as they made their way out of Africa, only to disappear when conditions deteriorated again. </p>
<p>Among other findings, we present the oldest dated evidence for hominins in Arabia, in the form of stone tools dated to about 400,000 years ago. The Homininae subfamily is the group of humans of which <em>Homo sapiens</em> is the sole survivor. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418793/original/file-20210901-15-1rcoh1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 400,000 year ‘handaxe’ stone tool from Khall Amayshan 4.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Palaeodeserts Project (photo by Ian Cartwright)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early movements out of Africa</h2>
<p>Today Arabia is one of the world’s driest places, and was long thought to have played little role in human prehistory. </p>
<p>While the rich and long-studied Levant and the Mediterranean regions were considered critical for the dispersal of people out of Africa, it was thought most humans would have avoided places like the Arabian “Empty Quarter” — due to the harshness of its environmental conditions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418773/original/file-20210831-19-1s6hphj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Nefud Desert today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Louys</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But detailed scientific investigations over the past few decades have been slowly changing these ideas. A rich stone tool culture has now been recovered from the surfaces of many ancient and dried out lakebeds in Southwest Asia. </p>
<p>However, because these were from isolated beds — often hundreds of kilometres apart — and restricted to surface scatters, it was difficult to determine who had left these tools, when, and where they came from.</p>
<p>In collaboration with the Heritage Commission of the Saudi Ministry of Culture and other Saudi colleagues, our international team of researchers has been working in Saudi Arabia, Southwest Asia’s largest country, for the past decade. </p>
<p>We have recorded and studied a wealth of stone tools and animal fossils emerging from the sands and ancient lakebeds. And we’ve made some startling discoveries. </p>
<p>We recovered a <em>Homo sapiens</em> finger bone, among other fossils, from an ancient Saudi Arabian lakebed known as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0518-2">Al Wusta</a>. These remains were dated to 85,000 years ago. This finding shows modern humans had made it out <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-fossil-finger-discovery-points-to-earlier-human-migration-in-arabia-94670">of Africa at least 20,000 years before</a> the genetic evidence indicates we left. </p>
<p>It has been thought (and many still believe) <em>Homo sapiens</em> only left Africa about 50-65,000 years ago. Our finger bone finding challenges this view, as do other discoveries - including from Madjedbebe in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">Buried tools and pigments tell a new history of humans in Australia for 65,000 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What happened to the group of people from Al Wusta remains unknown. They may have moved further into Asia, or retreated back to Africa. Or they may have become locally extinct.</p>
<h2>A green Arabia</h2>
<p>We also report a series of archaeological sites associated with multiple lakes across two locations which tell the story of human prehistory going back 400,000 years. The first of these locations, Khall Amayshan 4, is a depression located between large sand dunes covering 60,000 square metres. </p>
<p>In this single depression we found individual lakebeds dated back to 55,000, 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 and 400,000 thousand years ago. And each of the five lake phases is represented by its own unique archaeological signature.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418774/original/file-20210831-29-9oaf0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerial view of Khall Amayshan 4 showing the series of ancient lakebeds. See the two small, white 4WDs on the left for scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Louys</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today different populations around the world can be identified by their cultures, which include the tools they use, how they’re made and how they use them. Think chopsticks across Asia and forks in Europe, for example. </p>
<p>These tools are passed on to successive generations, even if those generations move from their point of origin. The way people made and used stone tools in the past also reflected patterns of cultural inheritance. </p>
<p>So by studying and comparing the stone tools from Arabia with those from surrounding regions, we can find out not just when people were living and moving through the region, but also where their ancestors had moved from and how they changed as they moved.</p>
<p>The most striking thing we found was that each assemblage of stone tools recovered from each ancient lakebed was very different from the others. </p>
<p>Our detailed examination of the lakebeds and the mammal fossils they preserved, including from hippos, clearly pointed to how much wetter, greener and more productive each of those phases were compared to the region today. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418796/original/file-20210901-13-2w4jz1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antelope teeth eroding from an ancient lakebed in the Nefud Desert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Louys</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The different technologies associated with each green phase indicate there was no long-term continuity in the populations in the area. Instead, different populations, perhaps even different species of hominin, were moving in and out with each phase. </p>
<p>At the Jubbah Oasis around 150 km east of Khall Amayshan 4, two further sites – Jebel Qattar 1 and Jebel Umm Sanman 1 – filled in the last of the gaps in the timeline. These sites presented different stone tools dating to around 200,000 and 75,000 years ago, also associated with green phases. </p>
<p>Each of these phases occurs during wetter climatic periods, which are wetter due to the northern movements of the monsoon, bringing increased rainfall to the desert. Once the climate shifted back, however, conditions became arid again and humans and other fauna disappeared from Arabia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prehistoric-desert-footprints-are-earliest-evidence-for-homo-sapiens-on-arabian-peninsula-146445">Prehistoric desert footprints are earliest evidence for Homo sapiens on Arabian Peninsula</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our findings reveal the intimate association between early human migrations and patterns of climate change — wherein different groups of humans repeatedly made it out of Africa when conditions became favourable. </p>
<p>And this happened long before the dispersal event of 50-65,000 years ago, which finally saw their descendents permanently colonise other regions.</p>
<p>Yet dozens of questions remain. Were some of these migrations from northern Neanderthals? What became of these different populations? Where did they go? Could some have made it to Southeast Asia and hence to Australia? </p>
<p>The human story won’t be told completely until we explore more long-neglected areas, much like our ancestors once did.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Louys receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the Leakey Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gilbert Price receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the Leakey Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Groucutt receives funding from the Max Planck Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Petraglia receives funding from the European Research Council and the Max Planck Society. </span></em></p>The new work presents the oldest dated evidence for hominins in Arabia, in the form of an ancient handaxe tool uncovered from the Nefud Desert.Julien Louys, Deputy Director, Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityGilbert Price, Lecturer in Palaeontology, The University of QueenslandHuw Groucutt, Group leader of Max Planck 'Extreme Events' group., Max Planck Institute of GeoanthropologyMichael Petraglia, Professor of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of GeoanthropologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1665652021-08-25T20:05:24Z2021-08-25T20:05:24ZWho were the Toaleans? Ancient woman’s DNA provides first evidence for the origin of a mysterious lost culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417306/original/file-20210823-19-1bucpl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C45%2C7596%2C5030&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stone arrowheads (Maros points) and other flaked stone implements from the Toalean culture of South Sulawesi.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shahna Britton/Andrew Thomson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2015, <a href="https://arkeologi.unhas.ac.id/archeology-department/?lang=en">archaeologists</a> from the University of Hasanuddin in Makassar, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, uncovered the skeleton of a woman buried in a limestone cave. Studies revealed the person from Leang Panninge, or “Bat Cave”, was 17 or 18 years old when she died some 7,200 years ago.</p>
<p>Her discoverers dubbed her Bessé’ (pronounced <em>bur-sek</em>¹) — a nickname bestowed on newborn princesses among the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bugis">Bugis</a> people who now live in southern Sulawesi. The name denotes the great esteem local archaeologists have for this ancient woman. </p>
<p>She represents the only known skeleton of one of the Toalean people. These enigmatic hunter-gatherers inhabited the island before Neolithic farmers from mainland Asia (“<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian_peoples">Austronesians</a>”) spread into Indonesia around 3,500 years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417311/original/file-20210823-27-1xmauxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burial of a Toalean hunter-gatherer woman dated to 7,200 years ago. Bessé’ was 17-18 years old at time of death. She was buried in a flexed position and several large cobbles were placed on and around her body. Although the skeleton is fragmented, ancient DNA was found preserved in the dense inner ear bone (petrous).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Hasanuddin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our team <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/phV2C6X1LmSr6rk8Yfp2hJb?domain=nature.com">found</a> ancient DNA that survived inside the inner ear bone of Bessé’, furnishing us with the first direct genetic evidence of the Toaleans. This is also the first time ancient human DNA has been reported from Wallacea, the vast group of islands between Borneo and New Guinea, of which Sulawesi is the largest. </p>
<p>Genomic analysis shows Bessé’ belonged to a population with a previously unknown ancestral composition. She shares about half of her genetic makeup with present-day Indigenous Australians and people in New Guinea and the Western Pacific. This includes DNA inherited from the now-extinct <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/enigmatic-human-relative-outlived-neanderthals">Denisovans</a>, who were distant cousins of Neanderthals. </p>
<p>In fact, relative to other ancient and present-day groups in the region, the proportion of Denisovan DNA in Bessé’ could indicate the main meeting point between our species and Denisovans was in Sulawesi itself (or perhaps a nearby Wallacean island).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/evolutionary-study-suggests-prehistoric-human-fossils-hiding-in-plain-sight-in-southeast-asia-157587">Evolutionary study suggests prehistoric human fossils 'hiding in plain sight' in Southeast Asia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The ancestry of this pre-Neolithic woman provides fascinating insight into the little-known population history and genetic diversity of early modern humans in the Wallacean islands — the gateway to the continent of Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417309/original/file-20210823-19-1oadhuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sulawesi is the largest island in Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands between the continental regions of Asia and Australia. White shaded areas represent landmasses exposed during periods of lower sea level in the Late Pleistocene. The Wallace Line is a major biogeographical boundary that marks the eastern extent of the distinctive plant and animal worlds of Asia. The Toalean cave site Leang Panninge (where Bessé’ was found) is located in Sulawesi’s southwestern peninsula (see inset panel). Toalean archaeological sites have only been found in a roughly 10,000 km² area of this peninsula, south of Lake Tempe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Newman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Toalean culture</h2>
<p>The archaeological story of the Toaleans began more than a century ago. In 1902, the Swiss naturalists Paul and Fritz Sarasin excavated several caves in the highlands of southern Sulawesi. </p>
<p>Their digs unearthed small, finely crafted stone arrowheads known as <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251138">Maros points</a>. They also found other distinctive stone implements and tools fashioned from bone, which they attributed to the original inhabitants of Sulawesi — the prehistoric “Toalien” people (now spelled Toalean). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417310/original/file-20210823-15-1wn4h00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Toalean stone arrowhead, known as a Maros point. Classic Maros points are small (roughly 2.5cm in maxiumum dimension) and were fashioned with rows of fine tooth-like serrations along the sides and tip, and wing-like projections at the base. Although this particular stone technology seems to have been unique to the Toalean culture, similar projectile points were produced in northern Australia, Java and Japan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shahna Britton/Andrew Thomson.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some Toalean cave sites have since been excavated to a higher scientific standard, yet our understanding of this culture is at an early stage. The oldest known Maros points and other Toalean artefacts date to about 8,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Excavated findings from caves suggest the Toaleans were hunter-gatherers who preyed heavily on wild endemic <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/wildpigspecialistgroup/home/Sus-celebensis">warty pigs</a> and harvested edible shellfish from creeks and estuaries. So far, evidence for the group has only been found in one part of southern Sulawesi.</p>
<p>Toalean artefacts disappear from the archaeological record by the fifth century AD — a few thousand years after the first Neolithic settlements emerged on the island. </p>
<p>Prehistorians have long sought to determine who the Toaleans were, but efforts have been impeded by a lack of securely-dated human remains. This all changed with the discovery of Bessé’ and the ancient DNA in her bones.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417312/original/file-20210823-19-1thz0l0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toalean stone arrowheads (Maros points), backed microliths (small stone implements that may have been hafted as barbs) and bone projectile points. These artefacts are from Indonesian collections curated in Makassar and mostly comprise undated specimens collected from the ground surface at archaeological sites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Basran Burhan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ancestral story of Bessé’</h2>
<p>Our results mean we can now confirm existing presumptions the Toaleans were related to the first modern humans to enter Wallacea some <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">65,000 years ago</a> or more. These seafaring hunter-gatherers were the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans. </p>
<p>They were also the earliest inhabitants of Sahul, the supercontinent that emerged during the Pleistocene (ice age) when global sea levels fell, exposing a land bridge between Australia and New Guinea. To reach Sahul, these pioneering humans made ocean crossings through Wallacea, but little about their journeys is known. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/island-hopping-study-shows-the-most-likely-route-the-first-people-took-to-australia-93120">Island-hopping study shows the most likely route the first people took to Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is conceivable the ancestors of Bessé’ were among the first people to reach Wallacea. Instead of island-hopping to Sahul, however, they remained in Sulawesi.</p>
<p>But our analyses also revealed a deep ancestral signature from an early modern human population that originated somewhere in continental Asia. These ancestors of Bessé’ did not intermix with the forebears of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans, suggesting they may have entered the region after the initial peopling of Sahul — but long before the Austronesian expansion. </p>
<p>Who were these people? When did they arrive in the region and how widespread were they? It’s unlikely we will have answers to these questions until we have more ancient human DNA samples and pre-Neolithic fossils from Wallacea. This unexpected finding shows us how little we know about the early human story in our region.</p>
<h2>A new look at the Toaleans</h2>
<p>With funds awarded by the Australian Research Council’s Discovery <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/grants/discovery-program/discovery-projects">program</a> we are initiating a new project that will explore the Toalean world in greater detail. Through archaeological excavations at Leang Panninge we hope to learn more about the development of this unique hunter-gatherer culture. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417313/original/file-20210823-21-1y8qu2m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Excavations at Leang Panninge cave, Mallawa, South Sulawesi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leang Panninge Research Team.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also wish to address longstanding questions about Toalean social organisation and ways of life. For example, some scholars have inferred the Toaleans became so populous that these hitherto small and scattered groups of foragers began to settle down in large sedentary communities, and possibly even domesticated wild pigs.</p>
<p>It has also recently been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X16300694">speculated</a> Toaleans were the mysterious Asian seafarers who visited Australia in ancient times, introducing the dingo (or more accurately, the domesticated ancestor of this now-wild canid). There is clearly much left to uncover about the long island story of Bessé’ and her kin. </p>
<hr>
<p>¹<em>The “bur” syllable is pronounced as in the English word “bursary”. The “k” is essentially a strangulated stop in the throat, akin to the “t” in the Cockney “bo'ol”, for bottle. (With thanks to Professor Campbell Macknight).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166565/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Brumm receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adhi Agus Oktaviana is a PhD candidate in Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, Griffith University, Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akin Duli receives funding from Universitas Hasanuddin and Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is affiliated with Archaeology Department, Universitas Hasanuddin. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Basran Burhan is a PhD student at Griffith University</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Selina Carlhoff receives funding from the European Research Council and the Max Planck Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cosimo Posth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The first ancient human DNA from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi — and the wider Wallacea islands group — sheds light on the early human history of the region.Adam Brumm, Professor, Griffith UniversityAdhi Oktaviana, PhD Candidate, Griffith UniversityAkin Duli, Professor, Universitas HasanuddinBasran Burhan, PhD candidate, Griffith UniversityCosimo Posth, Junior Professor, University of TübingenSelina Carlhoff, Max Planck Institute of GeoanthropologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1567152021-04-05T12:34:50Z2021-04-05T12:34:50ZHow did humans evolve, and will we evolve more?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389682/original/file-20210315-13-16jufk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3100%2C2408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This skull, found in France, was among the first fossils to be recognized as belonging to our own species.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/homo-sapien-skull-found-in-abri-de-cro-magnon-france-news-photo/541321135">DEA /G. Cigolini via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>How did humans evolve, and will they evolve more? – Anya T., 13, Brookline, Massachusetts</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Everything that is alive today has evolved, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/momentous-transition-multicellular-life-may-not-have-been-so-hard-after-all">including human beings</a>. </p>
<p>Our ancestors evolved many traits that helped them survive in their environments, and we still have many of those traits today. Two of the most important and consequential traits are walking on two legs and having a large brain.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TZ5HyRMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of human evolution</a>. I study how evolution works, including how it has changed the shape of the bones in the skull and ankle of humans and other primates.</p>
<p>So how did humans evolve, and where will evolution take us in the future?</p>
<h2>What evolution is</h2>
<p>People pass traits to their children through genes. We can have <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Allele">different versions of the same genes</a> – called alleles – and evolution occurs when the proportion of these alleles in the population <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/evolution-78/">changes over multiple generations</a>.</p>
<p>Alleles in a population often help certain individuals survive in their own environment. This means that evolution isn’t about becoming the fastest, or the strongest, or the smartest, because it all depends on the environment.</p>
<p>Early ancestors of humans evolved to walk upright on two legs around <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/walking-upright">6 million years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists are still trying to figure out <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/becoming-human-the-evolution-of-walking-upright-13837658/">why our ancestors started walking on two legs</a>. Today, the most common hypothesis is that walking on two legs probably helped our ancestors to move between forest patches that were shrinking due to a changing climate.</p>
<p>What about our brains?</p>
<p>Relative to the size of our bodies, humans have the largest brains on the planet. Elephants have bigger brains, but their bodies are even bigger than ours.</p>
<p>Without big brains we wouldn’t be able to innovate, such as by creating an alphabet, sending machines to Mars or creating vaccines that protect us against measles and other dangerous diseases. Our big brains make it possible to share information culturally through books, storytelling or even movies, rather than only passing our genes to the next generation.</p>
<p>Our ancestors’ brains got bigger over the course of human evolution until about 200,000 to 300,000 years ago when modern humans, known as <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Homo-sapiens/Origin">Homo sapiens</a></em>, showed up.</p>
<p>After that, human brains actually <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-have-our-brains-started-to-shrink/">started to get a bit smaller</a>, possibly because our bodies have gotten smaller or perhaps because a slightly smaller brain may not use as much energy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/humans-are-still-evolving-and-we-can-watch-it-happen">Humans are still evolving</a>. For example, because they have a largely vegetarian diet like their ancestors did, many people who live in the city of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160329184939.htm">Pune, India, have a mutation</a> that helps them more efficiently process omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Vegetarians can have trouble getting enough of those nutrients, which are important for having a healthy brain.</p>
<h2>Humans in the future</h2>
<p>Nobody knows where human evolution will lead.</p>
<p>All organisms, including humans, adapt to their environments. And those environments can change – sometimes in entirely unpredictable ways. </p>
<p>It may disappoint you to hear that people aren’t likely to evolve superpowers like those in the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120903/">“X-Men” movies</a> or characters in the <a href="https://www.marvel.com/movies">Marvel Cinematic Universe</a>, at least for the most part.</p>
<p>However, there is one Marvel character humans have evolved to be like: <a href="https://www.cbr.com/iron-man-tony-stark-inventions-that-completely-changed-the-marvel-universe/">Iron Man</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y0brSA1cyzw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The inventions of Tony Stark, who turns into Iron Man, can both save the day and wreak havoc in the Marvel Universe.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like Iron Man, humans are smart enough to invent things that can make some of us live longer or have more fun, whether it’s a device that keeps an ailing heart beating or an airplane that makes it possible to fly without wings.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely that humans will ever evolve laser beam eyes or wings out of our backs like the X-Men characters <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Scott_Summers_(Earth-616)">Cyclops</a> and <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Warren_Worthington_III_(Earth-616)">Archangel</a>. But other abilities that humans have evolved over millions of years of evolution allow us to do many of those same things, through innovation.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Simons receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Our biggest evolutionary advantages are an ability to walk on two legs and our big brains.Evan Simons, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Anthropology, University at BuffaloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541912021-03-31T15:18:36Z2021-03-31T15:18:36ZAncient eggshells and a hoard of crystals reveal early human innovation and ritual in the Kalahari<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381438/original/file-20210129-20464-1tiype6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C16%2C1554%2C1173&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A rockshelter in South Africa’s Kalahari documents the innovative behaviours of early humans who lived there 105,000 years ago. We report the new evidence today in <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03419-0">Nature</a>. </p>
<p>The rockshelter site is at Ga-Mohana Hill — a striking feature that stands proudly above an expansive savanna landscape.</p>
<p>Many residents of nearby towns consider Ga-Mohana a spiritual place, linked to stories of a great water snake. Some community members use the area for prayer and ritual. The hill is associated with mystery, fear and secrecy. </p>
<p>Now, our findings reveal how important this place was even 105,000 years ago, documenting a long history of its spiritual significance. Our research also challenges a dominant narrative that the Kalahari region is peripheral in debates on the origins of humans. </p>
<p>We know our species, <em>Homo sapiens</em>, first emerged in Africa. Evidence for the complex behaviours that define us has mostly been found at coastal sites in South Africa, supporting the idea that our origins were linked to coastal resources. </p>
<p>This view now requires revision. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=117&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381291/original/file-20210129-13-179wgn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter is located near the town of Kuruman in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A crystal-clear finding</h2>
<p>We found 22 white and well-formed calcite crystals brought to the site 105,000 years ago. We determined this using a method called “optically stimulated luminescence”, which dates sediments the crystals were excavated from.</p>
<p>Our analysis indicates the crystals were not introduced into the deposits via natural processes, but rather represent a small cache of deliberately collected objects. </p>
<p>Crystals found across the planet and from several time periods have previously been linked to humans’ spiritual belief and ritual. This includes in southern Africa.</p>
<p>People at coastal sites similarity started to collect non-food seashells around the same time (but not earlier) — perhaps for similar reasons.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381292/original/file-20210129-15-drjo0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of 22 calcite crystals excavated from 105,000-year-old deposits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Egg-citing technology</h2>
<p>Ostrich eggshells can make excellent water storage containers and were used as such in southern Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene. At coastal sites, the earliest evidence for this technology dates back about 105,000 years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/got-your-bag-the-critical-place-of-mobile-containers-in-human-evolution-142712">Got your bag? The critical place of mobile containers in human evolution</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At Ga-Mohana Hill, we found ostrich eggshell fragments that show all the signs of being human-collected, based on their strong association with artefacts (including animal bones that are cut-marked from being butchered), and evidence of having been burned. These fragments may be the remains of early containers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=267&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381293/original/file-20210129-23-5yndli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">105,000-year-old ostrich eggshell fragments (left). Modern day example of ostrich eggshell canteen (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This suggests early humans in the Kalahari were no less innovative than those living on the coast.</p>
<h2>A global effort</h2>
<p>International and interdisciplinary collaboration makes for the best research and our paper’s authorship includes researchers from eight institutions across Australia, South Africa, Canada, Austria and the UK.</p>
<p>Local South African collaborators had an especially crucial role. For example, Robyn Pickering, Jessica von der Meden and Wendy Khumalo at the University of Cape Town provided <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-southern-kalahari-was-more-important-to-human-evolution-than-previously-thought-155047">important palaeoenvironmental context</a> for the archaeology. </p>
<p>By dating tufa deposits around Ga-Mohana Hill, they showed water was more abundant 105,000 years ago when early humans were using the rockshelter.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381294/original/file-20210129-17-kjsnub.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The excavation team in Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter during our 2017 excavation season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Noga ya metsi</h2>
<p>Many who visit Ga-Mohana Hill today for ritual practice see it as part of a network of places linked to the Great Water Snake (Noga ya metsi), a capricious and shape-shifting being. Many of these spiritual places are also associated with water.</p>
<p>Places such as Ga-Mohana Hill and their associated stories remain some of the most enduring intangible cultural artefacts from the past, linking modern indigenous South Africans to earlier communities. </p>
<p>These enduring beliefs establish an important sense of orientation in a country that has been spatially disorientated by colonial disruption.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381295/original/file-20210129-17-4xr0cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustrative representation of the Great Water Snake by Sechaba Maape, Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sechaba Maape</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Respectful research benefits all</h2>
<p>Those who visit the site today for ritual purposes rely on its association with fear to launch them into their desired ritual states. The site’s remoteness greatly contributes to this. </p>
<p>Recognising this significance, we’ve been adjusting our project methods to not undermine the practices held there. For example, following each excavation season, the areas we work from are completely back-filled and covered with sediment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-southern-kalahari-was-more-important-to-human-evolution-than-previously-thought-155047">Ancient southern Kalahari was more important to human evolution than previously thought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In this way, we can carefully recover our sections later, but leave almost no visible trace of our work. We haven’t erected any signage or structures, or otherwise left any significant permanent modifications.</p>
<p>Community engagement continues as we consider ways to integrate the cultural and archaeological values of Ga-Mohana Hill. We are working to further develop an approach that has a positive impact on local communities, while also reflecting on what these communities teach us — particularly regarding respect and ritual. </p>
<p>From an archaeological perspective, we believe this approach will help ensure Ga-Mohana Hill can continue to offer new and valuable insights into the evolution of <em>Homo sapiens</em> in the Kalahari.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RKYo1XiyVWU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jayne Wilkins, ARC DECRA Research Fellow at Griffith University, summarising the significance of the finds at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jayne Wilkins is a recipient an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE 190100160), a National Research Foundation (South Africa) Centre of Excellence (COE) in Palaeosciences Operational Grant, and a National Research Foundation (South Africa) Research Development Grant for Y-rated Researchers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Sechaba Maape works for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa. He is Also a member of the South African Council for the Architectural Professional as a Candidate architect CANT46409427. </span></em></p>Researchers unearthed the 105,000-year-old artefacts from a spiritual site in southern Africa. Although far from the coast, the area is associated with stories of a great water snake.Jayne Wilkins, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, Griffith UniversitySechaba Maape, Senior Lecturer, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1564172021-03-04T11:54:07Z2021-03-04T11:54:07ZDiving in the icy depths: the scientists studying what climate change is doing to the Arctic Ocean – The Conversation Weekly podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387534/original/file-20210303-22-udbxj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C110%2C5652%2C3663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Arctic is warming two to three times faster than any other place on Earth. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/arctic-ocean-sea-ice-1099602824">Kevin Xu Photography via Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In this week’s episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, two experts explain how melting ice in the far north is bringing more light to the Arctic Ocean and what this means for the species that live there. And we hear from a team of archaeologists on their new research in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge that found evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/603fd2cb60fb3d4ddced9015?cover=true&ga=false" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="110"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Every summer, the sea ice in the Arctic melts – but it’s melting more and more each year. In September 2020, the ice covered <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/2020-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-at-second-lowest-on-record">3.74 million square kilometres</a> in the Arctic. That might sound like a lot, but it was actually the second smallest measurement ever – and roughly half of what was measured in 1980. This dramatic loss is because the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet. </p>
<p>Scientists are studying what climate change means for the various species that live in the Arctic Ocean. One of the things they’re looking at is light: as the sea ice shrinks, that means more light can get down to the depths, but also more ships can venture into the far north, bringing with them more artificial light. </p>
<p>We speak to two researchers who spend their time diving down into the ocean to study what this increase in light means. Karen Filbee-Dexter, research fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia, talks to us about how the increase in sunlight is good news for the Arctic’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/arctic-ocean-climate-change-is-flooding-the-remote-north-with-light-and-new-species-150157">underwater kelp forests</a>. “We’re already way into the climate change future along our Arctic coastlines,” she says, “so it’s not surprising that our ecosystems are responding because these changes are really dramatic and they’re noticeable.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/arctic-ocean-climate-change-is-flooding-the-remote-north-with-light-and-new-species-150157">Arctic Ocean: climate change is flooding the remote north with light – and new species</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And Jørgen Berge, professor of Arctic marine ecology, at the University of Tromsø in Norway, says that even during the polar night, when the Sun doesn’t come up for months, light plays an important role. “The polar night is certainly not just dark. It’s actually all about different kinds of lights, both background illumination from the Sun, the aurora borealis, the Moon, also biological lights.” He explains his <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0807-6.epdf?author_access_token=AhjhVJ9T-Ho3FU8ewme7A9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NEMXGytZWyu7pRWgNA-Ls9S-OwEeIlQT_1cG84LQxJkHVlTII3ANzs3zXmrS-cLPS7or6UYLjEnyWFmnSN748A-DMYCYQKXSVtuY0VaRAieg%253D%253D">recent research</a> which found out just how disruptive artificial light can be to the creatures that live in these ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This research is part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/oceans-21-96784">Oceans 21</a></em></strong>
<br><em>Our series on the global ocean opened with <a href="https://oceans21.netlify.app/">five in-depth profiles</a>. Look out for new articles on the state of our oceans in the lead up to the UN’s next climate conference, COP26. The series is brought to you by The Conversation’s international network.</em></p>
<p>In our second story, we head to the warmer climes of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, known as the birthplace of humanity. We speak to a team of researchers, Julio Mercader, professor of anthropology and archaeology at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Pastory Bushozi, director of Humanities Research Centre and Makarius Peter Itambu, lecturer in the College of Humanities, both at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20176-2">their recent discoveries</a> in the gorge. They found new evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment around 2 million years ago. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/finds-in-tanzanias-olduvai-gorge-reveal-how-ancient-humans-adapted-to-change-150755">Finds in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge reveal how ancient humans adapted to change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And Laura Hood, politics editor and assistant editor at The Conversation in London, recommends a couple of stories by academics in the UK. </p>
<p>The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.</p>
<p>News clips in this episode from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tAYdrQadaA">Euronews</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAXKN3y4SYs">Global News</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjhj7lEVFZU">DW News</a>. </p>
<p>A transcript of this <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-flooding-the-arctic-ocean-with-light-what-it-means-for-the-species-that-live-there-156526">episode is available here</a>.</p>
<p><em>You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out how else to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Plus, new discoveries about early humans in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge. Listen to episode 5 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Head of AudioDaniel Merino, Associate Breaking News Editor and Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly PodcastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1521352021-01-15T12:53:48Z2021-01-15T12:53:48ZWhat if the world was one country? A psychologist on why we need to think beyond borders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378097/original/file-20210111-23-bqsfwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C84%2C7980%2C5072&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/planet-earth-elements-this-image-furnished-248374732">shutterstock Aphelleon</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are countless different species on the surface of this planet. One of these is the human race, which has over seven billion members. In one sense, there are no nations, just groups of humans inhabiting different areas of the planet. In some cases, there are natural borders formed by sea or mountains, but often borders between nations are simply abstractions, imaginary boundaries established by <a href="https://moverdb.com/world-border-age/">agreement or conflict</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rustyschweickart.com/">Rusty Schweikhart</a>, a member of the 1969 Apollo 9 space mission, explained how when he looked at the Earth from space, he experienced a profound shift in perspective. Like most of us, he was brought up to think in terms of countries with borders and different nationalities, but seeing the world from this new angle changed his view. He felt “part of everyone and everything”. As he <a href="https://www.context.org/iclib/ic03/schweick/">described it</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You look down there and you can’t imagine how many borders and boundaries you cross, again and again and again, and you don’t even see them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Schweikhart’s perspective reminds us that we belong to the Earth rather than to a nation, and to a species rather than a nationality. And although we might feel distinct and different, we all have a common source. Our species originally developed in eastern Africa around <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2018/july/the-way-we-think-about-the-first-modern-humans-in-africa.html">200,000 years ago</a> and migrated out into the rest of the world in a series of waves. If there was an ancestry website that could trace our lineage back to the very beginning, we would find that we all have the same great-great (followed by many other “greats”) <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-origin-of-our-species.html">grandparents</a>. </p>
<p>How then do we explain nationalism? Why do humans separate themselves into groups and take on different national identities? Maybe different groups are helpful in terms of organisation, but that doesn’t explain why we feel different. Or why different nations compete and fight with one another. </p>
<p>The psychological theory of “<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/terror-management-theory">terror management</a>” offers one clue. This theory, which has been validated by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215091914000042">many studies</a>, shows that when people are made to feel insecure and anxious, they tend to become more concerned with nationalism, status and success. We seem to have an impulse to cling to labels of identity to defend ourselves against insecurity. There has, however, been <a href="https://web.missouri.edu/%7Esegerti/capstone/Arndt.pdf">criticism</a> of the theory by some psychologists who believe it overlooks wider factors that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10478400701366969?journalCode=hpli20">contribute to human behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>That said, the theory could go some way to help explain why nationalism grows in times of crisis and uncertainty. Poverty and economic instability often lead to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/jun/02/economic-insecurity-nationalism-on-the-rise-globalisation-nouriel-roubini">increased nationalism</a> and to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122271/">ethnic conflict</a>. An increased sense of insecurity brings a stronger need for conceptual labels to strengthen our sense of identity. We also feel the impulse to gain security through the feeling of belonging to a group with shared beliefs and conventions.</p>
<p>On this basis then it’s likely that people who feel the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3792342">strongest sense of separation</a> and the highest levels of insecurity and anxiety, are the most prone to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/out-the-darkness/201801/the-psychology-racism">nationalism, racism and to fundamentalist religion</a>.</p>
<h2>Beyond nationalism</h2>
<p>One pertinent finding from my own <a href="https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/books/the-leap/">research</a> as a psychologist is that people who experience high levels of wellbeing (together with a strong sense of connection to others, or to the world in general) don’t tend to have a sense of group identity. </p>
<p>I have studied many people who have undergone profound personal transformation following intense psychological turmoil, such as bereavement or a diagnosis of cancer. I sometimes refer to these people as “shifters”, since they appear to shift up to a higher level of human development. They undergo a dramatic form of “post-traumatic growth”. Their lives become richer, more fulfilling and meaningful. They have a new sense of appreciation, a heightened awareness of their surroundings, a wider sense of perspective and more intimate and authentic relationships. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man standing in front of sea with dramatic sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378104/original/file-20210111-23-1nh88li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shifters report feeling more connected to the world and less focussed on their individual identity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/beach-beautiful-california-clouds-301952/">Pixabay/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As I report in my book, <a href="https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/books/the-leap/">The Leap</a>, one of the common traits of “shifters” is that they no longer define themselves in terms of nationality, religion or ideology. They no longer feel they are American or British, or a Muslim or a Jew. They feel the same kinship with all human beings. If they have any sense of identity at all, it’s as global citizens, members of the human race and inhabitants of the planet Earth – beyond nationality or border. Shifters lose the need for group identity because they no longer feel separate and so have no sense of fragility and insecurity.</p>
<h2>Why we need trans-nationalism</h2>
<p>In my view, then, all nationalistic enterprises – such as “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38698654">America First</a>” or Brexit – are highly problematic, as they are based on anxiety and insecurity, so inevitably create discord and division. And since nationalism contravenes the essential reality of human nature and human origins, such enterprises always turn out to be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267256887_The_Limits_of_Nationalism">temporary</a>. It’s impossible to override the fundamental interconnectedness of the human race. At some point, it always reasserts itself. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black placard with 'one world' written on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378105/original/file-20210111-23-1ghv1kh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What if we came together instead of pulling apart?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/earth-blue-banner-sign-3039036/">pexels/markus spiske</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like the world itself, our most serious problems have no borders. Problems like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change affect us collectively and so can only be <a href="https://www.opml.co.uk/blog/tackling-climate-change-is-a-global-effort">solved collectively</a> – from a trans-nationalist approach. Such issues can only be properly solved by viewing humans as one species, without borders or boundaries. </p>
<p>Ultimately, nationalism is a psychological aberration. We owe it our ancestors and to our descendants – and to the Earth itself – to move beyond it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152135/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research shows that when people feel insecure and anxious they become more concerned with identity values such as nationalism, status and success.Steve Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1441452020-08-20T12:52:44Z2020-08-20T12:52:44ZHumans aren’t inherently selfish – we’re actually hardwired to work together<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353854/original/file-20200820-16-640roy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C53%2C5991%2C2937&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/diverse-crowd-people-seamless-banner-100-1168257583">Franzi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has long been a general assumption that human beings are <a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/10/12/what-are-we-like-10-psychology-findings-that-reveal-the-worst-of-human-nature/">essentially selfish</a>. We’re apparently ruthless, with strong impulses to compete against each other for resources and to accumulate power and possessions. </p>
<p>If we are kind to one another, it’s usually because we have ulterior motives. If we are good, it’s only because we have managed to control and transcend our innate selfishness and brutality.</p>
<p>This bleak view of human nature is closely associated with the science writer Richard Dawkins, whose book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-selfish-gene-9780198788607?cc=gb&lang=en&">The Selfish Gene</a> became popular because it fitted so well with (and helped to justify) the competitive and individualistic ethos of late 20th-century societies. </p>
<p>Like many others, Dawkins justifies his views with reference to the field of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpfPyIM5lc">evolutionary psychology</a>. Evolutionary psychology theorises that present-day human traits developed in prehistoric times, during what is <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-28099-8_1627-1#:%7E:text=Definition,pressures%20that%20shaped%20an%20adaptation.">termed</a> the “environment of evolutionary adaptedness”. </p>
<p>This is usually seen as a period of intense competition, when life was a kind of Roman gladiatorial battle in which only the traits that gave people a survival advantage were selected and all others fell by the wayside. And because people’s survival depended on access to resources – think rivers, forests and animals – there was bound to be competition and conflict between rival groups, which led to the development of traits like <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320005754_The_Evolutionary_Anthropology_of_War">racism and warfare</a>.</p>
<p>This seems logical. But in fact the assumption it’s based on — that prehistoric life was a desperate struggle for survival — is false.</p>
<h2>Prehistoric abundance</h2>
<p>It’s important to remember that in the prehistoric era, the world was very sparsely populated. So it’s likely there was an abundance of resources for hunter-gatherer groups. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2968441/The_Prehistory_of_Warfare_Misled_by_Ethnography">some estimates</a>, around 15,000 years ago, the population of Europe was only 29,000, and the population of the whole world was less than half a million. With such small population densities, it seems unlikely that prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups had to compete against each other or had any need to develop ruthlessness and competitiveness, or to go to war. </p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/new-study-of-prehistoric-skeletons-undermines-claim-that-war-has-deep-evolutionary-roots/">many anthropologists</a> now agree that war is a late development in human history, arising with the first <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2968441/The_Prehistory_of_Warfare_Misled_by_Ethnography">agricultural settlements</a>. </p>
<h2>Contemporary evidence</h2>
<p>There’s also significant evidence from contemporary hunter-gatherer groups who live in the same way as prehistoric humans. One of the striking things about such groups is their egalitarianism. </p>
<p>As the anthropologist <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/203975?journalCode=ca">Bruce Knauft</a> has remarked, hunter-gatherers are characterised by “extreme political and sexual egalitarianism”. Individuals in such groups don’t accumulate their own property and possessions. They have a moral obligation to share everything. They also have methods of preserving egalitarianism by ensuring that status differences don’t arise. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C7%83Kung_people">The !Kung</a> of southern Africa, for example, swap arrows before going hunting and when an animal is killed, the credit does not go to the person who fired the arrow, but to the person who the arrow belongs to. And if a person becomes too domineering or arrogant, the other members of the group ostracise them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="ǃKung woman making jewellery next to a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353834/original/file-20200820-16-rfz0u8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ǃKung woman making jewellery next to a child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Schmuck.JPG">Staehler/wikimediacommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Typically in such groups, men have <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6236/796.abstract">no authority</a> over women. Women usually choose their own marriage partners, decide what work they want to do and work whenever they choose to. And if a marriage breaks down, they have custody rights over their children. </p>
<p>Many anthropologists agree that such egalitarian societies were normal until a few thousand years ago, when population growth led to the development of farming and a <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22071-inequality-why-egalitarian-societies-died-out/">settled lifestyle</a>.</p>
<h2>Altruism and egalitarianism</h2>
<p>In view of the above, there seems little reason to assume that traits such as racism, warfare and male domination should have been selected by evolution – as they would have been of little benefit to us. Individuals who behaved selfishly and ruthlessly would be less likely to survive, since they would have been ostracised from their groups.</p>
<p>It makes more sense then to see traits such as cooperation, egalitarianism, altruism and peacefulness as natural to human beings. These were the traits that have been prevalent in human life for tens of thousands of years. So presumably these traits are still strong in us now. </p>
<p>Of course, you might argue that if this is case, why do present day humans often behave so selfishly and ruthlessly? Why are these negative traits so normal in many cultures? Perhaps though these traits should be seen as the result of environmental and psychological factors. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People protesting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353846/original/file-20200820-16-1x0buvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are lots of examples of humans working together for the greater good.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rear-view-people-placards-posters-on-1513189949">Halfpoint/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://nonkilling.org/pdf/wp1.pdf">Research</a> has shown repeatedly that when the natural habitats of primates are disrupted, they tend to become more violent and hierarchical. So it could well be that the same thing has has happened to us, since we gave up the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. </p>
<p>In my book <a href="https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/books/the-fall/">The Fall</a>, I suggest that the end of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and the advent of farming was connected to a psychological change that occurred in some groups of people. There was a new sense of individuality and separateness, which led a new selfishness, and ultimately to hierarchical societies, patriarchy and warfare.</p>
<p>At any rate, these negative traits appear to have developed so recently that it doesn’t seem feasible to explain them in adaptive or evolutionary terms. Meaning that the “good” side of our nature is much more deep-rooted than the “evil” side.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ‘good’ side of our nature is much more deep-rooted than the ‘evil’ side.Steve Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1345002020-03-26T13:49:53Z2020-03-26T13:49:53ZCoronavirus: why changing human behaviour is the best defence in tackling the virus<p>The current <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-tests-how-they-work-and-whats-in-development-134479">COVID-19 pandemic</a> is unprecedented. But it is not the biological characteristics of the virus that are most dangerous. Rather, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-what-makes-some-people-act-selfishly-while-others-are-more-responsible-134341">how people behave towards it</a> that really matters. </p>
<p>I’m a biological anthropologist interested in how humans influence and adapt to changing environmental conditions. As part of my work, I look at the risks posed to people’s health when healthcare systems are disrupted or <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03071847.2014.969934">overrun by conflict, disasters and emergencies</a>. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has shown it has the ability to <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-the-conversation-we-should-have-with-our-loved-ones-now-leading-medic-134337">overwhelm healthcare systems</a> around the world. So how people behave in response to the real and perceived risks they face is a key factor in tackling the pandemic. Indeed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemics-from-homer-to-stephen-king-what-we-can-learn-from-literary-history-133572">history shows</a> that behavioural factors can play a large part in slowing and stopping disease spread. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises the value of human behaviour in managing pandemics. Its <a href="https://www.who.int/ihr/publications/outbreak-communication-guide/en/">Outbreak Communications Planning Guide</a> suggests behaviour changes can reduce the spread by as much as 80%. This can mean the difference between healthcare sectors being overwhelmed or continuing to function. </p>
<p>But this places a huge pressure on governments and public health agencies to produce the right messaging on COVID-19. This is particularly tricky given that people are at different risk levels from the virus. Indeed, how can people that aren’t at high risk be encouraged to take it seriously, and tolerate significant disruption to their lives, if they are less likely to be affected? </p>
<p>If governments get it right, and <a href="http://oullier.free.fr/files/2010_Oullier-Cialdini-Thaler-Mullainathan_Neuroscience-Prevention-Public-Health_Nudge-Behavioral-Economics.pdf">nudge behaviour</a> in the right direction at society, community and individual level, the resources available to fight the disease will go much further.</p>
<p>But get it wrong and messages risk waking the “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2011-09485-005.html">dragons of inaction</a>” – the psychological barriers we put in place when the problem seems too huge to address. The British stiff upper lip and manta of “keep calm and carry on” may also be problematic – as playing down concern too much could similarly hamper the response. </p>
<h2>A history of human compassion</h2>
<p>Disrupting one’s usual routine for the benefit of others may not be to everyone’s liking, but throughout history, humans have been willing to make sacrifices to protect the health of others. The willingness to do so seems to be part of <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R8PDDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Health+in+the+Anthropecene+who+pays+and+why+Jennifer+Cole&ots=WW2peHWp9P&sig=xfLWc2ctdh65Bm6rgVeWmRihkmQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Health%2520in%2520the%2520Anthropecene%2520who%2520pays%2520and%2520why%2520Jennifer%2520Cole&f=false">human nature</a>. There is evidence from prehistory of human groups supporting elderly and disabled people who would have been unlikely to survive on their own. </p>
<p>Evolutionary theories suggest this may be due to the “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/428128a">grandmother effect</a>”, which freed up younger members of the group while elders minded the children. Another theory suggests that compassion is beneficial because it enables people to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175169610X12754030955977">feel superior</a> to lower animals and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:JADD.0000022607.19833.00">aids group cohesion</a>. Or it may be that people are kind to the elderly when they are young in the hope that they will receive the same care when they grow old. </p>
<p>Calling on human compassion by highlighting the danger to the higher-risk groups is an important messaging strategy as it recognises that the risk is different for different people. And it ensures that those who can self-isolate understand why they need to, without unduly worrying essential workers who need to move about to keep the country going. </p>
<p>This is a clever approach because, in purely biological terms, SARS-Cov2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 – is not that dangerous to most people. On <a href="https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-microbescope-infectious-diseases-in-context/">a graph</a> that plots how contagious a disease is against how deadly, it sits in the bottom left-hand corner – somewhere between 2009’s Swine Flu and the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu. It spreads far less easily than measles, for example. And is far less likely to kill those infected than smallpox or Ebola. </p>
<h2>Hygiene matters</h2>
<p>History has shown how, if all of society works together, we can all make a difference to the final outcome. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, for example, examinations of the decline in mortality from a range of common childhood diseases show that improvements in municipal and household sanitation <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/L73V-NLDL-G7H3-63JC">brought down mortality rates</a> considerably – even before vaccinations or antibiotics were introduced. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cultural-Contexts-of-Ebola-in-Northern-Uganda-Hewlett-Amola/5e477716ac1dd518e580c0448cf67b8ee059b973">Research</a> from 2003 also outlines the important role human behaviour played in managing the 2001-2002 Ebola outbreak in Uganda. And during the <a href="https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/influenza/behavior-change-may-have-greatest-influence-waves-influenza-outbreak">Spanish Flu</a> pandemic of 1918-1919, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-spanish-flu-economic-lessons-to-learn-from-the-last-truly-global-pandemic-133176">behavioural factors</a> including the cancellation of large gatherings, physical distancing and simple handwashing, helped to slow the spread of the disease.</p>
<p>During the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, anthropologist Paul Farmer <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/session?redirect=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.lrb.co.uk%252Fthe-paper%252Fv36%252Fn20%252Fpaul-farmer%252Fdiary%253Freferrer%253D&s=OpOKBlFEUe0g4I/XgDzFduipzq3EpXirdQAdEedUzg8Xd4bpOvdYrzprt8cvhJqSzpcVdg4ABkhMVlSzmOv4WmuCA935zVzUQJYfNJdv8Aide4GgXhuKQ6A6RRcFn3bGog0GPO5mqJFREbrd3Rr3SZvWL6JJeei6k7/ojcy3k9Fhj2rmqdKlMTyDd/wSkNHAZ3hBXdd5/a95MQD2/AMpIyIrkbz3LKYb0FJQx/8hWNRFa0bFmn12mtNpfA+nCwEmJne2SjA=">stated</a> that weak healthcare systems were as much to blame for the spread of the disease as its virulence or mode of transmission. This means that keeping healthcare systems as strong as possible is our best means of defence.</p>
<p>When healthcare services are stretched to (and perhaps beyond) their limits, everyone needs to rally to support them. That means everyone doing the best they can to avoid catching COVID-19 and spreading it to others. This is a time to just listen to what you are being told to do – stay inside, stay away from others as much as you can, and wash your hands often. This isn’t just for the sake of own health anymore.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Cole receives funding from UKRI (ESRC). She is affiliated with the Royal United Services Institute, where she holds the position of Associate Fellow. </span></em></p>History shows that behavioural factors play a major role in slowing and stopping disease spread.Jennifer Cole, Research Fellow in the Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1266382019-11-21T15:33:10Z2019-11-21T15:33:10ZWere other humans the first victims of the sixth mass extinction?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302005/original/file-20191115-66945-1ccxz9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C291%2C830%2C485&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Neanderthal skull shows head trauma, evidence of ancient violence</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/saint-c%C3%A9saire">Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nine human species walked the Earth 300,000 years ago. Now there is just one. The Neanderthals, <em>Homo neanderthalensis</em>, were <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-neanderthals-may-have-been-more-sophisticated-hunters-than-we-thought-new-study-98870">stocky hunters</a> adapted to Europe’s cold steppes. The related <a href="https://theconversation.com/fresh-clues-to-the-life-and-times-of-the-denisovans-a-little-known-ancient-group-of-humans-110504">Denisovans</a> inhabited Asia, while the more primitive <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-snapshot-of-our-mysterious-ancestor-homo-erectus-101122"><em>Homo erectus</em></a> lived in Indonesia, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/108371a0.pdf"><em>Homo rhodesiensis</em></a> in central Africa. </p>
<p>Several short, small-brained species survived alongside them: <a href="https://theconversation.com/homo-naledi-fossil-discovery-a-triumph-for-open-access-and-education-47726"><em>Homo naledi</em></a> in South Africa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-evidence-is-enough-to-declare-a-new-species-of-human-from-a-philippines-cave-site-115139"><em>Homo luzonensis</em></a> in the Philippines, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-evolution-explains-the-tiny-stature-of-extinct-hobbit-from-flores-island-124747"><em>Homo floresiensis</em></a> (“hobbits”) in Indonesia, and the mysterious <a href="https://theconversation.com/bone-suggests-red-deer-cave-people-a-mysterious-species-of-human-52437">Red Deer Cave People</a> in China. Given how quickly we’re discovering new species, more are likely waiting to be found.</p>
<p>By 10,000 years ago, they were all gone. The disappearance of these other species resembles a mass extinction. But there’s no obvious environmental catastrophe – volcanic eruptions, climate change, asteroid impact – driving it. Instead, the extinctions’ timing suggests they were caused by the spread of a new species, evolving <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6363/652.abstract">260,000-350,000 years ago</a> in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1714-1">Southern Africa</a>: <em>Homo sapiens</em>. </p>
<p>The spread of modern humans out of Africa has caused a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn">sixth mass extinction</a>, a greater than 40,000-year event extending from the disappearance of Ice Age mammals to the destruction of rainforests by civilisation today. But were other humans the first casualties? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302000/original/file-20191115-66925-p0qco1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human evolution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Longrich</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are a uniquely dangerous species. We hunted <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quaternary-Extinctions-Prehistoric-Paul-Martin/dp/0816511004/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=prehistoric+extinctions+martin&qid=1573645985&sr=8-3">wooly mammoths, ground sloths</a> and <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/287/5461/2250.full?_ga=2.156387641.382776719.1573642705-28080894.1573476299">moas</a> to extinction. We destroyed plains and forests for farming, modifying over <a href="https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/22/12/article/i1052-5173-22-12-4.htm">half the planet’s land area</a>. We altered the planet’s climate. But we are most dangerous to other human populations, because we compete for resources and land.</p>
<p>History is full of examples of people warring, displacing and wiping out other groups over territory, from Rome’s destruction of Carthage, to the American conquest of the West and the British colonisation of Australia. There have also been recent genocides and ethnic cleansing in <a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-srebrenica-more-than-20-years-on-99122">Bosnia</a>, Rwanda, <a href="https://theconversation.com/islamic-states-genocidal-crimes-demand-justice-how-can-it-be-done-97646">Iraq</a>, Darfur and <a href="https://theconversation.com/rohingya-crisis-this-is-what-genocide-looks-like-83924">Myanmar</a>. Like language or tool use, a capacity for and tendency to engage in genocide is arguably an intrinsic, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Third-Chimpanzee-Evolution-Future-Animal/dp/0060845503/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+third+chimpanzee&qid=1573645399&sr=8-1">instinctive part of human nature</a>. There’s little reason to think that early <em>Homo sapiens</em> were less territorial, less violent, less intolerant – less human.</p>
<p>Optimists have painted early hunter-gatherers as peaceful, <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-myth-of-the-noble-savage-55316">noble savages</a>, and have argued that our culture, not our nature, creates violence. But field studies, historical accounts, and archaeology <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Constant-Battles-Why-We-Fight/dp/0312310900/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=constant+battles&qid=1573829278&sr=8-1">all show</a> that war in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/War-Before-Civilization-Peaceful-Savage/dp/0195119126">primitive cultures was intense, pervasive and lethal</a>. Neolithic weapons such as clubs, spears, axes and bows, combined with guerrilla tactics like raids and ambushes, were devastatingly effective. Violence was the leading cause of death among men in these societies, and wars saw higher casualty levels per person than World Wars I and II. </p>
<p>Old bones and artefacts show this violence is ancient. The 9,000-year-old Kennewick Man, from North America, has a spear point embedded in his pelvis. The 10,000-year-old <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16477">Nataruk site</a> in Kenya documents the brutal massacre of at least 27 men, women, and children. </p>
<p>It’s unlikely that the other human species were much more peaceful. The existence of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13727">cooperative violence in male chimps</a> suggests that war predates the evolution of humans. Neanderthal skeletons show <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0696-8">patterns</a> of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/99/9/6444.short">trauma</a> consistent with warfare. But sophisticated weapons likely gave <em>Homo sapiens</em> a military <a href="http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PA20100100.pdf">advantage</a>. The arsenal of early <em>Homo sapiens</em> probably included <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030544030500230X">projectile weapons</a> like javelins and <a href="http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2613/N2403.pdf?sequence=1">spear-throwers</a>, throwing sticks and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16477">clubs</a>.</p>
<p>Complex tools and culture would also have helped us efficiently harvest a wider range of animals and plants, feeding larger tribes, and giving our species a strategic advantage in numbers.</p>
<h2>The ultimate weapon</h2>
<p>But cave <a href="https://theconversation.com/borneo-cave-discovery-is-the-worlds-oldest-rock-art-in-southeast-asia-106252?fbclid=IwAR38kVzZ5Pa1zSZH7ZGWz1jFwJBRt_m035lvW-H6coqc8evaHWD1Ba6HisI">paintings</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07995">carvings</a>, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08169">musical instruments</a> hint at something far more dangerous: a sophisticated capacity for abstract thought and communication. The ability to cooperate, plan, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/War-Carl-von-Clausewitz-ebook/dp/B005R9EB68/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=clausewitz+on+war&qid=1573644303&s=digital-text&sr=1-1">strategise</a>, <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232">manipulate</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Sun-Tzu-ebook/dp/B07YRX3MBM/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=sun+tzu+giles&qid=1573644250&s=digital-text&sr=1-2">deceive</a> may have been our ultimate weapon.</p>
<p>The incompleteness of the fossil record makes it hard to test these ideas. But in Europe, the only place with a relatively complete archaeological record, fossils show that within <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13621">a few thousand years</a> of our arrival , Neanderthals vanished. Traces of <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/328/5979/710/tab-pdf">Neanderthal DNA in some Eurasian people</a> prove we didn’t just replace them after they went extinct. We met, and we mated.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, DNA tells of other encounters with archaic humans. East Asian, Polynesian and Australian groups have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09710">DNA</a> from <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30218-1">Denisovans</a>. DNA from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3621#ref23">another species</a>, possibly <em>Homo erectus</em>, occurs in many Asian people. African genomes <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/108/37/15123">show traces of DNA</a> from yet another <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867412008318">archaic species</a>. The fact that we interbred with these other species proves that they disappeared only after encountering us. </p>
<p>But why would our ancestors wipe out their relatives, causing a mass extinction – or, perhaps more accurately, a mass genocide?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301300/original/file-20191112-178506-5fhhk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">13,000-year-old spear points from Colorado.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The answer lies in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Constant-Battles-Why-We-Fight/dp/0312310900/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=constant+battles&qid=1573829278&sr=8-1">population growth</a>. Humans reproduce exponentially, like all species. Unchecked, we historically <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239">doubled our numbers every 25 years</a>. And once humans became cooperative hunters, we had no predators. Without predation controlling our numbers, and little family planning beyond <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239">delayed marriage</a> and <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.es.06.110175.000543">infanticide</a>, populations grew to exploit the available resources.</p>
<p>Further growth, or food shortages caused by drought, harsh winters or overharvesting resources <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Constant-Battles-Why-We-Fight/dp/0312310900/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=constant+battles&qid=1573829278&sr=8-1">would inevitably lead tribes into conflict</a> over food and foraging territory. Warfare became a check on population growth, perhaps the most important one.</p>
<p>Our elimination of other species probably wasn’t a planned, coordinated effort of the sort practised by civilisations, but a war of attrition. The end result, however, was just as final. Raid by raid, ambush by ambush, valley by valley, modern humans would have worn down their enemies and taken their land. </p>
<p>Yet the extinction of Neanderthals, at least, took a long time – thousands of years. This was partly because early <em>Homo sapiens</em> lacked the advantages of later conquering civilisations: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Third-Chimpanzee-Evolution-Future-Animal/dp/0060845503/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+third+chimpanzee&qid=1573645399&sr=8-1">large numbers, supported by farming</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Plagues-Peoples-William-McNeill-ebook/dp/B0047747QK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=plagues+and+peoples&qid=1573645434&sr=8-1">epidemic diseases like smallpox, flu, and measles</a> that <a href="https://theconversation.com/european-colonisation-of-the-americas-killed-10-of-world-population-and-caused-global-cooling-110549">devastated their opponents</a>. But while Neanderthals lost the war, to hold on so long they must have fought and won many battles against us, suggesting a level of intelligence close to our own.</p>
<p>Today we look up at the stars and wonder if we’re <a href="https://theconversation.com/evolution-tells-us-we-might-be-the-only-intelligent-life-in-the-universe-124706">alone in the universe</a>. In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-Lord-Rings-Fellowship-Towers/dp/0345538374/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+lord+of+the+rings&qid=1573645527&sr=8-2">fantasy</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060028/">science fiction</a>, we wonder what it might be like to meet other intelligent species, like us, but not us. It’s profoundly sad to think that we once did, and now, because of it, they’re gone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas R. Longrich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>300,000 years ago, there were lots of different species of human. Now it’s only us – and we’re probably the reason why.Nicholas R. Longrich, Senior Lecturer, Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1201882019-07-10T17:17:51Z2019-07-10T17:17:51ZOldest human skull outside Africa identified as 210,000 years old<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283552/original/file-20190710-44448-1s5xylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/digital-illustration-man-neanderthal-337613237?src=GsYekKDqDKcpwjzuC4gYag-1-6&studio=1">Nicolas Primola/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A 210,000-year-old human skull could provide new evidence that our species left Africa much earlier than previously thought. A <a href="https://nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1376-z">new study</a> published in Nature of two fossils found in Greece in the 1970s shows that one of them is the oldest <em>Homo sapiens</em> specimen ever found outside Africa by more than 50,000 years.</p>
<p>This exciting discovery adds to a list of recent finds that shows the story of humanity’s spread across the world and interaction with other related species is much more complicated than we once thought.</p>
<p>The human skull was one of two cranial fossils found in Apidima Cave, one of a series of cave sites along the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese in Greece. The first, known as Apidima 1, comprised half of the rear of a skull case. Apidima 2 was a largely complete skull with a clear face, but had been heavily distorted during the fossilisation process.</p>
<p>Both were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/29540829?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">initially identified</a> as Neanderthals and, as uncontroversial specimens, disappeared into the general table of fossils from humans and their closest extinct relatives (hominins).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283537/original/file-20190710-44441-b2wen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apidima 2 and its reconstruction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the <a href="https://nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1376-z">recent study</a> from a multinational team led by Katerina Harvati reconstructed the specimens digitally and dated them by measuring their radioactive decay. “Geometric-morphometric” analysis allowed the researchers to reverse model the distortions of Apidima 2 to estimate what it would have originally looked like. This confirmed it was an early Neanderthal dating from around 150,000 years ago.</p>
<p>They also digitally recreated what the whole of the Apidima 1 skull would have looked like and realised it was more likely a modern human (<em>Homo sapiens</em>), dating it to 210,000 years ago.</p>
<h2>Tracing humanity’s spread</h2>
<p>Human evolution is often thought of as a linear story of new species developing and replacing older, simpler ones. This narrative originally said that modern humans in the southern cape of Africa developed a suite of original ways of thinking and communicating approximately 80,000 years ago.</p>
<p>They dispersed out of Africa and across the world, sweeping all before them from about 70,000 years ago, leading to the demise of Neanderthals in Europe around 40,000 years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283539/original/file-20190710-44497-twp6jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apidima 1 and its reconstruction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this narrative has grown ever more difficult to sustain because of a range of new fossil discoveries, improvements in their dating and genetic evidence. We now know that modern humans have existed for at least 300,000 years, thanks to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336">a fossil</a> from the site of Jebel Irhoud in Morocco. But they didn’t form a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.005">single population</a> with a coherent pattern of behaviour before they left the continent.</p>
<p><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/456">Specimens from sites</a> in the Levant (modern day Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan) suggest the first wave of modern humans out of Africa were replaced by Neanderthals, before the final, more successful human migration later on. </p>
<p>In southern Africa, modern humans were alive at the same time as a much smaller and seemingly more primitive species called <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24231"><em>Homo naledi</em></a>. Genetic evidence from Siberia and recently Tibet has identified a new hominin species – the Denisovans – that shared a history of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06004-0">interbreeding and interaction</a> with Neanderthals. And the presence of Neanderthal DNA in our own genomes shows they also bred with our species. </p>
<h2>Growing complexity</h2>
<p>The new data from Apidima further extends this complex picture of modern human dispersal and interaction with other hominin species. For example, the earlier human skull came from a time when the surrounding environment was warmer and wetter than the cold and arid conditions the later Neanderthal specimen would have lived in.</p>
<p>This emphasises that our explanations for population dispersals need to take into account the context of major environmental change and the opportunities and challenges that went with it.</p>
<p>Our traditional narratives and implicit assumptions of the evolutionary history of modern humans are well and truly broken. The ever-increasing complexity of the evidence we now have means there is no simple reason for hominin dispersal or replacement.</p>
<p>We now need a renewed emphasis on the archaeological evidence to understand and compare what hominins were actually doing in the landscapes where we find their remains. This will enable us to explore the nature of their interactions and not just narrate their consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Sinclair receives funding from The British Academy, and the Wainwright Fund at the University of Oxford for research on the the dispersal of early hominins.</span></em></p>New research suggests humans spread to Europe at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.Anthony Sinclair, Professor of Archaeological Theory and Method, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1077272019-04-05T17:12:13Z2019-04-05T17:12:13ZHumans are not off the hook for extinctions of large herbivores – then or now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267823/original/file-20190405-180010-1j7h108.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hippos at Gorongosa National Park.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Kuxhausen, Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What triggered the decline and eventual extinction of many megaherbivores, the giant plant-eating mammals that roamed the Earth millions of years ago, has long been a mystery. These animals, which weighed 1,000kg or more and included the ancient relatives of modern elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes, reached <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140196306000425?via%3Dihub">a peak of diversity</a> in Africa some 4.5m years ago during the Pliocene epoch (between 5.3m and 2.6m years ago). After this, their numbers slowly declined, in a trend that continued into the Pleistocene (2.6m years ago to roughly 11,000 years ago).</p>
<p>Both the Earth’s climate and hominins – our early <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9989-timeline-human-evolution/">human ancestors</a> – have in the past been blamed for this change. However, a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30467167">recent paper</a> argued that the gradual extinction of megaherbivores occurred because of long-term environmental changes and that developments in hominin behaviour – such as wielding tools and using fire – did not impact megaherbivore decline. </p>
<p>While this seems to be true of the early decline in megaherbivore population, we argue that our ancient human ancestors may well still have contributed to more recent megaherbivore extinctions. What’s more, we’re repeating the pattern today.</p>
<h2>Ancient hominins in a land of giants</h2>
<p>The genus <em>Australopithecus</em> is among the best known hominins from the Pliocene. Dating as far back as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28844328">4.2m years</a>, they shared food and water-rich woodland and grassland environments with a dozen species of large herbivores, including <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28992952">three giraffids</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28966046">two hippos</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28966048">two species of rhinoceros</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248418303919">five species</a> of <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/mesaxonia/proboscidea.php">proboscideans</a> – a trunked and tusked group of animals that includes modern elephants and extinct mammoths and mastodons.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267838/original/file-20190405-180041-13thjmh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kanapoi, Kenya, where 4.2m year old Australopithecus was found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">René Bobe, Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Australopithecus</em> were omnivorous – but there is no evidence that they hunted large mammals. In fact, its likely that megaherbivores <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248418303919">played a beneficial ecological role</a> for these early hominins. Thousands of years of grazing and migration gradually opened up wooded environments, which created the perfect blend of woodland and grassland in which <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520257214/cenozoic-mammals-of-africa">early hominins thrived</a>. In these Pliocene landscapes, our ancestors and the ancestors of modern elephants, rhinos, giraffes and hippos coexisted in relative harmony.</p>
<p>However, major climatic and environmental changes were to separate the fates of hominins and megaherbivores. Starting in the late Miocene epoch (the period just before the Pliocene), and continuing into the Pliocene and subsequent Pleistocene, <a href="http://www.essc.psu.edu/essc_web/seminars/spring2006/jan18/Zachosetal.pdf">ocean waters started cooling</a>, atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> started decreasing and, in eastern Africa, grasslands <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-earth-060614-105310">began expanding</a>, reducing woodland cover. There is also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4283521/">evidence of increasingly frequent fires</a>.</p>
<p>Early hominins such as <em>Australopithecus</em>, comfortable in both grassland and woodland environments, were well-adapted to these changing climatic and environmental conditions, as shown by their rich fossil record at several sites in Africa. However, megaherbivore species that were only comfortable in wooded environments struggled to survive.</p>
<h2>Changing behaviour of hominins</h2>
<p>By the time more sophisticated hominins such as <em>Homo erectus</em> emerged 1.8m years ago, megaherbivores had already been in decline for more than two million years, according to the recent study’s authors. But that doesn’t mean that <em>Homo erectus</em> didn’t hammer the final nails into the collective megaherbivore coffin. <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6417/892">We believe</a> that current archaeological records are too poor to document the effects that hominin behavioural innovations such as tool use had on large mammal extinctions in the Pleistocene period.</p>
<p>For example, we don’t know how the <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/692530">early use of fire</a> – likely as much as 1.5m years ago – influenced landscapes and foraging patterns of large herbivores. There is also no clear indication as to when hominins started hunting large herbivores. Could they have hunted large mammals during droughts, as some carnivores do <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00181.x">today</a>? We believe that the question of what role hominins such as <em>Homo erectus</em> had in the decline of megaherbivores remains open, despite the recent study’s findings.</p>
<p>As we approach more recent periods of Earth history, there’s <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1787/20133254">strong evidence that our species</a>, <em>Homo sapiens</em>, played a major role in the wave of global megaherbivore extinctions that occurred toward the end of the Pleistocene era, between about 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. By this time, hominins were expanding over much of the globe and had become <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/3/eaau4546">sophisticated hunters of large animals</a>. It was during this period that species of mastodons, woolly rhinos and giant ground sloths, among many others, were finally wiped out. </p>
<h2>A new wave of extinction</h2>
<p>Of course, in modern times, humans are responsible for causing such profound biodiversity losses that we may be undergoing a “<a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/5/e1400253">sixth mass extinction</a>”, a calamity comparable to the worst biodiversity crises in Earth’s long history of 4.5 billion years. The <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1400103">current evidence</a> shows that human encroachment and hunting are collapsing the natural environments of large herbivores such as elephants, rhinos, giraffes and hippos, sending their populations spiralling into decline.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267837/original/file-20190405-180036-1f89w7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gorongosa National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Kuxhausen, Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in the sea of bad news of ongoing extinctions and habitat degradation, there are some islands of hope that all is not lost. At the southern end of East Africa’s Great Rift Valley, Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique is witnessing a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/opinion/africa-national-parks.html">renaissance of biodiversity</a>, with <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212864">populations of elephants, hippos and other mammals actually increasing</a>. Gorongosa shows us that with long-term planning and collaboration with local populations it is not too late to allow degraded ecosystems to recover and that – if given the opportunity – nature has an astonishing capacity for resilience. </p>
<p>Understanding the current biodiversity crisis from the perspective of deep time may help guide our efforts to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6325/eaah4787">conserve and restore the ecosystems</a> we <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un">need for our own survival</a>. Modern species of elephants, hippopotamuses, giraffes and rhinoceroses are survivors from the deep past. Elephantids appeared in the fossil record of eastern Africa at about the same time as the first hominins and probably helped to shape the landscapes where our hominin ancestors thrived. It is paradoxical that the single surviving hominin species is now driving modern-day megaherbivores, along with many other forms of life, to extinction. We do so at our peril.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>René Bobe receives funding from the National Geographic Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susana Carvalho receives funding from The National Geographic Society, the Leverhulme Trust, UK & St Hugh's College, Oxford. </span></em></p>Long-standing assumption that humans killed large mammals 4.5m years ago has been debunked by researchers – but some experts still think humans played a part in the demise of biodiversityRené Bobe, Research Associate, University of OxfordSusana Carvalho, Associate Professor in Palaeoanthropology, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1076172018-11-30T01:16:01Z2018-11-30T01:16:01ZStone tools date early humans in North Africa to 2.4 million years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247260/original/file-20181126-140507-13tqkwd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Archaeological excavation at Ain Boucherit, Algeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mathieu Duval</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When did early humans first arrive in the Mediterranean area? New archaeological evidence published today online by the journal <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/11/28/science.aau0008">Science (as a First Release)</a> indicates their presence in North Africa at least 2.4 million years ago.</p>
<p>This is about 600,000 years earlier than previously thought. </p>
<p>The results, from the Ain Boucherit site in north eastern Algeria, provide new information on a time window involving the earliest representative of the <em>Homo</em> genus. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-archaeologists-dropped-the-term-stone-age-decades-ago-and-so-should-you-47275">Australian archaeologists dropped the term 'Stone Age' decades ago, and so should you</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These discoveries are the result of excavations and intensive investigations performed under the umbrella of the <a href="http://www.stoneageinstitute.org/ain-hanech.html">Ain Hanech project</a> since 1992. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247905/original/file-20181129-170238-dp1izl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of Ain Boucherit and other prehistoric sites mentioned in the text. Right: Zoom on the vicinity of El Eulma city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maps from Google map</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Located north of El Eulma city, the area was previously well known for providing stone tools and cut-marked bones dated to about 1.8 million years ago (Ain Hanech and El Kherba sites, see map above), which have been until now the oldest occurrences in North Africa. </p>
<p>In 2006 and 2009, new artefacts were found at Ain Boucherit, a few hundred metres from the other sites. They were distributed in two layers below the previous archaeological findings, suggesting an even older human presence in the area.</p>
<h2>The new archaeological finds</h2>
<p>Excavations of the lower (known as AB-Lw) and upper (AB-Up) archaeological levels yielded more than 250 stone tools and almost 600 fossil remains.</p>
<p>A wide range of animals was identified, including elephants, horses, rhinos, hippos, wild antelopes, pigs, hyenas, and crocodiles. These animals currently occupy a relatively open savanna type habitat with permanent water nearby, suggesting similar conditions in the past. </p>
<p>The stone tool find includes mostly chopping tools and sharp-edged cutting tools used for processing animal carcasses. Those tools are made of limestone and flint that were most likely collected nearby from ancient stream beds. </p>
<p>They are typical of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldowan">Oldowan stone tool technology</a> known from East African sites and dated to between 2.6 million and 1.9 million years ago. But the Ain Boucherit find also shows some subtle variations, in particular with the presence of very peculiar tools of spheroidal shape whose function remains unknown.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247644/original/file-20181128-32226-1c6q1ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two examples of stone tools from Ain Boucherit. An Oldowan core from which sharp-edged cutting flakes were removed (left). Sharp-edged cutting flake that may be used for butchery activities on the bones (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mohamed Sahnouni</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the fossil bones show very specific marks that could not be of natural origin, but rather the result of an intentional activity.</p>
<p>Two types were identified. The first were cutmarks made from sharp-edged flakes, suggesting skinning, evisceration and defleshing activities (pictured below). The second include percussion marks made from a hammerstone, suggesting marrow extractions. </p>
<p>These show the use by early hominins of meat and marrow from animals. This is consistent with other studies from broadly contemporaneous East African sites. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247643/original/file-20181128-32221-yi2ek2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A small bovid bone with stone tool cutmarks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Isabel Caceres</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dating the site was quite challenging, but the relative positions of AB-Up (within Olduvai event) and AB-Lw (a few metres below Olduvai) allowed us to derive an age of about 1.9 million and 2.4 million years ago, respectively.</p>
<h2>The significance of the discovery</h2>
<p>This new discovery modifies our understanding of the timing and diffusion of the Oldowan stone tool technology throughout Africa and outside the continent. </p>
<p>By pushing back by about 600,000 years the earliest occurrence of Oldowan tools in North Africa, the age difference with the oldest East African evidence suddenly becomes relatively small.</p>
<p>This indicates at least a somewhat rapid (or, more rapid than previously thought) expansion of this technology from East Africa, although a multiple origin scenario of stone tool manufacture in both East and North Africa might even be possible.</p>
<p>As a consequence, the first settlements of the southern margin of the Mediterranean area now appear to be much older than their northern counterparts.</p>
<p>The oldest evidence from southern Europe does not exceed about 1.4 million years ago (Atapuerca and Orce sites, in Spain), while the hominin fossils found at <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51196697_Earliest_human_occupations_at_Dmanisi_Georgian_Caucasus_dated_to_185-178_Ma">Dmanisi</a> in Georgia, at the gates of Europe, are dated to 1.8 million years ago.</p>
<h2>Who made these tools?</h2>
<p>Since no hominin fossils were found at Ain Boucherit, we can only speculate about the possible makers of these Oldowan stone tools.</p>
<p>The hominin fossil record in North Africa is extremely poor, and there is currently no fossil reported in the age range of Ain Boucherit. </p>
<p>The oldest fossils found in Algeria are dated to about 700,000 years ago. They were found at Tighennif (formerly known as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ternifine">Ternifine</a>, map above). If their attribution has changed over time (initially <em>Atlanthropus mauritanicus</em> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258242046_Endostructural_characterization_of_the_H_heidelbergensis_dental_remains_from_the_early_Middle_Pleistocene_site_of_Tighenif_Algeria">nowadays <em>Homo erectus</em> or early <em>Homo heidelbergensis</em> depending on the authors</a>), these fossils are too young compared with the Ain Boucherit discoveries to support any kind of connection between the sites. </p>
<p>All the early hominin fossil remains found in the Mediterranean area in association with Oldowan stone tools are significantly younger than Ain Boucherit, by at least 1 million years. The oldest Western European evidence such as the partial mandible found at <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature06815">Atapuerca Sima del Elefante</a>, Spain, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248413000304">the isolated deciduous tooth from Barranco León</a>, southern Spain, are dated to about 1.2 million and 1.4 million years ago, respectively. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giant-handaxes-suggest-that-different-groups-of-early-humans-coexisted-in-ancient-europe-91977">Giant handaxes suggest that different groups of early humans coexisted in ancient Europe</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Consequently, the best candidates are most likely to be found in East Africa, despite their geographical distance from North Africa. Several <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/hominid-and-hominin-whats-the-difference">hominins</a> are broadly contemporaneous with Ain Boucherit (a good overview may be found <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0067270X.2018.1439558">here</a>), including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecine">australopithecines</a> and different members of the genus <em>Homo</em> such as <em>Homo habilis</em>, <em>Homo rudolfensis</em> or the undefined early <em>Homo</em> from <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6228/1352">Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia</a>. </p>
<p>That said, we cannot rule out the possibility that the stone tools at Ain Boucherit come from another hominin species, belonging or not to the genus <em>Homo</em>, that has not been found yet.</p>
<p>We hope our future excavation at Ain Boucherit will give us the opportunity to identify these stone toolmakers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathieu Duval receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (FT150100215). He works for Griffith University, Australia and is an affiliate scientist (non-remunerated position) at CENIEH, Spain.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohamed Sahnouni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ancient stone tools found in what is now Algeria show early humans likely spread across Africa more rapidly than first thought.Mathieu Duval, ARC Future Fellow, Griffith UniversityMohamed Sahnouni, Archéologue et professeur au National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Burgos., Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.