Photo: Hawks at Krapina
I went to a famous place today:
Here I am beside some old friends, at the former site of the Krapina rock shelter, excavated by Gorjanovic-Kramberger from 1899 to 1905.
Krapina
Krapina Neandertal museum
Reuters correspondent Zoran Radosavljevic reports on the recent opening of the new museum at Krapina, Croatia. The museum is devoted to Neandertals, and represents the long work of Croat paleoanthropologist Jakov Radovcic.
Visitors can touch parts of a digital Neanderthal body to get a medical explanation of their diseases and ailments - most of them very similar to our own, like knee and shoulder problems at a later age.
The central scene -- a big Neanderthal family gathered in a cave around the fire -- is particularly impressive because of the accompanying acrid smells of sweat and burning meat, and sounds meant to recreate those typical of the Stone Age.
The article includes a few photos of the reconstructions in the museum. This one gives an impression of the space:
I can't wait until I get a chance to visit, it looks truly impressive!
Neandertals
For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.
Denisova
From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.
Acceleration
The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.
Malapa
Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.