john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Hobbit Nova coming November 11

Wed, 2008-10-29 14:47 -- John Hawks

On November 11, NOVA will present a new hour-long documentary on the hobbits, briefly described at the PBS website:

NOVA presents exclusive coverage of new excavations that experts undertook in the summer of 2007 at the site of Ling Bua on the island of Flores, Indonesia. These are the first investigations of the cave site since the sensational discovery of tiny and mysterious human fossil bones at the site in 2004. NOVA will investigate the furious scientific debate that continues to rage on what these "hobbit" bones represent. Are they fossils of a previously unknown primitive branch of the human family? Or are they remains of a dwarf race of modern humans suffering from a strange pathological condition?

The website associated with the show will launch November 7.

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.