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John Hawks

Hi, I'm John Hawks.

I'm a paleoanthropologist, exploring the ancient world of humans and fossil human relatives.


I write about the science of human origins, and how our ancient past can help make sense of today's world.

You can follow my writing here, or subscribe to have articles sent when they are published. Keep checking in for more changes.

Featured Posts

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What color were Neandertals?

Even with whole genomes, scientists can't say very precisely what pattern of skin, hair, and eye pigmentation was in ancient populations like the Neandertals.

Fifteen Neandertal faces of varied ages and complexions
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The top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2022

Research on ancient genomes has moved way beyond population mixture into broader questions about how ancient people lived and interacted with their environments.

A researcher wearing protective mask, hair net, and gloves is reaching toward an archaeological profile with a test tube.
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A transition to a new platform for my words and video

The look and feel of the site is changing, with a new emphasis on subscriptions and connections.

A fountain pen writing on a page of paper

Recent Posts

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Interaction and mixture: big picture and small

From the level of function of a single gene up to the movements of entire populations, our evolution was built from mixture.

Painting from 1883 of stone age dancers feasting around a fire
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Guide to Australopithecus species

These ancient human relatives include the first species with evidence of upright walking and running like humans. They represent more than a third of our evolutionary history.

Five fossil skulls in three-quarter view looking toward the right
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The real story of myosin, jaw muscles, and ancient brains

The provocative idea that our genus arose with a deactivated muscle gene turned out to be wrong.

Bonobo and gorilla head and neck, showing ecorché muscles on the left side of each
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When did human chromosome 2 fuse?

More and more, it looks like this event happened shortly before a million years ago, in the common ancestors of Neandertal, Denisovan, and African ancestral humans.

When did human chromosome 2 fuse?
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Climate models, Neandertals, and Denisovans

A new paper on biogeography of Neandertals and Denisovans raises ideas about the interactions of these groups.

A Neandertal-looking person dressed in animal skins lifting a stick and looking at a misty sunrise on snow.
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Tracing the genetic histories of ghost apes

The footprints of extinct lineages are the closest we have to a fossil record of the African apes.

Vivid brown eyes of a mountain gorilla
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Research highlight: Growth and development in human origins

A report from a Wenner-Gren-supported workshop innovating ways forward for understanding hominin ontogenies

A reconstruction of a Homo naledi child skull with bone and teeth indicated.
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Ancient apocalypses are so disappointing

The archaeological and paleoclimate records usually lack the resolution to see how meteorites or volcanoes mattered to our ancestors.

A satellite image of a round lake surrounded by a round ridge with green surrounding
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Debates about Neandertal cave art miss the point of their visual culture

Humans today live in visually rich environments, and it's increasingly clear that Neandertals shaped their visual environments also.

A flowstone with a broken edge revealing a line of red ochre, red pigment on its surface.
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Research highlight: Homo naledi teeth

In a massive new paper, a team led by Lucas Delezene provides descriptions of the dental evidence from the Dinaledi Chamber.

Four third mandibular premolars in five orientations with labels and scale bar
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Ghostbusters of human origins

Humans tend to mix and interact with each other. Geneticists are once again starting to take that seriously, changing their view of our origins.

Meme with the four movie Ghostbusters crossing the streams
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Did two pulses of evolution supercharge human cognition?

An intriguing new study tries to tabulate the ages of genetic variants associated with human phenotypes, but its claims about recent brain evolution may not pan out.

A stylized image of a brain with lightning pulsing through it
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Lecture: Finding ancient minds in the human evolutionary tree

Insights into the behavioral capabilities of ancient human relatives are beginning to show that some of the abilities we consider human go surprisingly deep in our ancestry.

Diagrams of eighteen hominin skulls against a black background
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New evidence is revealing the ages of death, birth, and menarche in Neandertals

Analysis of dental cementum is yielding new insights into the ages when ancient people faced significant physiological stresses.

A Neandertal woman with two children clinging to her, an older woman tends a fire and a child looks on from the background
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Explaining the X chromosome hole in Neandertal ancestry

Natural selection reduced the variation on human X chromosomes in populations with the most Neandertal and Denisovan mixture. It may have been meiotic drive.

A fluorescence image of chromosomes in cells undergoing meiosis