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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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Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2023

This year's highlights include ways of finding ancient relatives, how some phenotypes evolved in ancient people, and trace evidence from artifacts.

DNA molecular models on a cloudy background
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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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When did our ancestors start looking up to the stars?

Changes in the sky have been important to peoples throughout the world. That connection may go back much further than our species.

A sculpture of a caveman looking up toward a starry Milky Way

Recent Posts

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When hominins walked in each others' tracks

A new study by Kevin Hatala and coworkers finds that Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei walked on the same shores within hours of each other.

An array of 15 different hominin footprints showing varied preservation and shapes
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“Lucy”, superstar of evolution, at fifty

Today's science has broadened enormously since the 1970s but the iconic fossil still has an important place in understanding our ancient past.

The skull fragments, ribs, arm bones, pelvis, and femur of the Lucy skeleton are visible in this photo
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A look at the Neanderthal from Altamura

The exceptional skeleton encased in calcite has started to yield insights about early Neanderthals.

A skull and other bones encased with coralloid calcite encrustation
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Late Neandertals: more diverse than most scientists thought

The new “Thorin” genome from Grotte Mandrin represents a previously-unknown Neanderthal deep history.

Fragments of a jaw with teeth visible in an archaeological site
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What do we know about the ancestry of Homo erectus?

A creation interest group takes a quote from me, and I look back at a classic paper.

Nine fossil skulls viewed in lateral view with Australopithecus near the top and Homo erectus at bottom
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Julurens: a new cousin for Denisovans and Neanderthals

A new study suggests that the Middle Pleistocene record in China includes more groups than have previously been recognized.

A fossil child's upper jaw with teeth, in two views on left and two angles of microCT on the right
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The evolutionary mystery of the German cockroach

The species evolved to exploit human-built environments and exists nowhere else. So where did it come from?

A cockroach poised on a rock
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New insights into the biology of Homo luzonensis

Studies of teeth from Callao Cave yield information about the pace of development in this species and its possible connections with Homo erectus.

image of two people within a very large cave with green color on stalactites in the background
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Why did the ancients make gigantic handaxes?

Looking at new research on the distribution and function of curiously large bifacial tools

Two very large handaxes
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Four amazing Stone Age sites with wooden artifacts

From Africa, Asia, and Europe, these sites give us a rare window into the ways that organic technology shaped ancestral lives.

Four views of a double-pointed throwing stick in center, with detail of sharpened points at top left and bottom right.
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How many bathrooms have Neanderthals in the tile?

A Reddit poster finds an ancient jaw in his parents' new travertine. It may be more common than most people imagine.

Two fragments of a skull, bearing a browridge and truncated by slice marks
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Eclipses for the ancestors

Culture shapes our experience of these astronomical events, and would have done so for Neanderthals and other ancestral hominins.

Solar eclipse with bright point of sunlight just emerging from the moon's edge at right of image
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A remembrance of Frans de Waal

Among many highlights of this primatologist's work, he maintained that humans are not unique or separated from other primates.

Frans de Waal giving a lecture
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Vagrant birds and ancient human habitats

People killed the Carolina parakeet. An inquiry into their historic population range helps illustrate the challenges of understanding ancient human populations.

A painting showing several green parakeets in varied poses
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Guide to Paranthropus species

Long known as a group of human relatives with big teeth and jaws, these ancient species lived for at least two million years alongside our ancestors.

A closeup of the front of the SK 48 fossil skull showing the eye orbits