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Solving the mystery of the Red Deer Cave people

New DNA evidence is revealing the genetic relationships of ancient groups from southern China, showing how they were connected to living people across the region.

Two reconstructed partial skulls side by side representing the Red Deer Cave people
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Probing the pathogens that afflicted ancient humanity

In the first part of a review of pathogens in human origins, I examine a sampling of infectious diseases in people today and their diverse origins.

A colorful image of a virus preparing to enter a cell.
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Ancient amputations tell remarkable stories of survival and care

A 33,000-year-old case of an amputated leg prompts comparisons to earlier Neandertal instances of amputation.

Skull of the Shanidar 1 individual with portions of the upper body skeleton visible, on a blue velvet table
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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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The Nesher Ramla site: a third way between Neandertals and modern humans?

Fragments representing people who lived just before Skhūl and Qafzeh seem outside the expectations for these “early modern humans” or for Neandertals.

Archaeologists working on a large, terraced excavation area under a white canopy.
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Finding ancient fire use in the Rising Star cave system

The study of the underground landscape enters a new phase with evidence of charcoal and burned animal bone in deep chambers.

A piece of charcoal upon a brown surface with tiny rodent bones visible
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A Neandertal recipe that tasted like the foods of later people

Looking at a fascinating new study that finds mixtures of different plants within ancient morsels of charred foods.

A micrograph with a grass leaf cell structure visible surrounded by chunky blobs of stuff
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Bison bones show butchery practices 400,000 years ago

In the Gran Dolina cave site, ancient people left a bone bed of bison killed in two seasons and butchered at the site with expedient tools.

Panoramic image of excavation at Gran Dolina with archaeologists at work.
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Research highlight: The frontal sinuses of fossil hominins

A look inside the skulls of hominins reveals the extensive variation in the form of the internal structures known as the frontal sinuses.

Crania of Petralona and LES1 showing the extent of their frontal sinuses
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Panel: Who or what is Homo naledi?

Lee Berger, Agustin Fuentes, and I had a provocative conversation sharing our different perspectives on work related to the Rising Star cave system.

John Hawks with bookshelves in the background
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Understanding numbers as cognitive technology

The Whorf hypothesis says language shapes human thought. A small indigenous group with few number words puts the idea to the test.

Dominoes with colorful dots
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Research highlight: Vertebral wedging in Homo naledi

In a new paper led by Scott Williams, we look at the way that the Homo naledi lower vertebral column compares to humans and other extinct hominins.

Vertebral column preserved for the LES1 skeleton in left lateral, anterior, posterior, and right lateral views.
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Neandertals hunted dangerous prey. How they killed them.

With deep experience in the hunt, Neandertals could anticipate the behavior of many of the most dangerous prey animals.

A faunal mandible surrounded by other bone fragments on an excavated surface
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How I build ethics into my introductory course from the first day

The basic foundation of ethical practices includes honoring and respecting those who have made our research and learning possible.

John Hawks in the laboratory
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How the new White House policy on public access to federally funded research may affect data

The new policy establishes strong expectations for public access to data from federally funded research programs.

White House illuminated at night
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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
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Different transport strategies for different large prey species at Abric Romaní

Interpreting the record of prey exploitation at a rock shelter site over thousands of years provides a window into past economics.

Two red deer does and a fawn standing within a misty fog layer with a rising sun in the background
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Why anthropologists rejected the aquatic ape theory

Human ancestors did not evolve in an aquatic environment. But they did make use of coastal and shoreline resources where they were abundant.

A painting showing an ape and some kind of fish in water, with an ape-looking-Darwin-looking figure at lower right
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Research highlight: The limbs of Homo naledi

In a new paper, Sarah Traynor, David Green and I show that the sizes of the arm bones of Homo naledi are more or less like today's humans, despite their many morphological adaptations to climbing.

Homo naledi skeletal material on a black table with dark background
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When did humankind's last common ancestor live? A surprisingly short time ago

The lines of genealogy of living people converge quickly into the past. Our last genealogical common ancestor lived within the last few thousand years.

Abstract image showing lines connected into a large network on a parchment background
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Kabwe: A famous fossil unearthed amid the human costs of mining

Mining led to the skull's discovery, destroyed its context, and left a century-long legacy of lead poisoning.

The Kabwe skull viewed from the left side
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Research highlight: Taking human origins research into the next decade

Notes on the recent history of paleoanthropology from my Distinguished Lecture for the General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological Association

Hands reaching into the center of frame to make a cricle
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Research highlight: Pelvic fragment from the Lesedi Chamber

A new paper from our team led by Zachary Cofran looks at the immature ilium that is currently the most complete pelvic fragment of Homo naledi.

Research highlight: Pelvic fragment from the Lesedi Chamber
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Why I moved to Ghost instead of Substack

As I analyzed how people find and read my work, I understood that my combination of needs would take a more customizable solution.

A laptop computer next to an antique typewriter
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Research highlight: Mandibles from Malapa

My research with Lee Berger looking at the variation of the mandibular ramus of Australopithecus sediba.

Research highlight: Mandibles from Malapa
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Lecture: Are we the last Neanderthals?

At this event, I shared new insights about the humanity of our extinct human relatives.

John Hawks giving a lecture
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Fossil profile: AL 400-1 mandible and the curving line of human evolution

Australopithecus afarensis was an early member of the hominin lineage, but it was not intermediate between humans and living great apes in all ways.

AL 400-1 mandible with information
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Research highlight: A partial skull from Rising Star

Our team uncovered the tiny skull in a near-impossible crevice deep in the cave system.

Reconstruction of Leti skull.
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Fossil profile: Skhūl 1 and the mixing of populations

A child's skull from Mount Carmel gives an occasion to look at the history of ideas about population mixture.

Skhūl 1 calvaria with information