Archaeology News Online

In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic humans may have contributed genetic material to ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic human may have contributed genetic material to  ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The finding comes from a University at Buffalo-led research project  that examined the evolutionary history of MUC7, a gene that codes for an important salivary protein of the same name  [Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo] The research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that sexual rendezvous between different archaic human species may not have been unusual. Past studies have concluded that the forebears of modern humans in Asia and Europe interbred with other early hominin species, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new research is among more recent genetic analyses indicating that ancient Af

There was a lot of excitement when scientists reported the discovery of an entirely new hominin species, Homo naledi , in 2015. Since then, we are gradually learning more about them. For example, earlier this year, researchers found that they lived sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago. Teeth don’t lie [Credit: Ian Towle] Now my colleagues and I have reported among the first evidence on the diet and behaviour of this fascinating new addition to the human family tree. Our research, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology , suggests they probably ate a substantially different diet from other South African hominins. The young age of Homo naledi suggests they may have shared their environment with humans, raising an intriguing discussion about the ecological niche they would have filled . The preservation of their skeletons is also interesting – the research team that first described it concluded they may have deliberately placed their dead in the cave. Mapping

DNA in a fossil from a young girl has revealed that a mysterious extinct human lineage occupied the middle of Asia longer than previously thought, allowing more potential interbreeding with Neanderthals, a new study finds. Photographs of the Denisova 2 lower second molar in (A) occlusal, (B) mesial, (C) buccal, (D) lingual, (E) distal, and  (F) apical views. Scientists estimate the molar found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia is older than previously  studied Denisovan fossils [Credit: Slon et al. Sci. Adv. 2017; 3: e1700186] Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, other hominins — which include modern humans, extinct human species and their immediate ancestors — once lived on Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, as well as the Denisovans, who lived across a region that might have stretched from Siberia to Southeast Asia. In 2010, researchers analyzed DNA from fossils to reveal the existence of the Denisovans, suggestin

The EU-funded TRACSYMBOLS project, which closed in 2015, investigated archaeological sites in South Africa for early use of symbols by homo sapiens, examining painting kits, spear points, beads and ostrich egg shell engravings. They also studied the usage of the reddish iron-rich rock, ochre. And it was to ochre that members of the project team have more recently returned. View of Porc-Epic Cave [Credit: A. Herrero] Recently writing in the open-access journal PLOS ONE members of the TRACSYMBOLS project team explain that ochre is commonly found at Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites. The state in which it is often found, with pieces modified through grinding and scraping to produce red powder along with ochre-stained objects such as lithic and bone tools, lead researchers to treat its presence as an indicator of modern symbolically mediated human behaviour. In this latest research the team analysed the largest known East African MSA ochre collection at Porc-Epic Cave, Ethiopia. It comprised a

A Neanderthal child’s upper right canine milk tooth from the Vanguard Cave was discovered during laboratory work in the Gibraltar Museum, on Monday 3rd July, by Miriam Napper of Liverpool John Moores University, and Lucia Castagna from Bologna University. They noticed a strange tooth, which they passed to Stewart Finlayson of the Gibraltar Museum who immediately recognised its importance. The Neanderthal child’s upper right canine milk tooth from the Vanguard Cave  [Credit: Gibraltar Museum] Photographs of the tooth were sent immediately to leading experts in this field, particularly working on Neanderthal teeth, who confirmed that tooth belonged to a human child aged 4-5 years and showed features characteristic of Neanderthal. Its context, in a level at Vanguard Cave dated to ~50,000 years ago, confirms the identity as being Neanderthal. The level from which the tooth came is not one of occupation by Neanderthals but is, instead, a Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) lair. It is possibl

In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic humans may have contributed genetic material to ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic human may have contributed genetic material to  ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The finding comes from a University at Buffalo-led research project  that examined the evolutionary history of MUC7, a gene that codes for an important salivary protein of the same name  [Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo] The research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that sexual rendezvous between different archaic human species may not have been unusual. Past studies have concluded that the forebears of modern humans in Asia and Europe interbred with other early hominin species, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new research is among more recent genetic analyses indicating that ancient Af

There was a lot of excitement when scientists reported the discovery of an entirely new hominin species, Homo naledi , in 2015. Since then, we are gradually learning more about them. For example, earlier this year, researchers found that they lived sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago. Teeth don’t lie [Credit: Ian Towle] Now my colleagues and I have reported among the first evidence on the diet and behaviour of this fascinating new addition to the human family tree. Our research, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology , suggests they probably ate a substantially different diet from other South African hominins. The young age of Homo naledi suggests they may have shared their environment with humans, raising an intriguing discussion about the ecological niche they would have filled . The preservation of their skeletons is also interesting – the research team that first described it concluded they may have deliberately placed their dead in the cave. Mapping

DNA in a fossil from a young girl has revealed that a mysterious extinct human lineage occupied the middle of Asia longer than previously thought, allowing more potential interbreeding with Neanderthals, a new study finds. Photographs of the Denisova 2 lower second molar in (A) occlusal, (B) mesial, (C) buccal, (D) lingual, (E) distal, and  (F) apical views. Scientists estimate the molar found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia is older than previously  studied Denisovan fossils [Credit: Slon et al. Sci. Adv. 2017; 3: e1700186] Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, other hominins — which include modern humans, extinct human species and their immediate ancestors — once lived on Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, as well as the Denisovans, who lived across a region that might have stretched from Siberia to Southeast Asia. In 2010, researchers analyzed DNA from fossils to reveal the existence of the Denisovans, suggestin

The EU-funded TRACSYMBOLS project, which closed in 2015, investigated archaeological sites in South Africa for early use of symbols by homo sapiens, examining painting kits, spear points, beads and ostrich egg shell engravings. They also studied the usage of the reddish iron-rich rock, ochre. And it was to ochre that members of the project team have more recently returned. View of Porc-Epic Cave [Credit: A. Herrero] Recently writing in the open-access journal PLOS ONE members of the TRACSYMBOLS project team explain that ochre is commonly found at Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites. The state in which it is often found, with pieces modified through grinding and scraping to produce red powder along with ochre-stained objects such as lithic and bone tools, lead researchers to treat its presence as an indicator of modern symbolically mediated human behaviour. In this latest research the team analysed the largest known East African MSA ochre collection at Porc-Epic Cave, Ethiopia. It comprised a