Paleolithic Papers #35

Genus Homo:

H. sapiens:

The late Pleistocene dating for Cooper's Ferry is disputed and here is the response.

H. neanderthalensis:

Neandertals made string, cord or twine.

H. antecessor:

H. antecessor is either the last common ancestor for Denisovans, Neandertals and modern humans or really, really close to it.

H. heidelbergensis:

The Broken Hill skull has been dated from ~299 thousand years gao.

H. naledi:

The DH7 juvenile skeleton gives some insight as to how H. naledi matured.

H. erectus:

H. erectus lived alongside paranthropus and australopethicus in South Africa.

Carnivores were responsible for the accumulation of H. erectus fossils at Dmanisi.

Genus Australopithecus:

A. afarensis:

Lucy's brain grew like a modern human's, but was organized like an ape's.

META:  

What did ancient humans look like?

How thick was the enamel on plio-pleistocene hominins?

How did the talus evolve in early hominins?

Were there multiple descents from the trees?

The role of cladistics in paleoanthropology.

Paleolithic Papers #30

Genus Homo:

Just how many ghost lineages are hiding in the human genome?

Demographics modeling and the genetic introgression of hominins.

Modern Humans (H sapiens):

The Apidima 1 fossil from Greece is of H. sapiens, but dates from 210 kya.  This is far, far older than previously thought for modern humans to be outside of Africa.  Apidima 2 is a Neandertal and younger.

While exploring part of the genome associated with the sense of smell, scientists found genes from Neandertals and an unknown human relative.

The routes of modern humans into Australia get revisited.

What was being eaten at the Manot Cave, Israel roughly 40 kya.

What made humans the 'fat primate?'

Has evidence of murder from the Paleolithic been found?

The genetic components of height in prehistoric Europe are explored.

The genetic and archaeological evidence for the peopling of the Americas.

Using genetic introgression evidence to infer when modern humans dispersed into the rest of the world.

Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis):

Evidence from Italy shows Neandertals circa 170k years ago during the Pleistocene butchering already dead carcasses of elephants.

The migration history of Neandertals get revealed via DNA studies.  Neandertals in Europe were pretty stable as a genetic population for at least 80k years.  They migrated east into Siberia and seem to have been very distantly related to the Neandertals that lived there previously.

Neandertals used resin to glue stone tools to shafts and whatnot.

Neandertals repeatedly used the 'Ein Qashish site as a rarely found open air settlement between 54,000 years ago to as far back as 71,000 years ago.

The Geißenklösterle Cave layers are radiometrically dated.

H. erectus:

There are reports of a find in Indonesia of 1.8 mya Homo erectus fossils.

Rising Star Hominin (H. naledi):

The femoral neck and shaft structure gets examined.

H. naledi's teeth are more like australopithecines and early Homo species rather than later members of the genus Homo.

Genus Australopithecus:

A stratigraphic investigation of the site where Little Foot was discovered was undertaken.

Little Foot has longer than average australopithecine arm bones.

META:

The season changes to savannahs and how it might have impacted hominin diets.

The promise of how protein analysis could change paleoanthropology.

The Sahara Desert dates back, intermittently, to the Pliocene.

The Olduvai Basin gets seismically imaged.

How stone tool techniques could have been acquired.

The hominin ilium is pretty unique.

How many different hominins did our ancestors actually meet?

Paleolithic Papers #21

Genus Homo:

Why are human brains so large?  What genes make our brains grow so much larger than most other animals in relative terms?  Does the size come at a cost?

H. sapiens:

Who were the Nataruk people?

The Zhoukoudian Cave's human habitation is 35 thousand years old.

Mesolithic Mediterranean people's diet has been discovered via analysis of their teeth.

More evidence suggests modern humans colonized the Americas via the coastal route.

Paleogenetic evidence also suggests two different lineages did the colonization.

Mesolithic intestinal parasites have been found in Sweden.

Diets of the Niah Cave residents might be detectable from their mandibles.

The Clovis tech and skeletal remains from the Anzick site are, in fact, from the same time frame at the Holocene/Pleistocene boundary.

The interaction between modern humans and the archaic populations it replaced in Africa as it evolved needs to be examined.

Late Pleistocene tools in Sri Lanka show what plants the locals were eating at the time.

H. neanderthalensis:

How DID Neandertals hunt?  By not throwing, it appears, but by close-quarters thrusts and stabs.

New insights into the Neandertal thorax.

Denisovans:

Stone tools from the Denisovan cave were used to butcher animals.

H. erectus:

How H. erectus may have interacted with a lake margin ecology.

H. naledi:

Based on studying the teeth of H. naledi, it definitely appears to be a member of the genus Homo.

H. habilis:

The biomechanics of the OH 8 foot get examined.

Genus Australopithecus:

The cranial thickness of the StW 578 hominin (A. africanus, iirc) gets examined and similarities to modern humans are found, while differences from Paranthropus are uncovered as well.

The DIK-1-1f A. afarensis child has finally been described.  Among the interesting features is the child had ankles and feet that would help it climb trees, unlike the adults of the same species.  The big toe, as a child, was far, far more mobile than as an adult.  This would allow for grasping while climbing.  However, the child would lose this as it grew up.  Even as a child though, the Dikka hominin was definitely bipedal.

META:

The environment of 2 million years ago where hominins lived was wetter than previously thought.

Muscles thought to be uniquely human have been found in great apes.

How hominins leading to humans carved out their unique niche and how it differed from apes.

Studying breakage patterns on bones could have been produced by hominins.

Caution with studying collagen from prehistoric hominin fossils is warranted.

Large size might have evolved already by the time of the last common ancestor of humans and chimps.

Paleolithic Papers #20

Genus Homo:

Were movable eye brows a significant force in human evolution?

Hominins were not present where megafauna were common, but may have still contributed to the mass extinction.

Where did the Neandertal introgression hypothesis originate?

Just what butchered a rhino in the Philippines 709,000 years ago?

A cave in Kenya gives insight into technological innovation over millennia during the Pleistocene.

The onset of the Achuelean in East Africa is examined.

H. sapiens:

A modern human finger bone has been found in Saudi Arabia dating from over 85,000 years ago.

John Hawks looks back at the idea the Clovis Culture was the first one in the Americas.

The origin of fluted point technology in the ice free corridor in North America.

Long distance pigment trade and use in Mesolithic Africa.

The environmental conditions at the onset of the Mesolithic in Africa.

Variation in the temporal labyrinth as evidence of out of Africa.

Stone artifacts where recovered from Sulawesi, Indonesia dating from 65,000 years ago, suggesting modern humans arrived much earlier than previously thought.

Genomic research linked North African, subsaharan and Middle Eastern populations during the Late Pleistocene.

A recent paper argues a 5 meter long wooden sculpture from Siberia is from the twilight of the Pleistocene and the oldest known monumental art.

Symbolic emblems from the Middle East hint that the Levantine Aurignacian had a distinct, regional culture.

Modern Humans started making certain types of stone tools over ten thousand years earlier than previously thought.

The ability to focus on details led to a revolution in cave paintings.

Evidence of waves of immigrants into the Southeast Asia come from genetics.

How humans survived the Toba event.

H. neanderthalensis:

Neandertals actually had a rather unique nasal system and breathed primarily through their nose, even when breathing heavily.  Could that have been a cold weather adaptation?  After all, our noses help warm and moisten the air as it comes in.

Scientists are hoping to grow brain organoids using Neandertal DNA and observe differences between Neandertals and modern humans.

Neandertals might have have had Mediterranean maritime odysseys since their tools were found on the island of Crete.

How much insight do artifacts from Crimea give into Neandertal symbolism?

Differences between Neandertal and modern human mandibular ramus are considered.

The 'endocostal ossifications' of the K 2 Neandertal get reconsidered.

H. floresiensis:

The experiences of one of the discoverers of the Hobbit and John Hawks' amplification of that.

H. erectus:

KNM-WT 1500's weight has had important implications for understanding H. erectus growth.

KNM-ER 42700:

KNM-ER 42700 is NOT Homo erectus, but rather a different, unknown hominin species.

H. naledi:

Enamel growth on H. naledi's teeth gets considered.

The complexity of H. naledi's brain is examined.

Genus Australopithecus:

Modern human gait predates the genus Homo.

Human hip joint loading was present in A. africanus and P. robustus.

META:

Our understanding of hominin evolution is shaped by sampling bias.

Developed Olduwan A should be abandoned as a term since there is no difference between it and Olduwan.

A new hominin has been found circa 2 million years ago from Ethiopia. 

What we inherited from our insectivorous ancestors.

Paleolithic Papers #19

Genus Homo:

A British Columbian family found a hominin trackway dating from 90,000 years ago in South Africa.  This was certainly from the genus Homo and probably even H. sapiens.

Bone retouchers from circa 115,000 years ago were found in China.  John Hawks comments on them.

Paleolithic bone tools from northern China are examined.

A lower density of carnivores in Europe might have allowed hominins to thrive.

Almost immediately after the glaciers retreated in Germany, hominins moved in.

H. sapiens:

A Pleistocene Moroccan had its genetic ancestry traced to the Near East and Subsaharan Africa.

The Toba super eruption did not cause a volcanic winter in eastern Africa.

Modern humans seem to have been just fine in South Africa, too.

John Hawks takes a look at the Toba bottleneck.

Cheddar Man, the prehistoric individual found in Britain with modern descendants in the area had dark skin.  By modern standards, he was black.

Can micro amounts of flint in archaeological sites help indicate if there was flint knapping taking place?

Evidence of modern humans has been found that pushes back our species origin by tens of thousands of years.

Major climate and technological change abounded at the dawn of modern humans.

Footprints of human beings have been found off the coast of Canada dating to the Late Pleistocene.

H. neanderthalensis:

The oldest fire forged multi purpose tool dates from 170,000 years ago in Europe.

Brown Bears, Cave Bears and Neandertals were competitors in Pleistocene Europe.  It seems in some cases, Neandertals actually hunted the bears.

The complexity of Neandertal technology gets discussed.

The classic Neandertal La Ferrassie 1 gets a redescription and that includes new pathologies found.

Neandertals seem to have a rather different thorax than modern humans.

Could Neandertal's lack of drawing be related to how they hunted?  Probably mistaken.  See the next line.

The first cave art is probably Neandertal and predates known modern humans arriving in Europe by 20,000 years.  This suggests Neandertals thought like modern people do. (original paper)

The El Sidrón juvenile Neandertal reconstruction has led to some controversy.

Sima de los Huesos Hominin:

The SdlH hominin had legs more like Neandertals than early modern humans based on their cross section.  This would lend support to the idea the SdlH hominins are basal Neandertals or ancestral to Denisovans and Neandertals.

Denisovans:

It appears that Denisovans interbred with modern humans twice.

H. heidelbergensis:

The bite strength of H. heidelbergensis and H. sapiens is compared.

H. naledi:

New excavations are underway at the site where H. naledi was discovered.

The teeth of H. naledi are considered with their potential diet in mind.

META:

The paper "The revised stratigraphy of the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa) and associated perspectives " has been retracted by the editors of the journal.

The evolution of eccrine sweat glands in human lineage gets examined.

Hominid brain size grew over time.  John Hawks takes issue with the paper.  (and he also calls homo floresiensis by its name)

Were grass leaves a source of food for hominins?

Did hominins use stone tools to make nightly defensive shelters from Acacia trees?

Hominins risked ischemia when going bipedal.

Hip extensor mechanics and the evolution of walking upright.

Did Pleistocene hominins really bury their dead?

Paleolithic Papers #17

Genus Homo:

The brains of modern humans are different than other primates in particular ways.

Modern Humans (H. sapiens):

Ancient DNA from South Africa pushes back the origins of modern humans.

How did ancient humans organize themselves?  Check their genomes.

Did the first Americans come via the Kelp Highway?  More evidence.

Ancient mitochondrial DNA studies have shown three different groups swept into Labrador and Newfoundland at different times.

Hobbits (H. floresiensis):

How the Hobbit, LB1, was found.

Did Hobbits eat rats?

Denisovans:

John Hawks disagrees when the Denisovans and Neandertals split.

Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis):

New wrist bones from the Neandertals of El Sidron, Spain have been found and studied.

The Mousterian Neandertals of China are discussed.

A high coverage DNA Neandertal genome has been recovered from Vindijia, Croatia.

The interbreeding between modern humans and Neandertals reintroduced older, lost DNA from ancient, older hominins to the modern human genome.

The interaction between Neandertals and modern humans has been modeled.

A paper suggested modern humans replaced Neandertals through immigration.  A response has been posted.

H. heidelbergensis:

Did the sinuses of H. heidelbergensis have a special role or placement? 

H. naledi:

Reviewing the September excavations at the Rising Star Caves.

An H. naledi pelvis is examined and found to have characteristics of Homo and Australopithecus pelvises.

Genus Paranthropus:

P. robustus:

Isotopic analysis of P robustus teeth show the environments and even movements of individuals lived in.

META:

Crocodiles may make similar marks on bones when feeding like those interpreted to be done by stone tools and flakes used for butchery by hominins.

The jaws of hominins and their variation give important clues as to whether or not they belong to a specific species.

There are deep concerns some of the fossils from Europe of hominins were stolen and used in a study.  Even the journal has grown concerned.

Stone tools from late Oldowon from the Olduvai are investigated with new digs.

Pounding tools from the Oldowon to Acheulen transition are examined as well.

Paleolithic Papers #15

Genus Homo:

Long endurance in modern Humans seems to have arisen in the genus Homo around 1 million years ago.

Humans lost strength relative to chimpanzees due to a need for low energetic cost, repetitive motions.

Different times when people are better awake (night owls, early birds, etc) may have increased the human ancestors' chances of survival.

Did a dog domestication take a wrong turn?

A Mesolithic rock shelter's biomarkers might be useful for studies around the world.

How female chimps differ from male on how they acquire meat may shed light on how humanity evolved gender roles.

Old age insomnia might actually be a survival mechanism.

When did music originate in the human line?

Modern Humans (H. sapiens):

The oldest known fossils of modern humans date from around 300 kya and show the diet of that ancient modern human was very meat heavy.  Additionally, the site is mesolithic, further tying our species to the advent of that level of technology.  The fossil raises interesting questions about how modern humans evolved in Africa.

Examining the Omo-Kibish pelvis, one of the oldest known fossils of modern humans.

In the late Pleistocene, PaleoIndians in Peru had an interestingly advanced culture.

A Mesolithic culture in Ethiopia used ochre for thousands of years at one site.

Mesolithic era human remains have been found in South Africa.

Rice domestication has been pushed back to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary.

The first use of potatoes in North America has been dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary.

Upper Paleolithic behaviors changed based on evidence from an Armenian cave.

Late Paleolithic beads made from Ostrich shells in northern China show evidence of different craftsmen.

It appear the Aboriginals reached Australia 65,000 years ago based on new archaeological evidencea.

Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis):

A commentary on the recent paper about Neandertal diet.

The Apidima 2 hominin is a Neandertal from 160,000 years ago.

The transition from Neandertals to modern human occupation in the Czech Republic.

The transition from Neandertals to modern human occupation in Iran's Zagros Mountains took place between 45,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Dating the Mousterian in France.

Neandertals apparently used toothpicks based on tooth wear evidence.

Rabbits may have disturbed a Neandertal gravesite bringing into question the dating of the remains there.

Mitochondrial DNA suggests Neandertals interbred with a close relative of modern humans between 220,000 to 470,000 years ago.

H. naledi:

Homo naledi chipped its teeth an awful lot.

H. ergaster:

How Homo ergaster might have organized socially due to predation.

META:

The evolution of the hominin ankle and knee.

Examining the depositional environment in South African hominin fossil sites that are paleokarsts.

Increasing aridity and hominin evolution may not be as tightly coupled as originally thought.

When did hominins start eating large amounts of meat?

Paleolithic Papers #14

Genus Homo:

During the Middle Pleistocene, the Luonan Basin in central China appears to be a refugium for hominids.

How the human pelvis evolved.

Humanity originated in the grasslands.

Mathematical models are attempting to explain the evolutionary growth of the human brain.

Was the reason human remained platigrade when their ancestors came out of the trees was to due to a better fighting stance?

Modern Humans (H. sapiens):

It appears modern humans may have arrived in North America far, far earlier than previously thought, back 130,000 years ago.  This is an extraordinary claim, so approach with caution.  Also, there is no evidence whether this is really modern humans or some other member of the genus Homo.  The reason I list it here is because there is no credible evidence of any other hominin ever in North America.

Australian Aboriginals have been genetically isolated for 50,000 years according to a study of their mitochondrial DNA.

Native American of the northwest have been genetically continuous for at least 10,000 years.

The symbols of Wallacea in Indonesia from the Late Pleistocene.

Life sucked for a teen mom found from Late Pleistocene North America.

Were there multiple waves of migration into the Americas?

Hobbits (H. floresiensis):

Hobbits are more closely related to Homo habilis than Homo erectus.

Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis):

How Neandertal vertebrae were different from modern humans.

Trying to figure out the functional use of the Neandertal arm.

Neandertal diet and subsistence strategies studies have been very, very biased.

How Neandertals gathered wood for their fires.

John Hawks reviews and then calls for caution over the evidence Neandertals might have used 'aspirin' and had a form of penicillin.

A decorated raven bone from Crimea may be a Neandertal artifact.

Could Neandertals have been wiped out by diseases carried by modern humans?

Neandertal trade is documented in a Pleistocene Czech cave.

Has Neandertal cave art been found?

Xuchang Hominins:

Were the Xuchang hominins Neandertals or something else?

Denisovans:

There is a claim of the discovery of a very impressive piece of jewelry associated with the Denisovans during the Pleistocene 40,000 years ago.  I have not seen a peer reviewed journal article.

Denisovan (and Neandertal) DNA has been recovered from cave sediments.  We can now know whether or not a caveman excretes in a cave (cue bear in woods ref).

The Xujiayao hominid from the middle Pleistocene may be a Denisovan.

H. naledi:

New remains of H. naledi appear to date the age of the hominin cousin to between 250 to 335 thousand years ago, making the human family tree look even MORE bushy.

H. heidelbergensis:

Remains from Portugal appear to be ancestral to Neandertals.

H. erectus:

The pelvis shape of H. erectus is described.

Members of the genus Homo have been hunting as groups prior to the rise of Neandertals.

Genus Australopithecus:

Analysis of the Laetoli footprints strongly suggests a human-like gait.

Using children to try to figure out the body sizes of small hominids.

The environment of Turkana, east Africa is described from 2 million years ago to 1.4 million years ago.

A. afarensis:

How A. afarensis gave birth.

The human-like spine existed in A. afarensis.

A. sebida:

Was A. seiba actually very closely related to A. africanus?

Genus Sahelanthropus:

The environment for Sahelanthropus appears to have been a largely forested.  Australopithecus  bahrelghazali as well.

Genus Graecopithecus:

Was Graecopithecus the oldest known post LCA hominin? If so some of the earliest hominins lived outside of Africa proper.

Last Common Ancestor:

bonobos are a better analog for the last common ancestor of apes than chimpanzees.

Paleolithic Papers #13

Genus Homo:

Brain size and tooth size were not linked during human evolution.

Stone tools can be examined for the types of plants they were used on.

Asian populations are genetically contiguous with their stone age predecessors.

Did the first humans arrive in North America much earlier than previously thought?

Modern Humans (Homo sapiens):

Tibet may have been occupied by modern humans by the end of the Pleistocene.

Paleolithic cave art started out as public art and became private over time.

The environment of Shanxi, China during the late Pleistocene.

Human remains of the Mesolithic of South Africa.

Foraging patterns have persisted in New Guinea since the terminal Pleistocene despite the advent of farming.

Neandertals (Homo neanderthalensis):

The underrated genius of Neandertals.

Neandertals get praised and examined in the NY Times.

Neandertals were rock collectors.

Examining the molars of Neandertals.

Reconstructing the diet of Neandertals at El Sidrón, Spain.

How did Neandetals spread to the Greek Island of Naxos?  Boats?

Homo naledi:

Examining the ribs and vertebra of H. naledi.

Genus Australopithecus:

A. sediba:

A sediba was adapted to tree climbing as well as bipedal walking.

Paleolithic Papers #11

Genus Homo:

Genital Warts are from interactions, ahem, between modern humans and Neandertals.

H. sapiens:

There is evidence of learning in the Magdalenian culture.

Modern humans may have hunted cave lions for their pelts.

Modern humans also recognize snakes far better than other animals when they are partially obscured.

Mesolithic cultures in Ethiopia may have used several methods to create ochre.

How Mesolithic cultures used small mammals.

How early Homo might have used tubers for food.

Evidence of early modern human tools from East Timor from 42,000 years ago?

H. neanderthalensis:

Neandertal genes may have helped modern humans adapt to life outside of Africa.

However, many Neandertal genes have been very actively selected against.

H. erectus:

Researchers looked at the cranial vaults of non human primates to try to explain the hypertrophied skull in H. erectus.

H. naledi:

Based on skull shape, H. naledi may be closely related to Homo erectus.

The upper limb, skull and thigh/leg of H. naledi get described.

Genus Paranthropus:

Paranthropus species may have eaten a softer diet than previously thought.

 

META:

Comparing the isotopes found in modern ape and monkey population teeth gives insight into past homin diets.

John Hawks discusses the monkey creation of stone flakes.

Paleolithic Papers #7

Genus Homo:

There seems to have been a dietary shift in the evolution of the genus Homo from Australopithecus.

A decorated Nautilus shell from 42,000 years ago from Indonesia has been found.

Modern Humans (Homo sapiens):

Tracking the stone tools across the Kalahari during the Mesolithic.

What does the 'Still Bay' Mesolithic stone tools imply for human demographics?

What does cut mark evidence mean for Late Pleistocene societies?

Where is the evidence of women and children in the Stone age?

The argument for coastal foraging being important for early modern humans gets revisited.

The 'Deep Skull' from Pleistocene South East Asia has revealed some surprises. For example, the person its from is not related to Australian Aborigines. 

Sima de los Huesos hominin:

The Sima de los Huesos hominin probably died violently.

Hobbits (Homo floresiensis):

John Hawks talks about the recent discovery of ancestors of Hobbit ancestors.

Homo erectus:

Visiting the site of the oldest known hominins outside of Africa in Georgia.

Homo naledi:

The academic bun fight over whether or not the bodies of H naledi were placed deliberately continues.

John Hawks weighs in on the bun fight and defends the idea the bodies were placed intentionally.  He also gives a recap of a seminar on the latest on H. naledi.

The phylogenetic position of H. naledi is explored.

Genus Australopithecus:

The implications of the paleoecology and their impacts on the evolution of australopithecines.

Australopithecus afarensis:

Lucy's feet are consistent with the Laetoli footprints. 

Paleolithic Papers #5

General:

Discover Magazine has placed online an article about the hominin sites of South Africa.

Why humans are the higher energy ape. 

Genus Homo:

Modern Humans (Homo sapiens):

Here's a paper on the technology behind early cave painting.

How durable were the jewelry made by stone age humans from marine resources?

What influenced the collagen isotopic content in the Neolithic?

The oldest known hafted axe was found in Australia from 45,000 years ago during the Pleistocene.

Evidence was found of pre Clovis Native Americans in Florida from 14,5000 years ago.

Neandertals (Homo neanderthalensis):

Could diseases brought by modern humans helped bring about the demise of the Neandertals similar, but not as extreme, as what happened to the Native Americans when Europeans came?

Was the Châtelperronian stone tool assemblage evidence of interaction between Neandertals and modern humans?

Modern humans and Neandertals had different food gathering strategies.

Climate changes seem to have impacted diet for Neandertals.

Here are investigations of the Neandertal clavical.

Homo erectus:

Some Chinese hominin teeth might have been attributed to H. erectus, but really belong to another species.

John Hawks writes about the Dmanisi hominins  and the dispersal of genus Homo out of africa.

Homo naledi: 

A symposium on H. naledi was held in Atlanta.

Genus Australopitchecus:

Australopithecus sediba:

The fossils for A. sediba are now on Morphospace.

How old are the caves A. sediba were found in?

Paleolithic Papers #4

Australopithecus afarensis:

More afarenesis fossils have been found, including two infants,in Kenya.

Genus Homo:

The nose plays an important part of the conditioning of the air for the lungs.

Did nearby supernova affect human evolution?

Where did early humans get their brain feeding nutrients?

Homo naledi:

Did H. naledi really purposefully bury its dead in the cave in Africa?

Homo erectus:

The biogeography of the dispersion of erectus out of Africa.

Neandertals (Homo neanderthalensis):

The differences between Neandertals and modern humans are being attributed to the differences in diet.

Hobbits (Homo floresiensis):

Hobbits were older than previously thought.

Some are speculating the new dates would imply modern humans wiped out the Hobbits.

John Hawks talks about what the new paper on the Liang Bua's stratigraphy does and does not answer.  It ought to be noted Hawks is calling the Hobbits Homo floresiensis now.

Modern Humans (Homo sapiens):

There was a long layover in Beringia when the PaleoIndians migrated to the New World from Asia.

Puppies of the Paleolithic sounds like a title to a kids book or an odd band, but is entirely accurate in this case.

There is a map of which populations have Denisovan and Neandertal genes.

Some have questions about the introgression of Denisovans and Neandertals into modern humans.

Modern human Y chromosomes do not have Neandertal genes.

There is a hot topic of whether or not warfare is inherent to modern humans.  Some argue it is.  Others believe it is not.  A study in Japan of Holocene hunter gatherers claims to support that war is not a basal part of humanity.

Homo naledi may Date From the Gelasian Pleistocene Quaternary (2 Million Years ago)

Estimating the age and affinities of Homo naledi

Author:

Thackeray

Extract:

Recent discoveries of more than 1500 hominin fossils from the site of Rising Star in the South African Cradle of Humankind, attributed to a new species (Homo naledi), have attracted global interest. As yet no secure date for this extraordinary material has been obtained, and the relationship of this species to other Plio-Pleistocene taxa has been greatly debated in the media. Here I report results of morphometric analyses that may facilitate an assessment of the age and affinities of crania attributed to H. naledi.

pop sci write up.

The Plethora of news About Homo naledi and its Bipedalism

There is a lot of news about Homo naledi. Mainly, it shows H naledi walked like people and climbed like a chimp.

popsci write up #1, write up #2, write up #3, and write up #4.

Open access paper #1 and paper #2.

As Darwinopterus showed in the Mesozoic for pterosaur evolution, H naledi shows for human evolution: mosaicism rules.

Homo naledi: a new Member of the Homo Genus who Buried its Dead

An international research team, which includes NYU anthropologists Scott Williams and Myra Laird, has discovered a new species of a human relative. Homo naledi, uncovered in a cave outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, sheds light on the diversity of our genus and possibly its origin.

"This discovery is unprecedented in the sheer number of hominins collected from such a small area in the virtual absence of other animal remains," says Williams, an assistant professor in NYU's Department of Anthropology. "That makes this site unique. Moreover, the announcement describes only the tip of the iceberg of analyses that will come, and we hope that is also true of the cave itself and the material that it still holds."

The team's findings, which are published in two papers in the journal eLife, were announced by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society, and the South African National Research Foundation.

The discovery also indicates that H. naledi intentionally deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber--behaviors previously thought limited to humans.

link.

2nd link. 

3rd link.

open access paper link.

Age uncertain.  Could be as old as early Pleistocene (2.1MYA) or as young as late Pleistocene (100kya)

John Hawks is the second author.  When he puts up a post on it, I'll link, too.  Someone ought to give him a hard time and ask if this isn't a diseased Homo sapiens.