Prehistory
Herto Skulls: Homo sapiens idaltu from Ethiopia's Middle Awash
Three crania announced in 2003 provided well-dated evidence of nearly modern humans in Africa about 160,000 years ago, supporting an African origin for Homo sapiens.
Era · Before c. 3000 BC
Prehistory
From the formation of Earth and the age of dinosaurs to the first cave art and monuments, before writing was invented.
Prehistory
Xiahe Mandible: A Denisovan Jaw from the Tibetan Plateau
Ancient proteins identified the jaw as Denisovan, showing that these archaic humans lived on the high Tibetan Plateau at least 160,000 years ago.
Prehistory
Skhul and Qafzeh: Early Modern Humans in the Levant
The burials showed that Homo sapiens lived in south-west Asia long before Europe, during an early dispersal from Africa that did not lead to lasting settlement.
Prehistory
Homo floresiensis: The 'Hobbit' Humans of Flores, Indonesia
The discovery revealed a small-bodied, small-brained human species that survived on an isolated island until about 50,000 years ago, reshaping views of human evolution in Asia.
Prehistory
Denny (Denisova 11): A Neanderthal-Denisovan Hybrid Child
Genome analysis showed that Denisova 11 was the first-generation child of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father, direct proof that the two groups interbred.
Prehistory
Taforalt Cave: Early Shell Beads and Burials in Morocco
Taforalt produced some of the oldest known personal ornaments and one of the largest Late Pleistocene cemeteries in Africa, along with ancient genomes that reshaped understanding of North African population history.
Prehistory
Sibudu Cave: Early Arrows, Bedding and Glue in South Africa
Sibudu became one of the key Middle Stone Age sites for showing that early Homo sapiens used complex technologies, including compound adhesives, likely bows and arrows, and managed plant bedding.
Prehistory
Blombos Cave: Engraved Ochre and the Earliest Known Drawing
Finds at Blombos Cave, published from 2001 onwards, became central evidence that Homo sapiens in Africa made abstract designs, ornaments and pigments tens of thousands of years before the cave art of Ice Age Europe.
Prehistory
Shanidar Cave: Neanderthal Burials and the 'Flower Burial'
The remains of ten Neanderthals reshaped views of their care for the injured and treatment of the dead, though the 'flower burial' remains contested.
Prehistory
Toba Supereruption: The Volcano and the Human Bottleneck Debate
A colossal eruption spread ash from the South China Sea to Africa, but most current evidence suggests it did not cause a near-extinction of humans.
Prehistory
Out of Africa: How Homo sapiens Spread Across the World
All living people outside Africa descend mainly from a population that left Africa in this period and mixed along the way with Neanderthals and Denisovans.
Prehistory
Homo luzonensis: The Callao Cave Humans of the Philippines
Fossils from Callao Cave were named a new human species in 2019, showing that a distinct, small-toothed hominin lived on Luzon before or as modern humans arrived.