Prehistory
Neanderthals: Life and Legacy of Europe's Ice Age Humans
Neanderthals died out about 40,000 years ago, but interbreeding left roughly 1-2 per cent Neanderthal DNA in the genomes of people with ancestry outside Africa.
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
Irish Elk (Megaloceros): The Giant Deer of Ice Age Europe
The giant deer vanished from Ireland about 12,900 to 11,700 years ago and survived in western Siberia until about 7,700 years ago.
Prehistory
Woolly Mammoth: The Ice Age Giant, Its Fossils and Its Extinction
The woolly mammoth vanished from the mainland around 10,000 years ago; the last known population, on Wrangel Island, died out about 4,000 years ago.
Prehistory
Homo naledi: The Rising Star Cave Discovery in South Africa
More than 1,500 fossils from at least 15 individuals were named Homo naledi in 2015; dating in 2017 showed the small-brained species was surprisingly young.
Prehistory
Jebel Irhoud: The Oldest Known Homo sapiens Fossils in Morocco
New excavations and dating published in 2017 placed the Jebel Irhoud fossils at about 315,000 years old, pushing back the known origin of Homo sapiens by roughly 100,000 years.
Prehistory
Schöningen Spears: The Oldest Complete Hunting Weapons
The spears proved that hominins in Middle Pleistocene Europe made sophisticated wooden weapons and hunted large animals such as horses, overturning the view that they were mainly scavengers.
Prehistory
Kabwe Skull: The Broken Hill Fossil from Zambia's Lead Mine
The skull was named Homo rhodesiensis in 1921; its 2020 dating to about 299,000 years showed it lived alongside early Homo sapiens and Homo naledi.
Prehistory
Florisbad Skull: An Early Human Ancestor from South Africa
The partial skull, named Homo helmei in 1935 and directly dated in 1996, became a key example of the late archaic to early modern humans of Africa.
Prehistory
Omo Kibish Fossils: Among the Oldest Homo sapiens in Ethiopia
The Omo I and Omo II fossils are now dated to at least about 230,000 years ago, making them among the oldest widely accepted Homo sapiens remains.
Prehistory
Apidima Cave Skull: Homo sapiens in Greece 210,000 Years Ago?
A 2019 study proposed that the Apidima 1 skull is the oldest Homo sapiens fossil outside Africa; the claim remains contested.
Prehistory
Denisovans: The Lost Human Species Revealed by Ancient DNA
Ancient DNA revealed a previously unknown branch of humans, sister to the Neanderthals, whose genes survive in many living people in Asia and Oceania.
Prehistory
Pinnacle Point Cave 13B: Shellfish, Ochre and Early Humans
PP13B provided the oldest well-dated evidence of humans systematically eating shellfish and using red ochre, supporting the idea that coastal resources helped early Homo sapiens survive a harsh glacial period.