Human evolution roundup: Here are last year’s 13 most fascinating findings on human ancestry

Human evolution roundup: Last year’s 13 most fascinating findings about human origins
Credit: Midjourney/ Heenan

The year 2023 proved to be another exciting 12 months for research in human evolution. Many of the top stories tell us more about the diet and tool use of our early ancestors and relatives and the environment where they lived. Others provide evidence for behaviors: hunting, making jewelry and interacting with each other in previously unexplored ways. Whether by taking a fresh look at previously excavated fossils or uncovering new evidence altogether, all of these stories expand the breadth of knowledge about our shared ancient past and bring to light more information about what it means to be human.

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Neanderthals were the resident gourmands of ancient Eurasia.

New research this year gives us more clues about how Neanderthals lived and hunted and what they might have eaten. Three studies shed new light on Neanderthal behavior and diet, increasingly showing that our closest extinct relatives are not that different from us.

Homo sapiens were in southeast Asia thousands of years earlier than expected.

While ancient DNA allows researchers to investigate our species’ African origins, new fossils and archaeological sites can shed light on when our ancestors migrated to new places outside of Africa. A paper published in June by Sarah Freidline and colleagues describes new fossils and dates for members of our own species Homo sapiens and found that humans reached Southeast Asia sometime between 68,000 and 86,000 years ago.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article here

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