Human

Archaeologists have discovered what they claim to be the oldest example of figurative art made by human hands. An ochre painting of pigs, found on a cave wall in Indonesia, has been dated to be at least 45,500 years old.

A team of researchers has made a surprising new discovery, finding a pair of previously unknown salivary glands. Nestled deep in the back of the nasopharynx, the discovery may help prevent damaging side effects from head and neck cancer radiotherapy.

Researchers have discovered the longest known set of fossilized human footprints, and they tell an amazing story. The tracks were left by a woman carrying a small child, rushing, and after a few hours she made a return journey – without the child.

Fossilized human footprints have been discovered in Saudi Arabia that help fill in the story of the early migration of our species. Dating back 120,000 years, the tracks are the oldest evidence of the presence of modern humans on the Arabian Peninsula.

It’s generally believed that the Clovis people were the first humans to inhabit the Americas, as long as 15,000 years ago. But now archaeologists have found evidence in a cave in Mexico that suggests humans visited as early as 30,000 years ago.

It’s hard to piece together the full history of human evolution from piles of old bones. But now, scientists have made use of a new method to study proteins in dental enamel of an 800,000-year-old human species, helping place it in the family tree.

The human family tree is being shuffled around again. A new study suggests that Homo erectus existed 100,000 to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought, meaning they lived alongside species they were once thought to have descended from.

Scientists have uncovered what may have been the “last stand” of Homo erectus. Previously thought to have disappeared about 300,000 years ago, Homo erectus could have survived in Indonesia until as recently as 108,000 years ago.

Archaeologists in Ecuador have made a fascinating and grisly discovery. In a burial mound dating back 2,100 years, the scientists found signs of a ritual never seen before – two babies buried wearing “helmets” made of the skulls of other children.

Combining studies of genetics, geology and climate history, scientists from Australia and South Africa say they’ve identified what could be called the “homeland” of modern humans – a vast, ancient wetland system in southern Africa.

The latest update to the human migration story comes from the Greek island of Naxos, where new archaeological finds show that humans and Neanderthals have occupied the site for around 200,000 years – far earlier than previously believed.

Researchers have managed to reconstruct a Denisovan face for the first time, using DNA methylation mapping techniques.