Finds in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge reveal how ancient humans adapted to change

History

The research site at the Olduvai Gorge. Author supplied Julio Mercader Florin, University of Calgary The ability to adapt to changing environments has deep roots. In a technology-driven world, people tend to conflate adaptability with technological change, especially...

A forgotten settlement in the Cradle of Humankind adds a note to southern African history

History

Researchers examined the traces of what was likely a human settlement in the Cradle of Humankind. Tim Forssman Tim Forssman, University of Pretoria About 50km outside South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg, lies one of the most important sites in human prehistory:...

Modern humans evolved 100,000 years earlier than we thought – and not just in east Africa

History

Jean-Jacques Hublin, MPI-EVA, Leipzig Matthew Skinner, University of Kent According to the textbooks, all humans living today descended from a population that lived in east Africa around 200,000 years ago. This is based on reliable evidence, including genetic analyses...

Ancestors of Flores ‘hobbits’ may have been pioneers of first ‘human’ migration out of Africa

History

Alice Roberts with the ‘hobbit’. Author provided Alice Roberts, University of Birmingham I was in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2008 and lucky enough to examine the bones of one of the most controversial hominin species that has ever been discovered. The skeletal remains...

How pots, sand and stone walls helped us date an ancient South African settlement

History

An aerial view of the Bokoni homesteads in modern-day Mpumalanga, South Africa. Alex Schoeman Ruby-Anne Birin, University of Oxford; Alex Schoeman, University of the Witwatersrand, and Mary Evans, University of the Witwatersrand If you go for a walk in the green hills...

Slavers in the family: what a castle in Accra reveals about Ghana’s history

History

Archival illustration of the Christiansborg Castle. Danish National Museum Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann, Hampshire College As a Ghanaian archaeologist, I have been conducting research at Christiansborg Castle in Accra, Ghana. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle is a...