Topic description and stories

Earliest human remains in eastern Africa dated to more than 230,000 years ago

12 Jan 2022

The age of the oldest fossils in eastern Africa widely recognised as representing our species, Homo sapiens, has long been uncertain. Now, dating of...

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Australopithecus afarensis reconstruction

Opinion: No giant leap for mankind: why we’ve been looking at human evolution in the wrong way

14 Jun 2016

Robert Foley (Department of Archaeology and Anthropology) discusses the cumulative processes by which we became human.

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Forest region of South West Cameroon

Was the dawn of man among trees in the cradle of disease?

04 Jul 2013

A student-led conference to be webcast live will ask, in light of recent research, whether the story of human origin is radically different from...

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Beachcombing for early humans in Africa

31 May 2013

From the earliest modern humans to the present day, our species has evolved dramatically in both biological and behavioural terms. What forces...

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Diagram showing spread of humans from Africa.

Scientists use genetics and climate reconstructions to track the global spread of modern humans out of Africa

17 Sep 2012

Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows.

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Map of the migration of modern man out of Africa.  Triangles represent Aurignacian (considered the first modern humans) split-base points.

Strength in numbers

28 Jul 2011

Volume of modern humans infiltrating Europe cited as critical factor in the demise of the Neanderthals.

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