New finds in the palaeoanthropological and genomic records have changed our view of the
origins of modern human ancestry. Here we review our current understanding of how the …

The deep evolutionary history of African populations, since the emergence of modern
humans more than 300,000 years ago, has resulted in high genetic diversity and …

Determining the extent of overlap between modern humans and other hominins in Eurasia,
such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, is fundamental to understanding the nature of their …

It has long been believed that climate shifts during the last 2 million years had a pivotal role
in the evolution of our genus Homo,–. However, given the limited number of representative …

Population size history is essential for studying human evolution. However, ancient
population size history during the Pleistocene is notoriously difficult to unravel. In this study …

Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major
demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of …

The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture
produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad …

Despite broad agreement that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, considerable uncertainty
surrounds specific models of divergence and migration across the continent. Progress is …

Control of fire is one of the most important technological innovations within the evolution of
humankind. The archaeological signal of fire use becomes very visible from around 400,000 …

Recent advancements in DNA sequencing technologies and laboratory preparation
protocols have rapidly expanded the scope of ancient DNA research over the past decade …