The emergence of the Acheulean from the earlier Oldowan constitutes a major transition in
human evolution, the theme of this special issue. This paper discusses the evidence for the …

The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been
confined to Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 …

The evolutionary pressures shaping humans' unique bipedal locomotion have been a focus
of research since Darwin, but the origins of humans' economical walking gait and endurance …

Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the
Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This …

Proteins persist longer in the fossil record than DNA, but the longevity, survival mechanisms
and substrates remain contested. Here, we demonstrate the role of mineral binding in …

Interaction of orbital insolation cycles defines a predictive model of alternating phases of
high-and low-climate variability for tropical East Africa over the past 5 million years. This …

Body size directly influences an animal's place in the natural world, including its energy
requirements, home range size, relative brain size, locomotion, diet, life history, and …

Recent archaeological work at BK has uncovered abundant taphonomic evidence of
megafaunal exploitation by 1.34 Ma hominins. Butchery of small, medium-sized and large …

The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound
reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool …

Bipedalism is a defining feature of the human lineage. Despite evidence that walking on two
feet dates back 6–7 Ma, reconstructing hominin gait evolution is complicated by a sparse …