Becoming Human

Two Siberian caves have yielded bones of 13 individuals, offering fascinating genetic perspectives, according to an article entitled Genetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals published in the journal Nature this week. Chagyrskaya Cave gave the authors of this paper, Skov et al.

Maloney et al. in the journal Nature this week report the oldest known amputation (31,000 years ago) with the individual living six years beyond the amputation. The abstract of the paper tells the story:

In the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) for June 27 of this year, Granger et al. add to their findings, first reported in the journal Nature in 2015. In 2015 they reported on Sterkfontein member 2. In this PNAS paper, they report on their findings with regard to member 4: Sterkfontein Member 4 bears a much earlier date than previously determined.

A remarkable paper, appearing in Science Advances last week and authored by Slimack et al., reports to phenomena: alternating occupancy of a rock shelter overlooking the wrong valley by Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, on  one occasion no more than a year apart, and the second phenomenon, significantly earlier arrival of H.

In 1978, a team led by Mary Leakey uncovered several trackways of animal foot prints at a site in Tanzania called Laetoli. There were bird and other animal footprints but what caught everyone's attention were prints that appeared to be human. Some trackways containing the human foot prints were 60 feet in length, some were as short as 5 feet.

Two articles on middle and late Pleistocene incursions by Homo sapiens and earlier Hominins into what is now Saudi Arabia were published in the journal Nature on September 1.

A paper appearing in the journal  PNAS for August 17 of this year , authored by Pitch-Narti  et al  claims symbolic artwork by Neanderthals. The paper is in titled “The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals”.

A fascinating and well illustrated article appearing in the journal Nature this week examines the related questions of how long ago  our ancestors began to count material objects and weather, through linguistics, we can determine the origins of commonality in counting (quantification).

The "Cradle of Humankind" Northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa comprises a number of limestone cave localities named Kromdraai, Sterkfontein and Swartkrans.

In a paper authored by Zhang et al. and published in the journal Science on October 30, a research team reports the discovery of Denisovan mitochondrial DNA at 328o meters (10,760 feet)  altitude on the Tibetan Plateau.