The greatest mystery of human evolution, which emerged 15 years ago from a 60,000-year-old little finger bone, finally began to unravel in 2025. Analysis of DNA extracted from the fossil electrified the scientific community in 2010 when it revealed a previously unknown human population that in the distant past met and interbred with our own … Read more
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndicate partners may earn a commission. An artist’s impression of making sparks from pyrite and flint. | Credit: Craig Williams/The Trustees of the British Museum Neanderthals they were the world’s first innovators in fire technology, the small evidence from England suggests. Flakes of pyrite … Read more
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndicate partners may earn a commission. Matjes River Mandible 1 female, who lived 7,900 years ago in southern Africa. | Credit: Mattias Jakobsson Humans were isolated in southern Africa for about 100,000 years, causing them to “fall outside the range of genetic variation” seen … Read more