Science & the Big Questions

Remains of a 3-Year-Old Child Are the Oldest Known Burial in Africa

The discovery sheds light on how people in the region cared for their dead at that time.

New Scientist

Topics: Cultural Evolution Death Human Evolution Symbolic Behavior

New Discoveries Fundamentally Change the Picture of Human Evolution in Africa

Archaeological excavations at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, in the southern Kalahari Desert, revealed crystals and other early evidence for complex behaviors among early Homo sapiens.

CNN

Topics: Human Evolution Symbolic Behavior

Cave That Housed Neanderthals and Denisovans Challenges View of Cultural Evolution

Researchers have deduced which early human species occupied Denisova Cave and when, drawing surprising conclusions about who made the sophisticated artifacts found there.

Scientific American

Topics: Cultural Evolution Human Evolution Neanderthals Symbolic Behavior

Non-Modern Humans Were More Complex — and Artistic — Than We Thought

Fossil and archaeological evidence suggests that our ancient relatives found innovative ways to make and share meaning.

Anthropology News

Topics: Creativity Human Uniqueness Symbolic Behavior

Signs of Symbolic Behavior Emerged at the Dawn of Our Species in Africa

Although other sites have yielded Middle Stone Age tools, the new, securely dated chronology nudges the transition back by at least 20,000 years, matching when our species, Homo sapiens, is now thought to have emerged.

Science

Topics: Cultural Evolution Rick Potts Social Networks Symbolic Behavior

Ancient Cave Art May Be Origin of Modern Language

Paper links ancient drawings and language’s origins.

Frontiers

Topics: Language Symbolic Behavior

What Makes Us Human?

What does it mean to be “human”? Natalia Reagan and comic co-host Patrick Melton welcome paleoanthropologist Marc Kissel to discuss our evolutionary journey and the study of wisdom, and try to uncover what it means to be human.

StarTalk All-Stars

Topics: Compassion Human Evolution Human Origins Human Uniqueness Language Symbolic Behavior Wisdom

Neanderthals Were People, Too

New research shows they shared many behaviors that we long believed to be uniquely human. Why did science get them so wrong?

The New York Times Magazine

Topics: Human Origins Human Uniqueness Neanderthals Symbolic Behavior

Ice Age Emojis Could Rewrite Human History

In her book The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols, archaeologist Genevieve von Petzinger poses a query: When did our ancestors first become modern humans?

Inverse

Topics: Symbolic Behavior

Why Are These 32 Symbols Found in Ancient Caves All Over Europe?

Genevieve von Petzinger studies the geometric signs found in early European Ice Age rock art sites.

TED Fellows Retreat 2015

Topics: Symbolic Behavior