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Mysterious symbols in cave paintings may be earliest form of writing

4 January 2023

Stone Age people in Europe appear to have recorded the reproductive habits of animals with markings on cave paintings, hinting at the early origins of writing

Dorsal and ventral views of the pendant. Scale bar is 1 cm. ? Antonino Vazzana - BONES Lab

Mammoth ivory pendant is oldest decorated jewellery found in Eurasia

25 November 2021

A pendant carved with mysterious dots and unearthed in a Polish cave is thought to be over 40,000 years old

'Dragon man' claimed as new species of ancient human but doubts remain

25 June 2021

A large skull belonging to an ancient human that was found in China has been classified as a new species called Homo longi – but critics say the skull might actually have belonged to a Denisovan

Remains of a 3-year-old child are the oldest known burial in Africa

5 May 2021

The oldest known burial in Africa is of a 3-year-old child who died around 78,000 years ago, shedding light on how people in the region cared for their dead at that time

People living 100,000 years ago spent time collecting crystals

31 March 2021

Humans living 100,000 years ago in what is now the Kalahari desert spent time collecting crystals, challenging the idea that human behaviours like symbolism emerged along coasts

Neanderthals feasted on seafood and nuts according to fossil remains

26 March 2020

The fossilised remains of the food found in one of the few remaining coastal Neanderthal sites in Europe show they ate plenty of seafood, fish and nuts