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New species of human discovered in a cave in the Philippines

10 April 2019

An analysis of ancient bones has revealed a previously unknown human species named Homo luzonensis that lived in the Philippines 50,000 years ago

Story of most murderous people of all time revealed in ancient DNA

27 March 2019

Starting 5000 years ago, the Yamnaya embarked on a violent conquest of Europe. Now genetic analysis tells their tale for the first time

Evidence of early Australian arrival is best judged with an open mind

20 March 2019

Signs that our ancestors reached Australia 120,000 years ago may be "difficult to credit", but recent discoveries have shattered many similar preconceptions

Cosy up with the Neanderthals, the first humans to make a house a home

6 February 2019

Meet the Stone Age people who liked nothing better than spending time indoors around the fire, doing a spot of DIY and having friends over for dinner

Stone tools hint that our first human ancestors lived all over Africa

29 November 2018

We thought the first Homo species evolved in East Africa 2.8 million years ago, but stone tools from Algeria suggest our origins may have spanned the continent

David Reich: The truth about us, and where we come from

12 October 2018

Harvard geneticist David Reich and his team are DNA testing the bones of ancient humans. Their explosive results are still coming in, but one thing is already certain: much of what we thought we knew about human history is simply wrong

Every man in Spain was wiped out 4500 years ago by hostile invaders

28 September 2018

When a new group of people arrived on the Iberian peninsula 4500 years ago, local males stopped passing on their genes – suggesting they were supplanted or killed

Stem cells may reveal how Neanderthal DNA works in modern humans

11 May 2018

Many of us carry DNA inherited from Neanderthals, but we can’t be sure how it affects us. Stem cells with Neanderthal DNA could tell us

Neanderthals ambushed cave bears as they awoke from hibernation

26 March 2018

Our extinct cousins the Neanderthals seem to have targeted cave bears, which were normally intimidating foes, while they were sleepy and weak from hibernating through the winter

Rare wooden tools show that Neanderthals got creative with fire

5 February 2018

Wooden tools are hardly ever preserved, but a cache found in Italy suggests Neanderthals made them with fire and used them to dig up foods like tubers