The textbook version of the "Out of Africa" hypothesis holds that the first human species to leave the continent around 1.8 ...

A 1.6-million-year-old Ethiopian skull blends ancestor and descendant features, rewriting the origin story of Homo erectus.

A 1.5-million-year-old skull suggests Homo erectus evolved through a messy transition, with multiple human forms coexisting.

Stone tools discovered decades ago in a Polish cave have been reexamined using modern methods, revealing an age far older ...

Archaeologists have discovered what may be the earliest evidence of deliberate fire-making.

Discovered in 1907 near Heidelberg, Germany, Homo heidelbergensis bridged the gap between Homo erectus and both Neanderthals and modern humans. This powerful species spread across Africa and Europe, ...

A cast of the skull of Homo floresiensis, one of the hominin species analyzed in the latest study. Credit: The Duckworth Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Perched from atop our ivory tower, it’s ...

In southern Italy, the eruption of the Roccamonfina volcano released an intense flow of pyroclastic material—molten rock and ash—into a nearby valley. As the material cooled, it formed a soft, yet ...

Archaeological breakthrough at Canterbury reveals Homo heidelbergensis survived the brutal Anglian glaciation, rewriting assumptions about early human resilience and adaptation in prehistoric Europe.

Recent fossil evidence challenges the prevailing narrative of human evolution, shifting the focus from Africa to Europe's westernmost reaches. Conventional beliefs, rooted in the Out of Africa theory, ...

A skull from Petralona Cave in northern Greece now has a firm timeline. By measuring a crust that formed directly on the bone, researchers show it is at least 286 ± 9 thousand years old, likely near ...