Paleoanthropology Archive
May 8, 2008
Four Stone Hearth at 40
Four Stone Hearth, the anthropology blog carnival, is up at Remote Central. Tim Jones has done a great job. There's something for everyone. Give it a look. I normally check out Hot Cup of Joe every day but somehow I...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth at 40"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:06 AM
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March 27, 2008
Four Stone Hearth #37 Is Up
The latest edition of the anthropology web carnival, Four Stone Hearth, is up at Hot Cup of Joe. Carl has done an amazing job. Go for the theme, Pulp Science Fiction, stay for the anthropology....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #37 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:51 PM
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March 12, 2008
afarensis Presents Four Stone Hearth 36
Check out the 36th edition of Four Stone Hearth at my blog buddy afarensis' place. There's lots of good stuff there including special sections on Homo floresiensis and the recently announced Palau finds of more small folk....Read all of "afarensis Presents Four Stone Hearth 36"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:54 PM
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January 16, 2008
Four Stone Hearth 32 Is Up
The 32rd edition of Four Stone Hearth, the anthropology carnival, is up at Testimony of the Spade. As usual, there is a lot of good stuff, well presented....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth 32 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:33 PM
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December 5, 2007
Four Stone Hearth is Up at Remote Central
Drop by Remote Central and take a tour of recent posts on anthropology. There's a lot of great stuff to be found there....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth is Up at Remote Central"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:36 PM
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August 10, 2007
The Ileret Skulls
I haven't written on paleoanthropology for a while. I've been too tightly focused on things that I am finally beginning to know something about again. But a recent paper is getting so much attention that I cannot just ignore it....Read all of "The Ileret Skulls"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:37 AM
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February 21, 2007
Climate Change and the Demise of the Neanderthals
afarensis beat me to this one. Below is the abstract of a Quaternary Science Reviews paper by Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo, Francisca Martínez-Ruiz, Clive Finlayson, Adina Paytan, Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, Miguel Ortega-Huertas, Geraldine Finlayson, Koichi Iijima, David Gallego-Torres and Darren Fa (I...Read all of "Climate Change and the Demise of the Neanderthals"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:38 AM
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January 30, 2007
A Little News on Those Little People
It has been a while since I wrote on the Hobbit (Homo floresiensis?) and I really don't have much to say now that others haven't already said. But there is some news. afarensis (twice), Anthropology.net, and John Hawks have commented...Read all of "A Little News on Those Little People"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:38 AM
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October 31, 2006
Neandertals Again
The other day I told of a couple studies of Neandertal DNA, one of which suggests that "modern humans and Neandertals' most recent common ancestor probably perished about 400,000 years ago." Now National Geographic reports on another study "that suggests...Read all of "Neandertals Again"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:04 PM
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October 28, 2006
Our DNA, Their DNA and our Common DNA
National Geographic online has an update on the ongoing efforts to sequence the Neandertal (aka Neanderthal) genome. There are two ongoing projects. One, led by James Noonan at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, focuses on those sequences that can be compares...Read all of "Our DNA, Their DNA and our Common DNA"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:00 AM
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October 10, 2006
Homo floresiensis Update
Carl Zimmer at the Loom has a very good discussion of the waxing and waning of opinion in the Paleoanthropology community with regard to Homo floresiensis, the small hominid from the island of Flores in Indonesia. I say Homo floresiensis,...Read all of "Homo floresiensis Update"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:21 AM
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October 1, 2006
An Abundance of Evidence
Over at The Panda's Thumb, Nick Matzke has been showing us some interesting results by working with a database he developed from the appendix to a paper by De Miguel and Henneberg. That paper contained some 602 measurements and metadata...Read all of "An Abundance of Evidence"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:56 PM
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September 30, 2006
A Neanderthal Slept Here
John Hawks directs us to an article in Spiegal Online (in German) on a recent discovery in the Rhineland: the remains of a 120,000 year old Neanderthal dwelling. I will steal John's translation of the most important paragraph. The researchers...Read all of "A Neanderthal Slept Here"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:11 AM
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September 21, 2006
3.3-Million-year-old Child Found!
Well, it wasn't that old when it died. Kambiz Kamrani on Anthropology.net has the lowdown on the fossilized remains of a human-like child, from 3.3 million years ago. The pictures are great. He has links to news sources and the...Read all of "3.3-Million-year-old Child Found!"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:45 AM
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August 25, 2006
The Final Word on the Hobbit?
Carl Feagans, at Hot Cup of Joe, has a very good summary of the current state of discussion on the remains found on Flores Island. You'll remember that the excavators thought they had discovered a new species, Homo floresiensis. Almost...Read all of "The Final Word on the Hobbit?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:27 AM
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August 20, 2006
My Ancestor Was an Ape. But In What Ape Line?
Dienekes' Anthropology Blog reports on a paper by Jeffery Schwartz that argues that we are more closely related to Pongo, orangutans, than to Pan troglodytes, chimpanzees, as is usually thought. Dienekes also has a very cute composite picture of a...Read all of "My Ancestor Was an Ape. But In What Ape Line?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:27 PM
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August 12, 2006
Quick Hide the Evidence
If you haven't had your dose of anger for the day, drop by Dispatches from the Culture Wars and take a look at what Ed Brayton and the Telegraph report about Kenya's national museum. I'll give you a hint, Powerful...Read all of "Quick Hide the Evidence"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:04 AM
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July 18, 2006
The Evolution of Brain Volume
The following is a test of a technology that is new to Abnormal Interests and also something that I thought was both abnormally interesting and educational. Try it, you'll like it. Next time anyone tells you there are is no...Read all of "The Evolution of Brain Volume"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:38 PM
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June 21, 2006
Homo floresiensis(?): Another Take
Karl Zimmer at The Loom reports on another study of the remains from Flores Island. Gary D. Richards writing in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology Online says that the remains are those of pygmy humans. Below is Zimmer's summary of...Read all of "Homo floresiensis(?): Another Take"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:50 PM
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June 12, 2006
Not Just a Cranium: Homo floresiensis
Much of the discussion concerning the remains found on Flores Island has focused on the LB1 cranium. But there is a lot more to this find that a cranium and afarensis has a very interesting discussion of the humerus, scapula...Read all of "Not Just a Cranium: Homo floresiensis"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:22 PM
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May 19, 2006
The Hobbit is Back in the News
I'm a little late by blogoshere standards but LB1, sometimes called the Hobbit, sometimes called Homo floresiensis and sometimes called something else, is back in the news. Science has two articles (I link to the abstracts) on the ongoing controversy...Read all of "The Hobbit is Back in the News"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:02 PM
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May 18, 2006
Our Life Together - With Our Primate Ancestors
Carl Zimmer and John Hawks and others report on an interesting article that appeared in Nature's advanced on line publication on the possibility of hybridization between the common ancestors of chimpanzees and our human ancestors over a very long period...Read all of "Our Life Together - With Our Primate Ancestors"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:15 AM
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March 25, 2006
Another Homo Cranium Found
I'm a little late on this but afarensis, complete with picture, and John Hawks have accounts of the discovery of a new Middle Pleistocene hominid fossil cranium found at Gawis in Ethiopia. The most interesting part of the press release...Read all of "Another Homo Cranium Found"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:22 PM
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March 23, 2006
Still More from Wong on the Hobbit
The other day I told you about the first installment of Kate Wong's update on research into Homo floresiensis or whatever you may think to be represented by the fossils found on Flores Island in Indonesian. Well the second installment...Read all of "Still More from Wong on the Hobbit"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:21 AM
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March 16, 2006
Hobbit Update
Kate Wong on Scientific American.com has the first of a multi part update on Homo floresiensis. Or is it a dwarf Homo erectus with an extra small brain or, if you prefer, is it one or more microcephalic Homo sapiens?...Posted by Duane Smith at 10:06 AM
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February 22, 2006
The Demise of the Neanderthal
Paul Mellars from Cambridge University claims in a new paper in Nature that it may have taken only 5000 years for our ancestors to colonize Europe from Africa instead of the 7000 usually envisioned. And that the indigenous Neanderthal population...Read all of "The Demise of the Neanderthal"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:53 PM
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February 11, 2006
Even You and I Can Now Read PaleoAnthropology for Free
PaleoAnthropology the official Journal of the Paleoanthropology Society is now available on line free of charge. This is great news for us amateurs who like to read the real stuff. I'm very glad to see this for two reasons. First,...Read all of "Even You and I Can Now Read PaleoAnthropology for Free"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:08 PM
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January 21, 2006
Modern Humans May Have Introduced a New Social Order
The following is from Science Daily , The disappearance of Neanderthals is frequently attributed to competition from modern humans, whose greater intelligence has been widely supposed to make them more efficient as hunters. However, a new study forthcoming in the...Read all of "Modern Humans May Have Introduced a New Social Order"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:36 AM
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January 14, 2006
Walk Like a Hominid
John Hawks has an interesting discussion of a paper by Craig B. Stanford published in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The paper is called, "Arboreal bipedalism in wild chimpanzees: Implications for the evolution of...Read all of "Walk Like a Hominid"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:02 AM
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January 9, 2006
Neanderthals: Thoughtful, Well Trained and Perhaps Unable to Speak
The University of Leiden has an interesting post on interdisciplinary research being done at their university on Neanderthal communication and thought process. The research title is Thoughtful Hunters? The Archaeology of Neanderthal Communication and Cognition. In the picture emerging from...Read all of "Neanderthals: Thoughtful, Well Trained and Perhaps Unable to Speak"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:59 PM
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Titles Only From Here On
December 17, 2005
Homo erectus in Britain?
December 14, 2005
Britain Occupied by 680,000 BP
November 30, 2005
Be Even More Cautious About 1.3 Million Year Old "Footprints" from Mexico
October 27, 2005
More on the Recent Study of Genetic Diversity in Human Populations
October 11, 2005
Hobbit (Homo floresiensis) Update
September 29, 2005
Wild Gorillas Seen Using Tools
September 20, 2005
Tooth Perikymata and The Length of a Neanderthal's Childhood
September 19, 2005
Fossil DNA and Crystal Aggregates
September 6, 2005
New Clues in Search for Original Peking Man Fossils?
September 2, 2005
Neanderthals and Early Moderns in the Grotte des Fées de Châtelperron
August 25, 2005
Feet Hurt? What Shoes May Have Done to Our Feet Over 26,000 Years Ago
August 4, 2005
What Did Our Hominin Relatives Eat?
July 25, 2005
Life-sized and 28,000 Years Old
July 5, 2005
Be Cautious about the 40,000-Year-Old "Footprints" for Mexico
June 15, 2005
The Homo floresiensis Story with a Bad Opening
June 9, 2005
400,000 Year Old Tools from Iran?
May 30, 2005
Where One Finds Island Dwarfism One Should Not Be Surprised to Find Island Dwarfism
March 27, 2005
The Economics of Neanderthal Extinction
March 25, 2005
Did Free Trade Help Drive Neanderthal Extinction?
March 16, 2005
Neanderthals May Have Sung Like Sopranos; But Could They Dance?
March 9, 2005
70,000 Year Old Neanderthal Protein Sequenced
March 5, 2005
More on the Hobbit's Femur
March 3, 2005
The Hobbit's Brain Revealed but Don't Forget the Hobbit's Femur
February 20, 2005
Scientists Discover Frauds by Professor Reiner Protsch von Zieten
February 16, 2005
Just How Old Are We?
February 15, 2005
No Neanderthal in Our Blood, But Did Our Ancestors Try?
February 11, 2005
Be Careful Not to Say Too Much
February 6, 2005
Thoughts on Homo floresiensis