humanevolution
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Ancient Human Relative Buried Its Dead and Used Symbols Long Before Us
A team of paleoanthropologists has discovered evidence that the extinct human relative Homo naledi not only intentionally buried their dead, but also used symbols, perhaps for mortuary reasons. The evidence — found in the extensive Rising Star cave system in South Africa where the species was first identified 10 years ago — precedes the oldest…
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Uh-Oh: Monkeys Make Stone Flakes That Look a Lot Like Human Tools
Researchers studying macaques in one of Thailand’s national parks made a surprising discovery: While cracking nuts, the monkeys make stone flakes that look an awful lot like the flakes that scientists have attributed to ancient human. The finding means that some of the material held up as the earliest evidence of hominin tool use may…
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Paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo Picks Up Nobel Prize for Human Origins Research
The Nobel Assembly today awarded Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research into human origins.