CategoryPaleontology
A Catholic Priest Talks About Human Evolution
Fr. Martin Hilbert approaches the topic from the perspective of evidence, reason, and faith — and realism about what is at stake in the discussion
Neanderthals Used a “High Tech” Method for Making Glue
High tech for the times they lived in, that is. They had to figure out why the lower tech method got poor results and develop a more sophisticated one
Researchers: Did Neanderthal Children Collect “Stuff”?
The items that raise the question are small marine shells found in caves. They were carefully preserved but have no known function. A baby tooth was found in the same area
Can We Really Study the Minds of Ancient Humans?
The design inference helps sort things out in human paleontology
Evolutionary Theorists Stymied by the Human Mind
No one actually knows how our ancestors began to think like humans
Could Neanderthals Speak? It Depends on Who You Talk To
Theorists who will, sadly, never converse with a living Neanderthal imagine things they could and couldn’t do linguistically
The wildly varying intelligence of big, bad, extinct T. Rex
After centuries with the “stupid” label, T. rex was found in one 2023 study to be as smart as a primate. But then…
Why Did Our Ancestors Start Drawing in Caves and Making Jewelry?
For that matter, why did they choose to develop artworks around fossilized dinosaur footprints?
Thinking Back to the Very Beginnings of Art
It just appears, from great antiquity, and we really don’t know why. All we know is that animals don’t do it
Asked at Psychology Today: Were Neanderthals Religious?
We can’t poll long-dead Neanderthals on life, death, and the hereafter but the evidence we’ve dug up suggests they were thinking about that kind of thing
Scientists Spar Over What a Netflix Science Documentary Should Be
Should “Ancient Apocalypse” be relabeled “science fiction” if archeologists don’t think the documentary writer’s claims are valid?
Deciphering the Hidden Meanings of Cave Art
In many cases, there are more dots and lines than animals, which suggests some sort of early information system
What Was It Like To Grow Up in the Paleolithic era?
We are learning much about our ancestors’ lives from the less highly publicized finds
Does It Take a PR Agency to Make Neanderthals Human?
It’s interesting to watch how science writing on Neanderthals has changed over the years
Researchers: Early Humans Chose Their Toolmaking Rocks With Care
Different types of flint were useful for different purposes 70,000 to 30,000 years ago
The Likely Reason the Human Mind Has No History
Our efforts to explain the origin of the human mind fall flat because we are looking for an origin that probably doesn’t exist
Footwear From Over 75,000 Years Ago? Some Fascinating Hints
Some researchers focus on changes in human foot bones, others on evidence of foot protection on ancient trackways
When Did Humans First Start Burying the Dead?
One of the things paleontologists look for is special care taken in the placement of the deceased's body
Our Ancestors Are Constantly Evolving, Just to Keep Up!
Negative biases about our forebears have long been part of science, education, and popular culture. Why?Recently, archeologists came up with an interesting find from 30,000 years ago in what is now Moravia, part of the Czech Republic: Ravens lived among humans. over 30,000 years ago, during the Pavlovian culture, ravens helped themselves to people’s scraps and picked over mammoth carcasses left behind by human hunters. This took place in the region known today as Moravia, in the Czech Republic. Ravens live in human settlements today, of course, with one notable difference: The archeologists from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution noted that “The large number of raven bones found at the sites suggests that the birds, in turn, were a supplementary source of food, and may have become important in Read More ›