New finds in the palaeoanthropological and genomic records have changed our view of the
origins of modern human ancestry. Here we review our current understanding of how the …

We challenge the view that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within a single population
and/or region of Africa. The chronology and physical diversity of Pleistocene human fossils …

Determining the extent of overlap between modern humans and other hominins in Eurasia,
such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, is fundamental to understanding the nature of their …

Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from Omo-Kibish,–and
Herto, in Ethiopia, have drawn on a variety of chronometric evidence, including 40Ar/39Ar …

To date, the earliest modern human fossils found outside of Africa are dated to around
90,000 to 120,000 years ago at the Levantine sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. A maxilla and …

Recent genomic data have revealed multiple interactions between Neanderthals and
modern humans, but there is currently little genetic evidence regarding Neanderthal …

Two fossilized human crania (Apidima 1 and Apidima 2) from Apidima Cave, southern
Greece, were discovered in the late 1970s but have remained enigmatic owing to their …

Modern humans have large and globular brains that distinguish them from their extinct
Homo relatives. The characteristic globularity develops during a prenatal and early postnatal …

The deep evolutionary history of African populations, since the emergence of modern
humans more than 300,000 years ago, has resulted in high genetic diversity and …

Despite broad agreement that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, considerable uncertainty
surrounds specific models of divergence and migration across the continent. Progress is …