December 2013 Archeology - Early Humans

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Evidence of Neanderthal cannibalism (maybe) in Spain:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/science/21neanderthal.html?ref=science&_r=0

Latest from the Rising Star expedition:
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/25/the-journey-into-darkness/

Feature/reference card sort of thing on Australopithecus:
http://www.redorbit.com/education/reference_library/science_1/hominin-humans/1113015868/australopithecus-africanus/

More on stone-tipped spears coming earlier than previously thought:
http://gizmodo.com/stone-tipped-spears-predate-the-human-race-1471057957?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Neanderthals in Italy apparently liked to keep the cave tidy and organized:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/uocd-nes120213.php

A 400 000 years b.p. femur from Spain is causing excitement because of DNA links with the Denisovans:
http://www.nature.com/news/hominin-dna-baffles-experts-1.14294

Paranthropus bosei apparently was a great tree climber:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205185609.htm

… while inbreeding seems to have been ‘common’ among early hominids:
http://www.livescience.com/41610-ancient-human-sex.html

Feature on Neanderthal curiosities:
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/dec/22-20-things-you-didnt-know-aboutneanderthals

More on earlier-than-human stone-tipped spears:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11166135&ref=rss

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages

Early human settlements were chosen because of proximity to nutrients (no comment):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131210172454.htm
Cf http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0081476  (full text)

Interesting feature on early skepticism about Piltdown Man:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=an-early-skeptic-of-the-piltdown-hoax

Latest from the Rising Star Expedition:
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-fossil-gold-south-africa.html

More on Denisovans and Neanderthals:
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2013/12/oldest-human-dna-contains-clues-mysterious-species

More on organized living, Neanderthal-style:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2517501/Neanderthal-homes-tidy-organised-Ancient-shelter-reveals-living-spaces-carefully-divided-kitchen-bedroom.html?ITO=bookmark-chromeext&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=bookmark-chromeext

More on DNA analysis via Atapuerca:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/12/scientists-just-sequenced-the-dna-from-a-400000-year-old-early-human/

[Aisling]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages
 
Not sure why this was news, but Neanderthals buried their dead:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/nyu-nbt121213.php

A possible 1.4 million years b.p. homo erectus hand bone find from Kenya:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/uom-do1121213.php
cf http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/12/1316014110.abstract?sid=ee072748-12f0-46ab-9d54-d6cce52833e5  (abstract)

Latest Neanderthal genome news focuses on inbreeding as well as other ‘lines’:
http://phys.org/news306593891.html

… although there is mention of sunlight adaptation genes as well:
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-sunlight-region-neanderthal-genome-percent.html

… and the genetics behind high diabetes risk in certain modern populations is traced back to Neanderthals:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25506198

Hyoid bone analysis suggests Neanderthals could speak:
http://phys.org/news306681576.html
cf http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082261

A homo erectus ochre handprint from Austria:
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2013/ochre-hand-imprint-homo-erectus-revealed

Science folks have formally identified what separates modern humans from others:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/18/scientists-list-genes-make-us-human-neanderthals

More on the Denisovans:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25423498

[veggiewolf]

Data mining courtesy of: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages
 
Not sure why this was news, but Neanderthals buried their dead:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/nyu-nbt121213.php

...

 
I could swear this came out quite some time ago.

[Aisling]

I could swear this came out quite some time ago.

Yes, the idea of neanderthal burials is definitely old news.  The study referred to in the article began more than a decade ago, but the idea that these were intentional burials has been around for a century or so.  Essentially, the only 'news' in the article is that a study has been published confirming that, surprise, the purported neanderthal burials  really were neanderthal burials.