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How and When Did Humans First Move Into the Pacific?

Sapiens

In the deep human past , highly skilled seafarers made daring crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands. Excavation uncovered several layers of human occupation associated with stone artifacts, animal bones, shells, and charcoal—all physical remains discarded by ancient humans living at the cave.

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A Forgotten Chapter in Human Evolution: The Hidden Ancestry of Modern Humans

Anthropology.net

For decades, the story of modern human origins seemed relatively straightforward: Homo sapiens emerged in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, evolving as a single, continuous lineage before expanding across the globe. These groups were apart for a million years—longer than modern humans have been on the planet."

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Paleolithic Discoveries at Soii Havzak Rockshelter Illuminate Human Migration in Central Asia

Anthropology.net

High in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan, the Soii Havzak rock-shelter has provided researchers with an invaluable glimpse into early human migration routes and daily life in Central Asia. It contains layers of human occupation spanning the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods, approximately 150,000 to 20,000 years ago.

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Immersive 3D Technology Reshapes the Study of the Human Past

Anthropology.net

Archaeology, the science of unearthing and interpreting humanity’s ancient past, is entering a transformative era. A New Way to Study Ancient Artifacts For decades, archaeologists have relied on traditional methods to analyze artifacts and architectural remains. ” The use of MR also extended to comparative analysis.

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When Did Humans Start Talking? Genomic Evidence Pushes Language Back to 135,000 Years Ago

Anthropology.net

Few traits define humanity as clearly as language. Yet, despite its central role in human evolution, determining when and how language first emerged remains a challenge. Traditionally, scholars have debated linguistic origins based on indirect clues—symbolic artifacts, brain size, or the complexity of tool-making.

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When Mammoth Ivory Met Human Hands: Rethinking the Origins of Innovation

Anthropology.net

But what sets these artifacts apart is what they reveal: that some of our distant hominin ancestors were not just using stone—they were thinking beyond it. Eleven of them bore unmistakable marks of human manipulation: flake scars, trimmed edges, and signs of deliberate shaping using techniques otherwise seen in lithic technology.

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Ancient Tree Resin Reveals Earliest Human Presence in the Pacific

Anthropology.net

Tracing Humanity's Journey Through the Pacific The dispersal of Homo sapiens into the Pacific region has long fascinated archaeologists. Dylan Gaffney and an international team of researchers, provide groundbreaking evidence of human presence in Wallacea dating back 50,000 to 55,000 years ago.