ANCIENT HUMANS: 10 DISCOVERIES FROM 2024

Thanks to ancient DNA we are uncovering previously hidden secrets about our ancient past at an alarming rate. In this video I discuss 10 different discoveries from the past year that have added to our understanding of the human story.

10. The Persian Plateau: this region is becoming an increasingly important chapter in our history - an ancestral hub seems to have stayed isolated and evolved here for around 30,000 years before expanding outward across Eurasia. The Zagros Mountains have also been identified as a likely meeting point for our species and neanderthals, leading to hybridization amongst species.

9. The Liujiang Man: these mysterious remains have long challenged our understanding of the Out of Africa model. A paper published this year addresses the mystery.

8. The Child Who Lived: 2024 started off with a bang - the first example of an ancient individual with down syndrome was identified by archaeologists. A couple months later, genetic evidence suggested archaeologists had found an even older individual with down syndrome... and this summer that record was smashed by a human that wasn't even our species.

7. Atapuerca: excavations resumed for one week over the summer, finds relating to erectus (...or antecessor) as well as neanderthals were uncovered.

6. Hobbit Evolution: an arm bone recovered from the island of Flores added to our understanding of the enigmatic floresiensis.

5. Denisovan Hunters: finds from Baishiya Karst Cave unveiled some information about the behavior of denisovans.

4. Ancient Gene Flow: it was once assumed no hybridization had occured between our ancestors and the neanderthals... we now know that's not true - and just how much we know about it has changed a lot recently.

3. Thorin: a once unassuming neanderthal individual, genetic evidence led to more questions about this species than answers.

2. The Oldest Narrative Art: A new dating method reveals how ancient the art featuring Sulawasi pigs is... and it is shocking.

1. The Oldest Human Genome: Denisova Cave continues revealing more about the mysterious Denisovans.