How do archaeologists study the origins of humankind

Support Scroll. The Taung Child , our first encounter with an ancient group of proto-humans or hominins called australopithecines , was a turning point in the study of human evolution.

Few people back then would have been able to predict what scientists know about evolution today, and now the pace of discovery is faster than ever. Even since the turn of the 21st century, human origins textbooks have been rewritten over and over again.

In Africa, there are now several fossil candidates for the earliest hominin dated to between five and seven million years ago, when we know humans likely split off from other Great Apes based on differences in our DNA. Although discovered in the s, publication of the 4. Rounding out our new relatives are a few australopithecines, including Australopithecus deryiremeda and Australopithecus sediba , as well as a potentially late-surviving species of early Homo that reignited debate about when humans first began burying their dead.

Perspectives on our own species have also changed. Archaeologists previously thought Homo sapiens evolved in Africa around 2,00, years ago , but the story has become more complicated. Fossils discovered in Morocco have pushed that date back to 3,00, years ago, consistent with ancient DNA evidence. This raises doubts that our species emerged in any single place.

This century has also brought unexpected discoveries from Europe and Asia. Just this year, researchers reported a new species from the Philippines. In , over archaeologists pooled their findings to show that humans have altered the planet for thousands of years , for example, with a 2,year-old irrigation system in China. This echoes other studies that challenge the idea that the Anthropocene, the current period defined by human influences on the planet, only began in the 20th century.

These advances bring researchers together in exciting new ways. Over new Nazca Lines , ancient images carved into a Peruvian desert, were discovered using artificial intelligence to sift through drone and satellite imagery.

With the wealth of high-resolution satellite imagery online, teams are also turning to crowdsourcing to find new archaeological sites. Although new partnerships among archaeologists and scientific specialists are not always tension-free , there is growing consensus that studying the past means reaching across fields.

The Open Science movement aims to makes this work accessible to all. Scientists including archaeologists are sharing data more freely within and beyond the academy. Public archaeology programs, community digs and digital museum collections are becoming common. You can even print your own copy of famous fossils from freely available 3D scans , or an archaeological coloring book in more than 30 languages.

Efforts to make archaeology and museums more equitable and engage indigenous research partners are gaining momentum as archaeologists consider whose past is being revealed. Telling the human story requires a community of voices to do things right.

In a year marked by youth-led climate strikes and heightened awareness of a planet in crisis , it may seem counterproductive to look back in time. Yet in so doing, archaeologists are providing empirical support for climate change and revealing how ancient peoples coped with challenging environments. As one example, studies show that while industrial meat production has serious environmental costs , transhumance — a traditional practice of seasonally moving livestock, now recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage — is not only light on the land today, but helped promote biodiversity and healthy landscapes in the past.

Archaeologists today are contributing their methods, data and perspectives toward a vision for a less damaged, more just planet. They created crude weapons and tools and refined them over millions of years. They learned how to control fire. These technological advances are also reflected in the fossil record during this period the Stone Age , Kuman says.

Innovations are linked to increases in brain capacity and changes in diet. Young people took longer to grow up and this allowed for more sophisticated tool making. That model can explain why a small-brained ancestor like Homo naledi might have existed at the same time as Homo sapiens. For most of the history of anthropology, excavations were conducted by small teams and analysis was performed by a select group of highly qualified scientists.

While the finds themselves would make headlines, the implications of discoveries would often take years to see the light of day, and then often only in obscure academic publications and talks.

Hawks and his co-scientific lead on the Homo naledi project, Wits anthropology professor Lee Berger, have turned this approach on its head, greatly expanding the number of scientists on their research teams and sharing information publicly at early stages. Their fieldwork is kept brief and efficient. Scans of the bones are made public so others can study them virtually or 3-D print them. Hawks routinely shares findings from the field on social media and teaches undergraduate courses to UW—Madison students virtually, giving lectures from cave entrances and other unique anthropological sites.

Today, Homo naledi is on display at Maropeng, a museum in the Cradle of Humankind dedicated to human origins. The final chamber brings visitors to a room where Homo naledi rests in a special protective case. Hawks appears in a documentary playing in the exhibit and occasionally visits in person.

As a family toured the museum one day, they entered the final chamber and were greeted by the very scientist they had observed on screen moments earlier. Before long, Hawks was surrounded by a crowd peppering him with questions about these ancient humans: How old are they?

What other animals were around when they lived? Did Homo naledi get cavities? Standing deep in the earth at Swartkrans, there is something indescribable about being in the place that harbors the mysteries of the people who came before us, united by a common ancestor some 7 million years ago. There is something profound about tracing the history of our species, condensing millions of years of physical, social and intellectual developments that have led us to the present moment — a moment when scientists have the power to unravel the mysteries of the universe we inhabit and the planet beneath our feet.

At the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, there is a small alcove just past the entrance. In it hangs a portrait of Mrs. Ples, the pivotal fossil skull discovered seven decades ago by John Robinson and Robert Broom. Seaman, Fritz Hertel, Richard Potts. ScienceDaily, 10 May Baylor University.

Earliest archaeological evidence of human ancestors hunting and scavenging. Retrieved November 10, from www. New research has documented an The discovery of stone tools and cut-marks This links a stone tool production ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated. Print Email Share. Boy or Girl? Can't Find Your Keys? Living Well.