Humans in 2019—From Discoveries to Disasters
SAPIENS’ editorial team presents a roundup of this year’s top news and other important insights as seen through the lens of anthropology.
News
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Restoring Dignity to Stolen Ancestors
In the first effort of its kind, a team at a South African university not only returns human remains to families but also provides a window into the world of ancestral San and Khoe people.
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Should the Story of Homo’s Dispersal Out of Africa Be Rewritten?
A new finding suggests hominins left the African continent at least 500,000 years earlier than previously thought.
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Case Closed: You Can’t Make a Knife Out of Frozen Poop
Testing out a tale from the Arctic, one archaeologist takes matters into his own hands.
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Scientists Find First Evidence of Humans Cooking Starches
More than 100 millennia ago, people were roasting tubers over the fire, a culinary practice that fueled their bodies and may have aided their migrations.
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Genetic Factors May Help Explain Athletic Sudden Death
Biological anthropologists and other researchers investigate why there is a diversity of symptoms and outcomes in people with sickle cell trait.