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Teaching
Biological Anthropology
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Unit 3

Early Homo Sapiens

Scans compare a Neanderthal fossil (at left) to a modern human skull (right).

Biological anthropologists place the initial emergence of our species, Homo sapiens, around 300,000 years ago. In this unit, students will learn about the evolution of our species and read about some of the many questions biological anthropologists are still asking about our ancestors.

Sapiens articles
Hobbit hominin evolution
essay / News

New Discovery Expands the Hobbit Family Tree

Emma Marris
Fossil finds are challenging our understanding of the diminutive hominins discovered in Indonesia in 2003.
early human migrations
essay / Unearthed

Will Asia Rewrite Human History?

Sara Toth Stub
Politics, geography, and tradition have long focused archaeological attention on the evolution of Homo sapiens in Europe and Africa. Now, new research is challenging old ideas by showing that early human migrations unfolded across Asia far earlier than previously known.
Keywords
View All in Genetics
In a dark and rainy forest, a large Tyrannosaurus rex stares into a green car with its headlights on. The car has a yellow and black graphic on its hood with text that reads, “Jurassic Park.”
essay / Lab Bench

Celebrity Status Almost Ruined Ancient DNA Research

Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
An evolutionary anthropologist draws lessons from paleogenetic’s journey from Jurassic Park fiction to Nobel Prize reality.
Surrounded by an otherwise occupied crowd, a person wearing a white cap and shirt uses gloved hands to work with the finger of a person seated beside them. The second person wears a red-orange dress and holds a baby while a slightly older child stands beside them, looking at the viewer.
op-ed / Maladies

Gene Therapy’s Promise Meets Nigeria’s Sickle Cell Reality

Morenike Samuel
Breakthrough treatments can now cure sickle cell anemia in the U.S. But the pricey therapies will hardly help in Nigeria, where social changes could do more for millions impacted by the disease.
A landscape features a grassy complex with a large, tiered structure made of stones that towers upward toward a blue, cloud-filled sky. Mountains taller than the structure are barely visible behind clouds in the distance.
essay / Decoded

Decoding Diversity and Power at Machu Picchu

Roberta Davidson
New DNA analysis has revealed surprising diversity among remains from burial sites in Peru. A genetic anthropologist explains what this suggests about the 15th century Inca palace.
In a science lab, a masked person wearing a white hazmat suit, face shield, and bouffant cap holds small objects under the glass hood of a silver metal workstation.
essay / Redux

The Hidden Ancestry Extracted From an Ancient Pendant

Michelle Langley
An anthropologist explains how new forensics tools offer unprecedented answers to questions about who likely held or wore Stone Age objects.
An aerial photograph features a large arc-shaped complex of stone ruins showing the remains of rectangular rooms and circular sacred gathering places.
interview / Matters

Navigating the Ethics of Ancient DNA Research

Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
Paleogenomic research has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, igniting heated debates about handling human remains. Who gives consent for the ancient subjects of studies—and who should speak for them today?
A photograph features a group of people in patterned clothing gathered on a sandy plot with domed huts visible in the distance. In front, two people dance as others cheer.
essay / Counterpoint

Did Humanity Really Arise in One Place?

Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
New evidence is prompting researchers to rethink Homo sapiens’ origin story—and what it means to be human.
Professor Talking Points
  • Lay out the evidence scientists use to piece together the story of human evolution.
  • Explain different hypotheses about why Homo sapiens persisted until today and other species in the Homo genus went extinct.
  • Explore what it means to be human and what distinguishes anatomically modern humans from other related and ancestral species.
Academic Articles

  1. Facchini, Fiorenzo. 2006. “Culture, Speciation, and the Genus Homo in Early Humans.” Human Evolution 21: 51–57.

  2. Shea, John J. 2011. “Homo sapiens Is as Homo sapiens Was: Behavioral Variability Versus ‘Behavioral Modernity’ in Paleolithic Archaeology.” Current Anthropology 52 (1): 1–35.

  3. Tryon, Christian, and Shara Bailey. 2013.“Testing Models of Modern Human Origins With Archaeology and Anatomy.” Nature Education Knowledge 4 (3): 4.

Student Discussion Questions
  1. What kinds of morphological features differentiate early Homo sapiens from other Homo species?
  2. How does the 2020 SAPIENS article by Sara Toth Stub challenge prior theories about Homo sapiens’ migration out of the African continent?
Activities
  • Have students watch this TED Talk by Zeresenay Alemseged “The Search for Humanity’s Roots” and generate a class discussion on why societies invest so much in pursuit of illuminating humanity’s origins.
  • In class or through individual work, have students carefully explore the Smithsonian Institution’s interactive on the Human Family Tree.
Additional Resources

  1. Article: SAPIENS’ “How Eating Rat Stew Serves Hobbit Research”

  2. Article: SAPIENS’ “Were Neanderthals More Than Cousins to Homo Sapiens?”

  3. TED Talk: Svante Pääbo’s “DNA Clues to Our Inner Neanderthal”

  4. TED Talk: Robert Sapolsky’s “The Uniqueness of Humans”

Unit By

Eshe Lewis (2020)

Teaching
Biological Anthropology
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Unit 4

Human Genetic Variation

a computer generate images features a double helix shape in purple and green.