John Hawks

Bringing emotional cognition to deep time

In a new article, my coauthors and I draw upon cognitive science to draw out archaeological traces of ancient social lives

Dec 2 • 

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November 2025

What explains the long stasis of Oldowan sites?

A new study reveals a 300,000 year record of toolmaking near the eastern shore of Lake Turkana

Nov 21 • 

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Human skull shape evolved faster than any of the apes

New research led by Aida Gómez-Robles helps illustrate how researchers study the evolution of cranial form.

Nov 14 • 

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Finding hormone biomarkers in ancient skeletons

The widening horizon of molecular biomarkers from ancient bones and sediments may open new doors to the biology of ancient people.

Nov 1 • 

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October 2025

Informal hominins, from Denisovan to superarchaic

In a new research article, I review the ways that paleoanthropologists name ancient groups outside the Linnaean system.

Oct 11 • 

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Deep history from the genomes of India

People carrying Neanderthal mixture entered the subcontinent after 50,000 years ago, meeting Denisovans

Oct 2 • 

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September 2025

The problem skulls from Yunxian

The relationships of fossils from deep time in China may help reveal ancestral connections for the Denisovans

Sep 25 • 

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A shorter, sharper Out-of-Africa story is emerging

A new study of genomic ancestry in Papua New Guinea supports a short timeline for the dispersal of modern people

Sep 18 • 

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Ten years of Homo naledi in my world

I reflect on the experience since the scientific description of the species was published in 2015

Sep 11 • 

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Will humans start living to 150 soon?

A conversation between world leaders prompts an exploration into the history of human health

Sep 4 • 

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August 2025

Expanding the “Cradle of Humankind”

Developing a broader idea of the habitats and capacities of early hominins

Aug 30 • 

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The gene from Denisovan to Neanderthal to modern mucus

A “genetic sandwich” reveals how a block of DNA entered several populations successively and was affected by natural selection.

Aug 23 • 

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