John Hawks

What the heck are chins for?

A human characteristic that remains an enduring evolutionary enigma.

Feb 4 • John Hawks

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January 2026

Tracing the wave of Neanderthal-modern interactions

A rapid expansion of modern people ran into Neanderthals and mixed with them nearly to the ends of their range.

Jan 27 • John Hawks

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Rock art may be far older than modern humans in Sulawesi

Dating of a panel with two handprints puts their production sometime before 68,000 years ago.

Jan 21 • John Hawks

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A deep record of unknown hominins from Sulawesi

A cave known as Leang Bulu Bettue provides a record from the Middle Pleistocene across the arrival of modern people.

Jan 18 • John Hawks

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Fossils from the Grotte à Hominidés, Morocco, and crossroads of human evolution

Jaws, teeth, and a hyena-chewed femur may be close to the common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern people.

Jan 9 • John Hawks

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December 2025

A possible archaic human from Borneo

The find of a single tooth from Gua Danang may be the first evidence of the archaic inhabitants of the island.

Dec 28, 2025 • John Hawks

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Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2025

In a year full of Denisovan discoveries, I look at some of the top highlights of research.

Dec 19, 2025 • John Hawks

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Sparking ancient fires

New research helps to show the challenges of documenting ancient firemaking

Dec 11, 2025 • John Hawks

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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, 2025 • John Hawks

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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, 2025 • John Hawks

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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, 2025 • John Hawks

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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, 2025 • John Hawks

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