The Smithsonian's Hominid Hunting blog has chosen the top 10 fossil and archaeological discoveries of the year that shed light on human prehistory.
Item #10 highlights the dating of modern humans' first occupation of Europe to 45,000 years ago, via fossil bones and teeth. While earlier remains may someday be found, it's clear that our species first arose in Africa, around 200,000 years ago.
Item #6 showcases the world's first known art studio, created by Homo sapiens in South Africa at 100,000 years ago— many millenia before our ancestors first painted the walls of Western Europe's now-famous art caves.
This pair of findings underscores what other items on the blog list also demonstrate, a fact paleoanthropologists have known for years: Our evolution, culturally as well as biologically, is African through and through.
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