John Hawks
@johnhawks.net
Paleoanthropologist | Chair and Professor of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin–Madison 🧪🏺💀https://www.johnhawks.net
New excavations at the Grotta Guattari, just south of Rome, have yielded beautiful new Neanderthal fossils. They may add a lot to our knowledge of how Neanderthals maintained their populations as they fled the advance of the ice sheets.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
A Neanderthal time capsule from Grotta Guattari
Excavations of a new chamber reveal an ancient floor with more than a dozen new Neanderthal fossil remains.
www.johnhawks.net
February 9, 2026 at 2:22 PM
New excavations at the Grotta Guattari, just south of Rome, have yielded beautiful new Neanderthal fossils. They may add a lot to our knowledge of how Neanderthals maintained their populations as they fled the advance of the ice sheets.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
There's quite a lot of research on this question and while it is hard to pin down, the evidence points to polygenic adaptation occurring across much of the last two million years, including some deep changes and at least one change in modern human genomes but not known Neanderthal genomes.
February 6, 2026 at 7:34 PM
There's quite a lot of research on this question and while it is hard to pin down, the evidence points to polygenic adaptation occurring across much of the last two million years, including some deep changes and at least one change in modern human genomes but not known Neanderthal genomes.
Really wonderful story about Lazarus Kgasi, a leader in South African paleontology at the Ditsong Museum of Natural History.
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
How a Black fossil digger became a superstar in the very white world of paleontology
In South Africa, paleontology has been dominated by white people. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that dynamic — and coloring in the picture of the world our distant ancestors once inhabited.
www.npr.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:28 AM
Really wonderful story about Lazarus Kgasi, a leader in South African paleontology at the Ditsong Museum of Natural History.
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
The history of evolutionary ideas about chins took me to Darwin, Pliny the Elder, Stephen Jay Gould, and Theodore Roosevelt. It's an irresistable subject that has befuddled scientists all this time.
www.johnhawks.net/p/what-the-h...
www.johnhawks.net/p/what-the-h...
What the heck are chins for?
A human characteristic that remains an enduring evolutionary enigma.
www.johnhawks.net
February 4, 2026 at 8:04 PM
The history of evolutionary ideas about chins took me to Darwin, Pliny the Elder, Stephen Jay Gould, and Theodore Roosevelt. It's an irresistable subject that has befuddled scientists all this time.
www.johnhawks.net/p/what-the-h...
www.johnhawks.net/p/what-the-h...
Pretty sure it’s a “no shadow” kind of day
February 2, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Pretty sure it’s a “no shadow” kind of day
Reposted by John Hawks
An absolutely fascinating exploration of what genomes tell us about the interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals 👇🧪🏺
This is a deep dive into the details of how Neanderthal ancestry is patterned across ancient genomes of modern people. A wave of mixture starting in the Near East kept mixing as long as the expanding group kept meeting Neanderthals, from France to Central Asia.
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
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.
www.johnhawks.net
January 28, 2026 at 1:02 AM
An absolutely fascinating exploration of what genomes tell us about the interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals 👇🧪🏺
This is a deep dive into the details of how Neanderthal ancestry is patterned across ancient genomes of modern people. A wave of mixture starting in the Near East kept mixing as long as the expanding group kept meeting Neanderthals, from France to Central Asia.
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
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.
www.johnhawks.net
January 27, 2026 at 1:25 PM
This is a deep dive into the details of how Neanderthal ancestry is patterned across ancient genomes of modern people. A wave of mixture starting in the Near East kept mixing as long as the expanding group kept meeting Neanderthals, from France to Central Asia.
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
www.johnhawks.net/p/tracing-th...
Reposted by John Hawks
#FossilFriday 12 horse teeth. 12 stories. I’m working with the Science Museum of Minnesota to radiocarbon date a collection of specimens to trace when the last ice age horses ran the post‑glacial landscape. Specimen #1: is from Little Sauk pulled from a skull found in black marl of the Sauk River.
January 17, 2026 at 12:11 AM
#FossilFriday 12 horse teeth. 12 stories. I’m working with the Science Museum of Minnesota to radiocarbon date a collection of specimens to trace when the last ice age horses ran the post‑glacial landscape. Specimen #1: is from Little Sauk pulled from a skull found in black marl of the Sauk River.
I mean, that's only what, 500 references? 😂
January 26, 2026 at 9:07 PM
I mean, that's only what, 500 references? 😂
To an extreme, yes. A mitigating factor is that the first habitation of Australia requires *some* explanation. But many seem to equate Australia habitation with art while overlooking the current absence of evidence of rock art in Australia prior to ~20 ka.
January 24, 2026 at 6:10 PM
To an extreme, yes. A mitigating factor is that the first habitation of Australia requires *some* explanation. But many seem to equate Australia habitation with art while overlooking the current absence of evidence of rock art in Australia prior to ~20 ka.
Reposted by John Hawks
Latest Treponema genome just dropped: it's 5,500 years old, was found in Colombia, and is a different branch of the evolutionary tree than the strains that cause today's syphilis/yaws/bejel. 🏺🧪
5,500-year-old human skeleton discovered in Colombia holds the oldest evidence yet that syphilis came from the Americas
An ancient DNA analysis of a 5,500-year-old human skeleton reveals that an ancestor of the bacterium that causes syphilis was present in the Americas at least 3,000 years earlier than previously thoug...
www.livescience.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Latest Treponema genome just dropped: it's 5,500 years old, was found in Colombia, and is a different branch of the evolutionary tree than the strains that cause today's syphilis/yaws/bejel. 🏺🧪
Here at home we're at -18° with a windchill of -32° this morning (temps in F, that's -28° and -36°C). Exceptionally, @uwmadison.bsky.social has cancelled classes, and I expect the wind off Mendota is a lot colder. Stay warm out there, everyone in the upper Midwest!
Photo: @uwmadison.bsky.social
Photo: @uwmadison.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Here at home we're at -18° with a windchill of -32° this morning (temps in F, that's -28° and -36°C). Exceptionally, @uwmadison.bsky.social has cancelled classes, and I expect the wind off Mendota is a lot colder. Stay warm out there, everyone in the upper Midwest!
Photo: @uwmadison.bsky.social
Photo: @uwmadison.bsky.social
Genetic comparisons of today's peoples of the region suggest that Denisovan populations were present there prior to modern human arrival; other evidence of early handprint production and ochre use predating modern people in East Asia.
January 22, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Genetic comparisons of today's peoples of the region suggest that Denisovan populations were present there prior to modern human arrival; other evidence of early handprint production and ochre use predating modern people in East Asia.
Lost behind calcite is the best case in some ways, because exfoliated slowly off the walls is less recoverable!
January 22, 2026 at 2:41 AM
Lost behind calcite is the best case in some ways, because exfoliated slowly off the walls is less recoverable!
I'm really impressed with this new work on rock art from Sulawesi, dated to more than 68,000 years ago. I know it will be controversial but I predict that this will end up being the first signs that scientists recognize of Denisovans in the region.
www.johnhawks.net/p/rock-art-m...
www.johnhawks.net/p/rock-art-m...
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.
www.johnhawks.net
January 22, 2026 at 1:15 AM
I'm really impressed with this new work on rock art from Sulawesi, dated to more than 68,000 years ago. I know it will be controversial but I predict that this will end up being the first signs that scientists recognize of Denisovans in the region.
www.johnhawks.net/p/rock-art-m...
www.johnhawks.net/p/rock-art-m...
That's a great question. The details of how quickly calcite forms on a particular surface derive from internal bedrock plumbing well above the cave itself. This can change over time as tiny channels open further or fill. Across a cave as a whole it varies with local rainfall cycles.
January 22, 2026 at 1:10 AM
That's a great question. The details of how quickly calcite forms on a particular surface derive from internal bedrock plumbing well above the cave itself. This can change over time as tiny channels open further or fill. Across a cave as a whole it varies with local rainfall cycles.
The new work on ancient rock art from Sulawesi (>68,000 years old!) that's released today is accompanied by a great ARTE documentary on the project. Very neat to see this work featured for a wide audience. Here's a clip showing the oldest hand stencils.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-jv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-jv...
Sulawesi, l’île des premières images - Extrait 1 | Documentaire | ARTE.TV
YouTube video by ARTE Presse
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:18 PM
The new work on ancient rock art from Sulawesi (>68,000 years old!) that's released today is accompanied by a great ARTE documentary on the project. Very neat to see this work featured for a wide audience. Here's a clip showing the oldest hand stencils.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-jv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-jv...
Reposted by John Hawks
grateful for the @manymindspod.bsky.social podcast for breaking the tedium of segmenting scores of CT slices
January 20, 2026 at 1:14 PM
grateful for the @manymindspod.bsky.social podcast for breaking the tedium of segmenting scores of CT slices
Misliya Cave, Israel, is in the limestone massif known as Mount Carmel, looking west onto the Mediterranean. Breccia deposits from the mostly-deroofed cave include a human maxilla and early Middle Paleolithic artifacts from 177,000–195,000 years ago.
Photo: John Hawks
Photo: John Hawks
January 19, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Misliya Cave, Israel, is in the limestone massif known as Mount Carmel, looking west onto the Mediterranean. Breccia deposits from the mostly-deroofed cave include a human maxilla and early Middle Paleolithic artifacts from 177,000–195,000 years ago.
Photo: John Hawks
Photo: John Hawks
Dungo IV is an archaeological site on the Atlantic coast of Angola. It is one of a few coastal Earlier Stone Age sites in southern Africa with clear evidence of geological age, dating to around 600,000 years ago. Tools here were made from quartz beach cobbles.
Image: Isis Mesfin et al. (2023)
Image: Isis Mesfin et al. (2023)
January 18, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Dungo IV is an archaeological site on the Atlantic coast of Angola. It is one of a few coastal Earlier Stone Age sites in southern Africa with clear evidence of geological age, dating to around 600,000 years ago. Tools here were made from quartz beach cobbles.
Image: Isis Mesfin et al. (2023)
Image: Isis Mesfin et al. (2023)
Who were the earliest inhabitants of Sulawesi? New work from a cave called Leang Bulu Bettue has pushed the record across the arrival of modern people, into the lives of hominins whose ancestors reached the island up to a million years before.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-deep-rec...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-deep-rec...
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.
www.johnhawks.net
January 18, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Who were the earliest inhabitants of Sulawesi? New work from a cave called Leang Bulu Bettue has pushed the record across the arrival of modern people, into the lives of hominins whose ancestors reached the island up to a million years before.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-deep-rec...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-deep-rec...
Very interesting history of @nature.com and its relation to science.
“Ultimately, peer review didn’t transform Nature’s standing so much as protect it, converting exclusivity that might have seemed arbitrary into gatekeeping that appeared meritocratic.”
www.asimov.press/p/nature?hid...
“Ultimately, peer review didn’t transform Nature’s standing so much as protect it, converting exclusivity that might have seemed arbitrary into gatekeeping that appeared meritocratic.”
www.asimov.press/p/nature?hid...
How Nature Became a 'Prestige' Journal
Since launching in 1869, Nature has evolved from a periodical offering commentary on pigeons to the prestige journal in science. But how did Nature build its reputation, and can it last?
www.asimov.press
January 18, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Very interesting history of @nature.com and its relation to science.
“Ultimately, peer review didn’t transform Nature’s standing so much as protect it, converting exclusivity that might have seemed arbitrary into gatekeeping that appeared meritocratic.”
www.asimov.press/p/nature?hid...
“Ultimately, peer review didn’t transform Nature’s standing so much as protect it, converting exclusivity that might have seemed arbitrary into gatekeeping that appeared meritocratic.”
www.asimov.press/p/nature?hid...
I mean, honestly, what are people even going to do that can compete with this title?
“Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf's Stomach”
academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
“Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf's Stomach”
academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf's Stomach
Abstract. Using temporarily spaced high-coverage ancient genomes, we can assess population decline prior to extinction. However, finding suitable ancient r
academic.oup.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:55 AM
I mean, honestly, what are people even going to do that can compete with this title?
“Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf's Stomach”
academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
“Genome Shows no Recent Inbreeding in Near-Extinction Woolly Rhinoceros Sample Found in Ancient Wolf's Stomach”
academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
No problem with the sarcasm! However I want to push back on the misconception that "evolution" is synonymous with improvement. Culture certainly evolves, but it may as easily evolve for the *worse* for many people as for the better.
January 12, 2026 at 4:02 AM
No problem with the sarcasm! However I want to push back on the misconception that "evolution" is synonymous with improvement. Culture certainly evolves, but it may as easily evolve for the *worse* for many people as for the better.
In any event, of course cultural innovations in any particular time and place do not inevitably persist but are subject to both cultural and environmental pressures that may cause them to become extinct.
January 12, 2026 at 3:45 AM
In any event, of course cultural innovations in any particular time and place do not inevitably persist but are subject to both cultural and environmental pressures that may cause them to become extinct.