Nov 18, 2019

Meet the Denisovans | The True Founders of a Lost Civilization | Andrew Collins | Origins Conference

Meet the Denisovans | The True Founders of a Lost Civilization | Andrew Collins | Origins Conference



Info: With the extraordinary evidence emerging right now to suggest that a newly-discovered archaic human population known as the Denisovans might have attained advanced levels of behaviour beyond that even of our own ancestors, Andrew Collins finds out what we know about their achievements, distribution and the impact of their legacy on our own civilization. In the 2000s, human fossil remains were unearthed in the Denisova Cave within the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. DNA testing showed that the bones - two molars and a pinky bone - belonged to a previously unknown human population today known as the Denisovans. They are now thought to have inhabited Eastern Eurasia from around 400,000 years down to around 40,000 years ago. During their final years, the Denisovans achieved an advanced level of human behaviour, including the creation of sophisticated symbolic or non-functional objects, for example an arm bracelet in bottle-green chloritolite with a bored hole that can only have been made using a high-speed drill; a bone needle with an eye for thread, suggesting the manufacture of tailored clothing, as well as finely finished, pierced ostrich eggshell beads no more than a centimetre in diameter. In addition to this, fragments of horse bones found inside the Denisova Cave have suggested that Denisovans domesticated, herded and maybe even rode horses long before previously thought. So who exactly were the Denisovans? What do we really know about them, and how are they linked to Neanderthals and our own ancestors? Andrew's new book co-authored with Dr. Greg Little is published this month called 'Denisovan Origins' and is available from http://www.andrewcollins.com.


Talks By Andrew Collins



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