It’s Europe, 30,000 years ago. In a cave in France, a tribe of Homo sapiens have gathered around a fire for the evening. By the harsh yellow glow they repair and rework their tools, ready for another hard day’s hunting. One sets down his stone point, unfinished, and begins to drill holes in shells, threading … Continue reading »
The facts of this post are currently disputed It’s Europe, 48,000 years ago and things are not going well for Homo neanderthalensis. A deteriorating climate in Central Europe forced both them and the newly arrived Homo sapiens to abandon almost the entire continent. They retreated in Spain whilst we returned to the Middle East. When … Continue reading »
One of the biggest mysteries regarding human origins is why our brains became so big (or “encephalised” in fancy shmamcy science language). Over the past ~2.5 million years our thinking organ has gradually tripled in size, but what was the advantage such growth conferred that increased our ancestor’s “fitness”? Did their brains increasing in size … Continue reading »
Recently I examined an article that suggested we may sexually imprint on our parents and seek out mates similar to them (or at least I like to think I examined it and didn’t just waffle for 700 words). Amidst all the talk of “population homogeneity” and “assortive mating” I saw some observations about what people … Continue reading »
I recently spied an article in my Google Scholar alert feed that had a rather interesting abstract. This study investigates spousal correlation and mate preference for height in the Japanese population…It also indicates a possible role of a sexual imprinting-like mechanism in human mate choice. The research found that Japanese university students’ ideal marriage partners … Continue reading »
2009: Science and the media collide in the most horrific way imaginable; with Darwinius masillae, a beautifully preserved prehistoric primate being trumped up as the answer to human origins and generally claimed to be the best thing since sliced bread. It is not and the whole affair is generally embarassing for all involved. 2011: Science … Continue reading »
