Ancient written languages emerged as a revolutionary development in human history, allowing civilizations to record important ...

Important, previously unrecognized genetic changes common to all ancient and modern Homo sapiens spread in Africa more than 300,000 years ago, a new study finds. After that, the same investigation ...

A new book by Laura Spinney is rather tantalisingly called Proto, begging the question: proto-what? Prototype, the earliest version of a technology? Protoplasm, the stuff of our cells? Or even ...

Humans were isolated in southern Africa for about 100,000 years, which caused them to "fall outside the range of genetic variation" seen in modern-day people, a new genetic study reveals. The finding ...

Researchers have reconstructed ancient human genomes from southernmost Africa, shedding new light on early human history in a region known for its rich archaeological past. The DNA of 13 individuals ...

In her humble home on the red soil of the Green Kalahari, 92-year-old Katrina Esau listened intently as her two great-grandchildren practised the ancient N|uu language of South Africa's indigenous San ...