Taphonomy vs. Thought: Debating the “Neanderthal Raven” and Avian Plume Exploitation Across Mousterian Eurasia
Did Neanderthals utilize Bird Feathers and Talons as a symbolic way to express themselves? Or was there less to it than that?
The Deep History Refuge
Uncovering the stories written in stone. A deep dive into human origins, ancient minds, and the evolution of creativity—making complex science accessible to everyone.
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Hominin Taxonomy Synthesis (Revised)
A new potential paradigm shift paper came out recently, proposing a whole new way to classify the hominin family bush! Does it solve decades long problems, or make more?
Reconstructing the Neanderthal Pelvis: Developmental Heterochrony, Pelvic Floor Stability, and the Demise of the Obstetrical Dilemma
What were Neanderthal hips like, and how did they affect the process of giving birth? A deep-dive into a an important new paper!
BEYOND THE PHANTOM GENOME: PALEOPROTEOMICS, BODY PLAN GIGANTISM, AND THE PENGHU CHANNEL DENISOVANS
Were the enigmatic Denisovans much larger than previously thought? What does analysis of their femur bones tell us? Learn more today!
The Micro-Spatial Camp: Hearth Centricity and Neanderthal Living Floors
Far from the old image of bruitish “proto” humans, Neanderthals were complex beings; who had specific ways of organizing thier homes!
The Deep Acoustic Landscape: Middle and Upper Paleolithic: Psychoacoustic Scaffolding and Cognitive Evolution
The past was not silent, it was filled with natural, and even human made sounds - music, and resonance that aided populations in making important symbolic and cultural decisions - learn about this astounding aspect of the ancient past today!
Deep Time Joinery: Kalambo Falls Structural Wood Architecture and Lower Paleolithic Cognitive Engineering
Human ingenuity did not start with stones, but likely with materials that are now lost to time! In Zambia, there is evidence of some sort of wooden structure near a half million years old! What is it, and what are the implications?
Beyond the Cognitive Rubicon: Raptor Talons, Avian Plumage, and the Material Culture of Neanderthal Symbolis
Were Neanderthals the simple brutes that common pop culture would have us believe? Or were they advanced, symbolic creatures? Check out this FREE deep dive to learn more!
Beyond the Cognitive Rubicon: Deep-Time Neanderthal Visual Cultures and the Refutation of Human Exceptionalism
For decades, there has been a raging debate in the anthropological community - are H. sapiens, the only hominids to communicate visually? In this deep-dive, we break down this old idea, with evidence that Neanderthals, among others were just as capable!
The Architecture of Hominin Imagination: Reclaiming Symbolic Thought, Language, and the Deep Roots of Human Consciousness
For a while now; I have had a clear focus for my academic work; dismantling the idea of the "Cognitive Rubicon", that advanced symbolic behavior belonged to Homo sapiens, and us alone - but the story is much more complex than that!
The Phantom of Bouffia Bonneval: Reassessing the Old Man of La Chapelle-aux-Saints on the Anniversary of its Discovery.
Discovered in 1908 in a small cave near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France, this was the first nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton ever discovered, changing our views on the species forevermore! Learn about this amazing specimen!
Pyrotechnic Complexity and Material Transformation: A Re-examination of Middle Paleolithic Birch Bark Distillation
Neanderthals were capable of advanced manufacturing operations, such as producing, and using adhesives made from multi-step processes involving harvesting, and heating Birch Wood, and turning it into tar. Learn more about these advanced methods from these supposed not so advanced people!
Dragon Man Has a Name: How Ancient DNA in Dental Calculus Solved Paleoanthropology’s Greatest Mystery
Who, or what is Dragon Man? The long lost Denisovans discovered?!?!?!
The Neanderthal Arc: A Re-Evaluation of Hominin Symbolic and Aesthetic Capacity in Deep History
Were Neanderthals the dumb brutes we have been lead to believe for over one hundred years, or is there more to the story? In fact....there is much more!