Middle Pleistocene Homo in the Levant: Our understanding of the origin, distribution, and evolution of early humans and their close relatives has been greatly refined by recent new information. Adding to this trend, Hershkovitz et al. have uncovered evidence of a previously unknown archaic Homo population, the “Nesher Ramla Homo ” (see the Perspective by Mirazon Lahr). The authors present comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of fossilized remains from a site in Israel dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago indicating the presence of a previously unrecognized group of hominins representing the last surviving populations of Middle Pleistocene Homo in Europe, southwest Asia, and Africa. In a companion paper, Zaidner et al. present the radiometric ages, stone tool assemblages, faunal assemblages, and other behavioral and environmental data associated with these fossils. This evidence shows that these hominins had fully mastered technology that until only recently was linked to either Homo sapiens or Neanderthals. Nesher Ramla Homo was an efficient hunter of large and small game, used wood for fuel, cooked or roasted meat, and maintained fires. These findings provide archaeological support for cultural interactions between different human lineages during the Middle Paleolithic, suggesting that admixture between Middle Pleistocene Homo and H. sapiens had already occurred by this time. Science , abh3169 and abh3020, this issue p. 1424 and p. 1429 ; see also abj3077, p. 1395

The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species’ holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus . Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.

Of the characteristics of the species Homo sapiens relative to other living animals, the use of articulated language is among the most striking. Because it implies—and allows for—complex social relationships and cognitive processes, the emergence of articulated language during hominin evolution is regarded as one of the most important steps in becoming human. Other living species have evolved complex vocalisations (e.g. songbirds) or can be trained to respond to spoken commands (e.g. dogs) and even to answer using special keyboards or sign language (e.g. great apes), but none have evolved articulated speech, and none can be taught how to talk. Tracking the emergence of language and determining which fossil hominin species used a full-fledged articulated language and which did not are somewhat of a challenge. For palaeoanthropologists and prehistorians, the timing and nature of the emergence of language—gradual or sudden, early or late in evolution—represent crucial (but missing) data when trying to interpret behaviours evidenced by the archaeological record or to define which hominins are ‘human’. A wealth of morphological and archaeological data are examined in order to put together enough clues to answer the question of when and in which species speech first evolved. Lines of enquiry include the evolution of the neural circuitry used by H. sapiens to produce and process speech, the anatomical specialisations which allow them to discriminate and articulate sounds, and early evidence for complex, planned behaviours and symbolic thought. This indirect evidence does not bring definitive answers about the emergence of language in the hominin evolutionary bush but illustrates that we should rethink what defines H. sapiens and be more cautious—or scientifically more rigorous—about what makes us supposedly unique.

The anatomical asymmetries of the human brain are the subject of a great deal of scientific interest because of their links with handedness and lateralized cognitive functions. Information about lateralization in humans is also available from the post-cranial skeleton, particularly the arm bones, in which differences in size and shape are related to hand/arm preference. Our objective here is to characterize the possible correlations between the endocranial and post-cranial asymmetries of an archaeological sample. This, in turn, will allow us to try to identify and interpret prospective functional traits in the archaeological and fossil records. We observe that directional asymmetry (DA) is present both for some endocranial and humeral traits because of brain lateralization and lateralized behaviors, while patterns of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) vary. The combined study of these anatomical elements and of their asymmetries can shed light on the ways in which the body responds to dependent asymmetrical stimuli across biologically independent anatomical areas. Variations in FA are, in this context, indicators of differences in answers to lateralized factors. Humeri tend to show a much larger range of variation than the endocast. We show that important but complex information may be extracted from the combined study of the endocast and the arms in an archaeological sample of Homo sapiens.