At https://phys.org/news/2026-01-hafted-stone-tools-china-early.html … a newly excavated site in central China is eshaping what we know about our early ancestors. They have uncovered advanced stone tool technologies dating back 160,00 to 72,000 years ago. Are they Denisovans we may wonder, contemporaries of the Neanderthals in wester eurasia. It seems people back then were more inventive than formerly believed. At this ime Homo longi and Homo juliensis were living in China, it is believed. Possibly, even remoe ancestors of Homo sapiens, it is speculated. Evdence has been found of the production of small flakes and tools that were then used in diverse ways. These tools were also hafted.
At https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/160-000-year-old-sophisticated-stone-tools-discovered-in-china-may-not-have-been-made-by-homo-sapiens … for another look at the same story.
At https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ochre-ancient-graves-finland-identity.html … 5500 to 6000 years ago, Finland and Karelia, were inhabited by hunter gatherer groups. They lived in small village clusters travelling by waterways rather than roads. They went on to establish fishing systems, and even cleared forests to favour chosen plants. Their graves have ochre within them, colouring the dead and objects buried alongside them. What di this signify? The link suggests it had something to do with their identity. Truth is, we don’t know. Ochre was a popular material for the dead – in diverse cultures around the world.
At https://phys.org/news/2026-01-early-hominins-morocco-reveal-african.html … a quarry near Casablanca has unearth hominin fossils that have been dated 773,000 years ago – via the magnetostratigraphic record. This date is the so called Brunhes/Matuyama boundary, the last episode of geomagnetic polarity reversal. One might say the magnetic fields flipped over and north became south. This happened for a brief period around 42,000 years ago – the so callled Laschamp event. However, the switch was not permanent and reverted back to normal polarity. It is said to be a precise moment in the Quaternary.
The quarry is situated on a raised coastal formation running between Rabat and Casablanca. The region is rich in Pleistocene fossils as a result of a succession of former shorelines – like the terraces in river valleys. There are also caves and cemented coastal dunes. The shorelines represent a series of sea level oscillations. Not unusual. In this instance the finds coincide with a geomagnetic reversal. Indeed, the Moroccon Atlantic coast is a Pleistocene treasure trove we are told. The geomagnetic reversal is situated within a long period of continuous occupation, or the laid down sediments. It is described as a series of continued deposition. The hominin remains were found in what is called an animal den. No mention of hyenas, or mink.
At https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/01/homo-erectus-might-not-first-leave-africa/ … Homo erectus, found in a wide swathe of the ancient world, may not havee been the first to venture out of Africa. Prior to erectus.