early humans

Initially dismissed as a hoax a century ago, scientists have found evidence in Florida of humans living 14,000 years ago. If the findings hold up, they will help rewrite the history of early man.

The opposable thumb you use to hold a pencil was long thought to be a defining aspect of humans. But an analysis of finger bones suggests stone tool use by pre-humans — perhaps 3 million years ago.

Carved zigzag marks on a shell found more than a century ago have drawn new interest from archaeologists. The half-million-year-old lines aren't from an animal, and might be art from Homo erectus.

The DNA in this ancient Siberian leg bone shows that the man had Neanderthal ancestors — yet more proof that humans and Neanderthals interbred. And he lived much farther north than expected.

Figures found on the walls of a prehistoric cave in Indonesia are at least 35,400 years old or more, scientists say. That might mean the earliest art developed independently in different regions.