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Recent advances in genetics and paleoanthropology reveal a complex world where multiple hominin species coexisted, interbred, and left behind their DNA in modern populations. Fossils like the Denisovan jawbone Penghu-1 found in Taiwan and enigmatic remains from Red Deer Cave suggest that some archaic humans may have survived into the Holocene, much later than previously thought. Meanwhile, studies of modern genomes have uncovered “genetic ghosts”—traces of unknown ancient populations for which no physical remains have been found, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia.
This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at these and other recent discoveries challenging our past thinking on ancient humans, which point to a tangled web of migrations and ancient interactions. We look at global folklore and indigenous traditions that describe reclusive, bipedal, humanlike creatures that bear striking similarities across cultures, which raise profound questions about how many kinds of humans once walked the Earth—and whether some still might.
Follow Micah’s work at micahhanks.com.
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