A shrine to my paleolithic ancestors

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Homo sapiens
Homo antecessor
Homo erectus
Homo ergaster
Homo floresiensis
Homo habilis
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo longi
Homo luzonensis
Homo naledi
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo rhodesiensis
Homo rudolfensis
Homo cepranensis
Homo juluensis (newly discovered!)

The oldest known stone tools were excavated in northwestern Kenya and are 3.3 million years old. It is unknown at this time who made them, but some candidates include Australopithecus garhi, Australopithecus aethiopicus, and Homo habilis.

Many people think of the neanderthals as slow, brutish, and lacking in technology, but this is not true at all. Neanderthals operated on a very similar cognitive level to Homo sapiens, and had their own tool industries and cultural practices. They were compassionate, as evident by the remains of Shanindar 1, a disabled neanderthal who lived well into his 40s and was buried with grave goods. Neanderthals even made art!


All evidence points to H. sapiens originating in southeastern Africa 200,000-300,000 years ago. We then spread all over the globe, starting with a migration to the SWANA region 100,000 years ago, across southern Asia 70,000 years ago, and then all the way to Australia by 50,000 years ago. We didn't begin inhabiting Europe until about 40,000 years ago, where we met and interbred with neanderthals, who originated in Eurasia.