General paleoanthropology

• Estimations of body mass in Pliocene and Pleistocene hominins based on lower limb bones dimensions are presented by Ruff et al. (2018).^[347]
• A study on the evolution of the brain size in hominins is published by Du et al. (2018).^[348]
• A study on the evolution of the mandible shape in hominins, based on an analysis of the mandibular shape variation in a large sample of plesiadapiforms and primates, is published by Raia et al. (2018).^[349]
• A study on the cervical kinematics in early fossil hominins, based on an analysis of uncinate processes in the vertebrae of fossil hominins, Homo sapiens and extant nonhuman primates, is published by Meyer et al. (2018).^[350]
• A study on the intra-specific variation of patterns of metatarsal robusticity (a measure reflecting habitual stresses in long bones, and in particular, loads experienced over an animal's lifetime) in modern humans and extant African apes, and its implications for inferring whether the Olduvai Hominid 8 foot was biomechanically similar to the feet of modern humans, is published by Patel et al. (2018).^[351]
• A study on the bony shape variables in the metatarsals of extant anthropoid primates and fossil hominins, and on their importance to the evolution of terrestrial bipedalism in hominins, is published by Fernández et al. (2018).^[352]
• Domínguez-Rodrigo & Baquedano (2018) evaluate the ability of successful machine learning methods to compare and distinguish various types of bone surface modifications (trampling marks, crocodile bite marks and cut marks made with stone tools) in archaeofaunal assemblages.^[353]
• Taphonomic study on the ca. 1.84 million year old bovid fossils (preserving evidence of meat eating by early hominins) from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), evaluating whether hominins had early access to fleshed carcasses through hunting or active scavenging, or late access to largely defleshed carcasses through passive scavenging, is published by Parkinson (2018).^[354]
• The study published by Gierliński et al. (2017), reporting putative tetrapod footprints with hominin-like characteristics from the late Miocene of Crete (Greece),^[355] is criticized by Meldrum & Sarmiento (2018).^[356]
• A study aiming to estimate body mass of Orrorin tugenensis and Ardipithecus ramidus is published by Grabowski, Hatala & Jungers (2018).^[357]
• A study comparing the calcar femorale of Orrorin tugenensis and other hominoids is published by Kuperavage et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that O. tugenensis was an early bipedal hominin.^[358]
• A study on the hydrological changes in the Limpopo River catchment and in sea surface temperature in the southwestern Indian Ocean for the past 2.14 million years, and on their implications for inferring the palaeoclimatic changes in southeastern Africa in this time period and their possible impact on the evolution of early hominins, is published by Caley et al. (2018).^[359]
• A study on the behavioral features which might have contributed to the demographic success of early hominids such as Australopithecus, based on comparison with macaques, is published by Meindl, Chaney & Lovejoy (2018).^[360]
• A study on the diversity dynamics of early hominins, evaluating whether the observed patterns of early hominin diversity can be better explained by sampling biases or genuine evolutionary processes, is published by Maxwell et al. (2018).^[361]
• A study on the pelvic morphology in Ardipithecus and Australopithecus, evaluating the hypothesis that early hominins retained ischial proportions and orientation that favored greater force production during climbing but limited their ability to hyperextend the hip and walk as economically as modern humans, is published by Kozma et al. (2018).^[362]
• Endocrania of two specimens of Australopithecus africanus from Sterkfontein Member 4 (South Africa) are virtually reconstructed by Beaudet et al. (2018).^[363]
• A study on the paleoenvironment and diet of Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus as indicated by tooth microwear is published by Peterson et al. (2018).^[364]
• A study on the relationship between root splay and overall morphology of first maxillary molars and jaw kinematics in South African Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus, and on its implications for inferring the dietary niches of these species, is published by Kupczik, Toro-Ibacache & Macho (2018).^[365]
• A study on the variation in trabecular bone structure of the femoral head in fossil hominins attributed to the species Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus and to the genus Homo, attempting to reconstruct hip joint loading conditions in these fossil hominins, is published by Ryan et al. (2018).^[366]
• A study on the habitats and diets of Paranthropus boisei and Homo rudolfensis from the Early Pleistocene of the Malawi Rift is published by Lüdecke et al. (2018).^[367]
• A study on the strontium isotope data derived from three studies of teeth of Paranthropus robustus, and on its implications for inferring habitat, mobility and growth of this species, is published by Sillen & Balter (2018).^[368]
• The skull of 'Mrs. Ples' (Sts 5 specimen of Australopithecus africanus) is interpreted as a skull of a small male rather than a large female individual by Tawane & Thackeray (2018).^[369]
• A study on the variation in the structure of trabecular bone and joint loading in the humeral head of extant hominoids, spider monkeys and Australopithecus africanus is published by Kivell et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that A. africanus may have still used its forelimbs for arboreal locomotion.^[370]
• Description of a nearly complete, 3.32-million-year-old foot of a juvenile Australopithecus afarensis from Dikika (Ethiopia) is published by DeSilva et al. (2018).^[371]
• A study on the possible date of the first appearance of Australopithecus sediba as indicated by the average hominin species' temporal range is published by Robinson et al. (2018).^[372]
• Studies on the anatomy of the skeleton of Australopithecus sediba are published by De Ruiter et al. (2018),^[373] Williams et al. (2018),^[374] Churchill et al. (2018),^[375] Kivell et al. (2018),^[376] Churchill et al. (2018),^[377] DeSilva et al. (2018)^[378] and Holliday et al. (2018).^[379]
• A digital animation of the proposed walking mechanics of Australopithecus sediba is presented by Zhang & DeSilva (2018).^[380]
• A study on the linear marks observed on the hominin fossil Stw53 from the Sterkfontein cave site (South Africa), evaluating whether these marks were cutmarks inflicted by stone tools or non-anthropic modifications, is published by Hanon, Péan & Prat (2018).^[381]
• New artifacts are described from the Swartkrans cave (South Africa) by Kuman et al. (2018), who confirm the affinity of the Swartkrans artifacts with the Oldowan industrial complex.^[382]
• Oldowan stone tools and associated hominin-modified fossil bones are reported from strata estimated to ≈2.4 and ≈1.9 Ma from two deposits at Ain Boucherit (Algeria) by Sahnouni et al. (2018).^[383]
• Pelvic remains of Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star Cave system (Cradle of Humankind, South Africa) are described by VanSickle et al. (2018).^[384]
• A study on the minimum number of individuals and on a demographic profile of the assemblage of Homo naledi individuals in the Dinaledi Chamber (Rising Star Cave system, South Africa) is published by Bolter et al. (2018).^[385]
• A study on the diet of Homo naledi as indicated by teeth wear textures is published by Ungar & Berger (2018).^[386]
• A study comparing tooth shape and size in Homo naledi and other South African Plio-Pleistocene hominins, as well as a study on the possible diet of Homo naledi, is published by Berthaume, Delezene & Kupczik (2018).^[387]
• A study on the endocast morphology of Homo naledi, comparing it with other hominoids and fossil hominins, is published by Holloway et al. (2018).^[388]
• A study on the phenetic affinities and taxonomic validity of Homo naledi as indicated by teeth morphology will be published by Irish et al. (2018).^[389]
• Three incudes of Homo naledi recovered from the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star cave system are described by Elliott et al. (2018).^[390]
• Partial mandible of Homo naledi which was most likely affected by peripheral osteoma is reported by Odes et al. (2018).^[391]
• A study on evaluating whether deliberate disposal of corpses is the only likely explanation for large assemblages of fossil human bones from the Middle Pleistocene sites of Sima de los Huesos (Spain) and the Dinaledi Chamber (South Africa) is published by Egeland et al. (2018).^[392]
• A study on the phylogenetic relationships of the Pleistocene hominin specimen (a fragmented skullcap) from Kocabaş (Denizli Basin, Turkey) is published by Vialet et al. (2018).^[393]
• A study on the morphology and affinities of the hominin calvaria KNM-ER 42700 from Ileret, Kenya is published by Neubauer et al. (2018).^[394]
• A study on the frequency and location of hominin (likely Homo habilis) butchery marks and carnivore tooth marks on mammal bones from the HWK EE site (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), and on their implications for inferring carnivorous feeding behavior of the HWK EE hominins and the ecological interactions they had with carnivores, is published by Pante et al. (2018).^[395]
• A study estimating possible adult stature and body mass of the Homo erectus specimen KNM-WT 15000 ("Turkana Boy") is published by Cunningham et al. (2018).^[396]
• A study on the structure of the animal community known from the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation at East Turkana (Kenya) as indicated by tracks and skeletal assemblages, and on the interactions of Homo erectus with environment and associated faunas from this site, is published by Roach et al. (2018).^[397]
• A study on the large cutting tools from four Acheulean sites at Koobi Fora dated to ~1.4 million years ago, investigating the behavioural patterns underpinning recorded artefact variability, is published by Presnyakova et al. (2018).^[398]
• A study on 1.07–0.99 million-year-old pelvic remains from Buia (Eritrea) is published by Hammond et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that the postcranial morphology of Homo erectus sensu lato was variable and, in some cases, nearly indistinguishable from modern human morphology, and that the shared last common ancestor of Late Pleistocene Homo species was unlikely to have an australopith-like pelvis.^[399]
• A study on the humeral rigidity and strength in members of the species Homo erectus known from Zhoukoudian (China), comparing it with the humeral rigidity and strength in the African members of the species, is published by Xing et al. (2018).^[400]
• A study on the morphology of teeth of Homo erectus from Zhoukoudian is published by Xing, Martinón-Torres & Bermúdez de Castro (2018).^[401]
• A study on the age of the archaeological layers from the Zhoukoudian Upper Cave, and on its implications for understanding Late Quaternary human evolution in eastern Asia, is published by Li et al. (2018).^[402]
• New magnetostratigraphic dating results for the Bailong Cave (China) sedimentary sequence containing hominin teeth assigned to the species Homo erectus are presented by Kong et al. (2018).^[403]
• An Early Pleistocene artefact sequence, containing 17 artefact layers that extend from approximately 1.26 million years ago to about 2.12 million years ago, is described from the Shangchen locality (Loess Plateau, China) by Zhu et al. (2018), indicating that hominins left Africa earlier than indicated by the evidence from Dmanisi.^[404]
• A study investigating how the hominin groups living in the Qinling Mountains range (China) responded to glacial–interglacial shifts from ~1.20 million years ago to ~0.05 million years ago is published by Sun et al. (2018).^[405]
• A study on the morphology and affinities of the Middle Pleistocene hominin mandible recovered from La Niche cave site of the Montmaurin karst system (France) is published by Vialet et al. (2018).^[406]
• Taphonomic signatures of the Aroeira 3 cranium, with a specific focus on cranial breakage, are described by Sanz et al. (2018), who attempt to approximate the cause of death of this individual.^[407]
• A study on strategies for thermoregulation in the absence of fire in conditions experienced by hominins in north-west Europe before 400,000 years ago is published by MacDonald (2018).^[408]
• Evidence for progressive aridification in East Africa since about 575,000 years before present, based on data from sediments from Lake Magadi (Kenya), is presented by Owen et al. (2018), who also evaluate the influence of the increasing Middle- to Late-Pleistocene aridification and environmental variability on the physical and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens in East Africa.^[409]
• A series of excavated Middle Stone Age sites from the Olorgesailie Basin (Kenya), dated as ≈320,000 years old, is presented by Brooks et al. (2018), who report evidence of hominins preparing cores and points, exploiting iron-rich rocks to obtain red pigment, and procuring stone tool materials from ≥25–50 km distance.^[410]
• A study on the environmental dynamics before and after the onset of the early Middle Stone Age in the Olorgesailie Basin (Kenya) is published by Potts et al. (2018).^[411]
• A study on the chronology of the Acheulean and early Middle Stone Age sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie Basin (Kenya) is published by Deino et al. (2018).^[412]
• A study on bone artefacts from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave (South Africa), evaluating what kinds of animals were used to make bone tools, is published by Bradfield (2018).^[413]
• A study on the stone tools from the Acheulean site of Saffaqah near Dawadmi (Saudi Arabia), and their implications for inferring how hominins adapted to this region, is published by Shipton et al. (2018).^[414]
• A study on the stratigraphy, archaeology and chronology of the Saffaqah site, providing the first secure dates for this site, is published by Scerri et al. (2018).^[415]
• A study on the age of stone tools from the Attirampakkam site in India is published by Akhilesh et al. (2018), indicating the emergence of a Middle Paleolithic culture in India at 385 ± 64 thousand years ago.^[416]
• Stone tools associated with a skeleton of Rhinoceros philippinensis showing clear signs of butchery are described from a bone bed at Kalinga in the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon (the Philippines), dated to between 777 and 631 thousand years ago, by Ingicco et al. (2018).^[417]
• The study on the Cerutti Mastodon site published by Holen et al. (2017), reporting possible evidence of an unidentified species of the genus Homo living in California 130,000 years ago,^[418] is criticized by Ferraro et al. (2018).^[419][420]
• Bone retouchers dated as approximately 125–105,000 years old are described from the Lingjing site in Henan, China by Doyon et al. (2018), representing the first evidence from Eastern Asia for the use of bone as raw material to modify stone tools.^[421]
• A 90,000-years-old specialized bone tool discovered in association with the Aterian techno-complex is described from the cave site of Dar es-Soltan 1 (Morocco) by Bouzouggar et al. (2018).^[422]
• A study on the antiquity of the remains of Homo antecessor, based on the first direct Electron Spin Resonance dating of a tooth from the TD6 unit of Atapuerca Gran Dolina site (Spain), is published by Duval et al. (2018).^[423]
• A study aiming to test the hypothesis if Homo antecessor molars approximated the Neanderthal rather than the Homo sapiens condition for tissue proportions and enamel thickness is published by Martín-Francés et al. (2018).^[424]
• An assemblage of hominin tracks produced by adults and children potentially as young as 12 months, probably members of the species Homo heidelbergensis living 700,000 years ago, is described from the Upper Awash Valley (Ethiopia) by Altamura et al. (2018).^[425]
• A study on the morphology and function of the browridge of the Kabwe 1 archaic hominin specimen is published by Godinho, Spikins & O'Higgins (2018).^[426]
• A study intending to detect introgressed Denisovan genetic material in present-day human genomes is published by Browning et al. (2018), who report evidence of Denisovan ancestry in populations from East and South Asia and Papuans, and interpret their findings as indicating that at least two distinct instances of Denisovan admixture into modern humans occurred.^[427]
• Genome recovered from a bone fragment from the Denisova Cave (Russia) is presented by Slon et al. (2018), who interpret the studied individual as the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.^[428]
• A study on the absolute bone volume in five human long bones from the Sima de los Huesos site is published by Carretero et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that Sima de los Huesos hominins had on average heavier long bones than extant humans of the same size.^[429]
• A study on the stone tools from the site of la Noira (France) and their implications for reconstructing early Acheulean hominin behavior is published by Hardy et al. (2018), who argue that the hominins from this site used a broad range of resources including wood, plants, mammals, and possibly birds and fish, and that Middle Pleistocene hominins had detailed local environmental knowledge and were able to adapt to a wide range of environments.^[430]
• A study aiming to estimate total lung capacity of Neanderthals, as well as Early Pleistocene hominins from the Gran Dolina site ATD6 (Spain), is published by García-Martínez et al. (2018).^[431]
• A series of partially charred wooden tools is described from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (central Italy) by Aranguren et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that Neanderthals were able to choose the appropriate timber and to process it with fire to produce tools.^[432]
• A wooden tool (possibly a digging stick), likely produced by Neanderthals, is described from the early Late Pleistocene Aranbaltza III site (Basque Country, Spain) by Rios-Garaizar et al. (2018), representing the oldest wooden tool from southern Europe reported so far.^[433]
• Cave art in Cave of La Pasiega, Maltravieso cave and Ardales cave (Spain) is dated as older than 64,000 years (thus predating the arrival of modern humans in Europe) by Hoffmann et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicative of Neandertal authorship of the art;^[434] the study is subsequently criticized by Pearce & Bonneau (2018),^[435][436] Aubert, Brumm & Huntley (2018),^[437][438] Slimak et al. (2018)^[439][440] and White et al. (2020).^[441][442]
• A study on the age of the flowstone capping the Cueva de los Aviones deposit in southeast Spain is published by Hoffmann et al. (2018), who report that Neanderthal-associated evidence of symbolic behavior found at the site is 115,000 to 120,000 years old and predates the earliest known comparable evidence associated with modern humans by 20,000 to 40,000 years.^[443]
• Genomes of five Neanderthals from Belgium (Spy Cave and Goyet Caves), France (Les Cottés cave), Croatia (Vindija Cave) and Russia (Mezmaiskaya cave), who lived around 39,000 to 47,000 years ago, are sequenced by Hajdinjak et al. (2018).^[444]
• A study on Neanderthal skeletal remains and animal fossils from the Vindija Cave, and on their implications for inferring Neanderthal behaviour, is published by Patou-Mathis, Karavanić & Smith (2018).^[445]
• A study evaluating three hypotheses forwarded to explain the distinctive Neanderthal face is published by Wroe et al. (2018).^[446]
• A study evaluating ecological niche similarity between the datasets of morphologically diagnostic Neanderthal remains and of archaeological sites with Middle Paleolithic artifacts (but no diagnostic hominin remains), as well as assessing its implications for inferring whether those archaeological sites represent Neanderthal occurrences, is published by Bible & Peterson (2018).^[447]
• Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al. (2018) report perforations observed on two fallow deer skeletons from the 120,000-year-old lake shore deposits from Neumark-Nord (Germany), interpreted as evidence of close-range use of thrusting spears by Neanderthals.^[448]
• A study on the timing and duration of periods of climate deterioration in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula in the late Pleistocene, evaluating the impact of climate on the abandonment of inner Iberian territories by Neanderthals 42,000 years ago, is published by Wolf et al. (2018).^[449]
• A study on pollen recovered from hyaena coprolites from Vanguard Cave (Gibraltar), and on its implications for reconstructing the vegetation landscapes in the environment inhabited by southern Iberian Neanderthals during the MIS 3, is published by Carrión et al. (2018).^[450]
• Evidence of bird and carnivore exploitation by Neanderthals (cut-marks in golden eagle, raven, wolf and lynx remains) is reported from the Axlor site (Spain) by Gómez-Olivencia et al. (2018).^[451]
• The first direct artefactual evidence for regular, systematic fire production by Neanderthals is reported from archaeological layers attributed to late Mousterian industries at multiple sites throughout France by Sorensen, Claud & Soressi (2018).^[452]
• A study on Neanderthal manual activities is published by Karakostis et al. (2018), who report evidence of habitual performance of precision grasping by Neanderthals.^[453]
• 3D virtual reconstruction of the thorax of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal individual is presented by Gómez-Olivencia et al. (2018).^[454]
• A study aiming to determine whether metabolic differences between competing populations of Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans alone could have accounted for Neanderthal extinction, as well as investigating Neanderthal fire use, is published by Goldfield, Booton & Marston (2018).^[455]
• A study on the climate changes in Europe during the Middle–Upper Paleolithic transition (based on speleothem records from the Ascunsă Cave and from the Tăușoare Cave, Romania), and on their implications for the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in Europe, is published by Fernández et al. (2018).^[456]
• A study on the cultural attribution and stratigraphic integrity of the Neanderthal skeletal material from La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire (France), evaluating whether there is reliable evidence for a Neanderthal-Châtelperronian association at this site, is published by Gravina et al. (2018).^[457]
• A study aiming to reconstruct 3D brain shape of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens is published by Kochiyama et al. (2018).^[458]
• A study on patterns of seasonal variation in the environment inhabited by Neanderthals, on Neanderthal life history and on their exposure to potential environmental hazards, as indicated by data from oxygen isotopes, trace element distributions and tooth development in two Neanderthals and one modern human from Payre (an archeological site in the Rhone Valley, France), is published by Smith et al. (2018).^[459]
• A study on the human teeth from the Middle Pleistocene sites of Fontana Ranuccio and Visogliano (Italy), aiming to identify the presence, if any, of a Neanderthal-like signature in the inner structure of these teeth, is published by Zanolli et al. (2018).^[460]
• Evidence indicating that interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans led to the exposure of each species to novel viruses and to the exchange of adaptive alleles that provided resistance against these viruses is presented by Enard & Petrov (2018).^[461]
• A study on Neanderthals and early Upper Paleolithic anatomically modern humans, reassessing the hypothesis of higher skull trauma prevalence among Neanderthals than among anatomically modern humans, is published by Beier et al. (2018).^[462]
• A study on the age of the Buran-Kaya III site in Crimea is published by Prat et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as casting doubt on the survival of Neanderthal refuge zones in Crimea 28,000 years before present, and indicating that the human remains from this site represent some of the oldest evidence of anatomically modern humans in Europe.^[463]
• A study on the use of plants by early modern humans during the Middle Stone Age as indicated by analyses of phytoliths from the Pinnacle Point locality (South Africa) is published by Esteban et al. (2018).^[464]
• A study on the climatic changes in the Lake Tana area in the last 150,000 years and their implications for early modern human dispersal out of Africa is published by Lamb et al. (2018).^[465]
• A review of fossil, archaeological, genetic, and paleoenvironmental data on the origin of Homo sapiens is published by Scerri et al. (2018), who argue that Homo sapiens evolved within a set of interlinked groups living across Africa, whose connectivity changed through time, rather than from a single region/population in Africa.^[466]
• A review of the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental datasets relating to the Middle–Late Pleistocene dispersal of Homo sapiens within and beyond Africa is published by Roberts & Stewart (2018), who argue that H. sapiens developed a new ecological niche.^[467]
• A study on the evolution of modern human brain shape based on endocasts of Homo sapiens fossils from different geologic time periods is published by Neubauer, Hublin & Gunz (2018).^[468]
• Late Pleistocene hominin tracks, probably produced by Homo sapiens, are described from the Waenhuiskrans Formation (South Africa) by Helm et al. (2018).^[469]
• A study on the proxy evidence for environmental changes during past 116,000 years in lake sediment cores from the Chew Bahir basin, south Ethiopia (close to the key hominin site of Omo Kibish), and on its implications for inferring the environmental context for dispersal of anatomically modern humans from northeastern Africa, is published by Viehberg et al. (2018).^[470]
• A study on the age of a modern human mandible with teeth from the Misliya cave (Mount Carmel, Israel) is published by Hershkovitz et al. (2018), who date the fossil as at least 177,000 years old, representing the oldest reported fossil of a member of the Homo sapiens clade found outside Africa.^{[471][472][473]}
• A phalanx of a member of the species Homo sapiens is described from the ≈95–86,000 years old Al Wusta site (An Nafud, Saudi Arabia) by Groucutt et al. (2018), representing the oldest directly dated fossil of Homo sapiens found outside Africa and the Levant.^[474]
• A study on the effects of the Toba supereruption in East Africa is published by Yost et al. (2018), who find no evidence of the eruption causing a volcanic winter in East Africa or a population bottleneck among African populations of anatomically modern humans.^[475]
• Microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff (ashfall from the Toba eruption), dated as approximately 74,000 years old, are described from two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa by Smith et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions.^[476]
• Evidence of human activity dating back to 78,000 years ago is reported from the Panga ya Saidi cave (Kenya) by Shipton et al. (2018), who describe a rich technological sequence that includes lithic forms elsewhere associated with the Middle Stone Age and the Later Stone Age.^[477]
• A cross-hatched pattern drawn with an ochre crayon is reported from approximately 73,000-year-old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave (South Africa) by Henshilwood et al. (2018), pre-dating previously known abstract and figurative drawings by at least 30,000 years.^[478]
• A study on the age of the cave art from the Kapova Cave (Russia) is published by Dublyansky et al. (2018).^[479]
• New rock art site, linkable chronoculturally to the Early Upper Paleolithic, is identified in Las Ventanas Cave (Spain) by Cortés-Sánchez et al. (2018).^[480]
• Rock art, including a figurative painting of an animal dating to at least 40,000 years ago, is described from the Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave (East Kalimantan, Indonesia) by Aubert et al. (2018).^[481]
• A study on changes in ochre use throughout an entire Upper Paleolithic sequence at Hohle Fels cave (Germany) is published by Velliky, Porr & Conard (2018).^[482]
• A study on the timing and mechanisms of the initial colonization of the Nwya Devu Paleolithic site (Tibetan Plateau) by humans is published by Zhang et al. (2018).^[483]
• A study on the human use of rainforest plant resources of prehistoric Sri Lanka, as indicated by data from phytoliths from the Fahien Rock Shelter sediments, is published by Premathilake & Hunt (2018).^[484]
• A reassessment of the Late Pleistocene human occupation site at Leang Burung 2 (Sulawesi, Indonesia), presenting new stratigraphic information and dating evidence from the site, is published by Brumm et al. (2018).^[485]
• A study on the timing of arrival of anatomically modern humans to Southeast Asia and Sahul is published by O'Connell et al. (2018), who consider it unlikely that the artifacts from Madjedbebe (northern Australia) reported by Clarkson et al. (2017)^[486] are more than 50,000 years old.^[487]
• A study investigating the most likely route used by early modern humans to colonize Sahul is published by Kealy, Louys & O'Connor (2018).^[488]
• A study on the results of re-excavation of Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen rockshelter in the Australian Little Sandy Desert), as well as on the chronology of this site, is published by McDonald et al. (2018).^[489]
• Genomic data from seven 15,000-year-old modern humans from Morocco, attributed to the Iberomaurusian culture, is presented by van de Loosdrecht et al. (2018), who report evidence of a genetic affinity of the studied individuals with early Holocene Near Easterners.^[490]
• A study on charred food remains from Shubayqa 1, a Natufian hunter-gatherer site located in northeastern Jordan and dated to 14.6–11.6 ka cal BP, is published by Arranz-Otaegui et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as providing the earliest empirical evidence for the preparation of bread-like products by Natufian hunter-gatherers, predating the emergence of agriculture by at least 4,000 years.^[491]
• A study on the timing of first human arrival in Madagascar, as indicated by evidence of prehistoric human modification of multiple elephant bird postcranial elements, is published by Hansford et al. (2018).^[492]
• A study on the timing of human colonization of Madagascar, as indicated by data from butchery marks on megafaunal bones, radiocarbon chronology of bone deposits and an analysis of the sedimentary record, is published by Anderson et al. (2018).^[493]
• Description of the morphology of three partial human mandibles from the Niah Caves (Sarawak, Malaysia) and a study on the age of these bones is published by Curnoe et al. (2018).^[494]
• A study investigating whether the human population occupying Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum represented an example of human adaptation to an extreme environment, focusing on gene variations which might have conferred advantage in transmitting nutrients from mother to infant through breast milk under conditions of extremely low UV, is published by Hlusko et al. (2018).^[495]
• A review of the genetic, archeological and paleoecological data on the course of the settlement of the Americas is published by Potter et al. (2018), who argue that available evidence is consistent with an inland migration through an ice-free corridor or with a migration through Pacific coastal routes (or both), but neither can be rejected.^[496]
• A study on the timing of the latest Pleistocene glaciation in southeastern Alaska and its implication for inferring the route and timing of early human migration to the Americas is published by Lesnek et al. (2018).^[497]
• A study on the technological traits of fluted projectile points from northern Alaska and Yukon, in combination with artifacts from further south in Canada, the Great Plains, and eastern United States, evaluating the plausibility of historical relatedness and evolutionary patterns in the spread of fluted-point technology in North America in the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene, is published by Smith & Goebel (2018).^[498]
• Late Pleistocene human footprints left by a minimum of three people are described from the Calvert Island (British Columbia, Canada) by McLaren et al. (2018).^[499]
• Associated human and ground sloth tracks are described from the Rancholabrean deposits in the White Sands National Park (New Mexico, United States) by Bustos et al. (2018), who interpret their finding as evidence of humans actively stalking, harassing and likely hunting ground sloths in the late Pleistocene.^[500]
• A study on the age of a series of sedimentary samples from the earliest cultural assemblage at the Gault Site (Texas, United States), including a previously unknown, early projectile point technology unrelated to Clovis, is published by Williams et al. (2018).^[501]
• A robust lithic projectile point assemblage is reported from the layers dated between ≈13.5 and 15.5 ka ago at the Debra L. Friedkin site (Texas, United States) by Waters et al. (2018).^[502]
• A study on the age of the Anzick burial site (Montana, United States) is published by Becerra-Valdivia et al. (2018).^[503]
• The genome of two infants from the Upward Sun River site dated 11,500 years ago is sequenced, leading to the discovery of the Ancient Beringian ethnic group.^[504][505]
• Scheib et al. (2018) sequence 91 ancient human genomes from California and southwestern Ontario, demonstrating the existence of two distinct ancestries in North America, and finding contribution from both of these ancestral populations in all modern Central and South Americans.^[506]
• Posth et al. (2018) report genome-wide ancient DNA from 49 individuals from Central and South America, all dating to at least ~9,000 years ago, and interpret their finding as indicative of two previously undocumented genetic exchanges between North and South America.^[507]
• A study on the history of dispersal and diversification of people within the Americas, based on data from ancient human genomes spanning Alaska to Patagonia, is published by Moreno-Mayar et al. (2018).^[508]
• A study on the site context, geoarchaeology and material assemblages of the Valiente lithic workshop site (Chile) is published by Méndez et al. (2018).^[509]
• Evidence of plant domestication and food production from the early and middle Holocene site of Teotonio (southwestern Amazonia, Brazil) is presented by Watling et al. (2018).^[510]
• A study on the morphological affinity of the late Paleolithic human skull from the Zlatý kůň site in the Bohemian Karst (Czech Republic) is published by Rmoutilová et al. (2018), who also evaluate whether it is possible to determine the sex of the Zlatý kůň individual based on its skull morphology.^[511]
• A study on the Mesolithic site of Star Carr, indicating that there was intensive human activity at the site for several hundred years when the community was subject to multiple, severe, abrupt climate events that impacted air temperatures, the landscape and the ecosystem of the region, is published by Blockley et al. (2018).^[512]
• A study on the tools preserved with Ötzi, evaluating their implications for inferring Ötzi's individual history, the reconstruction of his last days and his cultural and social background, is published by Wierer et al. (2018).^[513]
• A study on the contents of Ötzi's stomach is published by Maixner et al. (2018).^[514]
• A study on the compositions of the faunal and stone artifact assemblages at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia), aiming to determine the last appearance dates of Stegodon, giant marabou stork, Old World vulture belonging to the genus Trigonoceps, and Komodo dragon at the Liang Bua site, and to determine what raw materials were preferred by hominins from this site ~50,000–13,000 years ago and whether these preferences were similar to those seen in the stone artifact assemblages attributed to Homo floresiensis or to those attributed to modern humans, is published by Sutikna et al. (2018).^[515]
• A study on genetic variation among a population of Rampasasa pygmies living close to the cave where remains of Homo floresiensis were discovered is published by Tucci et al. (2018), who find evidence of admixture with Denisovans and Neanderthals but no evidence for gene flow with other archaic hominins, and interpret their findings as indicating that at least two independent instances of hominin insular dwarfism occurred on Flores.^[516]
• A synthesis of patterns and incidences of developmental abnormalities and anomalies in the Pleistocene Homo fossil record is published by Trinkaus (2018).^[517]