[Image description: A sun-kissed landscape with towering trees, sparkling rivers, and vast plains stretching out to the horizon. In the foreground, a group of early humans are seen huddled around a fire, roasting meat on skewers while others are busy gathering fruits and berries from nearby bushes. Nearby, a Neanderthal individual is spotted, using a crude stone tool to scrape off flesh from a freshly hunted mammoth carcass. The two groups seem to be living in harmony, with some members of each group occasionally interacting and exchanging goods or stories.]

The Princeton study, led by Joshua Akey, has uncovered new layers of the shared history between early humans and Neanderthals. Using a genetic tool called IBDmix, the researchers mapped gene flow between the hominin groups over the past quarter-million years, revealing multiple waves of contact and interbreeding.

“We now know that for the vast majority of human history, we’ve had a history of contact between modern humans and Neanderthals,” said Akey. The results of their work were published in the journal Science, challenging previous genetic data that suggested modern humans evolved in Africa 250,000 years ago and then dispersed out of Africa 50,000 years ago.

The study found evidence of three main waves of contact: one about 200-250,000 years ago, another around 100-120,000 years ago, and the largest wave about 50-60,000 years ago. This contrasts sharply with previous research that suggested modern humans stayed put in Africa for 200,000 years before dispersing out.

The researchers also discovered that Neanderthals had a smaller population than previously thought, with estimates revised from around 3,400 individuals to roughly 2,400. This finding helps explain how Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil and genetic record around 30,000 years ago.

Akey’s team found strong evidence consistent with Fred Smith’s hypothesis that Neanderthals were largely absorbed into modern human communities rather than going extinct. “Our results provide strong genetic data consistent with Fred’s hypothesis, and I think that’s really interesting,” said Akey.

The study provides a new understanding of the complex relationship between early humans and Neanderthals, highlighting the importance of interbreeding and cultural exchange in shaping human evolution.

The discovery of Te K’ab Chaak’s tomb, the first identifiable ruler’s tomb found in over four decades of work in Caracol, has rewritten Mesoamerican history. The tomb, located at the base of a royal family shrine, contained 11 pottery vessels, carved bone tubes, jadeite jewelry, a mosaic jadeite mask, Pacific spondylus shells, and other perishable materials.

One vessel portrayed the image of Ek Chuah, Maya god of traders, surrounded by offerings. Four of the pottery vessels depicted bound captives, similar to those found in two related burials. Two vessels supported lids with modeled handles of coatimundi (tz’uutz’ in Maya) heads.

The Chases estimate that at the time of his burial, Te K’ab Chaak was an advanced age and approximately 5’7″ in height, with no remaining teeth. Their investigations at Caracol’s Northeast Acropolis revealed three burials interred in the area, all dated to AD 350, a generation before the previously recognized Teotihuacan presence in the Maya area.

These findings demonstrate that early Maya rulers were fully enmeshed in Mesoamerican-wide contacts prior to the Teotihuacan entrada recorded on Maya monuments. The connections between the two regions were undertaken by the highest levels of society, suggesting that initial kings at various Maya cities, such as Te K’ab Chaak at Caracol, were engaged in formal diplomatic relationships with Teotihuacan.

The royal dynasty established by Te K’ab Chaak continued at Caracol for over 460 years. The Chases’ findings also indicate that ancient peoples in the new world were travelers, with a trip between Teotihuacan and Caracol today taking over 23 hours by car, or approximately 153 days on foot.

Research continues on the contents of the chamber, including the reconstruction of the jadeite death mask and ancient DNA and stable isotope analysis of the skeletal material. The Chases will present results of the 2025 Caracol field season at a conference on Maya-Teotihuacan interaction hosted by the Maya Working Group at the Santa Fe Institute in August 2025.

The discovery of ancient human footprints in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park has sent shockwaves through the archaeological community. The footprints, estimated to be between 23,000 and 21,000 years old, are rewriting American history by suggesting that humans arrived in the Americas much earlier than previously thought.

Vance Holliday, a University of Arizona archaeologist and geologist, first visited White Sands in 2012 as part of a research project. He was invited to examine the geologic layers in trenches dug by previous researchers, but it wasn’t until he asked about a site on the adjacent missile range that the footprints were discovered.

Researchers from Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom and the U.S. National Park Service excavated the footprints in 2019 and published their findings in 2021. However, critics have questioned the dating of the footprints, citing concerns over the reliability of ancient seeds and pollen used to determine the age.

Undeterred, Holliday led a new study that relied on radiocarbon dating using ancient mud instead of seeds and pollen. The results, published today in Science Advances, confirm that the footprints are between 20,700 and 22,400 years old, corroborating the original finding.

The new study marks the third type of material used to date the footprints, with two separate research groups producing a total of 55 consistent radiocarbon dates. As Holliday notes, “It’s a remarkably consistent record.”

While the discovery is significant, it raises questions about why there are no signs of artifacts or settlements left behind by those who made the footprints. Holliday acknowledges that this remains a mystery, but suggests that hunter-gatherers may have been careful not to leave behind any resources in their short time frame.

The discovery of ancient human footprints in White Sands National Park is rewriting American history and has significant implications for our understanding of when humans first arrived in the Americas. As Holliday says, “You get to the point where it’s really hard to explain all this away.”