The skull’s lower jaw has particularly confounded scientists because it combines features of Homo sapiens and another ancient human relative — the mysterious Denisovans. And like Denisovans, HLD 6 did not seem to have a true chin.
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The find has sparked questions about a pivotal point in the evolutionary history of early human relatives, or hominins, that began in the late Middle Pleistocene.
The human timeline has gotten so very much more complicated. As archaeologists uncover new finds, we are introduced to remote ancestors we never knew.
In my elementary school days, I had reason to believe that the evolution was simpler. I wasn’t paying much attention, of course, but history seemed within my grasp.
As I went on in my education, there seemed to be fewer links in the human chain than are being discovered.
There was always a mysterious “missing link” that I assumed scientists understood.
It’s not a complaint, but boy, is it puzzling. Who were great²⁰⁰⁰ grandma and grandpa? Wiil we ever really know them?
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