Top 5 Discoveries in Human Evolution

5.  Homo Rudolfensis

Discovered by Bernard Ngeneo in 1972 at the east side of  Lake Turkana in Kenya, this skull specimen is around 1.9 million years old, and was first thought to be representative of the Homo Habilis species.  However, its reconstructed characteristics suggested that it was actually an example of a separate contemporary species.

4.  Turkana Boy

This almost-complete skeleton dates back 1.5 million years, was discovered by Kamoya Kimeu near Lake Tirkana in Kenya in 1984, and is the most complete early human skeleton ever unearthed.  Turkana Boy was around eight years old when he met his demise, and is classified as a member of the Homo Erectus or Homo Ergaster species.  At 5’3” tall, he may have reached an impressive 6’1” in adulthood and weighed in at a substantial 68kg.  He would have been capable of running to hunt prey, and had a human-like protruding nose!

3.  Peking Man

Discovered between 1923-1927, this group of Homo Erectus skeletal specimens is dated at almost 800,000 years old, and was discovered by Johann Gunnar Andersson and Walter W. Granger.  The Peking Man remains were classified as Sinanthropus Pekinesis by Canadian Anatomist Davidson Black, but further excavations to the site finished with the Japanese invasion of 1937.  The fossils disappeared in 1941, en route from China to the USA for safekeeping, but parts of another skull were discovered at the site in 1966, and excavations re-started in 2009.

2.  Cheddar Man

Discovered in 1903 in Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, these remains date to around 7150 BC, and have a hole in the cranium which suggests that he may have met a gruesome demise.  In 1996 Brian Sykes of Oxford University successfully sequenced the mitochondrial DNA from a sample from Cheddar Man’s tooth and compared it to that of 20 living residents in nearby Cheddar Village.  One match with a single mutation was discovered, as well as two exact matches.  The mutated match was, appropriately enough, a History teacher named Adrian Targett, whilst the exact matches were two unnamed schoolchildren.  All three, in the same area, share a common ancestor in Cheddar Man.

1.  Otzi the Iceman

AKA Simalaun Man, Otzi is actually the well-preserved, naturally mummified remains of an individual who lived 5,300 years ago.  Found in 1991 at the Oztal Alps on the border of Austria and Italy by Helmut and Erika Simon, two German tourists from Nuremberg, Otzi was approximately 45 at the time of his demise.  He stood five-and-a-half feet tall, weighed 50kg, and analysis of the contents of his intestines revealed that his last meal consisted of red deer and herb bread.  He was also found with a copper axe, sported several carbon tattoos, and probably died as a result of a violent confrontation with rival tribesmen.