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If these bones look familiar to you . . .
(24k jpeg)
. . . it's because they're a lot like our own. This young woman was
laid to rest in a cave about 15,000 years ago. Scientists call her
an "anatomically modern human" - a person just like us. But she's
not our oldest ancestor. The first modern humans evolved about 100,000 years ago, long
before this teenager lived.
Even the earliest humans lived by their wits
During this young woman's lifetime, mile-thick glaciers smothered
much of Europe and North America. Winters were long and cold;
huge mammoths, bison and sabertooth cats roamed. Early humans
relied on their brain power to adapt, learning to work together
in communities, make tools and art and share languages.
Field Museum photo Geo-85897.11c, by Diane Alexander White.
