What kind of humans are we

And what changed? Probably several things. First, we journeyed out of Africa , occupying more of the planet. There were then simply more humans to invent, increasing the odds of a prehistoric Steve Jobs or Leonardo da Vinci.

We also faced new environments in the Middle East, the Arctic, India, Indonesia, with unique climates, foods and dangers, including other human species. Survival demanded innovation. Many of these new lands were far more habitable than the Kalahari or the Congo. Climates were milder, but Homo sapiens also left behind African diseases and parasites.

That let tribes grow larger, and larger tribes meant more heads to innovate and remember ideas, more manpower, and better ability to specialise. Population drove innovation. This triggered feedback cycles. As new technologies appeared and spread — better weapons, clothing, shelters — human numbers could increase further, accelerating cultural evolution again.

Numbers drove culture, culture increased numbers, accelerating cultural evolution, on and on, ultimately pushing human populations to outstrip their ecosystems, devastating the megafauna and forcing the evolution of farming. Finally, agriculture caused an explosive population increase, culminating in civilisations of millions of people. Now, cultural evolution kicked into hyperdrive. Artefacts reflect culture, and cultural complexity is an emergent property.

Like networking millions of processors to make a supercomputer, we increased cultural complexity by increasing the number of people and the links between them. So our societies and world evolved rapidly in the past , years, while our brains evolved slowly.

We expanded our numbers to almost 8 billion , spread across the globe, reshaped the planet. We did it not by adapting our brains but by changing our cultures. And much of the difference between our ancient, simple hunter-gatherer societies and modern societies just reflects the fact that there are lots more of us and more connections between us.

Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth. Their bones suggest they would have been powerful runners, capable of speeds that would rival a modern Olympic athlete. This human species was equipped to cope with heat. They would have been smooth and largely hairless, allowing them to sweat more efficiently.

And we know that they travelled long distances because they did not stay in Africa. A hungry meat eater, ergaster became the first human to leave Africa and colonise Asia. Here, in a new and lush environment, they evolved and got a new name, Homo erectus. Archaeological records show they spread over an area ranging from Turkey to China, but the population may not have been that large.

So in that sense, they're very like us in terms of their overall body shape and body build. Recent findings suggest that Homo sapiens also left Africa, around , years ago. We travelled in small numbers, possibly no more than in the first wave. Then we spread out, with some eventually reaching Europe, then occupied by the Neanderthals, while others moved east until they reached India. There is archaeological evidence that they arrived just in time for a truly cataclysmic event.

About 74, years ago Mount Toba, a volcano in South East Asia erupted in spectacular fashion, the biggest explosion in the last two million years. Because of its magnitude it is classed as a supervolcanic eruption. The volcano spewed enough sulphur into the atmosphere to lower world temperatures by several degrees and enough molten rock to cover an area the size of Britain to a depth of 10 metres.

The final part of the gallery explores how our species, Homo sapiens , originated in Africa, before dispersing around the world and becoming the only surviving species of human left today. Modern humans evolved in Africa around , years ago. They have a higher and more rounded brain case, smaller faces and brow ridges, and a more prominent chin than other ancient humans. Casts on display include modern humans fossils found in Africa about , years old , Israel around , years old and Australia around 12, years old.

These fossils show that rather than springing fully formed from Africa, typical modern human characteristics instead built up over time. They also suggest that there may have been at least two waves of migration out of Africa - one dating back to around , years ago and another to around 60, years ago. Artefacts in this final zone of the gallery highlight the craftsmanship and ingenuity of modern humans, as well as early symbolism and cultural practices such as cannibalism.

Human skull fashioned into a cup. Museum scientists Dr Silvia Bello and Prof Chris Stringer have been researching cut marks on bones from Gough's Cave in Somerset, England, to understand more about the behaviour of humans who lived there 14, years ago. Human evolution is a puzzle with thousands of fossil pieces and billions of DNA fragments. As new fossils continue to be uncovered and added to the human family tree, new dating techniques and climate data are providing a more accurate picture of the conditions in which our ancient relatives evolved.

Improved DNA techniques will help determine where each species fits within the family tree, and give us further insights into recent and ongoing human evolution. Museum scientists and collections are playing a key part in shaping one of the most exciting fields in science today. We're delighted to be able to show visitors some of this work in the new gallery.

Embark on a seven-million-year journey of evolution and see fossil and artefact discoveries in the Human Evolution gallery. Listen to the tale of the first adult Neanderthal skull unearthed and what we've uncovered about our close relative in the past years.

Follow the progress of a team of scientists as they realise they have uncovered human footprints that are around , years old. Prof Chris Stringer discusses a Museum fossil that helps explain why Neanderthals looked different to us.

Our DNA offers us the chance to look into our ancient past. Discover what six celebrities learned when they had their DNA analysed. Get email updates about our news, science, exhibitions, events, products, services and fundraising activities.

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Read later. You don't have any saved articles. By Jenny Wong and Lisa Hendry. Gallery developer Jenny Wong tells us more. The gallery takes visitors on an epic journey spanning the last seven million years. A great saga The story of human evolution is not one of neat, linear progression with a concrete beginning and end.

Meet the ancient relatives Entering the gallery, visitors meet hominins like us and our extinct australopithecine relatives, comparing them to non-hominins like the chimpanzee to explore the differences.