What's Hot in Human Origins?
RT @kennethrmiller: The landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover trial began exactly 15 years ago today (9/26/05) on a bright, sunny day in Harrisb… https://t.co/0OYpzvR3Wz
RT @FossilHistory: Louis Leakey first visited Olduvai Gorge #OnThisDay in 1931, a place that would ultimately reveal many hominin… https://t.co/0DiTdtHBIG
RT @evolutionscribe: My story on how poor Neanderthal males got emasculated: Neanderthals lost their Y chromosome https://t.co/XyWj8d9Frh
What Does It Mean To Be Human?
- tetrwet, etetewrt
- Contra, So-Cal
- Lila Render, Louisville
- Ashley, USA
- Caitlyn D, nyc
- erin, zimbabwe
- Ava, Plymouth NH
- simaranjit singh, ludhiana
- Jessica, Pennsylvania, USA
- Brian K, Maryland
- Shannon, Greenville, SC
- Martin Clabburn, UK
- Ryan, Pennsylvania
- Jonathan Hall, Chicago, Illinois
- Madison, British Columbia
Visit the Exhibit
Featured Research
'Hobbits' on Flores, Indonesia
New digs and geological dating in Liang Bua Cave, Indonesia, show that Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “hobbit” for its small size, became extinct around 50,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years earlier than originally thought.
For Teachers
AP Biology Curriculum Materials
Are you an AP Biology teacher? Click here for freely downloadable curriculum materials aligned to the AP learning objectives that use human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles and a resource to help teachers create a comfortable and supportive classroom environment for teaching evolution.Human Evolution:
Religious Perspectives
The Hall of Human Origins offers a welcoming place to explore one of the most exciting areas of science, the study of human evolution. Despite strong public interest in the science, however, many people find this topic troubling when viewed from a religious perspective. Representatives of diverse religious communities encourage a larger, more respectful understanding of both the scientific evidence and religious belief.
Featured Multimedia
How To Tell a Rock from a Stone Tool
How can you tell if a rock is actually an early stone tool? Watch this video to find out.
Designing the Exhibition
This video takes you behind-the-scenes into the process of designing and building the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins.
Fun Facts
In 1974, paleoanthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson discovered a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton with both ape-like and human-like qualities in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Known scientifically as Australopithecus afarensis, in the Ethiopian language of Amharic she is called “Dinkenesh”, which means “you are beautiful”. In English, we call her “Lucy”. So why do we love Lucy so much? It’s because we see signs of humanity in her, such as a body built for walking upright on two legs, just like us!
