Sign in

John Hawks

@johnhawks.net
5.4K followers 166 following 969 posts

Paleoanthropologist | Chair and Professor of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin–Madison 🧪🏺💀https://www.johnhawks.net

PostsRepliesMedia
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 24/06/2026
The funniest thing to me is that nobody knows when hominins lost the baculum, and I've spent a lot of time carefully examining odd bone fragments thinking that I had a better chance of finding one from Rising Star than anyone's ever had anywhere else.
Four people looking into a crate with a standing very male-looking sculpture of Homo naledi, by the artist Elisabeth Daynès
1192
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 09/06/2026
This is really the frontier of anthropology and genetics in my opinion. Culture is to humans as water is to fish; essential, in contact with our every surface, so that it becomes unnoticed until it suddenly changes. www.johnhawks.net/p/how-human-...
Quote with text: Studies of selection in humans across the last 10,000 years have often avoided grappling with the most interesting thing about humans. Humans are not passive actors responding to external changes in environment. Much of the pattern of recent selection happened within environments that people created themselves.
13713
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 12/04/2026
In 2015, the late Paola Villa and collaborators described a stone flake from Sibudu Cave, 49,000 years old, encrusted with an ancient paint made from powdered red ochre and milk from an antelope. They speculated the milk came from a kill of a lactating female. Image: Villa and coauthors
Two images. On left, a stone flake with an encrusted reddish-brown area on the right side of the surface we see. On right, a close-up image of some of the encrustation.
1294
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 07/03/2026
A boomerang made from mammoth ivory, from Obłazowa Cave, Poland. Dating to around 40,000 years ago, the object was shaped and well-used, with signs of polish in the areas where a right-handed person would have handled and thrown it. Photo: Sahra Talamo and coworkers (2025, scale=5cm)
Boomerang made from mammoth tusk with 5 cm scale
49825
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 25/02/2026
Busts of the ancestors watching over my work this week. They seem confident it will all work out.
Busts of ancient species of human relatives on top of a cabinet
0282
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 24/02/2026
Great day today working in the lab with this guy and many other classic fossils. As always, remarkable what they have to teach us. (MH1, holotype of Australopithecus sediba)
Fossil skull of Australopithecus sediba
4306
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 19/02/2026
Not a bad morning working on site today. Always grateful for this beautiful place.
Kudu
2191
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 12/02/2026
Statue of Darwin at Natural History Museum, London. Text reads "The most humble organism is something much higher than the inorganic dust under our feet; and no one with an unbiased mind can study any living creature, however humble, without being struck with enthusiasm at its marvellous structure and properties."
12410
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 02/02/2026
Pretty sure it’s a “no shadow” kind of day
Three snowflakes
091
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 23/01/2026
Here at home we're at -18° with a windchill of -32° this morning (temps in F, that's -28° and -36°C). Exceptionally, @uwmadison.bsky.social has cancelled classes, and I expect the wind off Mendota is a lot colder. Stay warm out there, everyone in the upper Midwest! Photo: @uwmadison.bsky.social
Photo of snow-covered UW-Madison campus and surrounding area of Madison, with ice-covered lakes
0100
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 19/01/2026
Misliya Cave, Israel, is in the limestone massif known as Mount Carmel, looking west onto the Mediterranean. Breccia deposits from the mostly-deroofed cave include a human maxilla and early Middle Paleolithic artifacts from 177,000–195,000 years ago. Photo: John Hawks
A cave at the base of a limestone cliff face with blue sky above
081
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 18/01/2026
Dungo IV is an archaeological site on the Atlantic coast of Angola. It is one of a few coastal Earlier Stone Age sites in southern Africa with clear evidence of geological age, dating to around 600,000 years ago. Tools here were made from quartz beach cobbles. Image: Isis Mesfin et al. (2023)
Image of coastline landscape with beach visible. A long low hilltop in the background has an orange star designating the location of the Dungo IV archaeological site.
0266
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 02/01/2026
Ushbulak, Kazakhstan, is a stratified open-air site with archaeological finds dating to between 42,000 and 36,000 years ago. Blades and blade cores from the site resemble similar-age initial Upper Paleolithic sites in the Altai and Mongolia. Photo: Mikhail Shunkov and coworkers
A view of a featureless plain leading up to distant hills, with a small gorge at center of frame cut through loess. A small conical tent is visible in the distance at left of frame with two people. An archaeological trench is cut downward along the slope of the gorge.
0284
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 30/12/2025
This is a neat new study using LIDAR to document pre-colonization raised agricultural beds along the Menominee River that separates Wisconsin from Michigan, north of Green Bay. “massive field systems like these were much more common than previously recognized” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
LIDAR image of landscapes showing linear raised beds over a very large area, with inset image showing the scale of raised beds in a photograph
69926
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 29/12/2025
In writing about the new discovery of a tooth of an archaic human from Gua Danang, Sarawak, I reviewed what is known about the “Deep Skull” from nearby Gua Niah: one of the earliest-known modern people in island Southeast Asia, adapted to island rainforest life. www.johnhawks.net/p/a-possible...
Fragments of the Deep Skull from Niah Caves. Photo: Darren Curnoe and coworkers 2016
0184
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 24/12/2025
Con Moong Cave, Vietnam, has evidence of ash, burials, and shell middens from the terminal Pleistocene. Even earlier—by 42,000 years ago—people used the cave, alternating with periods when bats were present and humans absent, evidenced by sediment geochemistry. Photo: Thanh Hoa Newspaper
Large entryway of a cave with metal stairs and green cave walls
0265
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 20/12/2025
The Yarımburgaz cave complex is around 22 km west of Istanbul, in the Thracian part of Turkey. An upper cave is the location of a Byzantine church, while a lower chamber has much older Middle Pleistocene record of choppers, modified flake tools, and remains of cave bears. Photo: CeeGee (Wikipedia)
Cave opening in a rocky slope
0184
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 17/12/2025
Ghar-e Boof, Iran, has Upper Paleolithic stone and faunal assemblages from 42,000–35,000 years ago. The people who used the cave over time shifted their hunting toward more difficult-to-hunt small animals, using tools made with bladelets. Photo: Nicholas Conard
A limestone face jutting upward from a large hill, with a cave visible
0151
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 15/12/2025
Oued Bousmane, Algeria, is a striking rockshelter on Djebel Dyr. The Late Pleistocene sediments in the site contain stone assemblages of the kind categorized as Aterian across North Africa, although with few of the tanged points that are the type indicator of that industry. Photo: Nadia Bahra
A stone natural amphitheater with rockshelter beneath
0203
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 14/12/2025
Cueva de Nerja, Spain, has many paintings from Magdalenian (around 15,000 years ago) and earlier periods. These include depictions of fish, rare in the cave art of other sites. Remains of fish are also well represented in the bone assemblage from the cave. Photo: Diputación de Málaga
Photo showing stalactites and flowstone curtain with red painted fish images
1172
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 13/12/2025
Amud Cave, Israel. Years ago I hiked to the site, named for the striking natural pillar of rock, just north of the Sea of Galilee. Here, archaeologists unearthed the remains of several Neandertals, who lived between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago.
Amud Cave with natural pillar of rock nearby
1352
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 10/12/2025
Maybe we got up to some nonsense at the end of semester gathering
Many scissors
071
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 08/12/2025
Sometimes I’m in caves for nonprofessional reasons. Beautiful a capella holiday concert last night.
Cave with holiday lights and people
0171
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 27/11/2025
Ancestors around the table can try anyone's patience
A parody of Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving dinner painting with artist reconstructions of fossil hominins around the table.
070
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 12/11/2025
We saw these from home last night but it turns out my office had an even better view. Wonderful aurora photo by Xiaomeng Shen in front of the Carillon tower and Social Sciences Building at @uwmadison.bsky.social
Aurora sky with UW-Madison Carillon tower and Social Science Building in the foreground
0575
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 31/10/2025
Great day yesterday sharing fossil hominins with more than a hundred sixth-graders here in Madison. I was able to tell them that—even though many are extinct today—our fossil relatives had families, they came from many parts of the world, and they came in all colors that today's people do. #inktober
A circular array of line drawings of fossil hominin skulls, all in varied colors making a rainbow spectrum arrangement
0354
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 30/10/2025
The D3444 calvaria was uncovered at Dmanisi, Georgia, in 2002. The individual represented by this cranium lived sometime around 1.77 million years ago, and most scientists attribute the fossil to Homo erectus. The individual had lost nearly all teeth at the time of death. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull with no teeth
0251
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 29/10/2025
The skull from near Herto, Ethiopia, BOU-VP-16/1 represents a person who lived sometime between 162,000 and 147,000 years ago. The skull bears two cutmarks on the right parietal and temporal, suggesting that other individuals may have conducted mortuary practices upon his death. #inktober
Line drawing of a fragmented skull seen from the front
1211
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 28/10/2025
The rockshelter at La Ferrassie in the Dordogne of southern France contained the remains of several Neanderthals. The most complete of the skeletons was La Ferrassie 1, who lived an estimated 70,000 to 50,000 years ago. His body like the others was buried, likely by members of his group. #inktober
Line drawing of a Neanderthal skull with many fragments and missing portions viewed from the front
0173
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 27/10/2025
KNM-WT 17000 is one of the most iconic skulls in the hominin fossil record due to its natural manganese staining, rendering it as the Black Skull. At around 2.5 million years old it is one of the first with pronounced large jaw musculature that would characterize big-molared Paranthropus. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull of a hominin with a large sagittal crest, viewed from the front, with many missing parts
0191
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 26/10/2025
The skull known as OH 5 was first uncovered by Mary Leakey in 1959, soon became the type fossil of the species Zinjanthropus boisei. Around 1.75 million years old, I'm sure that this individual would have loved pumpkins if they had existed in Africa at the time. #inktober
Line drawing of a skull of a Paranthropus boisei with orange coloration
1335
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 26/10/2025
Great to still have the peak of fall color happening in Wisconsin as I get back from the other side of the planet.
Maple tree with bright yellow, red, and dusky purple colors
0260
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 26/10/2025
The fossil sample from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa, is one of the largest known of human relatives. Sts 71 (left) and StW 505 (right) are close to the extremes of cranial size of fossils from the site that are usually attributed to Australopithecus africanus. #inktober
Line drawings of two australopith skulls both viewed from the front
1394
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 24/10/2025
Marcel de Puydt and Max Lohest excavated in the Grotte de Spy, discovering partial skeletons of Neandertals in 1886 including this one, Spy 1. It the first time that Neandertal skeletal remains were recorded in stratigraphic context, keeping associated artifacts and animal bones together. #inktober
Line drawing of a portion of a Neanderthal skull with the forehead and brow most visible from the front.
0220
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 23/10/2025
The skull numbered KNM-WT 40000 was first found by Justus Erus in 1999 and is between 3.57 and 3.4 million years old. While broken and distorted, some aspects of its face are different from other contemporary species, leading Meave Leakey and coworkers to name it Kenyanthropus platyops. #inktober
Line drawing of highly fragmented and distorted fossil skull
0415
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 22/10/2025
The most iconic cranial fossil from Krapina, Croatia, is Cranium C, which represents a female adult Neandertal individual who lived approximately 120,000 years ago. This and other remains were excavated by Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger from 1899 to 1905. #inktober
Line drawing of a fragmented Neanderthal skull from the left side
0276
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 20/10/2025
Sima de los Huesos, Spain, contains the remains of more than 27 individuals of an early Neanderthal population, estimated to be around 430,000 years old. Cranium 5 is one of the most complete known so far from the site; it is also the smallest of 15 with estimated brain sizes. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull viewed from the left side
0464
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 19/10/2025
Bernard Vandermeersch and Ofer Bar-Yosef led excavation at Qafzeh Cave in 1967 when the burials of two skeletons were uncovered. Oafzeh 9 is an adult found in a flexed position, with the Qafzeh 10 child skeleton at its feet. Both lived sometime between 100,000 and 90,000 years ago. #inktober
Line drawing of fossil human skull viewing face features
0293
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 18/10/2025
Sts 5 from Sterkfontein, South Africa was considered to be likely a female individual by Robert Broom, who discovered it in 1947. He named the fossil Plesianthropus transvaaensis. Today most scientist consider it to be Australopithecus africanus. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull viewed from left side
1312
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 17/10/2025
In 1969, a farmer named Towikromo in central Java was plowing his land and unearthed this fossil skull, known as Sangiran 17 the most complete known of Homo erectus from Sangiran, Indonesia. This individual lived sometime between 790,000 and 900,000 years ago. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull viewed from the right side
0263
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 16/10/2025
Any day working in a cave is a great day! Especially when the weather topside is hot, dry, and windy. Cool air underground is a great relief! This is one of the many cave sites within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site near Johannesburg, South Africa.
View of a cave opening with green trees visible outside
0534
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 16/10/2025
Bernard Ngeneo found the first pieces of this skull, KNM-ER 1470, in July of 1972. Sieving from the site produced more than a hundred fragments, which Meave Leakey and Alan Walker reconstructed. The skull came from sediments now thought to be between 1.95 and 2.03 million years in age. #inktober
Line drawing of a fragmented fossil skull from the left side
1191
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 15/10/2025
KNM-ER 1813 is a skull that scientists have usually attributed to Homo habilis. It was found in 1973 by the famous fossil hunter Kamoya Kimeu, one of his many significant discoveries. The skull is around 1.9 million years old. #inktober
Line drawing of a fossil skull viewed from the right side
0211
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 15/10/2025
Sorry today to hear about the death of Drew Struzan. He was probably the artist that was most globally well-known without most people knowing his name. He invented an entire style of art, which just like the movies themselves, borrowed from everywhere and became part of our whole culture.
1356
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 14/10/2025
On the left is the well-known SK 48, and on the right the more fragmented and lesser-known SK 52, both from Swartkrans, South Africa and attributed to Paranthropus robustus. The two individuals lived in the time between 2.1 and 1.8 million years ago. #inktober
Two line drawings of fossil skulls showing large faces
0242
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 14/10/2025
Dorothy Garrod directed excavation of the Tabun Cave from 1929 until 1934, and the workers found a partial skeleton of an individual generally considered today as Neanerthal. #inktober
0271
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 12/10/2025
The first images of this skull, KNM-ER 406, published by Richard Leakey in 1976 included one from this overhead angle, showing the enormous gaps to accommodate temporal muscles for powerful chewing. The skull represents Paranthropus boisei, and lived around 1.65 million years ago. #inktober
Line drawing of a skull of Paranthropus boisei seen from above, with very large temporal fossae and sagittal crest visible
0312
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 11/10/2025
AL 444-2 is one of the most complete skulls attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. Around 3.2 million years old, this skull was found in 1992 by Yoel Rak. Its jaw is one of the largest and thickest known for the species, and its brain size at around 550 ml the largest. #inktober
Line drawing of a fragmented fossil skull and mandible viewed from the front
0170
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 10/10/2025
MH1, the ”skull in the rock”, represents a child of between 8 and 11 years of age belonging to the species Australopithecus sediba. This and other fossils from Malapa, South Africa, are approximately 2 million years old. #inktober
Line drawing of a skull of Australopithecus still partially embedded in rock, viewed from right front
1559
John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 09/10/2025
Christos Sariannidis found an ancient skull in the cave at Petralona, Greece, in 1960, attached to the cave wall by speleothem. Recent work has established the skull is at least 286,000 years old. It is likely an early member or relative of the Neanderthal lineage. #inktoberLine
Line drawing of a skull with browridge and tall, large face, viewed from the front
0434