[…] over the past 15 years, almost every part of our story, every assumption about who our ancestors were and where we came from, has been called into question. The new insights have some unsettling implications for how long we have walked the earth, and even who we really are.
- explains a feature article in New Scientist, 23 August 2017.
Most of us alive today carry inside our cells at least some DNA from a species that last saw the light of day tens of thousands of years ago. And we all carry different bits – to the extent that if you could add them all up, Krause says you could reconstitute something like one-third of the Neanderthal genome and 90 per cent of the Denisovan genome.
Recent archaeological finds, and progress in ancient DNA analysis, have thrown many previous theories into considerable doubt - including the so-called 'Out of Africa' theory. Human origins now appear to be far more diffuse and diverse (in both geographical and time senses) than previously thought.
The above article suggests that the only way to clarify human genetic origins is to find more fossils and continue DNA testing.