Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human

by Madelaine Böhme

A thrilling new account of human origins, as told by the paleontologist who led the most groundbreaking dig in recent history.


Somewhere west of Munich, Madelaine Böhme and her colleagues dig for clues to the origins of humankind. What they discover is beyond anything they imagined: the fossilized bones of Danuvius guggenmosi ignite a global media frenzy. This ancient ancestor defies our knowledge of human history—his nearly twelve-million-year-old bones were not located in Africa—the so-called birthplace of humanity—but in Europe, and his features suggest we evolved much differently than scientists once believed.


In prose that reads like a gripping detective novel, Ancient Bones interweaves the story of the dig that changed everything with the fascinating answer to a previously undecided and now pressing question: How, exactly, did we become human? Placing Böhme’s discovery alongside former theories of human evolution, the authors show how this remarkable find (and others in Eurasia) are forcing us to rethink the story we’ve been told about how we came to be, a story that has been our guiding narrative—until now.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Anthropology, History, Evolution, Biology, Prehistory

337 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2019

Reviews

[Sense of History]

The German palaeontologist Madelaine Böhme (University of Tübingen) claims that the theory that the development of the human species entirely took place in Africa is faltering. To be clear: this does not concern the origin and spread of modern humans, the homo sapiens. Genetic research has unequivocally confirmed that our species did originate in Africa, somewhere between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago, and that it spread in different waves across the rest of the world between 110,000 and 40,000 BP. But this book is about what preceded our species, and especially in the earliest phase, namely the transition from great apes (homininae) to ape-men (hominini).

In recent decades, it was assumed that this transition entirely happened on African soil. Reference is often made to the fossils of the australopithecus species, the first ape-men clearly able to walk upright. That bipedalism, being able to move on two feet with some naturalness, is generally accepted as the first thing that distinguishes us from the great apes, even more than greater brain capacity and the capacity to make tools (these came much later). Those australopithecus-finds all date back to between about 4.2 and 2.5 million years ago and were all found in East and Southern Africa. In the meantime, there are also a few slightly older finds of even earlier species that also show an incentive to bipedalism, also on African soil, but very limited and these finds still are fairly controversial.

For some time now, it has been thought that the transition to bipedalism may have occurred earlier. And it is here that Madelaine Böhme builds on. She supports the thesis that this transition not only happened much earlier, but also that it did not take place on African soil. A strong indication is that for the time being no fossils of great apes have been found in Africa in the period from 14 to 7 million years ago. However, there are quite a bunch of them in both Europe and Asia. Böhme herself has found a species in the south of Germany, which she called Danuvius guggenmosi (nickname Udo, after the Austrian schlager singer Udo Jürgens), which is dated at 11.25 million years Before Present. From the anatomical study of the remains, she concludes that this was a great ape capable of standing upright at least temporarily. She connects this find with similar finds in Greece and Bulgaria, and builds on the theory that Africa was too warm during the period in question (14-7 million years ago) and many mammal species migrated to northern regions, in a mixed forest-savanna environment. The species that then developed, with their impetus to bipedalism, would subsequently have migrated back to Africa and further developed there into hominins.

Obviously, it is very difficult for an outsider to judge how solid this theory is. The arguments in the book are strong, but it remains a theory based on a limited number of finds (genetic research is not yet possible for this early period). The bottom line perhaps is that even more than before, we should see the origin of the human species as a very multiform process, in which nature has ventured continuous evolutionary experiments, most of which may have come to a dead end, others successful, and may have intersected both in time and place. It makes this research an extremely fascinating but not an easy domain.

On a side note, this book contains another illustration of the never ending wars between palaeontologists: in a separate chapter Böhme focuses on the fossil finds by the French paleontologist Michel Brunet (Collège de France) in Tchad; he clearly is put away as a fraud. I've looked into this, and of course I can't judge the scientific aspects of this case, but the 'Brunet approach' clearly is an illustration of the cowboy-methods palaeontology for decades has been plagued by, undermining scientists that apply a more rigorous approach.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

The German paleontologist Madelaine Böhme (° 1967) is professor at the University of Tübingen. She is specialized in the research into the fossil remains of mammals, and in particular great apes in Europe, between 50 and 10 million years ago. A few years ago, Böhme made a remarkable find in a brown coal quarry near Munich (southern Germany). She found an ape species of over 11 million years old that she says was clearly capable of standing upright for extended periods of time. Böhme links this to similar finds in Greece and Bulgaria to state that the earliest development from great apes to ape-men (hominins) was likely to have occurred in Europe rather than Africa. It is a bold statement because it goes against a relatively broad consensus within this research field. This book takes a look at the whole issue, highlighting many aspects of paleoanthropological research. It is very well written, but it may be too early to say that her thesis heralds a new turn in the research of the earliest human species. More on that in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Jamie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s an old joke about economists, that if you laid all of them end to end you still wouldn’t reach a conclusion. You couldn’t get paleoanthropologists to work together like that, however, because as soon as you got a few of them in a room they would divide into cliques and start brawling, sabotaging each other and stabbing one another in the back. Kermit Pattison’s book Fossil Men recounts the discovery and reconstruction of Ardipithecus, which may or may not have been one of H. sapiens’s direct ancestors, but the book also has a subplot of the endless bickering between different groups of scientists, hoarding fossils for years to keep others from analyzing them, and writing vicious critiques of one another’s work in the scholarly journals.

Paleoanthropologists argue endlessly about which bones are direct human ancestors and which are instead early apes or evolutionary dead ends, but one thing most of them agree on is the Out of Africa hypothesis, which says that humans evolved there before eventually migrating across the globe. Ancient Bones takes aim at this idea, advancing the position that our human ancestors may have evolved in Europe and only later, as climate conditions allowed, migrated to Africa where they eventually evolved into modern humans.

For this assault on canonical thinking I am surprised the author’s fellow scientists have not come after her with pitchforks and flaming torches, and she and similarly inclined colleagues had their ideas publicly ridiculed and could not get their work published until a new fossil discovery in Greece made the theory at least worth discussing in professional circles.

I found Madeleaine Böhme’s arguments interesting and logical, but I am far from being knowledgeable enough to have an opinion I would care to defend. Some of her assertions are tantalizing, such as the fact that there are huge gaps in the hominin fossil record in Africa, but a number of ape species are known to have been living in Europe during these times, some of which had anatomical details that are found in modern humans; could one of these have been our forebearer, who later ended up in Africa and became us?

The book uses paleogenetics and the DNA molecular clock to argue that the split between hominins and our last common ancestor (at one time universally referred to as an “ape-like” ancestor, but recent research suggests it may have walked upright and been more human than ape), goes back to 7-13 million years, as opposed to the generally accepted dating of 5-7 million. Despite this our DNA remains remarkably similar. “The genetic material of humans and chimpanzees is 98.7 percent identical. We share 98.3 percent of the DNA sequences in the nuclei of our cells with gorillas and 96.6 percent with orangutans. Chimpanzees and bonobos are more closely related to humans than they are to gorillas.” (p. 55)

One of the book’s main themes tracks the association of evolution with climate and environment, as the earth warmed and cooled, went through dry and wet periods, and deserts formed which represented barriers to the movement of plants and animals. In some cases the climate change was rapid in evolutionary terms, forcing species to adapt or die. Something like this is suspected to have been a factor in the increase in brain size from 450cc (similar to modern chimpanzees) in Australopithicus to 700cc in H. Habilis, 1000cc in H. erectus, and 1400cc in H. neanderthalenis and H. sapiens.

The author also uses a criteria for determining which species are in our own family tree which I had not encountered before, but it does make sense, “Proof of bipedalism is absolutely necessary if a fossil is to be confirmed as a hominin.” (p. 86) Tool use is also indicative, but may not be exclusive to our branch of the family tree. “Current thinking holds that the oldest early humans (early Homo) were the first to make tools. Finds of stone tools dating back at least 2.6 million years have been found not only in eastern and northern Africa, but also more recently in Israel, Russia, India, and China. Because there is evidence that members of the genus Australopithecus already had deft hands, it is possible that the creators of some of these tools were early hominins.” (p. 208)

One of the book’s best features is its use of biomechanics to illuminate evolutionary changes. For instance, describing the musculoskeletal changes that bipedalism brought about:

Members of the human evolutionary line carry their body weight on two legs only. As the arms no longer play any role in bearing weight during locomotion, they are significantly shorter than the legs. The longer legs are the result of an elongation of the shinbones in particular. The head is balanced directly above the neck and is no longer supported by powerful neck muscles. The hole where the spinal cord enters the skull is therefore located underneath the skull instead of at the back of it. As the arms no longer restrict the chest cavity, which happens when apes walk on all fours, the human rib cage is broader than that of an ape. The shoulder blades move up and away from the sides of the body and are now located completely on the back. To cushion vertical impact, the spine is S-shaped. The pelvic girdle becomes shorter and wider, and the two broad bones at the tip of the pelvis form a bowl shape. That shortens the distance between the sacrum, the triangular bone at the bottom of the spine, and the hip joint, which lends more stability to the whole hip area. The musculature of the rear end bulks up to allow bipeds to straighten their hips and stand upright. The leg muscles bulk up as well. Heavier muscles, together with longer, and therefore heavier, leg bones lower the body’s center of gravity. For a more secure stance, the thighbones angle slightly inward so that knees end up directly beneath the body’s center of gravity. (p. 87)

There is also a good description of the changes in the evolving foot, “A foot adapted for running first appears in the history of human evolution in the early members of the genus Homo. The arch and closely aligned toes are not the only features that make us better runners. Short side toes allow us to roll our feet from heel to toe efficiently. Longer toes would increase leverage and therefore increase the forward motion, but his would come at the cost of stability.” (p. 186)

The last common ancestor of Denisovans, Neanderthals, and modern humans lived 800,000 to 600,000 years ago, and the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and Denisovans about 450,000 years ago. And though we are the last surviving member of our genus, it wasn’t always this way. “When [Homo sapiens] first stepped onto the evolutionary stage over 300,000 years ago, it was by no means the only species of human on Earth. As far as we know, it shared Eurasia and Africa with seven other species of human.” (p. 219) The author believes that the existence of DNA from other species of humans in our genome shows that the others were more likely to have been assimilated than exterminated, which is a nice thought but not really indicative of our turbulent species.

There are also good examples of how paleoanthropologists extrapolate from the known to the possible. For instance, the frontal lobes of H. erectus are not well developed, especially compared to modern humans, and since much of our speech processing happens there, erectus may not have been capable of complex speech even if they had the necessary anatomical changes in the larynx.

Ancient Bones is an interesting, informative book, and worth reading. Every new fossil find can completely upset the accepted wisdom in the field of paleoanthropology, so it may be that Böhme’s Out of Europe hypothesis will become established, at least until another new discovery changes everything all over again.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

As outspoken as it is readable, this bold book challenges the Out of Africa theory of human evolution and argues that hominins were evolving on several continents. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2020...

[Anna Catharina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um die Funde aus dem Alpenraum geht es zwar so gut wie gar nicht, aber die Entwicklung der Menschheit wurde verständlich, differenziert und kurzweilig dargestellt.

[Stan Prager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of: Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human, by Madelaine Böhme, Rüdiger Braun, and Florian Breier
by Stan Prager (1-30-22)

In southern Greece in 1944, German forces constructing a wartime bunker reportedly unearthed a single mandible that paleontologist Bruno von Freyberg incorrectly identified as an extinct Old-World monkey. A decades-later reexamination by another paleoanthropologist determined that the tooth instead belonged to a 7.2-million-year-old extinct species of great ape which in 1972 was dubbed Graecopithecus freybergi and came to be more popularly known as “El Graeco.” Another tooth was discovered in Bulgaria in 2012. Then, in 2017, an international team led by German paleontologist Madelaine Böhme conducted an analysis that came to the astonishing conclusion that El Graeco in fact represents the oldest hominin—our oldest direct human ancestor! At the same, Böhme challenged the scientific consensus that all humans are “Out-of-Africa” with her competing “North Side Story” that suggests Mediterranean ape ancestry instead. Both of these notions remain widely disputed in the paleontological community.
In Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human, Böhme—with coauthors Rüdiger Braun and Florian Breier—advances this North Side Story with a vengeance, scorning the naysayers and intimating the presence of some wider conspiracy in the paleontological community to suppress findings that dispute the status quo. Böhme brings other ammunition to the table, including the so-called “Trachilos footprints,” the 5.7-million-year-old potentially hominin footprints found on Crete, which—if fully substantiated—would make these more than 2.5 million years earlier than the footprints of Australopithecus afarensis found in Tanzania. Perhaps these were made by El Graeco?! And then there’s Böhme’s own discovery of the 11.6-million-year-old Danuvius guggenmosi, an extinct species of great ape she uncovered near the town of Pforzen in southern Germany, which according to the author revolutionizes the origins of bipedalism. Throughout, she positions herself as the lonely voice in the wilderness shouting truth to power.
I lack the scientific credentials to quarrel with Böhme’s assertions, but I have studied paleoanthropology as a layman long enough to both follow her arguments and to understand why accepted authorities would be reluctant to embrace her somewhat outrageous claims that are after all based on rather thin evidence. But for the uninitiated, some background to this discussion is in order:
While human evolution is in itself not controversial (for scientists, at least; Christian evangelicals are another story), the theoretical process of how we ended up as Homo sapiens sapiens, the only living members of genus Homo, based upon both molecular biology and fossil evidence, has long been open to spirited debate in the field, especially because new fossil finds occur with some frequency and the rules of somewhat secretive peer-reviewed scholarship that lead to publication in scientific journals often delays what should otherwise be breaking news.
Paleontologists have long been known to disagree vociferously with one other, sometimes spawning feuds that erupt in the public arena, such as the famous one in the 1970s between the esteemed, pedigreed Richard Leakey and Donald Johanson over Johanson’s discovery and identification of the 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecine “Lucy,” which was eventually accepted by the scientific community over Leakey’s objections. At one time, it was said that all hominin fossils could be placed on one single, large table. Now there are far more than that: Homo, Australopithecine, and many that defy simple categorization. Also at one time human evolution was envisioned as a direct progression from primitive to sophistication, but today it is accepted that rather than a “tree” our own evolution can best be imagined as a bush, with many relatives—and many of those relatives not on a direct path to the humans that walk the earth today.
Another controversary has been between those who favored an “Out-of-Africa” origin for humanity, and those who advanced what used to be called the multi-regional hypothesis. Since all living Homo sapiens sapiens are very, very closely related to each other—even more closely related than chimpanzees that live in different parts of Africa today—multiregionalism smacked a bit of the illogical and has largely fallen out of favor. The scholarly consensus that Böhme takes head on is that humans can clearly trace their ancestry back to Africa. Another point that should be made is that there are loud voices of white supremacist “race science” proponents outside of the scientific community whom without any substantiation vehemently oppose the “Out-of-Africa” origin theory for racist political purposes, as underscored in Angela Saini’s brilliant recent book, Superior: The Return of Race Science. This is not to suggest that Böhme is racist nor that her motives should be suspect—there is zero evidence that is the case—but the reader must be aware of the greater “noise” that circulates around this topic.
My most pointed criticism of Ancient Bones is that it is highly disorganized, meandering between science and polemic and unexpected later chapters that read like a college textbook on human evolution. It is often hard to know what to make of it. And it’s difficult for me to accept that there is a larger conspiracy in the paleoanthropological community to preserve “Out-of-Africa” against better evidence that few beyond Böhme and her allies have turned up. The author also makes a great deal of identifying singular features in both El Graeco and Danuvius that she insists must establish that her hypotheses are the only correct ones, but as those who are familiar with the work of noted paleoanthropologists John Hawks and Lee Berger are well aware, mosaics—primitive and more advanced characteristics occurring in the same hominin—are far more common than once suspected and thus should give pause to those tempted to conclusions that actual evidence does not unambiguously support.
As noted earlier, I am not a paleontologist or even a scientist, and thus I am far from qualified to peer-review Böhme’s arguments or pronounce judgment on her work. But as a layman with some familiarity with the current scholarship, I remain unconvinced. She also left me uncomfortable with what appears to be a lack of respect for rival ideas and for those who fail to find concordance with her conclusions. More significantly, her book is poorly edited and too often lacks focus. Still, for those like myself who want to stay current with the latest twists-and-turns in the ever-developing story of human evolution, at least some portions of Ancient Bones might be worth a read.

[Note: I read an Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) of this book obtained through an early reviewer’s group.]

[Note: I reviewed Superior: The Return of Race Science, by Angela Saini, here: https://regarp.com/2021/11/13/review-... ]

Review of: Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human, by Madelaine Böhme, Rüdiger Braun, and Florian Breier https://regarp.com/2022/01/30/review-...

[Jim Razinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this from the publisher Greystone Books through LibraryThing. Originally published in Germany, the translation for this North America edition was done by Jane Billinghurst.

This is a fascinating story of what may be the oldest common ancestor of great apes and humans, and what appears to be the earliest known ape exhibiting bipedalism. Well written, extremely well-cited (be warned, many of the references are to German papers and books), Böhme with her journalist co-authors Braun and Breier describe the discovery of the fossils, histories of other early hominins, and makes her case for why she thinks modern humans evolved from early apes not in Africa, rather Europe. And she lays out her case quite well. The Danuvius ape stands (couldn't resist) in the face of the "out of Africa" theory. Even more fascinating to me than the revelations were the descriptions of the paleoforensic analyses and technologies used to date the fossils, identify bone fragments, establish DNA connections. And it it all quite readable.

Selections from some of my flagged interest:

On paleoanthropology:

However, paleoanthropology, the relatively young science of prehistoric humans and their ancestors, has not always been characterized by goal-oriented, self-critical research. It has also had its share of accidental discoveries, vanity-driven agendas, dazzling personalities, and unscrupulous frauds.

Candid admissions establish trust.

Teeth are necessarily the most common fossils paleoanthropologists find and a lot can be determined from teeth. On the thickness of tooth enamel:

Building tooth enamel is an energy-intensive process, so no mammal has more tooth enamel than it needs. Afropithecus's thick enamel, therefore, points to a change in diet. It was probably eating food that was harder and tougher.

Böhme talks a bit about diet changes, ecological changes that influence diet changes, the advent of cooking with fire and it change in enamel for the more advanced hominins that didn't have to gnaw the tough fibers of meats and some plant matter.

Hundreds of tons of clay are annually dug out of a pit (Hammerschmeide) near Kaufbeuren in the Allgau, to make bricks. Böhme noticed that a black material was not lignite, as assumed by everyone, but "open-grained spongy structures" that she recognized as bones. She and a team discovered (through hard work) jawbone fragments and teeth from an unknown species. But..."paleontological finds do not enjoy protected status" in Bavaria. And Böhme's team was too small to extract much from the commercial operation on their own. So she started a "citizen dig" - crowd sourcing fifty plus volunteers over two years who analyzed 7,000 cubic feet of sediment, verifying "more than one hundred different vertebrates, including many species that had never been seen before - a treasure trove of fossils of the kind rarely found anywhere in the world."

Böhme, in Part 3 - The Cradle of Humanity: Africa or Europe, does call out in a subsection of one chapter "The Danger of Misinterpretation". She notes three challenges to determining if her or any fossil is a great ape or qualifies as an early hominin. Homoplasy invites mistakes in interpretation. Similarities obviously exist between two split species lines - diverse species might still interbreed; what constitutes their speciation? And the third is the obvious incomplete "fossil record."

Böhme carefully outlines her theory that African fauna came from Eurasian fauna. And the corresponding early humans in Africa came from Eurasian ancestors.

For my rare steak friends who I like to jab a fire-fearful ancestor Thag at, Böhme talks about the relatively small size Homo erectus teeth. (Teeth science again!) "Smaller teeth are a significant disadvantage for a creature whose diet consists overwhelmingly of tough raw meat, fibrous roots, and fruits protected by a hard rind." Richard Wrangham is convinced that Homo erectus had the ability to cook food.

Food that has been heated is also quicker and easier to digest and has more nutritional value than raw, and the amount of energy a person can extract from it increases enormously.

Researchers were able to identify a human bone from a sack of Denisovan bones and paleogeneticists determined that "Denny" was the daughter of a Neanderthal mother and Denisovan father, "the only fossil of a direct hybrid of two different types of humans ever found."

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a novel, not too scientific so that even I can understand.
I do like the theory that we began in Africa, then for whatever reason our ancestors left and then a lot of our evolution went on in Europe.
Food for thought in this book

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: animal death.

Okay, here's the thing: Böhme's passion for her subject shines through, and given recent discoveries in Asia and Europe, her "hey, maybe the Out of Africa theory is flawed" thesis has merit.

From what I remember from first year university archaeology classes, a lot of what we know about early human ancestors came down to the work of the Leakeys in Olduvai Gorge. That led to other projects elsewhere in Africa, where it was already known that remains had survived. If you're doing a lot of work in one region at the expense of others, OBVIOUSLY you're going to find more stuff in that region and the theories you develop based on those discoveries aren't necessarily going to be accurate.

Like, if you went and looked at the book shelf in my bedroom, you might conclude that people in 2021 read almost exclusively YA contemporaries, backlist crime books, a small amount of historical fiction, and the Kate Daniels series. But that's because you haven't looked at the book shelf in the other room (dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi, lit fic), the cupboard of impending doom (classics, nonfiction, graphic novels and action/adventure) or my Kindle (a hot mess of everything, but plenty of romance books). So if you're only doing research in Africa, then yeah, the Out of Africa theory is flawed.

HOWEVER. There were numerous times when this came off as very........Eurocentric? Where there were notes of "Humanity began in Europe OF COURSE, where else would civilisation come from" that I could have done without. And while Böhme mentioned discoveries in China and Indonesia, somehow those didn't factor into her new hypothesis, which 😬. Like, if she'd been arguing that human evolution is far more complex than we know and that the evidence now seems to suggest a worldwide evolution? FINE. But instead we get a lot of YAY EUROPE, WHERE ALL PROPER CIVILISATION APPEARS stuff and no thank you please. Especially when she's essentially doing what she accuses past scholars of doing and focusing on one area of the planet at the expense of other research.

[Faith Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the newest research into our earliest ancestors. The author pulled together the stories of the varied finds of (sometimes tiny) bones/teeth of early apes and humans in a coherent and straightforward manner. As an amateur archeologist (I volunteer at digs), I loved the descriptions of digs and the science behind the analysis of bones. We have so many more tests available to us now to determine the age and analyze the context of the finds than we did in the middle 20C.

Bohme also explores the "Out of Africa" theory of human migration and gives a good bit of evidence that it might be in error. I kept waiting for her to also address the political implications of overturning this popular and widely-held theory, but she chose not to get into that hot mess. She stuck to the findings and science as we know it now--and pointed out that it might change as we get more evidence. This was an ARC and missing some of my favorite parts of research books, such as an index, but all the notes were provided.

NOTE: The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book through an early reader program in exchange for an honest review.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating study of new fossil discoveries suggesting that early humans may have begun in Africa but may have migrated due to changing conditions and inhabited southern Eurasia around the large desert from the Sahara to Mongolia at a time when the Mediterranean was dry. Several intermediate species evolved separately but some share genetic material so did interbreed. There are many gaps and one hopes new finding will emerge to flesh out these ideas.

[Frank Hermens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have given 3.5 stars if I could. Very nice overview of human evolution. Unlike many other authors, she tells the really early story of human evolution 10-20 million years ago. Most books on this matter start with the Australopithecines and work their way forward. This book goes further.
She introduces a new theory of very early human evolution which is quite controversial, but entertaining and at times even convincing

[andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

strong start but drags on horribly by the middle of the book. interesting thesis that is well researched but i would need to read more on it to be convinced of it. if you have any interest in the origins of homo sapiens and in anthropology then it’s def worth a shot.

[Paul Sutter]

Having taken University courses that looked at past civilizations and the discovery of bones and human remains, it was refreshing to read a book less technical and more fact-based. The authors of the book present the story of not only how the world came about, but what was part of that ancient world. They take us back as if via a time machine to the dawn of civilization, through discoveries and fact-based observations.
But what is even more interesting is the notion that unlike past perceptions of the beginning of our evolution, that seemed to indicate African origins, new data may suggest a different plausibility.
It appears Europe may have been the key area for the formation of species of apes, part of the planet 7 to 12 million years ago. Discoveries of bones and teeth have been integral in putting older theories to rest, creating new ones that may cast doubt on what once was fact.
One of the main finds was a hominin that lived over 7 million years ago. It was as close to what became humans, as possible.
There is mention of “persistence hunting,” which humans took part in, acquiring food. They did not necessarily use weapons, instead followed their game constantly. It was as if the game finally gave up, showing no resistance when the end was near.
There are many stories noted, including vital bones going missing during World War Two. They were shipped from China by train, intercepted by Japanese troops, most of the bones gone forever.
ANCIENT BONES is an excellent overview of world history, enlightening us about the way we evolved, presenting it in precise detail.

[Doug Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter here is very similar to another recent book that I read, "Fossil Men", but presents quite a different viewpoint of the ultimate origins of the human species. In fact, I would expect that the scientists profiled in "Fossil Men" would vehemently disagree with the theories put forth in this book, but it would be difficult to say that one side or the other is right or wrong. It is for certain, though, that the material presented in this book goes against the long-held "Out of Africa" origin story that I was familiar with before reading both of these books.

My main objection to this book is that the author tends to put forth things in a speculative way, usually in the form "Isn't it possible that...?", and then take that speculation as fact and run with it. This is a common technique used in many pseudo-scientific books, but I was a bit disappointed to not see some of her claims backed up with just a bit more evidence. On the other hand, there was enough material here that was new to me that I may begin to accept the larger theory once it all soaks in.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Master's student in Archaeology, I have issues with any theory claiming "Europe first." Mostly because this fuels white supremacy groups and I see how troublesome this is. Because of this, even though Böhme presents her argument in a well documented, well thought out manner, I would require more detail and more documentation to fully support this as groundbreaking. The evidence is there. But personally, I'm leary although I do appreciate this book. To be clear, this book does support that hominids evolved in Africa, however there is argument in this book for any predecessor to originate outside of Africa and show bipedal movement. More evidence is very much needed to support this.
Even so , I love how the information is presented and broken down for a reader. I'm not by any means, despite my background, well-versed in understanding human evolution through anatomy (climate is more of my "thing"). Even if you don't buy the argument, there is a ton of well organized documentation of human evolution. Read this because it's incredibly interesting, even if you are leary like I am.

[Adrian]

German paleoanthropologist sticks her oar in contentious field of human origins. Her main contention is that the belief that man developed in Africa no longer holds water. Finds of proto-humans have been made in Europe and Asia that predate African fossils. Bohme believes that man likely developed in Euroasia and than migrated to Africa. Palaentology has long been plagued by the egos of its biggest bone finders-who have claimed that their finds are the key to human evolution. Only to be proven wrong later by more dispassionate science. But couldn't Bohme be guilty of the same thing? Her find Graecopithecus freybergii is the lynchpin of her theory and is no more than bits of a skull. Will it stand the test of time as so many others have not?

[Johan D'Haenen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit is een zeer interessant werk. Madelaine Böhme beschrijft in een helder en duidelijke taal op zeer bevattelijke wijze de recentste ontwikkelingen in het paleoantropologisch onderzoek.
Het leeuwenaandeel betreft uiteraard haar aandeel in het onderzoek naar graecopithecus freybergi en de pistes in de evolutie van de mensapen en aapmensen.
Daarnaast wijdt de auteur een deel van het boek aan de vraag hoe en waarom de mensapen evolueerden tot aapmensen. En tenslotte formuleert zij antwoorden op de vraag waarom slechts één soort aapmens, de homo sapiens, uiteindelijk overbleef en verder evolueerde tot de huidige mens.
"Hoe we mensen werden" is zonder meer een echte aanrader.

[Matthew Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In hindsight, I wish I’d read it earlier in my journey into paleoanthropology—it feels like a foundational piece I didn’t know I was missing.
The book offers a refreshingly modern perspective on its key topics, providing clear insights into the current state of Out-of-Africa theories while exploring intriguing Eurasian alternatives. It’s a compelling update to the evolving narrative of human origins. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to refresh or deepen their understanding of contemporary views on human history.

[Jacob Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

In narrative form, Bohme gives a history of the paleoarchaeological study of homo sapien ancestry. Then, using her search for the common ancestor of humans and chimps as a frame, she reveals how modern primate paleontology has rediscovered Eurasia as a primary staging ground for the evolution of our species.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at a new theory on migrations of pre-homo species and how that wider geographic range may mean the development of homo sapiens may not have only been in Africa. The theory is not widely accepted in paleoanthropology. My take-away is that is still great deal of fossil discovery that needs to happen and some species may have interacted more than we realize.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and interesting book, informative and entertaining at the same time.
I love the clarity of the explanations, how the book is organised and the style of writing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost gave up on this book in the beginning - glad I didn't, it didn't achieve its final form until pretty late. A good primer for anyone that's interested in the origin of humans - I learned a pretty lot, and the writing style was very enjoyable.

[J PZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary of the current state of knowledge surrounding human evolution. Some interesting ideas around hominin evolution outside of Africa.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book that covers the further development of how humans came to be. I am looking forward to more discoveries in our evolution.

[James Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, clear and chatty overview of human evolution and paleontology. A bit scattered at times but absolutely gripping and explains complexities in science and methods very ably.

[Akupsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe durch dieses Buch viel gelernt in einem Bereich, in dem ich bisher kaum etwas wusste. Die Lektüre hat sich also gelohnt. Mühsam war sie trotzdem. Denn das Buch ist eigentlich eine Zusammenstellung mehrer Bücher: Ein Buch über die Neuentdeckung eines Vormenschen durch die Autorin und ihr Team. Ein Buch über die Out-of-Africa-These. Ein Buch über paläontologische Methoden. Und schließlich ein Buch über die Entwicklung vom Menschenaffen zum modernen Menschen. Gegen Ende mischt sich das alles noch einmal, das macht es etwas chaotisch und unzufriedenstellend.
In Erinnerung bleibt mir v.a. der vorletzte Teil V, weil hier sehr eindrucksvoll und übersichtlich gezeigt wird, in welchen Stufen die Entwicklung vom Menschenaffen zum Menschen verlief: Ausbildung des Lauffußes (wohl durch Übergang in Savannenlandschaft), Ausbildung der menschlichen Hand (besonders des Daumens), Verwendung des Feuers (dadurch bessere Ernährung und Gehirnwachstum).
Alles in allem lesenswert, wenn auch nicht gerade flüssig zu lesen, weil mit machen Längen und Doppelungen.

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book examines a theory that early humans evolved in Eurasia rather than Africa. It describes several finds that support that idea, and provides a fairly thorough review of research and discovery in paleoanthropology. Geology and paleontology are referenced as well, with respect to how environment and climate may have influenced the migration and evolution of early humans. The final chapters examine characteristics of humans and projections for our possible future.

The book is easy to read, with extensive references to published research in an appendix. I appreciated the descriptions of hypothetical landscapes and scenarios from the past, and the many maps and illustrations. I recommend this book as an introduction for readers with an interest inn human prehistory and a supplement for those who already know something about it, or think they do.

[René · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit boek is fijn om te lezen en leest snel. Zet helder recente ontdekkingen op het gebied van onze oorsprong op een rij en zet veel van wat nog geleerd wordt op losse schroeven. Out of africa klopt niet ook andere continenten zoals Europa speelden een grote rol. Mensen in verschillende delen van de wereld stammen deels af van andere oermensen. In Europa bijvoorbeeld 2% Neanderthaler. Vlees zorgde niet voor de grotere hersenen en spieren maar gekookt zetmeel is cruciaal. En zo nog veel meer. Erg interessant.

[Sarah Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da ich die vorgeschichtliche Menschwerdung immer wieder faszinierend finde, musste ich mir dieses Buch im Museumsshop Blaubeuren natürlich sofort krallen. Madeleine Böhme führt für ein breites Publikum unterhaltsam zu lesen durch mehrere Millionen Jahre der menschlichen Evolution und deren Beeinflussung durch Klima, Flora und Fauna. Sie betrachtet unter dem Blickwinkel neuer Hominidenfunde die "Out of Africa"-Hypothese, entwirft eine Gegenidee und schildert, welche Fallstricke sich auftun, wenn gegen gängige Lehrmeinungen argumentiert wird.