We humans really like to think that we’re exceptional among the creatures of the Earth. But it wasn’t always that way. Until relatively recently, there were multiple types of humans, not just Homo sapiens. There were Neanderthals, and the more mysterious, recently discovered Denisovans.
The Denisovans are named after Denisova Cave in Siberia. Until 2019, it was the only place where archaeologists found bones belonging to the group. Nestled in foothills of Russia’s Altai Mountains, Denisova Cave has been a research mecca since 2010. That’s when researchers looked at the DNA from a finger bone fossil — and it didn’t match our species, or Neanderthals. It was a totally different lineage of human. And it was discovered scattered among thousands of other bones dug up by archaeologists at the site.
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