I enjoyed this book. Among its strengths are the fascinating material, the highly conversational tone, and the witticisms. I found the book to be thorough yet well-paced, never getting bogged down in minutiae. And even though the book discusses many species within the genus Homo, I found it easy to follow. The illustrations were excellent, adding texture to the story. Overall, this was a great read. Thank you to Netgalley and The Experiment for the advance reader copy.

Around 800,000 years ago the third main migration of archaic humans out-of-Africa occurred. It consisted of Homo rhodensiensis (or heidelbergensis) from which emerged Neanderthals (mainly in Europe) and Denisovans (mainly in Asia). Broadly speaking, that means that Denisovans existed (alongside Neanderthals) from about 300,000 years ago to about 30,000 years ago.

Our evidence for the Denisovans is very limited, with just three main cave finds. Bone fragments have emerged from the Denisova cave in the Altai mountains of Siberia. A piece of jaw bone was found in the Baishiya cave in Tibet, and another find occurred in the Cobra cave in Laos.

The extremely limited nature of these finds means that a significant amount of what is known about the Denisovans has had to be inferred from DNA analysis.

One of the things which DNA analysis tells us is that while Neanderthals had hair ranging from red to Chestnut and lighter skins and both blue and brown eyes, Denisovans (probably) had darker skins, brown eyes and brown hair.

Part of what makes the Denisovans so interesting is that they also provide the only direct evidence of inter-breeding among archaic humans. DNA analysis suggests that it must have occurred several times. But the only direct bone evidence is provided by fragments of a 13 year old Denisovan girl (called ‘Denny’) who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.

We know that European Homo sapiens benefited from Neanderthal genes, which helped them with survival in the cold. It also seems to be the case that Denisovan genes helped populations in Tibet by helping to reduce altitude sickness.

Whether it is a benefit or not is debateable, but Denisovans also had three roots on some of their teeth, and that feature can still be seen among modern Homo sapiens. It can only be seen in about 3.5% of non-Asian populations, but it is present in up to 40% of Chinese and Native American populations.

One of the particularly informative aspects of this book is the way that it tries to relate evidence to actual living conditions of the Denisovans. For example, evidence from fish bones shows that the bones were cooked at lower temperatures than an open fire would typically give. So, this seems to suggest a Denisovan technological mastery involving controlling fires and/or burying fish near to fires so that they can slow-cook.

Another interesting comparison was that wear marks on Denisovan teeth show similarities to the patterns on the teeth of Inuit women at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Inuit women’s teeth were worn down by chewing animal skins to soften them for sewing and clothes making. It raises the question whether Denisovans also used that technique in relation to producing clothes.

Overall, this is a fascinating introduction with a lot of information. Possibly it has slightly too much information, as the book is a little ‘dense’ in places. Consequently, it will probably be enjoyed most by graduates, or by readers prepared to give the text the concentration that it needs, to fully appreciate it.

(These are honest comments on an Advanced Review Copy of the text, which was accessed in digital format).

I am not currently an anthropologist, however I studied anthropology in college so books like this always fascinate me. It is amazing how many new discoveries have been made in recent years. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. I found this book to summarize previous knowledge with new knowledge in an easy to read format. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.

*3,5 stars*

Thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love learning more about cavemen, especially the Denisovans have been a blind spot since the discovery of their existence is pretty recent.

What I missed in this book was a clear introduction to the two authors and a more clear storyline. Sometimes the book would get so sidelined that mid-chapter I had to keep thinking ‘And why are we looking at the types of elephants over Africa and India?' I know rationally where they’re going with this in terms of migration. But I sometimes felt like we totally got sidetracked with all previous homo erectus, habilis, heidelbergensis,… without a clear connection to the Devisovans. I didn’t mind really because everything about prehistoric humans interests me.

I did have the feeling that the authors were trying to stretch the book with the little information we still have about Denisovans. It’s wouldn’t have minded all the sidesteps, if they could’ve wrapped it up nicer or made more clear connections. Like 'oh we are talking about the erectus species right now because of this and this.' Just a little introduction per chapter as to why it’s all connected to the Denisovans.

I also noticed how many French authors were mentioned in the book, which makes sense, since the book was originally published in French. But I do wonder if there is more information that they missed, because of their Eurocentric view.

The only thing that irked me about the ARC is that the photo's and graphs were at the back of the book, without really being able to gather where they're supposed to go. The graphs and illustrations with text were also not finished, so it was sometimes a bit of a guess where each word belonged. It did make the book a bit harder to read, as I assume the migration routes were a lot easier to understand with visuals.

Overall I do think I learned some fun facts about the Denisovans! I feel like it could've been explained more clearly, but in general I feel like it did its job.

An ideally brief read on Denisovans and I believe one which is suitable and accessible for most readers.
It is up-to-date and interesting.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

I've been super fascinated by Denisovans since the first time I've heard about them. I immediately went on a binge of reading about them and this book would have been exactly what I was looking for back then.

I love that one of the authors is a scientist and the other one is a journalist. I always like that dynamic for nonfiction books, it always makes for an informed, enjoyable read.

And this book was definitely both of those things! The writing style was super approachable and easy to read, but I also learned a ton from reading through this book. I read the whole book in a single day and it kept me engaged all the way though.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that's at all interested in the Denisovans.

This is a fascinating and useful overview of the latest findings related to the discovery of the Denisovan fossils.

The book gives a much needed and surprisingly detailed summary of the latest finds and theories. I really liked the way each chapter carefully laid out the findings, put them into context and then built on those ideas in the next chapter. For a relatively short book, nothing felt rushed or dumbed down. I am by no means an expert in this area, but this book was really good at guiding me through a complex story. I think I even grasped the key things related to the DNA findings, which is essential to our understanding of the Denisovans. I am in awe of how much we now know about the Denisovans and the extraordinary advances that have been made in the study of DNA that has allowed their story to be told with so few actual remains.

And what an incredible story it is. The authors take us through the various pieces of evidence to tell an awe inspiring tale of humans coming out of Africa - the Neanderthals eventually populating the west and their Denisovan cousins populating the east. It's a story of adaptations to both high altitudes and tropical areas, of changing sea levels, of meeting up with long lost relatives, both fellow Denisovans and Neanderthals, and finally of meeting our own ancestors, Homo sapiens allowing their DNA to continue to modern times.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book and I'm looking forward to buying the final version when it is published later in the year.

This was a really good "pop" paleoanthropological read on Denisovans and the recent discoveries and interpretations of Denisovan spread and migration through the East. I learned a lot about the genetics behind Denisovans so anyone interested in evolution and genetics should give this a read!

The writing was well done and it read at a good pace without too much jargon. My only complaint was the lack of footnotes, however each chapter has its own references at the end of the book.

A huge thank you to The Experiment Publishing for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my review!