What Makes Us Human? Neanderthals, Denisovans and Our Origins

Cambridge archaeologist Oscar Lozada on the Neanderthals of Shanidar Cave, the Denisovans, and what our vanished human cousins reveal about what it means to be human.

Show Notes

Support Humanism Now & Join Our Community!

What if our view of ourselves as a unique species is wrong? This week we are joined by Oscar Lozada, an archaeologist and biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, to explore the other ways of being human: the Neanderthals of Shanidar Cave, the Denisovans, and a growing cast of newly discovered human relatives.

We dig into the "old man" of Shanidar, whose healed injuries hint that Neanderthals cared for their own; the long history of seeing these people as a mirror for our own prejudices; the explosion of new human species and the "ghost" lineages hiding in our DNA; why Homo sapiens ended up the sole survivors; and what deep history can teach us about climate change and extinction today.

"Over the last 170 years, Neanderthals have been a mirror for how we view ourselves. We've projected onto them everything we don't want to be." — Oscar Lozada

About the guest

Oscar Lozada is a PhD researcher in archaeology and biological anthropology at the University of Cambridge, studying the palaeoecology of the Neanderthals of Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. A zoologist by training, he worked in rural development across sub-Saharan Africa before a master's in prehistoric archaeology at Oxford, and has excavated early human sites in Britain, Morocco and Iraq. He is also a science communicator, posting as "Oz of the Ancients."

In this episode

Shanidar Cave and the "old man" whose healed injuries suggest Neanderthals cared for one another, plus the famous flower-burial story and why it's now doubted
A whistle-stop tour of human evolution: Homo erectus, Neanderthals, the Denisovans ("Dragon Man"), Homo floresiensis, Homo naledi, and the ghost lineages in our DNA
Why Homo sapiens are the sole survivors, and what deep history teaches us about climate adaptation, extinction, and reading our own past in the world around us

Links and references

Oscar Lozada, University of Cambridge profile: https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/staff/oscar-lozada
@Oz_of_the_Ancients — Oscar's human evolution channel (YouTube, Instagram and Bluesky)
Reassessment of Neanderthal mortuary behaviour at Shanidar Cave (Cambridge project): https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/current-projects/reassessment-neanderthal-mortuary-behaviour-shanidar-cave-iraqi
Uncomfortable Oxford / Uncomfortable Cambridge walking tours: https://www.uncomfortableoxford.com

⁠www.humanism.now⁠

Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe. Contact us to get started in podcasting today at humanise.live or hello@humanise.live.

Music: Blossom by Light Prism

Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Makes Us Human? Neanderthals, Denisovans and Our Origins | Oscar Lozada