Images

Two depictions of crucial events in the reign of the Merovingian King Dagobert I (r. 623-639): to the left, Dagobert observes the construction of the abbey of Saint Denis Basilica in Paris; on the right, the Frankish army campaigns against...

Depiction of King Dagobert I (r. 623-639) on a contemporary coin. National Library of France, Paris.

Baked clay statue of the Mesopotamian god Enlil, from the Scribal Quarter at Nippur, Iraq, 1800-1600 BCE. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

Wall of hominin skulls on display in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. They were all found in Africa. Left to right, from the top: Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Homo habilis or Homo...

An illustration of the tunnelling shield designed by Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849). The shield was used during the construction of the Thames Tunnel, completed in 1843. The shield allowed workers to excavate but be protected from cave-ins...

Foot of a Homo habilis individual designated OH 8, found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by Louis and Mary Leakey, probably dating to around 1.8 million years ago. The bones show extensive damage caused by a crocodile – in fact, the whole foot...

An 1813 portrait by James Northcote of the engineer and inventor Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), most famous for the Thames Tunnel, completed in 1843. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Stone tool chopper belonging to the Oldowan tool industry (c. 2.6-1 million years ago). Oldowan tools overlap in terms of time with Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo erectus, as well as with later Australopithecines, and it is possible...

Skull of Homo habilis, displayed in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Olduvai (or Oldupai) Gorge in Tanzania is a highly important palaeoanthropological site. Homo habilis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus as well as our own Homo sapiens are known to have been present here. For Homo habilis, it is also the...