Adam Van Arsdale discusses how genomes from extinct populations of archaic humans - “Neandertals” and “Denisovans” - have provided new complexity to our understanding of the origins of contemporary humans. The evolutionary processes that have shaped humans reflect a pattern that extends to the beginning of our genus, Homo, two million years ago. This talk examines the role of on-going research at the Lower Paleolithic site of Dmanisi, Georgia, for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution, and the expanded, dynamic adaptive niche associated with the emergence and dispersal of early Homo.