The specific ways in which different modern populations differ from each other — in immune function, in physical characteristics, in physiological adaptations to different environments — are partly the product of the different encounters with different ancient human groups that characterized different modern human expansion routes.

Denny’s story is not just the story of one ancient child.

It is part of the story of how we became who we are.

The Final Return

The bone is in a storage facility in Leipzig, Germany.

It is catalogued as Denisova 11.

It is 2.5 centimeters of ancient limb bone, worn and dark with age.

Its exterior gives away nothing of what it contains.