Denny is the most vivid individual proof of that interconnected ancient world.

She is, in a very real sense, proof that the ancient human story is more complex, more intimate, and more interconnected than the old model of discrete, competing species suggested.

The Open Questions

Despite everything that Denny’s genome has revealed, enormous questions remain — about the Denisovans, about Neanderthal-Denisovan interactions, and about the broader picture of ancient human evolution.

Perhaps the most pressing question is the geographic range and internal diversity of the Denisovans.

The genetic evidence from modern populations suggests that Denisovan populations were widespread across Asia, but the specific distribution of those populations — which specific regions they occupied, how diverse they were genetically and physically, how they related to the various archaic fossils found across eastern Asia — remains poorly characterized.