Denisovan Origins

Hybrid Humans, Göbekli Tepe, and the Genesis of the Giants of Ancient America

By: Andrew Collins, Gregory L. Little

Narrated by: Micah Hanks

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

Reveals the profound influence of the Denisovans and their hybrid descendants upon the flowering of human civilization around the world

• Traces the migrations of the sophisticated Denisovans and their interbreeding with Neanderthals and early human populations more than 40,000 years ago
• Shows how Denisovan hybrids became the elite of ancient societies, including the Adena mound-building culture
• Explores the Denisovans’ extraordinary advances, including precision-machined stone tools and jewelry, tailored clothing, and celestially-aligned architecture

Ice-age cave artists, the builders at Göbekli Tepe, and the mound-builders of North America all share a common ancestry in the Solutreans, Neanderthal-human hybrids of immense sophistication, who dominated southwest Europe before reaching North America 20,000 years ago. Yet, even before the Solutreans, the American continent was home to a powerful population of enormous stature, giants remembered in Native American legend as the Thunder People. New research shows they were hybrid descendants of an extinct human group known as the Denisovans, whose existence has now been confirmed from fossil remains found in a cave in the Altai region of Siberia.

Tracing the migrations of the Denisovans and their interbreeding with Neanderthals and early human populations in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas, Andrew Collins and Greg Little explore how the new mental capabilities of the Denisovan-Neanderthal and Denisovan-human hybrids greatly accelerated the flowering of human civilization over 40,000 years ago. They show how the Denisovans displayed sophisticated advances, including precision-machined stone tools and jewelry, tailored clothing, celestially-aligned architecture, and horse domestication. Examining evidence from ancient America, the authors reveal how Denisovan hybrids became the elite of the Adena mound-building culture, explaining the giant skeletons found in Native American burial mounds. The authors also explore how the Denisovans’ descendants were the creators of a cosmological death journey and viewed the Milky Way as the Path of Souls.

Revealing the impact of the Denisovans upon every part of the world, the authors show that, without early man’s hybridization with Denisovans, Neanderthals, and other yet-to-be-discovered hominid populations, the modern world as we know it would not exist.

©2019 Andrew Collins and Gregory L. Little (P)2019 Inner Traditions Audio

Critic reviews

"Collins and Little are the perfect team to address one of humanity’s greatest enigmas.... From giant skeletons to the mysterious mound builders of ancient America, this team assembles the lost pieces of the human time line." (Sidney D. Kirkpatrick, award-winning New York Times best-selling author and documentary film director)

"Andrew Collins and Greg Little are two of the most respected writers in the ancient mysteries subject. They team up to provide a comprehensive account of the enigmatic Denisovans and their impact on the emergence of modern human society. If they are correct in their findings, as I very much suspect they are, then they have discovered a missing chapter in our knowledge of the emergence of civilization, both in the ancient world and - as I put forward in my own book America Before - in the Americas." (Graham Hancock, author of the New York Times best seller America Before)

There are better sources to get real information

As a disclaimer, I recently received a review copy of Denisovan Origins and I also used one of my Audible credits for the audio version, which is supposed to be “unabridged.” So I’m reviewing both the print and the audio versions.

For the print version, I found that the cover gives the impression that this is a novel rather than a work of non-fiction. Although, the “feathered cape” individual holding what is undoubtedly a spear with a Solutrean point is in keeping with the narrative within. I was also pleased to find adequate notes and bibliography sections.

For about 1/3 of the book, I read it at 1.5 x normal speed with the Audible version while following along the text. The other 2/3 of my reading was split equally with just the book or just the Audible (while driving). My only real complaint about the Audible version is that it seems to cost nearly as much as the print version (regular price is $21.60 on Amazon, but it can be found for about $16 if you look around), but includes no footnotes, bibliography, or index, which are necessary in a text making claims of the sort found in Denisovan Origins. Making these sections available as downloadable supplements for the Audible version seems a logical choice. The narration in the audio version is also very well done and it’s obvious great care went into ensuring pronunciations were correct.

So why just two stars? The answer, of course, is due to the pseudoscientific nature of the content.

The thesis of the book is that the Americas were populated by the Solutrean culture, who were Denisovans, alongside Native Americans. Little makes every attempt to poison the well against skeptics who he predicts will point out the racism in their book. He claims that the authors aren’t trying to assign race to the Solutreans at all. If anything, they insist, the Solutreans are Asian in origin. Yet they arrive in North America’s northeast by boat rather than via Beringia.

Little tries to turn the race charge on its head in tu quoque fashion by accusing skeptics of being the racists since they can’t accept that giants once existed among them. Yes, there are giants in Denisovan Origins, though Collins and Little have largely toned this down to just really tall people.

I found the whole “I’m not a racist but the skeptics are” argument in the second half of the book to be just what it looked like: Little trying to cover for the tone Collins set in the first half. Here’s an example: Collins provides a detailed explanation of the cephalic index in chapter 11. Then, he rightly notes that it,

“is important, however, to point out that the use of the cephalic index to help determine the nature and type of a human skull is no longer considered meaningful, relevant, or even ethically acceptable within the anthropological community; all skulls of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) are categorized today, simply, as regional variations of a common type that emerged out of Africa with our earliest ancestors” (pp. 104-5).

Then nearly for the full remainder of Part 1, Collins continues to refer to the cephalic index of the skulls of remains found throughout Europe. In fact, nearly every time Collins referred to hominid skeletal remains, there was a an anachronistic feel to the narrative (it might not be surprising that, after controlling for non-academic and purely pseudoscientific entries, nearly a full third of the book’s bibliography is dedicated to sources more than 50 years old).

For the reader unfamiliar with modern archaeological methods, recent discoveries in hominid remains, ancient DNA, and evidence of population migrations, Denisovan Origins will come across as a fascinating read by two authors that make no attempt to talk down to the reader. Admittedly, they do a fair job of conveying the narrative. It just happens that the overall narrative is a mixed bag of reality and speculation that ranges from reasonable to so extreme it’s utterly pseudoscientific.

I will say the writing styles between Parts 1 and 2 are noticeable. In Part 1, Collins lacks imagination and creative control. Words and phrases are repeated ad nauseam. The most over-used word is probably “indeed.” The most over-used phrase is probably “very clearly.” The most misused phrase has to be “very likely.” In Part 2, Little comes across angry and bitter toward the so-called “mainstream” that has refused to accept him in spite of his best efforts and to those big-bad skeptics that are always critiquing those efforts.

I purposely avoided going into a point-by-point “debunking” of the things I saw as wrong, exaggerated, misinterpreted, underrepresented, and/or pseudoscientific. But they include assumptions they’re making about genetics, site chronologies, the nature of what is considered scientific evidence (hint: myth and anecdote ain’t it), and so on.

Still, I couldn’t find it in me to give Denisovan Origins just a single star. I found some bits interesting and at least Little kept his giants mostly within normal human range.

Bad science and pseudoscience

Terrible book. Completely full of religious speculation, pseudoscience and gobletygook. Not worth the money.

Slow it down

I only afford myself the enjoyment of one conspiracy like theory that of ancient aliens so Andrew Collins is someone I will entertain. This book is not about aliens ancient or the ones landed in my yard. However his last book about Gobekli Tepe was fascinating. This one is also information packed but the narrator is pretty awful and I had to actually set the reading speed to .75 to be able to get through. But you can tell there is something off when you have to change speed so it was a bit annoying.

Very Interesting

There seems to be a lot of good information in here and it is delivered in a manner that allows the points to build. Some of the speculation is presented as fact even when acknowledging that it isn't. If you are curious about things that you won't learn in school this book is a good escape. I will be digging deeper to see if I can corroborate some of the more fantastic information.

Poor reading

I have had a difficult time sticking with this book. It is a highly technical book and the reading is massively distracting. His intonation is almost foreign. His pronunciation is dubious. His metering is off. I believe the book is probably better than this version.

the new old world

Humans won the last man standing ordeal. Humans had a struggle with other humanoids, who were smarter, stronger, and had been around on earth longer at that time, than we have been sense then. They survived tens of thousands of years, had knowledge and experience we could really use today. they still lost the battle of civilization. Their world lyes under 4oo feet of ocean. that's where we'll find Atlantis and Mu. the side story of this book to me is we know more about the moon and mars, than we do about earth 400 feet off and below the coast lines of our dry land. The survivors of the younger dryas epoch shared their knowledge and their DNA with humans and we created a new civilization. Did you ever wonder where DNA for red hair came from? The vocabulary is college level reading but you can get it easily. The reader goes fast You might want to adjust the speed. I like to read Graham Hancock in this jaundra best. however Collins and Little are good to. Storch would be good to if he would write in a similar style, and put notes, bibliography and such at the end of the book like everyone else does.

Intense, amazing

Very dense book - it took me 2 false starts to really get into it but well worth it. Combines well with the recent work of Graham Hancock and Freddy Silva.

Lots and lots of well-researched information regarding the history of humanity and excellent information on The Americas which I hadn’t heard before.

There was more before you ...

It is just utterly amazing to stay up to date with new finds and insights. We evolved from such diverse and interesting backgrounds it is just so hard to come to grips we all lost track of how to be ‘human’.

interesting information...get ready for "esses".

narrator was good but someone needs to run a de-esser. it is a must to eq to be listenable. the esses will Pearce your brain. otherwise this has some really interesting information and theories in it. thank you.

Refreshingly comprehensive

Satisfying to read a book that can rise above entrenched ideas and present data that conflicts with broadly defended ideas that have led to confirmation bias limiting our understanding of discoveries that don’t reinforce what has been perceived as known facts.

Another insight into our beginnings

I feel like I'm getting the hang of it all having read several books on the subject now. It was much better once I got the narration slowed down.

Narrator makes the title no favour what so ever!

The narrator reads as if he is not in the least interested in the subject and as if he just whats to get through it as fast as possible. A pity on an interesting subject.

Good book for me.

interesting book if you like this sort of thing. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through.

A complicated yet enthralling book.

If you have read the authors prior books you will find this book fascinating, and a little less complicated than the novice ,Detailed and thoroughly researched the book does indeed have a fair amount of feasible conjecture . Speculation is the norm in terms of this narrative. That being said it this book does make a lot of sense and perhaps is very close to the mark.

did not disappoint

worth Andrew Collins being banned from Turkey for! Although the central hypothesis of this book is not in my view solid enough to invalidate all of mainstream thinking on the subject, it certainly gets you thinking and I love romance behind the giant Denisovan shamans being the teachers of mankind.

Long and tough listening

Generally a very good book, needed some maps and or pictures to help with detail. Shows in the second half how stupid the yanks are even about their own history.