This is an extract from Our Human Story, our newsletter about the revolution in archaeology. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every month.

This month, Our Human Story turns 50 (months old). For the 50th instalment, I thought I would do something a little different: take stock of what’s happened, and look ahead. I emailed 10 researchers, asking them two questions:

• What has been the biggest advance in human evolution of the past five years? This could…