Chris Stringer first joined the Natural History Museum in 1969, and joined the permanent staff in 1973, where he is now a Research Leader in Human Origins. His early research was on the relationship of Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe, but through his work on the Recent African Origin model for modern human origins, he now collaborates with archaeologists, dating specialists, and geneticists in attempting to reconstruct the evolution of modern humans globally. Stringer has excavated at sites in Britain and abroad, and directed the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project from 2001 until it finished in 2013. He is currently co-director of the follow-up Pathways to Ancient Britain project, with funding from the Calleva Foundation, which has also contributed to the foundation of a new Centre for Human Evolution Research. As well as many scientific papers, he has also written a number of books, most recently Britain: one million years of the human story (2014, with Rob Dinnis) and Our Human Story (2018, with Louise Humphrey). Abstract: Many of the supposed certainties of later Pleistocene human evolution have been swept away in the last decade. In this talk I will look at some of the outstanding issues including the nature and timing of the last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals, the evolution and relationships of Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens, and why we are the only humans left on Earth. Pre-registration for this Colloquium is required at the following url: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2N8mOQN9TtGbqiB-u9KjCQ After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. All are welcome to participate!