Was Greece the birthplace of humanity?

[LP]

I took part in an archaeology department function at La Trobe last week and got to see incredibly accurate replicas of hominim/hominid skulls created by laser scanning and 3D printing; the application of cutting edge technology to incredibly ancient fossils  :o

I guess the most surprising discoveries in recent times is that other Homo species were around at the same time as modern humans and there was some cohabitation with the DNA of those species persisting in our DNA!

Do you find any irony in the condemnation of the claims made in Flores, contrasted to the positive commentary around Rising Star and the subsequent Lesedi finds. There seems to be a lot of heavy politicisation of this science, subjectively I see more than I have noticed in other disciplines.

Do you think the race to publish is damaging the research, sensational claims now seem to be a requirement of publication?