My father was a paleontologist, albeit 30 years ago. I think what is happening with human fossils is that we have/are reaching a critical mass of knowledge tha

My father was a paleontologist, albeit 30 years ago. I think what is happening with human fossils is that we have/are reaching a critical mass of knowledge that allows us to pinpoint with greater accuracy where to look. The thing starts to become self-perpetuating. For fossils in general, there are more of us physically wandering on the surface of the planet, and we collectively are more familiar with what is a fossil, which leads to more discoveries. As well, due to machinery such as excavators and tunnel diggers, we are digging in places we haven't dug before, either deeper or in hard-to-access rocks. The big unexplored areas is (1) beneath the deserts, especially the Sahara, and (2) under the shallow seas.