300,000 Year-old Stone Artefacts Discovered

ASE Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey inspects the largest handaxe

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Researchers at University College London have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain. The discoveries were made at Frindsbury in Kent where artefacts were recovered from deep Ice Age deposits above the Medway Valley. A total of eight hundred stone artefacts believed to be over 300,000 years old were recovered.

The unearthed artefacts included two very large flint knives described as “giant handaxes.” It is thought that this type of tool was usually held in the hand and may have been used for butchering animals and cutting meat.

The largest handaxe measured 29.5cm in length and is currently the third largest known to be found in Britain. ‘Giant handaxes’ like this are usually found in the Thames and Medway regions and date from over 300,000 years ago.

One of the handaxes at the point of discovery on site.
Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Letty Ingrey, a senior archaeologist from the University College London Institute of Archaeology, explained that they likely date back to an interglacial period approximately 300,000 to 330,000 years ago.

“While right now, we aren’t sure why such large tools were being made, or which species of early human were making them, this site offers a chance to answer these exciting questions.”

stated Ms Ingrey.

The site is thought to date to a period in the early prehistory of Britain when Neanderthal people and their cultures were beginning to emerge and may even have shared the landscape with other early human species. During this period the Medway Valley would have been a wild landscape of wooded hills and river valleys, where red deer, horses, now-extinct straight-tusked elephants, and lions roamed freely.

Excavations revealed artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley. 

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

        This exceptionally large axe may have had a specialised function in early human society, or relate to specific human groups, or even human species. Handaxes are stone artefacts that have been chipped, or knapped, on both sides to produce a symmetrical shape with a long cutting edge. 

The largest giant handaxe photographed from four different angles.

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Throughout Africa and Europe, handaxes have been discovered at various archaeological sites dating back from 1.7 million to 300,000 years ago. By 200,000 years ago, many innovations had been made in stone tool technology. For example, large handaxes became less common and were replaced with a range of smaller tools in more diverse toolkits. Tools made of flakes were favoured over large cores.

Today, modern humans or Homo sapiens, inhabit the whole earth. Looking back over the last half a million years, the picture was much more diverse, with three distinct lineages appearing: Homo erectus in Asia; and Homo heidelbergensis giving rise to Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa.

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Neanderthals occupied Europe for at least 100,000 years during a period when glacial cycles dominated the climate. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago.

The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans. Modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans shared a common ancestor who lived roughly 600,000 years ago.

For further information see:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/jul/giant-stone-artefacts-found-rare-ice-age-site-kent

https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue61/6/full-text.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-66112136

Scientists hail stunning 'Dragon Man' discovery

 

Dragon Man Skull
Photo: BBC News Website

            Recently, the BBC News Website reported that Chinese researchers have unveiled an ancient skull that could belong to a completely new species of human. Scientists claim that it is our closest evolutionary relative among known species of ancient human, such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus. The specimen represents a human group that lived in East Asia at least 146,000 years ago.

Although the skull was found at Harbin, north-east China, in 1933, it only came to the attention of scientists recently. Prof Chris Stringer from London's Natural History Museum, a leading UK expert in human evolution, and a member of the research team, said:

"In terms of fossils in the last million years, this is one of the most important yet discovered… What you have here is a separate branch of humanity that is not on its way to becoming Homo sapiens (our species) but represents a long-separate lineage which evolved in the region for several hundred thousand years and eventually went extinct."

This remarkable discovery has the potential to rewrite the story of human evolution. Analysis suggests that it is more closely related to Homo sapiens than it is to Neanderthals.  Researchers have assigned the specimen to a new species: Homo longi, from the Chinese word "long", meaning dragon. The skull is huge compared with the average skulls belonging to other human species. Its brain was comparable in size to those from our species.

Artist's impression of what Dragon Man may have looked like
Photo: BBC News Website

            The Harbin human cranium is one of the best-preserved of all archaic human fossils, and important for understanding the diversification of the Homo genus and the origin of Homo sapiens. It represents a new human lineage evolving in East Asia and is       a member of the sister group of H. sapiens.

Around 100,000 years ago there were several different groups of humans including modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Neanderthals

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago. This makes Gibraltar the most recent Neanderthal occupation site yet discovered.

Reconstruction of what Neanderthals may have looked like

            Current research shows that Neanderthals were, and continue to be, an integral part of modern humanity. Our prehistoric cousins did not completely disappear from the earth, as their presence can still be identified within modern DNA. A jawbone from a man who lived 40,000 years ago reveals that six to nine percent of his genome is Neanderthal, the highest amount ever found in a modern human specimen. This remarkable find indicates that a Neanderthal was in his family as close as four generations back in his family tree - potentially his Great-Great Grandfather!

Denisovans

The Denisovans were a mysterious human species living in Asia before modern humans like us expanded across the world tens of thousands of years ago. Until recently, the only fossils came from a few fragments of bone and teeth from a single site in Siberia - Denisova Cave.

Artist's impression of a Denisovan

"In many ways, Denisovans resembled Neanderthals but in some traits, they resembled us and in others they were unique," said Prof Liran Carmel, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Scientists have found evidence that the Denisovans lived at high altitudes in Tibet, passing on a gene that helps modern people cope at similar elevations Present-day Sherpas, Tibetans and neighbouring populations have a gene variant, which was probably acquired when Homo sapiens mixed with the Denisovans thousands of years ago.

Professor Jean Jacques Hublin, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said:

"We can only speculate that living in this kind of environment, any mutation that was favourable to breathing an atmosphere impoverished in oxygen would be retained by natural selection."

Nesher Ramla Homo Type

Researchers working in Israel have identified a previously unknown type of ancient human that lived alongside our species more than 100,000 years ago. They believe the remains uncovered near the city of Ramla represent one of the "last survivors" of a very ancient human group. The finds consist of a partial skull and jaw from an individual who lived between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago. The scientists have named the newly discovered lineage the "Nesher Ramla Homo type".

Skull fragment and jawbone found near Ramla in Israel
Photo: BBC News Website

            The team thinks that early members of the Nesher Ramla Homo group were already present in the Near East some 400,000 years ago.

Conclusion

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago. There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor.

A re-evaluation of early human remains and artefacts from Morocco has suggested that the advent of Homo sapiens may have to be put back by 100,000 years. Archaeologists and palaeontologists believe that the oldest of the fossils comes from 300,000 to 350,000 years ago.

Recent discoveries show that humans left Africa many times prior to 60,000 years ago, and that they interbred with other hominins in many locations across Eurasia. Around 50,000 years ago, an improvement in the global climate, leading to the appearance of habitable lands where once there was desert, may have provided the opportunity for modern humans to spread into Europe.

The Harbin skull represents a new human lineage evolving in East Asia and is a member of a sister group of H. sapiens that lived at least 146,000 years ago.

For more information see:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57432104

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57586315

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-49760240

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48107498

Animal painting found in cave is 44,000 years old

A section of the ancient cave art discovered in Indonesia that depicts a type of buffalo called an anoa, at right, facing several smaller human–animal figures.Credit: Ratno Sardi

World’s Oldest Story?

Researchers have found what they think may be the world’s oldest recorded story. A painting discovered on the wall of an Indonesian cave has been dated to 44,000 years old. The art appears to show a buffalo being hunted by part-human, part-animal creatures holding spears and possibly ropes. Details of the discovery were published in the journal Nature by archaeologists from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean, we’ve seen hundreds of rock art sites in this region, but we’ve never seen anything like a hunting scene.” says Adam Brumm, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Brisbane.

The depiction of these animal–human figures suggest that early humans in Sulawesi had the ability to conceive of things that do not exist in the natural world, say the researchers.

Drawings found in a cave called Leang Bulu'Sipong 4 in the south of Sulawesi

What do the drawings show?

The drawings were found in a cave called Leang Bulu'Sipong 4 in the south of Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo. The panel, which is almost five metres wide, appears to show a type of buffalo called an anoa, plus wild pigs found on Sulawesi. It includes smaller figures that look human but have animal features such as tails and snouts. The painting shows an anoa flanked by several figures holding spears depicting a hunting scene. Some researchers, however, have questioned whether the panel represents a single story, or a series of images painted over a longer period.

The Lion Man. Stadel Cave, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 40,000 years old. The oldest known evidence of religious belief in the world. © Ulmer Museum.

 The oldest such example from Europe is a half-lion, half-human ivory figure from Germany that researchers have estimated to be 40,000 years old - although some suggest that it might be significantly younger. The Lion Man sculpture found in Stadel Cave, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, has been described as a masterpiece. It provides the oldest known evidence of religious belief. It stands 31 centimetres tall and has the head of a cave lion with a partly human body.

How do we know it's 44,000 years old?

The team calculated the age of the painting by analysing the calcite that had built up on the painting. They found the calcite on a pig began forming at least 43,900 years ago, and the deposits on two buffalo were at least 40,900 years old. This material builds up in the exact same way that stalagmites and stalactites form in a cave.

The calcite incorporates small numbers of naturally occurring radioactive uranium atoms. These atoms decay into thorium at a very precise rate through the ages enabling researchers to determine the age of the artwork. Scientists take a very thin films of the deposit from just above the paint pigments. Because the film was on top, the dates generated were minimum ages. In other words, the paintings had to be at least as old as the calcite deposits and probably much older.

How does it compare to other prehistoric art?

However, the Indonesian drawing is not the oldest in the world. Last year scientists reported finding what was described as ‘humanity’s oldest drawing’ on a fragment of rock in South Africa which was 73,000 years old.

In 2018, a cave painting in Borneo - thought to be the oldest of an animal - was found to be at least 40,000 years old. It is thought to be the oldest example of figurative painting where real objects are depicted rather than abstract shapes. The researchers aren't certain what animal it represents, but it may be a banteng, a type of wild cow that lives in the area today.

This tracing of the cave wall shows the 40,000-year-old painting on the far right. The black box shows the area which was used for dating the cave art
(c) Nature

The painting was found in a system of caves in the remote and rugged mountains of East Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on Borneo. The caves contain thousands of other prehistoric paintings, drawings and other imagery, including hand stencils, animals, abstract signs and symbols.

Co-author Maxime Aubert, from Griffith University in Australia, commented:

"The oldest cave art image we dated is a large painting of an unidentified animal, probably a species of wild cattle still found in the jungles of Borneo - this has a minimum age of around 40,000 years and is now the earliest known figurative artwork."

The animal appears to have a spear shaft stuck in its flank and is one of a series of similar red-orange coloured paintings, which were made with iron-oxide pigment. These paintings, which include other depictions of animals along with hand stencils, appear to represent the oldest phase of art in the cave.

The researchers also dated two red-orange hand stencils, which produced minimum ages of 37,000 years. A third hand stencil had a maximum age of 51,800 years, even older than the animal painting. The authors conclude that rock art locally developed in Borneo between around 52,000 and 40,000 years ago. The older dates for cave artwork raise the distinct possibility that these early paintings were made by our Neanderthal cousins who shared our world with Homo Sapiens.

Re-construction of Neanderthal Man

Our distant relatives, the Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago. Modern humans interbred not only with Neanderthals, but also with our recently discovered relatives the Denisovans, as well as a currently unidentified population of pre-modern hominins.

Cranial features of Modern Man and Neanderthal compared

A jawbone from a man who lived 40,000 years ago reveals that six to nine percent of his genome is Neanderthal, the highest amount ever found in a modern human specimen. This remarkable find indicates that a Neanderthal was in his family as close as four generations back in his family tree - potentially his Great-Great Grandfather!

The use of symbolism - the ability to let one thing represent another in the mind - is one of those traits that set our animal species apart from all others. Tracing the origins of abstract thought and behaviours, and the rate at which they developed, are critical to understanding human development. It underpins artistic endeavour and the use of language.

For further information see:

(       https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03826-4

h    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46114423

h    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18449711

h   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6DVTSOEOw

h   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx8ohlEAfy4&t=21s

210,000-Year-Old Homo sapiens Skull Oldest Outside Africa

A 210,000-year-old human skull found in Greece
Source: Esben 468635/Adobe stock

The website https://www.ancient-origins.net/ reports that a 210,000-year-old human skull found in Greece in the 1970s could provide new evidence that our species left Africa much earlier than previously thought. If the claim is verified, the discovery will rewrite a key chapter of the human story, with the skull becoming the oldest known Homo sapiens fossil in Europe by more than 90,000 years.

Early Expansion not Maintained

The first fossil evidence for any modern humans outside Africa comes from the Middle East, from the archaeological sites of Skhul and Qafzeh in Israel, dating to around 120,000 years ago. However, this early expansion of modern humans was not maintained. A change to a colder climate may have driven those pioneers back into Africa. The expansion of our own species out of Africa that eventually led to the colonisation of the globe would start later – after 100,000 years ago.

A re-evaluation of early human remains and artefacts from Morocco has pushed back the advent of Homo sapiens by 100,000 years. Archaeologists and palaeontologists now think that the oldest of the fossils comes from 300,000 to 350,000 years ago. Skulls, teeth, and long bones of at least five Homo sapiens, along with stone tools and animal bones, have been found at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco since 2004.

Stone Tools

Although stone tools were found all over Africa by 300,000 years ago, human fossils were thought to be no older than 195,000 years old. One possibility was that the stone tools had been made by some hominid (any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and great apes - including gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans - and all their immediate ancestors) other than Homo sapiens. Jebel Irhoud is the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin site that documents early stages of the Homo sapiens.

Hominins, which may have originated in Africa up to 6 million years ago, include all the species that emerged after the Homo genus, split from that of chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago.  There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor.

Apidima 2 and its reconstruction.
(c) Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls: University of Tubinggen

Apidima Cave

The human skull from Greece was one of two cranial fossils found in Apidima Cave, on the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese in Greece. Both were initially identified as Neanderthals. The discovery of these skulls provides evidence of an earlier migration of people from Africa that left no trace in the DNA of people alive today. One skull was very distorted and the other incomplete. The more complete skull appears to be a Neanderthal. But the other shows clear characteristics, such as a rounded back to the skull, diagnostic of modern humans.

A multinational team from the University of Tubinggen in Germany, led by Katerina Harvati, reconstructed the specimens digitally and dated them by measuring their radioactive decay and confirmed that the skull known as Apidima 2 was an early Neanderthal dating from around 170,000 years ago. Scientists also digitally recreated the skull known as Apidima 1 and found that it was more likely a modern human (Homo sapiens), dating it to 210,000 years ago.

Human fossils from Daoxian and Zhirendong

Palaeontologists have discovered modern human fossils from Daoxian and Zhirendong in China dating to between 80,000 and 120,000 years ago. DNA studies indicate that there was early interbreeding between African humans and Neanderthals.

The new evidence from Apidima further extends our understanding of modern human dispersal and interaction with other hominin species. Human evolution has been thought of in terms of new species developing and replacing older simpler ones. Modern humans were thought to have left Africa and moved across the world from around 70,000 years ago replacing the Neanderthals in Europe about 40,000 years ago.  New fossil discoveries, improvements in their dating and the advent of genetic evidence, has led to a reappraisal of the distribution of modern humans.

Adult Male Cranium 'H.naledi'
from Lesed 1 Chamber, Naledi, South Africa

Neanderthals, Homo naledi and Denisovans

Evidence from modern day Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, suggest the first wave of modern humans out of Africa were replaced by Neanderthals, before the final, more successful human migration that followed. In southern Africa, modern humans were alive at the same time as a much smaller and seemingly more primitive species called Homo naledi . Genetic evidence from Siberia and Tibet has identified a new hominin species – the Denisovans – that shared a history of interbreeding and interaction with Neanderthals. DNA analysis of our own genomes shows that the Neanderthals bred with our own species.

People living today who are of European, Eurasian, and Asian descent have well-identified Neanderthal-derived segments in their genome. Present-day Africans, however, do not have detectable traces of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes. This shows that whatever sexual contact occurred between modern humans and Neanderthals happened among humans who left the African continent. 

People living outside Africa today trace their ancestry to a migration that left the continent around 60,000 years ago. As modern humans moved across Europe and Asia, they largely replaced other species they met, such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Cranial features of Modern Man and Neanderthal compared

If at least some early modern humans left Africa more than 210,000 years ago, they may have settled in the Levant (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel and Jordan) before expanding west into Europe, which was already home to Neanderthals. Scientists believe that any early human pioneers who did reach Europe died out there, before the Neanderthals themselves were replaced by an influx of Homo sapiens about 40,000 years ago.

Conclusion

A 210,000-year-old human skull found in Greece in the 1970s could provide new evidence that our species left Africa much earlier than previously thought, becoming the oldest known Homo sapiens fossil in Europe by more than 90,000 years. Some experts, however, question whether the skull really belonged to a modern human. Concerns have also been expressed about the dating procedure used. For now, at least, the jury is still out on this recent ‘Earth breaking’ discovery!
For further information see:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YwlBl8WLb0

New Human Species Discovered in the Philippines

The excavation site at Callao Cave, Luzon Island, Philippines.
(c) Callao Cave Archaeology Project

A new human relative?

A recent article featured on www.ancient-origins.net reports that researchers working in a cave in the Philippines claim to have found a new, previously unknown, species to add to human history. This hominin (any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and great apes - including gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans - and all their immediate ancestors) was probably less than four feet high and had some of the characteristics of modern people but also anatomical features from much earlier hominins. 

The latest in a series of finds of early humans in the Philippines was made by archaeologists as they were digging in the floor of Callao Cave on Luzon island. A team of experts, led by Professor Philip Piper, from the Australian National University, found several fossils unlike anything else in the world. The fossil remains included adult finger and toe bones, as well as teeth. The femur bone of a juvenile was also unearthed. The remains are estimated to be about 50,000 years old and date from a time when several human species co-existed on the planet.

Five upper teeth of a single individual provisionally named 'Homo luzonensis
(c) Callao Cave Archaeology Project

The height of the new humans was determined by the size of the tooth and the other bones although more evidence is required to confirm this. This newly discovered species may be related to Homo floresiensis found on the Indonesian island of Flores which was also under four feet in height. The new species of human had ‘long, curved fingers and toes’ suggesting that it was as comfortable scrambling up trees as walking upright. This previously unknown species has been provisionally named Homo luzonensis.

Humans Migrated ‘Out of Africa’ a Lot Earlier than Previously Thought

It is now known that modern humans evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago before migrating to other continents. In January 2018 a group of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University working at Mount Carmel, Israel discovered the upper jaw bone of a Homo sapiens in a layer of sediment with tools previously attributed to Neanderthals. This discovery pushed back the date for human migration out of Africa by about 40,000 years confirming the theory that there was more than one expansion phase with different groups leaving over a long period.

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago. This makes Gibraltar the most recent Neanderthal occupation site yet discovered. The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans. Modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans shared a common ancestor who lived roughly 600,000 years ago.

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago.  There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor. Homo sapiens represents the last of a long line of hominin races that once consisted of five different species spanning four continents.

Homo Sapiens Sophistication

Most human traits are found in lesser degrees in other species. Researchers point out that humans, compared to other apes, are highly social, primarily use culture to adapt to their environment, and are very skilled at language. These traits have allowed humans to be much more adaptable and resilient in the face of a changing environment. Other animals, including great apes and dolphins, have capacities for abstract thought and language skills but these abilities are especially pronounced in Homo Sapiens.

Thanks to new techniques, including advances in DNA analysis, it is now possible to learn more about extinct species of human than ever before. The evidence is pointing not to one unbroken chain of human ancestors but a rich family tree with several offshoots. Our family tree is now filled with not only direct ancestors like Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus but also cousins and distant relatives like Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo Denisova.

Homo Heidelbergensis

Homo Heidelbergensis or Heidelberg man walked the earth about 600,000 years ago in Africa, parts of Asia, and Europe and is believed to be the direct ancestor of Neanderthals. They were using stone tipped spears to hunt large prey and may be the first species of homo to intentionally bury their dead.

Homo Denisova

One of the more recent discoveries of an extinct human species was made at the Denisova Cave in Siberia as recently as 2008. Advances in DNA analysis has made it possible to sequence the genome of Homo Denisova. Some people in Tibet have traces of Denisovan DNA in the same way that some Europeans have a minute percentage of Neanderthal DNA. In 2018, some ten years after the discovery of Homo Denisova, at the Denisova cave a small fragment of bone was positively identified as the direct offspring of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan. The female offspring, nicknamed ‘Denny’, had survived to approximately 13 years of age.

Skeleton of Neanderthal Child found at Roc de Marsal, Dordogne, France
(c) Musee National de Prehistoire

Neanderthals May Have Pioneered Cave Art

In 2018 scientists revealed the origins of some cave art in Spain was Neanderthal rather than human. The discovery supports the theory that Neanderthals and modern humans were not as different to one another as previously presumed. An international team of scientists dated the calcite (crystal) layer which had formed on top of the ancient artwork and concluded that the art must have been there beforehand and must be older than it. Results revealed the artwork predated the arrival of modern humans in the region by a minimum of 20,000 years.

Conclusion

Researchers in the Philippines claim to have found a new, previously unknown, species to add to human history. The remains are estimated to be about 50,000 years old and date from a time when several human species co-existed on the planet. This new species has been provisionally named Homo luzonensis and was probably less than four feet tall. This exciting discovery gives new meaning to the phrase ‘We are not alone’!
For more information please see:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/new-human-species-0011725
https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-science/11-mysterious-extinct-human-species-0011564

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGN2DvDYWgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMf8pgXRMvs

Earliest Modern Human Outside of Africa Discovered

Misliya Cave in Israel, one of several prehistoric cave sites
located on Mount Carmel

An international research team has discovered the earliest modern human fossil ever found outside of Africa. The finding suggests that modern humans left the continent at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. This exciting discovery also means that modern humans were possibly meeting and interacting during a longer period with other ancient human groups.

The fossil, an upper jawbone with several teeth, was found at a site called Misliya Cave in Israel, one of several prehistoric cave sites located on Mount Carmel.  Archaeologists have dated the jawbone to between 175,000-200,000 years old. The archaeological evidence reveals that the inhabitants of Misliya Cave hunted large game, used fire, and Early Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, like those found with the earliest modern humans in Africa. The region of the Middle East represents a major corridor for hominin migrations during the Pleistocene Period between 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.

The 177,000 to 194,000-year-old maxilla (upper jaw) of Misliya-1 hominin (Israel Hershkovitz, Tel Aviv University)

Scientists believe that Modern humans (Homo sapiens) first appeared around 200,000 years ago in what is now known as Africa. However, a re-evaluation of early human remains and artefacts from Morocco has suggested that the advent of Homo sapiens may have to be put back by 100,000 years. Archaeologists and palaeontologists believe that the oldest of the fossils comes from 300,000 to 350,000 years ago.

The ‘Out of Africa’ Model

The traditional "Out of Africa" model states that modern humans evolved in Africa and then dispersed across Asia and reached Australia in a single wave about 60,000 years ago. Recent discoveries show that humans left Africa many times prior to 60,000 years ago, and that they interbred with other hominins in many locations across Eurasia.

Scientists have identified modern human fossils in Asia that are potentially much older. Homo sapiens remains have been found at multiple sites in southern and central China that have been dated to between 70,000 and 120,000 years ago. Other recent studies do confirm that all present-day non-African populations branched off from a single ancestral population in Africa approximately 60,000 years ago.

Modern humans interbred not only with Neanderthals, but also with our recently-discovered relatives the Denisovans, as well as a currently unidentified population of pre-modern hominins. One estimate is that all present-day non-Africans have 1-4% Neanderthal heritage, while another group has estimated that modern Melanesians have an average of 5% Denisovan heritage. Researchers now believe that modern humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans and perhaps other hominin groups likely overlapped in time and space in Asia.

The complete skeleton of a Neanderthal child discovered on the site of Marsal Roc, Dordogne in France ( public domain )

Modern Human 40,000 years ago had Neanderthal Great-Great-Grandfather

Current research shows that Neanderthals were, and continue to be, an integral part of modern humanity. Our prehistoric cousins didn’t completely disappear from the earth, as their presence can still be identified within modern DNA. A jawbone from a man who lived 40,000 years ago reveals that six to nine percent of his genome is Neanderthal, the highest amount ever found in a modern human specimen. This remarkable find indicates that a Neanderthal was in his family as close as four generations back in his family tree—potentially his Great-Great Grandfather!

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago.  There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor. People living today who are of European, Eurasian, and Asian descent have well-identified Neanderthal-derived segments in their genome. Present-day Africans, however, do not have detectable traces of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes. This shows that whatever sexual contact occurred between modern humans and Neanderthals happened among humans who left the African continent. 

The last Neanderthals?

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Neanderthals occupied Europe for at least 100,000 years during a period when glacial cycles dominated the climate. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago. This makes Gibraltar the most recent Neanderthal occupation site yet discovered.

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal Man

Scientists conducted an analysis on archaeological evidence dating back 200,000 years and found that Neanderthals made effective tools and weapons, wore ornaments such as eagle claws, used ochre, ate plants and fish as well as big game, used fire to produce pitch from tree bark, and created organised living spaces in their caves.

The new research suggests that Neanderthals didn’t become extinct but vanished gradually over time by interbreeding and assimilation with early humans.

Conclusion

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago.  There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor. Until recently, scientists believed that Modern humans first appeared around 200,000 years ago in what is now known as Africa. Archaeologists and palaeontologists now believe that the oldest of the fossils comes from 300,000 to 350,000 years ago.

The Misliya Cave discovery suggests that Modern humans left the continent at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought interacting over a longer period with other ancient human groups. One estimate is that all present-day non-Africans have 1-4% Neanderthal heritage. Our prehistoric cousins didn’t completely disappear from the earth, as their presence can still be identified within modern DNA. Scientists believe that the Neanderthals didn’t become extinct but were gradually assimilated over time by interbreeding with early humans. 
For further information see:
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/jawbone-earliest-modern-human-outside-africa-discovered-israel-009494?nopaging=1
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/updates-out-africa-revising-story-dispersal-modern-humans-across-eurasia-021755

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XiF0xgFPMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CchYodMdgs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5BL06-RPuI