Oldest Human Fossil Outside of Africa Discovered
Archaeology
Oldest Human Fossil Outside of Africa Discovered
Homo sapiens left Africa at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, suggests fossil remains from an anatomically modern human.
Common teachings about early human migrations have held for decades that modern Homo sapiens first migrated out of Africa around 60,000 years ago, with descendants of this population and subsequent African migrants later colonizing the farthest reaches of the earth.
Analysis over the past several years of fossils discovered nearly a century ago in the Qafzeh and Es-Skhul Caves in Israel, however, classified them as Homo sapiens dating to about 120,000 years ago. This means that our species was clearly in the Middle East of Asia long before 60,000 years ago.
Now comes the announcement that an international team of researchers has just discovered a modern human fossil — upper jawbone and teeth — from a modern human who lived 177,000–200,000 years ago in Israel. The fossil, called "Misliya" since it was found in Misliya Cave on the western slopes of Mount Carmel, is described in the journal Science.
"Misliya is not just the oldest modern human outside Africa," lead author Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University told Seeker. "It is the oldest modern human that we know of."
Modern, in reference to Homo sapiens evolution, refers to early members of our species that are most like people today, but the term is a broad one and open to different interpretations.
At the very least, the newly discovered fossil provides evidence that anatomically modern humans were living outside of Africa 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. The remains were dated by three independent methods (U-series, combined uranium series and electron spin resonance, and thermoluminescence) that all support the early time period.
3D virtual models of the fossil were also created and compared with other hominin fossils from Africa, Europe, and Asia.
"All of the anatomical features in the Misliya fossil are consistent with it being a modern human," co-author Rolf Quam of Binghamton University told Seeker. "There is nothing in the fossil that says to us that it cannot be a Homo sapiens."
The incisor and canine teeth appear to be unique to anatomically modern humans, as does a lack of "shoveling," a thickening of the tooth crown along the edges on the inside surface of the incisor and canine. The latter characteristic has often been seen in archaic human fossils. Quam and his colleagues, though, did identify other features in Misliya that are known to additional human groups, such as Neanderthals.
"However," Quam said, "this does not mean Misliya is a hybrid specimen."
Archaeology
Oldest Human Fossil Outside of Africa Discovered
Homo sapiens left Africa at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, suggests fossil remains from an anatomically modern human.
Common teachings about early human migrations have held for decades that modern Homo sapiens first migrated out of Africa around 60,000 years ago, with descendants of this population and subsequent African migrants later colonizing the farthest reaches of the earth.
Analysis over the past several years of fossils discovered nearly a century ago in the Qafzeh and Es-Skhul Caves in Israel, however, classified them as Homo sapiens dating to about 120,000 years ago. This means that our species was clearly in the Middle East of Asia long before 60,000 years ago.
Now comes the announcement that an international team of researchers has just discovered a modern human fossil — upper jawbone and teeth — from a modern human who lived 177,000–200,000 years ago in Israel. The fossil, called "Misliya" since it was found in Misliya Cave on the western slopes of Mount Carmel, is described in the journal Science.
"Misliya is not just the oldest modern human outside Africa," lead author Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University told Seeker. "It is the oldest modern human that we know of."
Modern, in reference to Homo sapiens evolution, refers to early members of our species that are most like people today, but the term is a broad one and open to different interpretations.
At the very least, the newly discovered fossil provides evidence that anatomically modern humans were living outside of Africa 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. The remains were dated by three independent methods (U-series, combined uranium series and electron spin resonance, and thermoluminescence) that all support the early time period.
3D virtual models of the fossil were also created and compared with other hominin fossils from Africa, Europe, and Asia.
"All of the anatomical features in the Misliya fossil are consistent with it being a modern human," co-author Rolf Quam of Binghamton University told Seeker. "There is nothing in the fossil that says to us that it cannot be a Homo sapiens."
The incisor and canine teeth appear to be unique to anatomically modern humans, as does a lack of "shoveling," a thickening of the tooth crown along the edges on the inside surface of the incisor and canine. The latter characteristic has often been seen in archaic human fossils. Quam and his colleagues, though, did identify other features in Misliya that are known to additional human groups, such as Neanderthals.
"However," Quam said, "this does not mean Misliya is a hybrid specimen."
