On June 7th 2017, archaeologists announced in the Journal Nature that they have discovered the fossilized skull, jaw bones, and teeth of early humans that date back to 300,000 years ago. The bones where found on a hillside in an area known as Jebel Irhoud, in Morocco, between Marrakesh and the Atlantic ocean. The fossils are now the earliest evidence of modern humans or Homo Sapiens, to date.
The site was first discovered by barite miners the 1961. New finds that began in the late 1980s eventually led to further discoveries that came in 2004. The remains are those of of five early humans, three adults, a child, and an adolescent. The site revealed evidence of sophisticated stone tools and charcoal that may have been used to start fires. The archaeologists also found campsite debris and butchered animal bones.
Multiple dating techniques that included thermoluminescence (TL) were used to determine that the fossils were around 315,000 years old. Until this find, it had been believed that evidence of the earliest humans, or Homo Sapiens were from remains discovered in East Africa that date back to 200,000 years ago. This raises the question of whether the current understanding of human evolution is correct.
No comments:
Post a Comment