(ORDO NEWS) — According to the official version, Africa is the cradle of mankind. It is on this continent that the fossils of the first humans, such as Homo Naledi, are found. In addition, about 270 thousand years ago, modern people appeared here.
However, the latest study of the vertebrae of one of the extinct human species aged one and a half million years may cast doubt on the theory of the African origin of people. It states that humans began migrating to Eurasia millions of years ago, that is, long before the advent of Homo Sapiens.
This means that Homo sapiens could have evolved not only in Africa, but also on any other continent. Moreover, there is other evidence that people began to populate other continents in the early Pleistocene.
People lived in Israel one and a half million years ago
In 2013, an article was published in the journal Science, which described the fossil of the skull of an ancient man, discovered in Georgia. Her age was 1.8 million years.
That is, the first ancient people migrated to Eurasia at least 1.8 million years ago. At the same time, scientists did not have a consensus on how the resettlement took place, that is, it was one-time or migration occurred periodically.
The latest study, published recently in the journal Scientific Reports, speaks in favor of the second version, that is, the resettlement most likely occurred multiple times.
A vertebral bone found in Ubeidiya (Jordan Valley) is an ancient evidence that people already lived in the territory of modern Israel one and a half million years ago. Ubeidiya is the oldest archaeological site located outside of Africa.
In addition to human remains, fossils of many extinct animal species have also been found here, including saber-toothed cats, mammoths, etc. and ancestors of modern man.
People left Africa gradually
After examining the size, shape and some other parameters of the fossil, scientists came to the conclusion that this is the back bone of a child aged 6 to 12 years.
At the time of his death, his height was 155 centimeters, and his weight was in the range of 45-50 kilograms. That is, the weight was about the same as that of a modern child aged 11 to 15 years. At the same time, he was about a head taller than modern children.
Studies of the remains of a hominin found in Georgia showed that they were of small stature – adults were no higher than 145-166 cm, and their weight was 40-50 kg.
That is, a study by Israeli scientists suggests that the found bone belongs to a different species of hominin. In their opinion, the species they discovered could reach about 2 meters in height, while its weight was about 100 kg.
Archaeologists also found indirect evidence that the bones from Georgia and Israel belong to different species. In particular, there are great differences in stone tools.
Those tools that were found in Georgia were quite simple, made from one or several flakes of stone. In Ubeidiya, the tools of labor are more complex. In particular, scientists have found axes made from volcanic rocks.
From this we can conclude that people migrated in waves. Moreover, different types of people occupied different territories and made different tools. However, not all scientists are in a hurry to draw conclusions based on this finding.
Why a hominid from Israel is not credible
Experts have many questions about the size of the Ubeidiya fossil. According to the degree of development, it corresponds to a child of the age of 5 years.
However, in size, as mentioned above, it is much larger than the children’s bones of hominins and more consistent with Neanderthals or gorillas. However, Neanderthals appeared much later than Ubeidia’s hominins.
According to some scientists, if the bone really belonged to an ancient person, then most likely he had some kind of serious disease.
Therefore, using it as a representative of the species is very risky. It is all the more difficult to draw conclusions about the gradual wave-like migration of people from Africa.
But, on the other hand, there is no evidence that there were no people in Eurasia at the beginning of the early Pleistocene, that is, 2 million years ago or even earlier.
In addition, in some countries, such as China, Pakistan and some others, there is supposedly evidence of the presence of people in these territories in an even more ancient period.
Currently, scientists continue excavations in Ubeidiya. It is possible that it will be possible to find other fossils that will allow us to draw final conclusions.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.