BBC - Age of ancient humans reassessed

[Anarcho-Socialist]

Age of ancient humans reassessed
BBC News

Two skulls originally found in 1967 have been shown to be about 195,000 years old, making them the oldest modern human remains known to science. The age estimate comes from a re-dating of Ethiopian rock layers close to those that yielded the remarkable fossils.

The skulls, known as Omo I and II, push back the known presence of Homo sapiens in Africa by 40,000 years. The latest dating work is reported in the science journal Nature.

It puts the specimens close to the time expected for the evolutionary emergence of our species. Genetic studies have indicated Homo sapiens arose in East Africa - possibly Ethiopia or Tanzania - just over 200,000 years ago.

"These are the earliest known examples of our own species and that suggests they lived earlier still," commented Nature senior editor Dr Henry Gee. "But I am not sure how much further back you could go and still have Homo sapiens - before they graded into some other, earlier species," he told the BBC News website.

More at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4269299.stm

I love anthropology and thought someone else might be interested in this.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Me, too!

(Waving hand excitedly)

I love this stuff.

Thanks for posting it!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

2. Oh goody!

:) :hi:

[Penguin31]

3. But the World was only created 10,000 Years Ago (sarcasm) (nt)

[DireStrike]

4. You blasphemer! It's 5000! -nt

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. and fossils were put in the ground by Satan to deceive us

:)

[ultraist]

6. LMAO!!! The devil did it.

Fascinating news. thanks!

[eleny]

7. It's so exciting!

I've been thinking about it a lot today. We're so much older than originally thought!!!