The newly dated fossil suggests humans migrated out of Africa far earlier than we thought.
When a broken skull was excavated from a limestone drop in the Apidima cave in Greece in the 1970s , experts did n’t fully see what they ’d get hold , and hive away it in a museum in Athens . Now , harmonize toThe Guardian , a new analysis has now bump the skull sherd to be the sure-enough human fossil ever found outside of Africa .
Published in the journalNature , the research forecast that the partial skull is at least 210,000 years one-time . If precise , that title would force a substantial rewriting of human history . Apidima 1 , as the skull is call , would predate the sometime knownHomo sapiensfossil in Europe by more than 160,000 years .
The ramifications here would bespeak human migration out of Africa occur much earlier than previously thought .
Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenThe Apidima 1 fossil was found to be at least 210,000 years old, predating the previously oldest human fossil found outside of Africa by over 160,000 years.
Katerina Harvati , Eberhard Karls University of TübingenThe Apidima 1 dodo was find to be at least 210,000 eld old , predate the previously oldest human fossil found outside of Africa by over 160,000 old age .
All world who have ancestry outside of Africa descend from one radical ofHomo sapienswho emigrated 70,000 years ago . But that was n’t the first human migration out of Africa .
In late age , scientist have uncover fossils in Israel and elsewhere that are much older than 70,000 years — like a 180,000 - class - old jaw ivory determine last year . These came from what scientists conceive were earlier , failed migration . Perhaps humans were whelm by Neanderthals , or bear a natural disaster .
Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenThe Apidima 2 was found to be at least 170,000 years old and that of a Neanderthal.
But this skull fragment is the previous human fossil found outside of Africa — and four times older than the previous disc - holder for the oldest fossil in Europe , which dated back to 45,000 years ago .
For the film director of palaeoanthropology at the University of Tübingen , Katerina Harvati , this find clears the proverbial board : “ Our outcome show that an early dissemination of Homo sapiens out of Africa go on earlier than antecedently believed , before 200,000 years ago , ” she said . “ We ’re seeing grounds for human dispersals that are not just limited to one major Book of Exodus out of Africa . ”
Not everyone in Harvati ’s field is convinced of the data here , however . Some experts seem unwilling to assume this new hypothesis , as it would wipe forth decade of research . The main counterpoint is that this skull is unlikely to belong to an earlyHomo sapiensspecies , and probably belongs to a Neanderthal .
Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenKaterina Harvati and her team used CT scans to create virtual 3D models of the two fossils, and then compared them with fossils of Neanderthal, Homo sapiens, and modern humans.
Katerina Harvati , Eberhard Karls University of TübingenThe Apidima 2 was found to be at least 170,000 years old and that of a Neanderthal .
But Harvati and her colleague believe the shard ’s curve points to it having belonged to the back of a human skull .
The newly date fossil has had a long , decades - old journey to arrive at the point of published hypothesis . Discovered in the Apidima cave in southern Greece in 1978 , it was so damaged that it was classify to an Athens museum to gather junk .
A 2d skull found during the shot did get analyzed soundly , as it retain a complete face and seemed to be a bright find . This fossil , name Apidima 2 , turned out to go to a Neanderthal — and thereby did n’t have any ground - shatter consequence regarding the timeline of early human migration .
Harvati and her team decide to examine them both , nonetheless . By take CT scan of the two skulls , they were able to create virtual 3D reconstructions that they could precisely liken with skulls from earlyHomo sapiens , Neanderthals , and advanced humans .
What they establish with the 2d skull was that it had a pronounced , rotund supercilium ridge that confirmed it as Neanderthal . The other one , however , appeared strikingly similar to that of a modern human being — with the most notable evidence being the skull ’s lack of a Neanderthal swelling on the back the head .
Katerina Harvati , Eberhard Karls University of TübingenKaterina Harvati and her squad used CT scan to produce virtual 3D models of the two fossils , and then compared them with fossils of Neanderthal , Homo sapiens , and advanced homo .
“ The part that is save , the back of the skull , is very diagnostic in differentiating Neanderthals and modern human from each other and from earlier antediluvian world , ” Harvati explain .
To cut across their stem using all the modern applied science at their disposal , Harvati ’s team deal advantage of the radioactive decay of natural uranium that occurs in sink human remains , and delineate how much has vanished to pucker an estimated particular date range .
They plant the swinish skull to be at least 170,000 age old , while theHomo sapiensskull go out back a minimum of 210,000 old age . The rock that encased the two skull was found to be over 150,000 yr sure-enough . Researchers fix that the two artefact may have unify together after a mudflow case them and then solidified .
Some scientists are skeptical , include Spanish paleoanthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga and University of Wisconsin - Madison fossilist John Hawks .
“ The fossil is too fragmental and incomplete for such a unattackable title , ” say Arsuaga . “ In skill , sinful claims involve sinful proofs . A partial brainpan , lacking the cranial base and the aggregate of the face , is not extraordinary grounds to my creative thinker . ”
“ Can we really expend a small part of the skull like this to pick out our mintage ? ” Hawks ask . “ The plot line in this paper is that the skull is more rounded in the back , with more vertical position , and that ready it similar to modern humans . I cogitate that when we see complexity , we should n’t assume that a single small part of the skeleton can tell the whole story . ”
For Harvati , however , the physical attribute — and the fact that Neanderthal fossil in Europe have been find to hold human DNA — are enough to at least powerfully consider her hypothesis . As it stands , she ’s pretty confident , and suggests more research and data - gathering be done in Greece to confirm or disconfirm her speculation .
“ It ’s eerie how well it all fits,”she toldThe New York Times . “ If there ’s an overarching explanation , my shot would be a cultural process . This is a hypothesis that should be tested with information on the ground . And this is a really interesting seat to be appear at . ”
After learning about the oldest known human fossil ever found outside of Africa , read aboutsome Pacific Islanders having desoxyribonucleic acid that links to no acknowledge human root . Then , learn aboutthe oldest - ever bracelet being found alongside an extinct human species .
