The discovery in Israel turned the theory of migration of people from Africa

2018-01-30 06:58

The discovery in Israel turned the theory of migration of people from Africa
People began to migrate from Africa to other areas much earlier, than was considered before.

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Israel was found the most ancient remains of modern man outside of Africa, reports Rus.Media. Their age is up to 194 thousand years, and it means that people began to migrate from Africa to other areas much earlier, than was considered before.

Israeli archaeologists have discovered the oldest to date, the remains of modern man outside of the African continent. According to the Israel Hershcovich, co-author of the work, in 2002, the student found in the Israeli cave Mislia the left part of the upper jaw.

Using three different Dating techniques, the scientists found that the jaw belonged to Homo sapiens, who lived 177-194 thousand years ago. Previously, the oldest human remains outside Africa dated to the period of 90-120 thousand years ago. An article about the results of a study published in the journal Science.

A jaw fragment with preserved left part of the dentition was discovered in 2002 during the student excavations in the cave Misle 12 km from Haifa, in the same archaeological layer as the thousands of well-preserved flint cutting tools, said Mina Evron, one of the study’s authors.

The researchers note that the shape of the jaw is more like the shape of the jaw of a modern human and not Neanderthal, and thus Homo sapiens was able to leave Africa more than 194 thousand years ago.

In addition to the remains near the cave were found stone tools made in the so-called Levallois technique, which requires abstract thinking. This means that archaeologists believe that the emergence of this method of stone processing was associated with the emergence of modern humans in this region of the Middle East.

Other artifacts found in the cave indicate that among people were hunters of large animals — deer, gazelles and tours. These findings prove that modern humans migrated from Africa at least 50 thousand years earlier than previously thought.

“An earlier migration from Africa suggests that cultural or genetic exchanges with long-standing local populations occurred earlier than previously thought. This is consistent with recent genetic evidence of an earlier human migration out of Africa,” explained Rolf Kam, paleoanthropologist of the University Birminghamians (USA).

The researchers are absolutely convinced that the age of the jaw is identified correctly. Its definition independently studied by three teams. The study was based on the rate of decay of isotopes of uranium and methods of optical Dating — they allow you to determine when the subject (or rather, the contained minerals) were last exposed to sunlight.

In addition, the researchers conducted the Dating of the tools found in the cave. Thus, they were able to establish that the age of the jaw may exceed 185 thousand.

The team also created a 3D model of the jaw and performed a comparative analysis with other well-known jaws of ancient people. The curvature of the sky, the location of the cheeks and the nose pointed to the fact that the jaw definitely belongs to Homo sapiens and not Neanderthal.

There are two theories about the human migration from Africa. One of them says that the ancient people began to migrate EN masse about 40-80 thousand years ago. The other thought before, about 120-130 thousand years ago, a small group of people gradually have settled outside of Africa.

However, there are few evidence and earlier migrations, and genetic analysis shows that humans and Neanderthals could enter into sexual relationships in Europe, more than 220 million years ago.

The new finding expands on the information about earlier migration. “I think it’s great. We have a modern view of the upper jaw from Israel, and her owner lived here much earlier than expected,” — says the discovery paleoanthropologist John hawks of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

However, he urged to be careful with statements that the jaw belongs to Homo sapiens: it’s risky to say, not having anything but one jaw. With the same success it could be and some as-yet-untitled related species.

The hawks point of view is supported by other researchers. Anthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh notes that the form of the teeth and the height of the cheekbones appear to him to be insufficiently “human”. “What’s this? Who knows, he says. – In my opinion, this new family man. I think the more discoveries we make, the more we see how diverse was our evolutionary path”.

Hershkovitz accept criticism, but first offers the other scientists closer to examine the find and give their evidence base.

Michael Petraglia from the Institute of Sciences about the history of human Society the max Planck noted that, if the Dating is correct, it’s just about finding it “mind-blowing” — it provides that modern people have repeatedly migrated from Africa, several groups moving to the middle East.

So, they moved 190-244 thousand years ago when the climate was more humid, but became extinct when he again became arid, explains paleoanthropologist Marta Lahr from Cambridge University. In 2017, paleontologists have established that people have lived in Africa for 300 thousand years ago. It has learned through the analysis of human remains found in Morocco in the Parking lot of Jebel Irhoud in the 1960-ies.

In 2004, the old finds were added to the stone artifacts and animal remains. The age of the finds was initially estimated at 200 thousand years, however, according to a new analysis, they are not less than 300 thousand years.

It is found out using thermoluminescence Dating, which involves measuring the energy radiated in the heating of the sample. All the remains belonged to five different people. Previously it was thought that people in Africa appeared about 200 thousand years ago.