Scientists say fossils unearthed in Morocco show early Homo sapiens roamed Africa 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. The discovery shakes up a long established consensus about the origins of our species.
Image: picture-alliance/MPI EVA Leipzig/Philipp Gunz
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The skull, teeth and bone fragments discovered near Marrakech are estimated to be about 300,000 years old, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
"This material represents the very root of our species, the oldest Homo sapiens ever found in Africa or elsewhere," said paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, one of the scientists leading the research.
The ancient face and teeth fragments are remarkably similar to those of modern humans, researchers sayImage: picture-alliance/MPI EVA Leipzig/Philipp Gunz
Until this point, the oldest known Homo sapien remains were from Ethiopia, dating back about 195,000 years. For that reason, East Africa has long been considered the evolutionary "Garden of Eden," where our species originated.
"The message we would like to convey is that our species is much older than we thought and that it did not emerge in an Adamic way in a small 'Garden of Eden' somewhere in East Africa," Hublin said.
There is broad scientific consensus that Homo sapiens originated in Africa. But these latest findings, the researchers say, suggest a "rather more complex picture," with primitive forms of the species likely dispersing across the entire continent 300,000 years ago.
Jean-Jacques Hublin was part of the team that unearthed the fossilsImage: picture-alliance/MPI EVA Leipzig/Shannon McPherron
Same face, different skull
The Moroccan fossils were discovered in a cave at a site called Jebel Irhoud between 2007 and 2011. They are believed to come from at least five individuals - three adults, one teenager and child of around 8 years old.
The skulls had faces and teeth matching those of humans today. "They are not just like us," Hublin said. But they had "basically the face you could meet on the train in New York."
One important difference, however, was their elongated braincases. According to the scientists, the longer skull shape shows that although the shape of our face was probably established very early on, our brain needed more time to develop into its current form.
"The story of our species in the last 300,000 years is mostly the evolution of our brain," Hublin said.
Dating back 300,000 years
The scientists concluded the remains came from hunter-gatherers. Near the bone fragments, archeologists found stone tools used to hunt and butcher animals, as well as evidence of extensive fire use.
Max Planck Institute archaeologist Shannon McPherron said an analysis of stone flints helped the scientists calculate the age of the adjacent human fossils. They used thermoluminescence - a technology that measures the exposure of stone minerals to radiation generated by heat - for example, from a cooking fire.
The evolutionary lineage that led to Homo sapiens is believed to have diverged from predecessors Neanderthals and Denisovans more than half-a-million years ago. But with few fossils to work with, the history of our species relies heavily on speculation.
nm/rc (Reuters, AP, AFP)
A brief history of humankind
What distinguishes humans from animals? What is culture? Did Homo sapiens and Neanderthals co-exist at any time in history? A museum in Bonn answers these questions by revisiting 100,000 years of cultural history.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/A. Avital
From molecules to the nuclear bomb
Life and death are inseparable. The exhibition "A Brief History of Humankind" in Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle museum shows how, 13.8 billion years ago, molecules began to connect and turn into structured organisms. The above video still by US artist Bruce Conner shows what could spell the end of evolution: the nuclear bomb.
Image: B. Connor
A turning point: fire
Remains of the oldest Eurasian hearth dating back 780,000 years were discovered on the banks of the river Jordan. The ability to control fire was a turning point in evolutionary history that moved mankind to the top of the food chain. Fire gave light, kept people warm; people cooked over a fire and used it to make stone tools. It was a gathering place - a Stone Age TV.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/E. Posner
The birth of mankind
Homo sapiens had a fleeting chin, slanting forehead and a narrow brow ridge. The above skull is about 100,000 years old and was found in Israel, where Homo sapiens co-existed with Neanderthals for quite some time. All of the artifacts displayed in the Bonn exhibition are from Israel - and it's the first time they are on view in Europe.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem
Shaping culture
This Neanderthal skull was unearthed in the Amud Cave in Galilee. Anatomically, it is nothing like the skull of Homo sapiens: the chin is even more fleeting, the back of the head shows an indentation. These early humans not only fulfilled their basic needs, archaeologists also found they held burial rituals and other forms of culture.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/E. Posner
Togetherness
What makes us human? Family plays a huge role. Apart from historical objects, the exhibition also presents works by contemporary artists. US sculptor Charles Ray's 1993 "Family Romance" shows the fine line that connects family. In this sculpture, two parents hold their offspring's hands; however, the normalcy of a nuclear family is disrupted as both son and daughter are as tall as mom and dad.
Image: R. Charles
Gods made of stone
Humans started forming figurines depicting gods about 8,000 years ago, at a time when people were settling, planting fields and forming communities. They created goddesses they could pray to for good harvests and fertility. The phallic shape in the above photo could also symbolize a male god. Lines and etchings indicate abstract portraits.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/E. Posner
External memory aid
Unlike animals, humans can collect and write down knowledge. The Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia began to record information and numbers. This clay tablet was inscribed between 4,000 and 3,100 BC, paving the way for the complex memory systems needed to build cities and empires.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/E. Posner
Money instead of shells
This coin made of electrum, a gold and silver alloy, is the oldest-known coin in the world. Embossed with the picture of a grazing stag, it is from the seventh century BC. Of course, other forms of payment already existed: sea shells, pearls and promissory notes.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/Y. Hovav
Home sweet home
In the third century BC, Arad was a flourishing business center at the crossroads of two trade routes in the Middle East. For 350 years, it was a magnificent city of palaces, temples and homes. The above model shows a typical square one-room dwelling with a flat roof, dating back to between 3,000 to 2,650 BC.
Image: The Israel Museum Jerusalem/A. Hay
Two-faced progress
In 1912, Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, a sensation and a scientific revolution. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem owns the original manuscript to E=mc². The mathematical formula embodies the two sides of progress: With it, mankind gained important insight into physics, but it also enabled the creation of the first nuclear bomb.
