Earliest European 31,000 Years Old

ABC News/AFP ^ | 5-19-2005 | AFP

[blam]

Earliest European 31,000 years old

Agençe France-Presse
Thursday, 19 May 2005

Radiocarbon dating of human remains found in the Czech Republic has confirmed they come from the oldest European found so far (Image: iStockphoto)

Fossilised human bones found in the Czech Republic have been dated back to some 31,000 years, which scientists say confirms them as the oldest known examples of Homo sapiens found in Europe.

Austrian and US scientists publish their carbon-dating results in today's issue of the journal Nature.

An upper jaw, teeth and the skull of a female were found in a cave in Moravia in the 19th century, but scientists have debated how old they are.

University of Vienna researcher Dr Eva Wild and colleagues used a technique called accelerator mass spectrometry to analyse carbon 14 isotopes in the dental remains.

These isotopes decay at a known rate, allowing scientists to calculate the age of a dead organism.

Wild's team suggests the teeth are about 31,000 radiocarbon years old, a yardstick that can be somewhat different from calendar years.

Radiocarbon years and calendar years tend to diverge and converge at different periods in prehistory, consistent with varying amounts of carbon 14 in the atmosphere.

The discrepancy is significant during this period in prehistory, and calibrating radiocarbon and calendar years is a matter of ongoing research.

How does this relate to Neanderthals?

The fossil's age, as calculated in this latest research, concurs with artefacts from other sites in Europe that have been carbon-dated to the same era.

The finding is important, because it could help solve the mystery of what happened to the Neanderthals, a species of hominid that predominated in Europe before anatomically modern man showed up.

One school of thought suggests the Neanderthals were wiped out by the smarter H. sapiens or lost the battle for food and habitat, then simply faded away.

But another theory suggests the two hominid species lived side by side for many thousands of years and may have intermingled, which implies there could be Neanderthal genes in the human gene pool today.

[blam]

GGG Ping.

Neanderthal And Humans Shared Cave

"The finding, primarily based on analysis of fossil remains, confirms earlier speculation that Neanderthals and humans competed with carnivores for food and prehistoric real estate."

It also strengthens the link between humans and Neanderthals, suggesting they did socialise and interbreed, despite some DNA evidence to the contrary.

[Paleo Conservative]

If it is a female, I'm sure Bill Clinton is interested.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

A single cave in France was home to Neanderthals, modern humans, and hyenas at roughly the same time 40,700 years ago, according to a new study.

Nothing that isn't going on in modern-day San Francisco.

[Wiseghy]

Oh no, not more posts of that old D.C. reporter!

[Nick Danger]

Earliest European 31,000 Years Old

Ask him if he knows Helen Thomas.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Just a jolly little reminder that the average brain size of a Neanderthal was larger than that of modern man. Whatever happened to them, we didn't outsmart them.

[hispanarepublicana]

Or Robert Byrd.

[Anvilhead]

Yeah but if brain size correlated with intelligence we'd all be kneeling to our glorious, benevolent and most importantly, super psychic, elephant overlords.

[eastsider]

I'd be willing to bet that blue whales have even bigger brains than elephants.

[davisfh]

"But another theory suggests the two hominid species lived side by side for many thousands of years and may have intermingled, which implies there could be Neanderthal genes in the human gene pool today."

I've always wondered about the family who lives about a mile down the road from me.

[Mike Darancette]

I would think that Neanderthals were pretty much gone at 31,00 YA.

[MD_Willington_1976]

...LOL...


...shhh...

you know if you get out of line they will trample you...

[AlexW]

"Just a jolly little reminder that the average brain size of a Neanderthal was larger than that of modern man."

So what? I am always told that size does not matter.

[blam]

"I would think that Neanderthals were pretty much gone at 31,000 YA.

Actually, they found one in Spain even younger than that...24,000, I think.

[Anvilhead]

Yes, true, but let's face it, no super psychic whale is going to take over the world. They would sing a great song of peace called "Lesbian Seagulls" and we would all come together in peace and harmony untill the Vogons come down to make way for the interstellar off ramp.

Elephants are the only ones strong enough in the dark side to fight off the alien's powers. Why do you think republicans use it as an avatar?

We know whats up.

[DumpsterDiver]

Wild's team suggests the teeth are about 31,000 radiocarbon years old, a yardstick that can be somewhat different from calendar years.

Radiocarbon years and calendar years tend to diverge and converge at different periods in prehistory, consistent with varying amounts of carbon 14 in the atmosphere.

The discrepancy is significant during this period in prehistory, and calibrating radiocarbon and calendar years is a matter of ongoing research.

That was interesting and I learned something new, to boot.

[NW Mike]

"But another theory suggests the two hominid species lived side by side for many thousands of years and may have intermingled, which implies there could be Neanderthal genes in the human gene pool today."

Implies?? Nah, it's a known fact. Today, we call them LIBERALS.

[eastsider]

You might be on to something. The more I think about it, I've never even heard of a red whale.

[davisfh]

"Today, we call them LIBERALS."

Dang! Why didn't I think of that? Sloping forehead, vacant stare, hand out, salivating heavily when a free meal is presented. How could I have missed that?