Posted on 01/24/2008 9:39:26 AM PST by charles m
Mainland archaeologists have discovered a fractured but almost complete skull in Xuchang , Henan province , that they believe is from an anatomically modern Homo sapiens nearly 100,000 years old. If the estimate is correct and if the skull, broken into 16 pieces seemingly by a powerful strike, demonstrates a feature of the East Asian population, then one of palaeoanthropology's paradigms - "Out of Africa" - may be shattered.
Part of the Out of Africa theory holds that anatomically modern human beings first appeared in Africa. Then, about 100,000 years ago, they moved off the continent and took over the world, eliminating or replacing their more ape-like ancestors.
The theory has become universally accepted because it is the only one backed up by credible fossil evidence so far. Nonetheless, many mainland palaeoanthropologists find it hard to believe.
They believe that most of the people living in China and East Asia are descendents of a native lineage whose consistent, uninterrupted evolution can be traced back millions of years.
Chinese palaeoanthropologists have unearthed some evidence in the past few decades - some teeth, bones, flint tools and domestic animal remains. But what they found was scant, partial or indirect compared with remains found in Africa - an arid, less populated and largely exposed continent where conditions for fossil preservation and discovery are nearly perfect.
The Achilles' heel of the orient-origin theory is that human fossil records do not exist on the mainland from 50,000 to 100,000 years ago.
For that reason, the theory has been largely ignored by mainstream academics. But the skull discovered in Xuchang may change everything.
The preliminary result of optically stimulated luminescence dating completed by Peking University shows that the age of the skull ranges from 80,000 to 100,000 years.
"It may be what palaeoanthropologists have been looking for, for decades, a modern Homo sapiens species that leads to us," Li Zhanyang , a researcher at the Henan Cultural Heritage Department and leader of the archaeology excavation team, said yesterday.
The skull was discovered last month at a palaeolithic site in Lingjing town, Xuchang, that was a lake.
"Judging from the size, shape and osteal [skull bone] patterns, we immediately realised it is something like a human. Finding a complete skull of an ancient human being is a dream to an archaeologist," Dr Li said.
Though China Daily quoted Shan Jixiang , director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, as describing the skull as "the greatest discovery in China after the Peking Man and Upper Cave Man", palaeoanthropologists said it was too early to make any conclusions.
"It's just been discovered," said Liu Wu , director at the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology. "We guess it could lead to some important evidence. But so far it is mostly a guess."
Fahrakahn’s not gonna be happy.
racists
Actually, the problem is in the DNA evidence of a spread from Africa -- basically, no "unexplainable" introductions of non-African lines. Other accounts of this find talk about a "low" forehead and pronounced brow ridges. The "orthodox" Chinese position is that modern humans came from China. This seems to be a fix so that the find fits the "theory".
180kya South Africa
130kya Ethiopia
110kya Israel
100kya China
60kya Australia
50kya Europe
Clearly a coastal species that eventually followed rivers inland much later.
“The “orthodox” Chinese position is that modern humans came from China.”
So are you telling us that the Chinese are now claiming that all of mankind was “Made in China”? Will people now be available for sale at WalMart? /s
Correct. Most other geneticists put the split from Africa closer to 60kya which is well after Toba and putting a real rush to get to Australia. The only way the China finding could fit into the picture is if it’s from an earlier extinct migration much the way the Israel finding is suspected of being.
The default Chinese position is that the yellow race is so obviously superior that it couldn’t have anything in common with the “lesser races” on the other continents. I expect Chinese “scientists” to continue asserting conclusions that cannot be corroborated by scientists around the world. In fact, I suspect they won’t let foreign scientists have unrestricted access to their “evidence”. What Chinese “scientists” are doing is secular religion (asserting yellow superiority), not science.
Which fits with the "aquatic ape" hypothesis, that the earliest humans spent a lot of time in the water and had a lot of fish in their diet
And I am saying that the origin of this Chinese assertion, based on no evidence, is the superiority of the yellow race. By the way, it is demonstrably true that Europeans are not descendants of Neanderthals, just as it is true that the yellow races are not descendants of the Peking Man.
Well, it's easier to head out to international conferences without being laughed at when you're not propounding racialistic theories without a foundation in science.
No need to be so damn prejudiced here against the Chinese.
Actually, all I'm pointing out is that the Chinese national ideology is racialistic to a fault.
100,000-year-old human skull found
China Daily | Wednesday, January 23, 2008 | unattributed
Posted on 01/23/2008 2:48:22 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1958356/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1958356/posts?page=24#24
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The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
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