Posted on 12/16/2009 6:22:20 AM PST by decimon
PARIS (AFP) – Experts on prehistoric man are rethinking their dates after a find in a southern French valley suggested our ancestors may have reached Europe 1.57 million years ago: 200,000 years earlier than we thought.
What provoked the recount was a pile of fossilised bones and teeth uncovered 15 years ago by local man Jean Rouvier in a basalt quarry at Lezignan la Cebe, in the Herault valley, Languedoc.
In the summer of 2008, Rouvier mentioned his find to Jerome Ivorra, an archaeological researcher at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
The subsequent dig uncovered a large variety of ancient animal bones: cattle, deer, horses and also of carnivorous animals related to cats and dogs.
More importantly however, about 10 metres (yards) down and under the basalt layer, the team found 20 or so tools, most of which bore traces of use.
The surprise came when argon dating showed the site went back 1.57 million years -- substantially older than many other prehistoric sites -- according to a paper published in the specialist journal, Comptes Rendus Palevol.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ancien regime ping.
“Our ancestors”...on the basis of tools? What positive evidence is there that these hominids were our ancestors? I seriously doubt any reputable researcher would make that claim on the basis of tools alone.
Sloppy reporting.
Push back the date of human overreaction.
Ignorant reporters.
It had to be some other ‘homo’ species such as homo ergaster or homo heidlebergensis, not homo sapiens sapiens.
But can an AFP reporter figure this out? Noooooo.
Image: JOHN GURCHE PORTRAIT OF A PIONEER With a brain half the size of a modern one and a brow reminiscent of Homo habilis, this hominid is one of the most primitive members of our genus on record. Paleoartist John Gurche reconstructed this 1.75-million-year-old explorer from a nearly complete teenage H. erectus skull and associated mandible found in Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. The background figures derive from two partial crania recovered at the site.
What we really need is a directory showing where all 16 billion human ancestors are buried.
We must inventory the earth before the next ice age.
These random discoveries are unacceptable!!!!
AFP = Agence France Presse
Or, as Helen Thomas calls them "the good old days"
These findings report the existence of man-made objects in Europe, which certain scientific techniques appear to reveal are 1.57 years old. The technique used on this site is argon dating, rather than radiocarbon dating. It is based on the fact that potassium-40 (40K) decays into the gas argon-40 (40Ar) and calcium-40 (40Ca) at a known rate. The half-life of potassium-40 is approximately 1.25 billion years. Measurement of the amount of argon-40 in a sample is the basis for age determination. Always keep in mind, these findings are part of an hypothesis, not a statement of fact.
Ancient Homo ping!
NONE of my ancestors were French.
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Thanks decimon. |
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