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Human Ancestor Preserved in Stone
ScienceNOW Daily News ^ | 7 December 2007 | Ann Gibbons

Posted on 12/07/2007 11:02:48 PM PST by neverdem

Picture of skull

Stone man.
This partial skull of a 500,000-year-old human was found in a slab of travertine from a quarry like this one in Turkey.

Credit: John Kappelman/University of Texas, Austin

Workers at a travertine factory near Denizli, Turkey, were startled recently when they sawed a block of the limestone for tiles and discovered part of a human skull. Now, it appears they unwittingly exposed fossilized remains of a long-sought species of human that lived 500,000 years ago, researchers say. Although only four skull fragments were found, the fossil also reveals the earliest case of tuberculosis.

The Middle East has long been an important crossroads for human travelers. "It's been clear for some time that earlier hominids must have dispersed into Europe from western Asia and/or Africa, and Turkey sits squarely on the likely route," says paleoanthropologist Philip Rightmire of Harvard University, who was not a member of the team. Paleontologists have spent decades prospecting in Turkey for remains of a direct human ancestor, Homo erectus, which was the first hominid to migrate out of Africa. Although scientists have uncovered fossils of H. erectus that lived 1.7 million years ago in nearby Georgia, they have found few fossils of humans in this region that are between 1.7 million and 120,000 years old.

After the factory manager contacted a researcher at the local university, he alerted the rest of the team, which included researchers in France, Germany, and the United States. They report in the current issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology that the find most closely resembles H. erectus. However, Rightmire says it could also be a member of H. heidelbergensis, a species found in Europe that is thought to be the direct ancestor of Neandertals.

Regardless of its identity, lead author John Kappelman of the University of Texas, Austin, says the skull bears scars that are a "dead ringer" for those created by the Leptomeningitis tuberculosa bacterium, which causes a form of tuberculosis (TB) that attacks the brain's membranes. The scars represent the earliest signs of the disease in humans, says Kappelman. Previously, the oldest evidence of TB came from Egyptian and Peruvian mummies that were several thousand years old.

TB's presence might also provide clues about what this early human looked like and how it adapted to new habitats. If the hominid was dark-skinned, for example, it might have had trouble getting enough vitamin D as it migrated north, because dark-skinned people absorb less of the sunlight needed to make vitamin D than do light-skinned people. And when humans have vitamin D deficiency, their immune systems can be less vigilant, perhaps making dark-skinned migrants out of Africa more vulnerable to diseases such as TB as they headed to less sunny climates, says Kappelman.

"This is a hugely important discovery," says paleoanthropologist Clark Larsen of Ohio State University, Columbus, because infectious disease may reveal new challenges facing early humans as they moved into temperate regions. Kappelman hopes that the rest of the skull will be located eventually. "There was bone in the other slab we don't have," he says. "Someone may find the lottery prize of H. erectus preserved in their tile countertop."

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TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ancientautopsies; anthropology; baboonmarker; denizli; elainemorgan; erectus; godsgravesglyphs; heidelbergensis; helixmakemineadouble; homoerectus; homoheidelbergensis; leptomeningitis; medicine; multiregionalism; republicofgeorgia; science; tb; tuberculosis; turkey
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If you read the link for "The history of TB," 'acilli' Calmette-Guérin was supposed to be Bacilli Calmette-Guérin or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, the TB vaccine. When I was a resident, I had an AIDS patient with Pott's disease. She complained of being unable to walk in the ER. IIRC, a CT was done already as an outpatient, which showed the lesion in her spine, but it was missed by the radiologist. After about a month in the hospital, she was able to walk out the door.
1 posted on 12/07/2007 11:02:49 PM PST by neverdem
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: Bobalu

LOLO! That’s cold. I’m trying to be serious.


3 posted on 12/07/2007 11:32:09 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: neverdem

Well, I don’t have any limestone tiles. Out of luck.

Seriously though, this is an important and fascinating discovery. The oldest known TB case jumping from several thousand years ago to half a million years ago - big step in this field.


5 posted on 12/08/2007 12:47:10 AM PST by JillValentine (Being a feminist is all about being a victim. Being an armed woman is all about not being a victim.)
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To: neverdem

DNA studies indicate that we’re not even related to neanderthals, much less any sort of more primitive hominid.


6 posted on 12/08/2007 2:42:48 AM PST by damondonion
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To: damondonion; blam
DNA studies indicate that we’re not even related to neanderthals, much less any sort of more primitive hominid.

What about the Red heads?

7 posted on 12/08/2007 5:31:56 AM PST by ASA Vet
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To: neverdem

Scientist Discover World’s Oldest Bike Helmet.

International scientists were forced to reconsider conventional views of the history of bike riding when a 500,000 year old bike helmet was discovered in a Turkish quarry. . . .


8 posted on 12/08/2007 6:38:40 AM PST by Juan Medén
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To: ASA Vet

There is vanishingly little genetic diversity in the present human race including red heads. Neanderthal DNA by way of contrast is typically described as roughly halfway betweeen ours and that of a chimpanzee. In other words, the neanderthal who was the most advanced hominid, was basically a glorified ape despite his rough resemblance to us. Everybody who studies this stuff pretty much agrees this rules the neanderthal out as a plausible human ancestor and that has to rule the others out as well.


9 posted on 12/08/2007 6:44:00 AM PST by damondonion
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To: ASA Vet; SunkenCiv; neverdem
Most Ancient Case Of Tuberculosis Found In 500,000-year-old Human; Points To Modern Health Issues
10 posted on 12/08/2007 6:49:07 AM PST by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: neverdem; blam

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Author Ann Gibbons? That's cute. ;') Thanks Blam for the ping, and neverdem for the topic. Duplicate topic though it may be, that graphic is cool.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


11 posted on 12/08/2007 7:17:07 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Friday, December 7, 2007_____________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: damondonion
Neanderthal DNA by way of contrast is typically described as roughly halfway betweeen ours and that of a chimpanzee.

False.

In other words, the neanderthal who was the most advanced hominid, was basically a glorified ape despite his rough resemblance to us.

False.

Everybody who studies this stuff pretty much agrees this rules the neanderthal out as a plausible human ancestor...

Neanderthal has not been considered a plausible ancestor for decades, but not because of the DNA studies--which have taken place only in the last 10 or so years.

... and that has to rule the others out as well.

False.

You really need to study some of this before you post your opinions. Virtually everything you said is wrong.

12 posted on 12/08/2007 10:19:07 AM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Coyoteman

Do you take ignorance pills?


13 posted on 12/08/2007 1:08:29 PM PST by damondonion
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To: damondonion
Do you take ignorance pills?

No, but I did study fossil man and evolution, and related subjects, in grad school.

Unless things have changed considerably, your positions (above) are wrong.

14 posted on 12/08/2007 5:22:00 PM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Coyoteman
Do you take ignorance pills?

No, but I did study fossil man and evolution, and related subjects, in grad school.

Same thing pretty much...

15 posted on 12/08/2007 7:33:11 PM PST by damondonion
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To: damondonion; Coyoteman

Your exchange is part of the reason I usually just read the article and leave when a thread relates to Crevo/Evo.

I’m out of here. Please continue to insult each other.


16 posted on 12/08/2007 7:37:30 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: damondonion
You: Do you take ignorance pills?

Me: No, but I did study fossil man and evolution, and related subjects, in grad school.

Same thing pretty much...

No, they are not. If you are arguing from religious belief, you should just say so. Don't pretend what you are doing is science.

17 posted on 12/08/2007 7:40:10 PM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Grizzled Bear
Your exchange is part of the reason I usually just read the article and leave when a thread relates to Crevo/Evo.

I’m out of here. Please continue to insult each other.

I have posted no insults -- I don't need to insult anyone. I have simply pointed out that a position stated on a previous post is false with respect to science.

And I have ignored the insults that were directed at me. (I'm an "evo" so I'm used to being insulted.)

18 posted on 12/08/2007 7:45:06 PM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Coyoteman

Have you NEVER insulted anyone on one of these Crevo/Evo threads?

Be honest...


19 posted on 12/08/2007 7:47:46 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: neverdem

Humans have only been here @ 7000 years. It cracks me up to see those 6 and 7 digit numbers.


20 posted on 12/08/2007 7:52:11 PM PST by SeeRushToldU_So (Tebow for Heisman! The SEC rules college football! Go Dawgs!)
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