Posted on 04/25/2003 9:51:54 PM PDT by green team 1999
Hominid fossils show their age
By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor 
Australopithecus fossils from caves in South Africa may have been buried about 4 million years ago, as much as 1 million years earlier than previously thought. Australopithecus is an important hominid - human ancestor - that demonstrates the transition from ape-like features to human ones. Its kind were first discovered in East Africa and lived about four million years ago.
Researchers used a technique that measured the decay of radioactive isotopes formed when the fossil was on the surface, but which declined when it was buried.
The new dates make the South African fossils as old as similar specimens found in East Africa, forcing a revision of how far scientists believe Australopithecus ranged.
Radioactive decay
The fossils were from the caves and quarries at Sterkfontein, 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, that are some of the richest hominid fossil sites in the world.
About 500 specimens have been recovered there since the 1936 discovery of the first adult Australopithecus.
The fossils are encased in a calcified accumulation of rock and surface soil that formed as debris dropped into the cave from the roof.
Finding a date for the age of the fossils has been problematical as different techniques have yielded conflicting results.
The latest dating technique involves measuring the decay of certain radioactive isotopes in the cave sediments.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say they looked for so-called cosmogenic isotopes that form when sediment is bombarded by cosmic rays at the Earth's surface.
Later, when the rocks are buried, production of the isotopes ceases. Measuring their slow decay then indicates how much time has passed since the rock lay near the surface.
This method makes it possible to date specimens found in caves, which usually lack easily dated volcanic or sedimentary deposits.
The results indicate that the Sterkfontein fossils are of a similar age to similar specimens found in East Africa, and are consequently some of the earliest examples of hominids.
for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.
This may (or may not) be an indicator of how long ago the rocks were on the surface of the Earth, but it's NOT an indicator of the age of the fossils contained in the floor of the cave.
Science magazine is devoted to being anti-God but is not scientific at all. They have a one-string violin and the only note it plays is evolution.
Besides, I shoulda figured it out; 'hominid' couldn't possibly refer to Her PIAPSness in any formal rhetorical sense.
BTW, an Iranian student movement has declared that George Bush is the reincarnation of Ali - the 13th appearance of the Imam! This is roughly the equivalent of the Mahdi (better known from Sunni sources) or the Christian Messiah (second coming), Jewish Messiah (first coming), or Hindu Messiah (about the 4th or 5th coming).
No doubt the fellow who used to make use of this 4 million year old skeleton kind of wondered about the future and if it would be better, and maybe more understandable.
He might well have prayed for a Divine Revelation of Truth.
Sort of puts the kabosh on the "they only have Lucy" argument...
What with the Bible alluding to a civilization of man existing and being extinguished long before Adam, "Science" and their religion of evolution end up being irrelevant.
Sort of puts the kabosh on the "they only have Lucy" argument...
Nah. To the hard-core creationids, it just means someone made 500 copies of Piltdown Man and then scattered those fraudulent fossils all over the place. Those eeevilluuushunists will stop at nothing!
Y'know, it seems to me that if a gang of atheists wanted to seriously undermine the Christian religion (as the creationoids claim is the whole purpose of evolution), the easiest thing would be to forge some bogus gospels. I wonder why these allegedly maniacal atheists bother with faking evidence of evolution. Seems like going about it the hard way.
The article says: "Australopithecus is an important hominid - human ancestor - that demonstrates the transition from ape-like features to human ones. Its kind were first discovered in East Africa and lived about four million years ago."
In other words, it's more evidence of human ancestry (or human evolution). Cumulative evidence. Repetitive evidence. Abundant evidence. Creationoids could -- and often did -- dismiss one or two such fossils. It becomes increasingly impossible for a rational observer to dismiss hundreds.
Yes, that's as far as the article goes. "Stasis" doesn't necessarily contradict evolution. In this case it only means that the species existed for a few million years. It's gone now, so your "stasis" is a short-term affair, geologically speaking. Some species hang around a very long time, even while some offshoot goes on to evolve as something slightly different. Not a problem for evolution; rather, that's how it happens.
And as far as I know, the precise role of Australopithecus in human evolution isn't entirely certain at this point. That doesn't contradict evolution either. Every year we gather more evidence. Every year, our understanding grows. The picture that has emerged thus far is still incomplete, and probably always will be, but it's very different from the 6-day creation extravaganza presented in Genesis.
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