Oldest Human Skulls Found

BBC ^ | 6-11-2003 | Jonathan Amos

[blam]

Oldest human skulls found

By Jonathan Amos
BBC News Online science staff

Three fossilised skulls unearthed in Ethiopia are said by scientists to be among the most important discoveries ever made in the search for the origin of humans.

Herto skull: Dated at between 160,000 and 154,000 years old (Image copyright: David L. Brill)

The crania of two adults and a child, all dated to be around 160,000 years old, were pulled out of sediments near a village called Herto in the Afar region in the east of the country.

They are described as the oldest known fossils of modern humans, or Homo sapiens.

What excites scientists so much is that the specimens fit neatly with the genetic studies that have suggested this time and part of Africa for the emergence of mankind.

"All the genetics have pointed to a geologically recent origin for humans in Africa - and now we have the fossils," said Professor Tim White, one of the co-leaders on the research team that found the skulls.

"These specimens are critical because they bridge the gap between the earlier more archaic forms in Africa and the fully modern humans that we see 100,000 years ago," the University of California at Berkeley, US, paleoanthropologist told BBC News Online.

Out of Africa

The skulls are not an exact match to those of people living today; they are slightly larger, longer and have more pronounced brow ridges.

These minor but important differences have prompted the US/Ethiopian research team to assign the skulls to a new subspecies of humans called Homo sapiens idaltu (idaltu means "elder" in the local Afar language).

Herto reconstruction: What the ancient people might have looked like (Image copyright: J. Matternes)

The Herto discoveries were hailed on Wednesday by those researchers who have championed the idea that all humans living today come from a population that emerged from Africa within the last 200,000 years.

The proponents of the so-called Out of Africa hypothesis think this late migration of humans supplanted all other human-like species alive around the world at the time - such as the Neanderthals in Europe.

If modern features already existed in Africa 160,000 years ago, they argued, we could not have descended from species like Neanderthals.

"These skulls are fantastic evidence in support of the Out of Africa idea," Professor Chris Stringer, from London's Natural History Museum, told BBC News Online.

"These people were living in the right place and at the right time to be possibly the ancestors of all of us."

Sophisticated behaviour

The skulls were found in fragments, at a fossil-rich site first identified in 1997, in a dry and dusty valley.

Stone tools and the fossil skull of a butchered hippo were the first artefacts to be picked up. Buffalo fossils were later recovered indicating the ancient humans had a meat-rich diet.

The most complete of the adult skulls was seen protruding from the ancient sediment; it had been exposed by heavy rains and partially trampled by herds of cows.

SEARCH FOR HUMAN ORIGINS

The Herto skulls represent a confirmation of the genetic studies

The skull of the child - probably aged six or seven - had been shattered into more than 200 pieces and had to be painstakingly reconstructed.

All the skulls had cut marks indicating they had been de-fleshed in some kind of mortuary practice. The polishing on the skulls, however, suggests this was not simple cannibalism but more probably some kind of ritualistic behaviour.

This type of practice has been recorded in more modern societies, including some in New Guinea, in which the skulls of ancestors are preserved and worshipped.

The Herto skulls may therefore mark the earliest known example of conceptual thinking - the sophisticated behaviour that stands us apart from all other animals.

"This is very possibly the case," Professor White said.

The Ethiopian discoveries are reported in the journal Nature.

[PatrickHenry]

Galling. Yeah, that too.

[PatrickHenry]

Let's not forget that for a period of a few weeks I was calling Uranus the eighth planet.

[Consort]

Sounds good to me.

[exmarine]

Thanks for the link. I believe my primary point in all of this is merely to say that the conclusions that have reached about human fossils, whether they be Neanderthal, Java Man, or this new Idaltu one here, are all based on presuppositional reasoning and inference and are not confirmed scientific facts. That much is clear.

[Nebullis]

Actually recombination refers to the crossover that occurs between homologous pairs of chromosomes during meiosis. The matching pairs are first combined, then a genetic exchange of pieces of the chromosome result in a recombination.

[f.Christian]

Short necked humans and giraffes ... where are all the transitionals --- besides cartoons -- animation !

[TexasBlues]

It's rather easy to reject evidence if you're allowed to just allege fraud and walk away.

Very good point and the creationists of which I am one would do well to meet some of the arguments more head on.

In reponse though I would ask the same question. Why do the evolutionists discount the crucifiction and resurrection of Christ as myth and fraud when there are so many eyewitness accounts dated within 30 years of the event. The normal evolutionist response to that is a fair "prove it" response. The creationist then points to various Christian books and ancient manuscripts to which the evolutionist replies that the authors are all ignorant and using poor scholarship.

And so the argument continues...

[Nebullis]

I believe my primary point in all of this is merely to say that the conclusions that have reached about human fossils, whether they be Neanderthal, Java Man, or this new Idaltu one here, are all based on presuppositional reasoning and inference and are not confirmed scientific facts.

Okay. After all the bellylaughs about the conclusions from the scientific community, let's hear your conclusions. What do these fossils tell you?

[Nebullis]

We're all transitionals. At which point is an organism not a transitional?

[Physicist]

I know it was a sarcastic remark, but if someone believes that man has evolved from apes then they don't have a proper grasp of the evolution theory.

If you're trying to say that none of our ancestors were apes, I would have to disagree with you. If you're taking exception to the word "from", on the grounds that humans still qualify as apes, I suppose your statement has merit.

[PatrickHenry]

Why do the evolutionists discount the crucifiction and resurrection of Christ as myth and fraud when there are so many eyewitness accounts dated within 30 years of the event.

The crucifiction isn't mentioned at all in the theory of evolution, so I don't understand your question. As for the crucifiction, I believe we have only four eye-witness accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

[HumanaeVitae]

Big deal. Pelt me with every fossil in the boneyard. Solve the mind-body problem. Otherwise, forget 'evolution' ever being anywhere near 'provable'. What a joke.

[Physicist]

After seeing the photos in the book, I believe that MANY of them were altered for sure. I do not know if all of them have.

"Mr. Simpson, you're free to go on your own recognizance."

Now, please show me the evidence used to reach the conclusions in this article.

Does that skull at the top of the thread look human to you? It does to the researchers, too (although their conclusions are more quantitative). That's the point of the article. As for the dating of the skull, you'll have to read the paper yourself.

[HumanaeVitae]

Denial of evidence makes for a shifting sand upon which to build one's faith, however.

That's why people who subscribe to the faith-based doctrine of 'evolution' don't like to talk about the mind-body problem or the ought-is problem.

[hunyb]

Weeeeird! That is EXACTLY what went through my mind..........some huge alien, hunting man, skinnin, then polishing his trophies.........are we sick? :)

[UCANSEE2]

Yeah, but anyone that can come up with this ...The materialist naturalist neodarwinian mindset is prone to fraud (and history is replete with them)..... deserves extra credit points.

[glory]

LOL--I was thinking the same thing. First thing that popped in my mind was, hey, I know that guy;-)

[f.Christian]

For the something as ubiquitous as evolution --- the lack evidence is resounding -- LOUD !


Main Entry: ubiq·ui·ty
Pronunciation: -kw&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin ubique everywhere, from ubi where + -que, enclitic generalizing particle; akin to Latin quis who and to Latin -que and -- more at WHO, SESQUI-
Date: 1597
: presence everywhere or in many places especially simultaneously : OMNIPRESENCE

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

If you're trying to say that none of our ancestors were apes, I would have to disagree with you.

In a general sense we are all apes.

What I was trying to say was the theory of evolution postulates that we are descended from lesser forms of the human species. Our lineage shares no common ancestor with the true apes. They have their own family tree.

[Physicist]

That's why people who subscribe to the faith-based doctrine of 'evolution' don't like to talk about the mind-body problem or the ought-is problem.

I wonder why you don't include the three-body problem, the travelling salesman problem, and the Medicare "crisis". Why stop at two arbitrary and irrelevant hurdles?