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Early Humans Settled India Before Europe, Study Suggests
National Geographic ^ | 11-14-2005 | Brian Vastag

Posted on 11/15/2005 11:47:13 AM PST by blam

Early Humans Settled India Before Europe, Study Suggests

Brian Vastag
for National Geographic News

November 14, 2005

Modern humans migrated out of Africa and into India much earlier than once believed, driving older hominids in present-day India to extinction and creating some of the earliest art and architecture, a new study suggests.

The research places modern humans in India tens of thousands of years before their arrival in Europe.

University of Cambridge researchers Michael Petraglia and Hannah James developed the new theory after analyzing decades' worth of existing fieldwork in India. They outline their research in the journal Current Anthropology.

"He's putting all the pieces together, which no one has done before," Sheela Athreya, an anthropologist at Texas A&M University, said of Petraglia.

Modern humans arrived in Europe around 40,000 years ago, leaving behind cave paintings, jewelry, and evidence that they drove the Neandertals to extinction.

Petraglia and James argue that similar events took place in India when modern humans arrived there about 70,000 years ago.

The Indian subcontinent was once home to Homo heidelbergensis, a hominid species that left Africa about 800,000 years ago, Petraglia explained.

"I realized that, my god, modern humans might have wiped out Homo heidelbergensis in India," he said. "Modern humans may have been responsible for wiping out all sorts of ancestors around the world."

"Our model of India is talking about that entire wave of dispersal," he added. "[T]hat's a huge implication for paleoanthropology and human evolution."

A New Model

Petraglia and James reached their conclusions by pulling together fossils, artifacts, and genetic data.

The evidence points to an early human migration through the Middle East and into India, arriving in Australia by 45,000 to 60,000 years ago, they say.

(click on the site for the conclusion of the article)


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: before; early; eeeeviilllhumans; europe; godsgravesglyphs; hannahjames; helixmakemineadouble; homoheidelbergensis; humans; india; michaelpetraglia; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; settled
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To: blam

That's what I think. I think the Neanderthals don't get enough respect.


21 posted on 11/15/2005 12:13:06 PM PST by mlc9852
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To: blam
""I realized that, my god, modern humans might have wiped out Homo heidelbergensis in India," he said. "Modern humans may have been responsible for wiping out all sorts of ancestors around the world.""

Yep! We modern humans suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the closest competition knew they were beat and gave up the struggle to evolve. (grin)

22 posted on 11/15/2005 12:15:02 PM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for this post. It accords with all my biases in terms of "where the Neanderthals went"...into us, of course.


23 posted on 11/15/2005 12:20:48 PM PST by From many - one.
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To: All
Image hosted by TinyPic.com
"Duh? The Neeander fellas used to live around here but we was too smart for'em.
24 posted on 11/15/2005 1:12:17 PM PST by Old Seadog (Inside every old person is a young person saying "WTF happened?".)
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To: blam

I agree completely-the Neanderthals were assimilated the same as other tribes/races have been over time-there is likely a bit of Neanderthal in practically everyone with european ancestry.


25 posted on 11/15/2005 1:20:57 PM PST by Texan5 (You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line..)
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To: blam
"What we have is a much patchier, very slow and gradual accumulation of what we call modern human behavior in South Asia," Petraglia says.

"And that just simply means that culture developed in a slightly different way in South Asia than it did in Western Europe."

God forbid anyone think that Europeans might have been superior in any way.

26 posted on 11/15/2005 2:13:16 PM PST by Alas Babylon!
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To: mlc9852
What actually happened to the Neanderthals?

After studying the twentieth century, can you have any doubt?


27 posted on 11/15/2005 2:25:45 PM PST by Jim Noble (Non, je ne regrette rien)
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To: Texan5

Hybrid Neanderthal, Modern Human Child

The Neanderthal Theory

28 posted on 11/15/2005 2:27:50 PM PST by blam
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To: From many - one.
Redheads 'Are Neanderthals'
29 posted on 11/15/2005 2:29:49 PM PST by blam
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To: blam
"Modern humans may have been responsible for wiping out all sorts of ancestors around the world."

Yet another guilt trip. Obviously the extinguished species were more peaceful and lovable.

30 posted on 11/15/2005 2:33:50 PM PST by Fitzcarraldo
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To: blam
If you read "The12th. Planet" by Zecharia Sitchin, you will find that he made this claim in 1976 and document it, but this is very interesting stuff, and each new discovery seems to back up what Sitchin wrote years ago
31 posted on 11/15/2005 2:44:46 PM PST by munin ( I support the war on Muslim terror and GWB)
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To: tdewey10
Check out the "Vedas", there are lots of story's and sculptures and stuff from India that goes back at least 40000 years, you could also check out "Charriots of the Gods" and other writings by Eric Von Daniken and many other writers on antiquity
32 posted on 11/15/2005 2:52:23 PM PST by munin ( I support the war on Muslim terror and GWB)
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To: munin

Von Daniken is a fiction writer. Surly, you don't believe all that UFO stuff in his books, do you?


33 posted on 11/15/2005 2:58:39 PM PST by blam
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To: mlc9852
"What actually happend to the Neanderthals?"
Their blood likely mixed with humans

They became Bulgarians?
I once knew an Bulgar that could pass for one, he was that bulky and hairy
34 posted on 11/15/2005 3:01:40 PM PST by munin ( I support the war on Muslim terror and GWB)
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To: blam
Actually, Von Daniken present evidence, and leave it up to you what you believe, sculptures and stuff, like those on the plains of Nazca and Vimanas [airoplanes] of India and lots more, you'd do well to read some of this with an open mind
35 posted on 11/15/2005 3:16:47 PM PST by munin ( I support the war on Muslim terror and GWB)
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To: munin

Are you saying they weren't human? If not, how could they interbreed?


36 posted on 11/15/2005 3:17:23 PM PST by mlc9852
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To: mlc9852

I miss spoke, I guess , I could't think of what to call a near related specis


37 posted on 11/15/2005 3:36:14 PM PST by munin ( I support the war on Muslim terror and GWB)
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To: blam

What I would tot up into the Neanderthal column would be wide mouths, thin lips, long philtrum because that's more chimp-ish. Reddish hair maybe...not necessarily the real red but reddish brown and wavy.


38 posted on 11/15/2005 5:14:27 PM PST by From many - one.
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To: From many - one.

My pleasure.


39 posted on 11/15/2005 5:29:11 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
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To: blam
These scientists need to spend more time on Free Republic..

It would save them so much time and effort, and all their questions could be answered right here in the forums..

40 posted on 11/15/2005 5:38:19 PM PST by Drammach (Freedom; not just a job, it's an adventure..)
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