- 4584 -
HUMANS - the oldest found around the world? - An
86,000-year-old human bone found in Laos cave hints at 'failed population' from
prehistory. The discovery of a skull
and shin bone fragment in a cave in Laos pushes back the earliest known date of
Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia.
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----------------------- 4584
- HUMANS - the
oldest found around the world?
-
- Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia as
early as 86,000 years ago, a human shin bone fragment found deep within a cave
in Laos reveals. The cave of Tam Pà
Ling, or “Cave of the Monkeys”, which sits at around 3,840 feet above sea level
on a mountain in northern Laos. Human bone fragments previously found in the
cave were 70,000 years old, making them some of the earliest evidence of humans
in this area of the world. This discovery prompted archaeologists to dig
deeper.
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- Finding two new bones, fragments of the front of a skull and a shin
bone. These bones were likely washed
into the Tam Pà Ling cave during a monsoon. Even though the bones were
fractured and incomplete, the researchers were able to compare their dimensions
and shape with other bones from early humans, finding that they most closely
matched Homo sapiens rather than other archaic humans, such as Homo erectus,
Neandertals or Denisovans.
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- The researchers used luminescence dating of
nearby sediments and uranium-series dating of mammalian teeth from the same
layers to produce an age range for the human remains. Luminescence dating is a
technique that measures the last time crystalline materials, such as stones,
were exposed to sunlight or heat, while U-series dating is a radiometric
technique that, similar to carbon-14 dating, measures the decay of uranium over
time into thorium, radium and lead. The skull, they estimated, was up to 73,000
years old, and the shin bone dates back as far as 86,000 years ago.
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- Debates about human colonization of
Southeast Asia have taken place for decades as researchers have attempted to
understand how and when humans crossed straits and seas to eventually end up in
Australia. Tam Pà Ling is therefore a prime place to ask some of these
questions about migration, since mainland southeast Asia really sits at the
crossroads of East Asia and island SE Asia/Australia.
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- The “Cave of the Monkeys”, sits at around
3,840 feet above sea level in northern Laos.
While the genetic and stone
tool evidence amassed to date strongly supports a single, rapid dispersal of
Homo sapiens from Africa some time after 60,000 years ago, studies such as this
one are producing evidence for earlier migrations, many of which may have been
dead ends.
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- Perhaps this was a group that dispersed to
Southeast Asia and died out before they were able to contribute genes to
today's human gene pool. These
'failed' populations interesting to add, so that we aren't just looking at the
'successful' ones that 'made it'.
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- No stone tools or other clues about these
humans' lifestyles have been found in Tam Pà Ling. But archaeologists working
on the prehistory of Asia have long suspected that, even before 65,000 years
ago, ancient humans were capable of reaching islands and making sea crossings
to populate seemingly remote parts of the world.
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- From when our ancient relatives began
walking on two feet to the first known medical amputation on Homo sapiens,
here's what we learned in 2022 about our human ancestors.
Humans are exceptionally
diverse, but we all have something in common: We're Homo sapiens, and we share
a common ancestor. But the story of how we arose, spread around the globe and
acted along the way is still emerging as scientists find new clues.
-
- The discovery of a 1.5 million-year-old
vertebra from Israel hints that early humans migrated out of Africa not in one
but multiple waves. It's unknown which human species the bone belongs to:
Although there is just one human species today, there used to be multiple
species in the genus Homo.
-
- Previously, researchers found evidence that
a now-extinct human species left Africa for Eurasia at least 1.8 million years
ago, and there's evidence that modern humans left Africa as early as 270,000
years ago. Now, the discovery of this vertebra (the oldest human bone ever
found in Israel), reveals that humans likely left the African continent
multiple times.
-
- Researchers have attempted to do a family
tree for all of humanity to see how everyone is related. In their
investigation, the scientists looked at thousands of genome sequences from 215
populations from around the globe, including from ancient and modern humans, as
well as our ancient human relatives.
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- A computer algorithm looked at genetic
variations among genomes, enabling the team to see who was descended from and
related to whom. After approximating where these ancestors lived, the
researchers created a map for this gargantuan family tree. As one might expect,
it all goes back to Africa.
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- Bipedalism was common among the earliest
known species of humankind, not only on the ground but also in trees. It
coexisted with other types of movement in a tree environment, including
quadrupedal (four-legged) movement using firm hand grips, clearly differing
from that of gorillas and chimpanzees, which use the back of their phalanges
for support ("knuckle walking").
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- Walking on our own two feet is quite a
feat, one that was pulled off by our ancestors as far back as 7 million years
ago, researchers found. The discovery was made when researchers studied a thigh
bone and a pair of forearm bones from the 7 million-year-old “Sahelanthropus
tchadensis”, which may be the oldest-known hominin. This is a relative of humans dating from the
period after our ancestors split off from those of modern apes. It appears that
S. tchadensis, who was found in Chad, both walked on two feet and also climbed
trees.
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- A 1.4 million-year-old jawbone found in
Spain may belong to the oldest-known human relative in Europe. The upper
jawbone has features that showcase the evolutionary pattern of the human face,
suggesting that it's closer to modern humans than it is to ape-like primates.
It's possible that this jawbone belongs to Homo antecessor, whose position in
the human family tree is controversial but may be a cousin of modern humans and
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). Until this finding, the oldest-known human
relative in Europe dated to 1.2 million years ago.
-
- Four different “Australopithecus crania”
that were found in the Sterkfontein caves, South Africa. The “Sterkfontein
cave” fill containing this and other Australopithecus fossils was dated to 3.4
to 3.6 million years ago, far older than previously thought. The new date
overturns the long-held belief that South African Australopithecus is a younger
offshoot of East African Australopithecus afarensis.
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- A new analysis of old, human-like bones
revealed they may be more than 1 million years older than previously thought,
researchers found. The new date range, 3.4 million to 3.7 million years old, of
these Australopithecus bones from Sterkfontein, South Africa, improves the odds
that this species gave rise to humans.
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- The fossils would predate the iconic
"Lucy" fossil which is a 3.2 million-year-old “Australopithecus
afarensis” in East Africa whose species was a prime contender for being our
direct ancestor.
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- Researchers in Laos uncovered an ancient
molar that may have belonged to a Denisovan girl who lived up to 164,000 years
ago. Not much is known about the Denisovans, but along with Neanderthals,
they're the closest extinct relatives of modern humans.
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- Precious few fossils exist from these
humans, who are named after Denisova Cave in southern Siberia where their
first-known remains were found. Over the years, their bones have also been
found in China. Now, the discovery of a 164,000-year-old tooth from Laos
reveals that the Denisovans also lived in Southeast Asia at low altitudes where
it was warm and humid.
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- The oldest medical amputation on record is
prehistoric, dating to a Stone Age patient who lost a leg in Borneo 31,000
years ago. A skilled surgeon cut off a child's leg, whose stump showed signs of
healing. That child hunter-gatherer went on to live for another six to nine
years after the surgery, according to an analysis of the individual's tooth
enamel. Previously, the oldest medical amputation on record dated to 7,000
years ago.
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- A massive icy barrier that stood up to 300
stories tall may have blocked the way of the people who left Eurasia to become
the first Americans. The existence of this frigid obstacle suggests that these
people didn't cross the Bering land bridge from Asia to America on foot, but
rather sailed on boats along the coast.
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- Researchers came to this conclusion after
analyzing 64 geological samples from six locations across the ancient bridge
area. They found that the ice-free corridor didn't completely open until about
13,800 years ago. This is a confusing
date given that other evidence suggests the first Americans arrived much
earlier and that the Clovis culture found in New Mexico was already established
at that time.
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- Little kids today love running around and
splashing in muddy puddles, and children from the last ice age were no
different. Researchers found about 30 footprints from young children on top of
track marks left by a giant sloth, one of the big creatures that once lived in
the Americas. These 11,000-year-old prints, found in what is now New Mexico,
suggest that the sloth's prints had become muddy, creating a prime spot for
jumping.
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- Thousands of years ago, ancient humans and
animals left their footprints on a coastal stretch in England that researchers
are calling a superhighway. Some of the tracks are about 8,500 years old, just
a few thousand years after the last ice age ended. In addition to humans,
researchers found the tracks of aurochs (an extinct ox species), red deer, wild
boars, wolves, lynx and cranes. Based on the configuration of some of the human
footprints, it's possible that these ancient people were hunting the species of
animals whose prints are also preserved.
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-
October 24, 2024 HUMANS - the
oldest found around the world? 4584
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------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
--------------------- --- Wednesday, October 23,
2024
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