Paleoanthropologists unearthed human fossils that suggest the species left Africa at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.The fossil of a part of a mouth and accompanying teeth are estimated to be up to 194,000 years old. They were discovered during an excavation at Mount Carmel, Israel, a new study shows.
Earlier findings suggested that modern humans migrated from Africa roughly 120,000 years ago. The fossils of a jaw bone with eight teeth embedded inside it, discovered at the Misliya Cave, likely belonged to a human who lived at least 177,000 years ago, according to the study.
The finding is consistent with recent genetic studies that suggest humans migrated from Africa roughly 220,000 years ago.
“Misliya breaks the mould of existing scenarios for the timing of the first known Homo sapiens in these regions.” said Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. “It’s important in removing a long-lasting constraint on our thinking.”
“These early exits are sometimes termed ‘unsuccessful’ or ‘failed’,” said Stringer. “Some of these groups could have gone extinct through natural processes, through competition with other humans, including later waves of modern humans, or they could have been genetically swamped by a more extensive 60,000 year old dispersal.”
