|
|
Article: Homo sapiens 100,000 years older than once believed
- Article from:
- China Daily
- Article date:
- March 20, 2007
CopyrightCopyright 2007 China Daily. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
LONDON: Modern humans were living in northern Africa far earlier
than previously thought, according to scientists. A new analysis of a
160,000-year-old fossilized jawbone from Morocco shows that the homo
sapiens in the area had started having long childhoods, one of the
hallmarks of humans living today.
It is known that the species homo sapiens emerged in Africa
200,000 years ago, but the oldest fossils that resemble modern humans
come from sites in Europe dated to around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.
The latest find shows that the key time in the development of a
complex human society came much earlier than previously thought. The
longer people had to learn and develop their brains as ...