ISRAEL: Earliest evidence of man

Record ID: 395744

  • Title: ISRAEL: Earliest evidence of man
  • Date: 28th December 2010
  • Summary: QESSEM CAVE, ISRAEL (DECEMBER 27, 2010) (REUTERS) TWO ARCHAEOLOGISTS WALKING UP TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL CAVE WHERE THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE FOUND THE EARLIEST REMAINS OF MODERN MAN VARIOUS OF MEN CAVE ARCHAEOLOGIST WORKING VARIOUS OF REMAINS ON THE SIDE OF THE CAVE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR AT THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY AVI GOPHER SAYING "
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: History,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5ZF0X5WBTJ7N0TRVWIG6SMFM0
  • Story Text: A Tel Aviv University team of archaeologists excavating a cave in central Israel said on Monday (December 27) that they have found teeth dating to about 400,000 years old belonging to the earliest Homo sapiens.
    Remains found previously were in Africa, and are half as old.
    Israeli archaeologists say they may have found the earliest remains yet of modern man.
    The accepted scientific theory is that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and migrated out of the continent.
    The Qessem cave is a pre-historic site that was uncovered in the year 2000.
    Israeli archaeologists, along with an international team of scientists, have performed a morphological analysis on the eight human teeth found in the cave.
    Archaeologist Avi Gopher said that throughout the excavations in the cave, which began 9 years ago, various remains have been found, the most important of which are the human teeth.
    "Among the finds in the last few years, we had a few human remains...one piece of a skull which wasn't very indicative, it was too small, and the rest were teeth that we found in different parts of the sequence of the cave," Gopher told Reuters Television.
    According to a document published by the archaeologists their analysis, which included CT scans and X-rays, indicates that the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man. Gopher adds that there were other findings which indicated that those who dwelled in the cave used fire, hunted, cut and shared animal meat, among other activities which correspond with the actions of modern man.
    Gopher says that further research is needed to solidify their claim, but if they are proven right it could change the concepts of human evolution.
    "This conclusion may be of great importance because it may be a first hint at changing some of the paradigms....we used to use in terms of human evolution," he said.
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