It was long believed that modern man had emerged from Africa 200,000 years ago. Now at Tel Aviv University archaeologists have discovered evidence that Homo sapiens wandering in the area now corresponding to the state of Israel 400,000 years ago and would be the first evidence of modern humans throughout the world.
The results have been found in Qesem Cave, a prehistoric site that is close to Rosh Ha'ayin that before had been dug in 2000. Prof. Avi Gopher and Dr. Ran Barkai Department of Archaeology of Tel Aviv, which handles the excavations, and Prof. Israel Hershkowitz of the University Department of Anatomy and Anthropology Sackler School of Medicine, along with an international team of scientists has performed an analysis morphological eight human teeth found in the cave Qesem.
analysis, which included a CT scan and X-rays, indicates that the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man. The teeth found in the cave Qesem are very similar to other evidence of human presence in the area corresponding to the modern state of Israel, dated about 100,000 years ago, discovered in the cave of Skhul in Caramel and in the Qafzeh cave in Lower Galilee near in Nazareth. The results of the researchers 'findings' are being published in the Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Reading the past
Qesem Cave is dated in a period between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago, and archaeologists working there believe that the results indicate significant changes in the behavior of ancient man. This period was crucial in the history of mankind under the terms of culture and biology. The teeth that are being studied indicate that these changes are apparently related to the evolutionary changes taking place at that time.
Prof. Dr. Barkai and Gopher have found that the results for the culture of those who lived in the cave Qesem - including the systematic production of blades of flint, the use regular fire, hunting tests, cutting and sharing of animal flesh and use of mineral raw materials to produce flint tools from underground sources - reinforce the hypothesis that this was in fact the conduct innovative and pioneering may correspond with the emergence of modern man.
A discovery unprecedented
According to the researchers, the findings made in the Cave Qesem could have reversed the theory that modern man is born in Africa. In recent years, archaeological evidence and human skeletons found in Spain and China have undermined this position, but the results Qesem the Cave, because of the time recently to which they refer, are an unprecedented discovery.
Qesem continue excavations in the cave and the researchers hope to discover additional artifacts that will allow them to confirm the results published so far, to improve our understanding of the evolution of the human race - in particular the emergence of modern man .
on GaiaNews
on GaiaNews
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