Discovered fossils of 'unknown humans' 140,000 to 120,000 years ago, and may have had cultural exchanges with modern humans



140,000 to 120,000 years old fossils discovered on June 24, 2021

at the 'Nesher Ramla Ruins' near Ramla , Israel, by research teams such as Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University in Israel. Announced that it belongs to an 'unknown human being' that had not been classified before. Called the research team 'Nesher Ramla Homo, ' the human race has similar biological characteristics to the Neanderthals and has cultural interactions with Homo sapiens. It is also reported that there may have been.

A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel | Science
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6549/1424

Middle Pleistocene Homo behavior and culture at 140,000 to 120,000 years ago and interactions with Homo sapiens | Science
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6549/1429

A new type of Homo unknown to science | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/tu-ant062321.php

A Previously Unknown Type of Ancient Human Has Been Discovered in The Levant
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-found-hints-of-a-previously-unknown-type-of-ancient-human

'Homo' who? A new mystery human species has been discovered in Israel
https://theconversation.com/homo-who-a-new-mystery-human-species-has-been-discovered-in-israel-163084



The fossil in question was excavated at the Neschel Ramla site by Dr. Yossi Zaidner and others at the Hebrew University, and was found along with animal bones and stone tools from a point 8 meters below the ground. The fossil consists of a part of the calvaria, which is the round part of the upper half of the skull, and the mandible, which includes molars with almost complete roots, and the research team estimates that it is 140,000 to 120,000 years old. Did.

The research team used software to virtually reconstruct the fossils found and compared them with various human fossils found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. As a result, it was found that the mandible and molars had characteristics similar to those of Neanderthals, but the calvaria had characteristics of the genus Homo, which was older than that of Neanderthals. It has also been pointed out that the bones were thicker than the Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.



140,000 to 120,000 years ago, it was thought that only Homo sapiens or Neanderthals lived on the

eastern Mediterranean coast (Levant), including Israel, but this fossil is neither. It indicates that it lived in the same area at the same time. The research team named the fossil 'Nesher Ramla Homo' and speculates that it may be the last Homo genus to live in the area for about 400,000 years.

It was once said that Homo sapiens left Africa around 120,000 years ago, but in 2018 Homo sapiens is believed to be 194,000 to 177,000 years ago in the Misria Cave in Israel. In recent years, evidence of advancing to Levant about 200,000 years ago has been gathered, such as the discovery of fossils of. 'This is an amazing discovery,' said Dr. Zaidner. 'I never imagined that the archaic genus Homo, along with Homo sapiens, roamed the region later in human history.'

No DNA could be collected from the fossils of Nesher Ramla Homo, but the team believes the findings have important implications for filling the 'blank piece' in the evolution of the genus Homo. Previously, the Neanderthals were thought to have originated in Europe and were speculated to have moved south to reach Levant as it cooled. However, the findings cast doubt on conventional theories and suggest that Neanderthal ancestors have lived in Levant for as long as 400,000 years, said Professor Israel Hershkovitz, an anthropologist at Tel Aviv University. 'Our findings suggest that the Neanderthals of Western Europe are the survivors of the larger population (Nesher Ramla Homo) who lived in Levant, and not the other way around.' ..

Also, in response to the research result that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens were mated hundreds of thousands of years ago , 'How could Neanderthals who lived in Europe and Homo sapiens who lived in Africa be mated?' The question may be explained by the existence of Neschel Ramla Homo. Dr. Hila May of Tel Aviv University argues that the 'missing population' that was allegedly mated with Homo sapiens more than 200,000 years ago may be Neanderthal ancestor Nesher Ramla Homo. I am.

In addition to the fossils found at the Nesher Ramla site, the research team believes that Nesher Ramla Homo fossils may have already been found. For example, archaeologists classify 160,000-year-old fossils found in the Taboon Cave in Israel, 250,000-year-old fossils found in the Zuttiyeh Cave, and 400,000-year-old fossils found in the Kesem Cave. It is possible that these fossils that have been plagued are from Neschel Ramla Homo.



The researchers speculate that not only did Homo sapiens and Nesher Ramla Homo live in the same area for tens of thousands of years, but there was also cultural interaction. The stone tools excavated with Neschel Ramla Homo are said to have been made by the 'Levallois technique', which cuts out rocks to make pointed flake tools, which was made by Homo sapiens at the same time. It is the same as a stone tool. The Ruvalois techniques actually used for both stone tools are indistinguishably similar, and the research team believes that there was a cultural interaction between the Nesher Ramla Homo and Homo sapiens populations.

It has also been found that Nesher Ramla Homo hunted gazelles, aurochs, wild boars, ostriches and turtles and ate them over fire. Traces of burning the fire for a long time outside the cave have also been found, suggesting that Nesher Ramla Homo was also excellent in managing the fire.

in Science, Posted by log1h_ik