A news scientific discovery may force libraries to burn some old biology books on the evolution of modern man from their shelves. Scientists have just discovery a 400,000-year-old human remains which raises a lot of questions.
Previously, researchers believed that homo sapiens, which are the direct descendants of modern man, evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago and gradually migrated north, through the Middle East, to Europe and Asia.
The new discovery, which came out from a study by an Israeli university researchers could compel scientists to revise the earlier theories.
Archeologists from Tel Aviv University say eight human-like teeth found in the Qesem cave near Rosh Ha’Ayin – 10 miles from Israel’s international airport – are 400,000 years old, from the Middle Pleistocene Age, making them the earliest remains of homo sapiens yet discovered anywhere in the world.
The size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man. Until now, the earliest examples found were in Africa, dating back only 200,000 years.
The report which is published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, suggest that modern man did not originate in Africa as previously believed, but in the Middle East.
The teeth is the part of the human skeleton that survive the longest.
The researchers hope to make more discoveries that would shed further light on human evolution in prehistoric times.
In conclusion, the “Out of Africa” theory will be subjected to strong debate in the days and years ahead.
