*Update Two: Please check out the papers Prof. Stringer has allowed us to host! View and download them at the bottom of the page!
*Update: Our friend Prof. Chris Stringer very politely corrected me in some areas, here is what he said:
“To summarise, in my view (and of course others differ) fossils like Irhoud and Omo 2 are ‘archaic H. sapiens’ but for me, Omo 1 on the preserved parts is ‘anatomically modern’ at maybe 212 ky minimum (new dating, under review) Age of the oldest Homo sapiens from eastern Africa | Research Square.Omo 1 and 2 were discovered by an expedition led by Richard Leakey. And Cro-Magnons were AMH too..”
Hopefully, with permission, we can share some papers he wrote specifically on this!
Stay tuned!
The #Origins of #Homo #sapiens is a long, and fascinating story.
Where do we come from? One of the greatest questions of all time. With so many answers, we have science and religion battling it out to find the answers, and in truth it is very difficult to know.
While #hominins have been around for 6-7mya, our very own #species is very recent. Anatomically Modern Humans date to only about 20-30k Years ago, their predecessor, Pro-Magnon man, which is now a debatable term and usage of the word, we did not act or think like we do today. We may have looked this way for near 200,000 years, or longer, be we were not “us”.
There are various stages of “Modern Humans” that lived in the late Pleistocene, and of course into the last epoch, the Holocene. As evidence (the fossil record) shows, there is evidence of variation and possible admixture throughout Homo sapiens in Africa during this period.
Of course, we think we know that Modern Humans originated in Africa (although even that Theory, yes scientific theory, not just “a theory”) of the recent out of Africa theory, has a few holes, but how can we possibly know without being there?
Well, we can go by the oldest Homo sapiens fossils found to date.
From Omo 1 and 2 discovered by Louis Leakey, in Kibish Ethiopia, to Jerbel Irhoud in Morocco, and finally to YOU!
The Omo fossils date to about 180k-200,000 years ago, while the Jebel Irhoud remains are closer to 300,000 years old.
It sure has been a long journey!
Learn all about it from John Hawks here:
Dr. Chris Stringer’s papers:
Enjoy, please discuss and ask any questions you may have!
World of Paleoanthropology 