origin of humans; early migration to Jordan (Origins)

by David Turell , Friday, February 09, 2024, 19:05 (286 days ago) @ David Turell

700,000 years earlier than previously thought:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2416647-hominins-may-have-left-africa-700000-years...

"Our ancient ancestors may have ventured outside of Africa much earlier than previously believed, according to archaeologists working in Jordan. They say they have found stone tools there that were made and used 2.5 million years ago.

“'Now we know that hominins left Africa at least 700,000 years before we thought,” says Walter Neves at the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

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"To firm up their case, they have re-examined the purported stone tools and described them in detail. The tools, they say, are a type called Oldowan that have been found at multiple locations in Africa, dating back as far as 3 million years ago.

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"...he is persuaded that Neves and his colleagues really have made an important discovery. “My take on this is that there is very likely a hominin in Jordan making artefacts prior to 2 million years ago,” says Braun. “I am uncertain exactly how much earlier than 2 million years ago.”

"Because some of the tools were found just above the basalt layer, Neves argues they are probably 2.5 million years old. This makes them older than any known fossils of H. erectus, implying that another hominin species was the first to leave Africa.

"Neves points to Homo habilis, which may have been present 2.3 million years ago or even earlier. “Our hypothesis is that the first hominin to have left Africa was Homo habilis and not Homo erectus,” he says.

"Other researchers have claimed to have evidence of hominins outside Africa older than the Dmanisi remains. At Shangchen in China, researchers have described 2.1-million-year-old stone tools, while at Longgupo, also in China, there are stone artefacts and hominin remains that have been claimed to be 2.5 million years old. There are also claims of stone tools in northern India 2.6 million years ago. However, none of these claims have been widely accepted. Either the artefacts themselves, or their ages, or both, have been questioned.

“'The truth is that we know very little about the earliest excursions of hominins [outside Africa],” says Braun."

Comment: Erectus loved to migrate, gradually moving east and finally north. I think habilis is just an early erectus.