Ethiopian skull rewrites history books
Agence France-Presse
21/03/20002
A FOSSILISED skull discovered in the African cradle of Homo sapiens has prompted a major
rethink of the rise of early Man, according to a study published in the British journal
Nature.
The skull appears to that of a Homo erectus, an ape-like hominid whose remains have
previously been found only in Asia - in Java, where it was first discovered in the early
19th century, and in China.
Because no other H erectus remains of this kind had been found anywhere else, it was
widely concluded that the species had failed. It was considered a sidestream that
ultimately failed and had no link with modern human development.
But, say the authors of the study, the discovery proves that H erectus was in fact far
more widely distributed than is conventionally thought.
After leaving eastern Africa about two million years ago, he eventually conquered Europe
and Asia, using stone weapons and tools to hunt and survive.
H erectus existed in quite a broad genetic variety, they argue.
This explains the fierce debate over the Asian finds and over fossils that have been found
in Kenya and Georgia, which some paleontologists argue should be classified as a separate
human species they call Homo ergaster.
The Ethiopian fossil is believed to be about one million years old.
"Its temporal and geographical position indicates that African H erectus was the
ancestor of Homo sapiens," say the authors, led by Tim White of the Museum of
Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California at Berkeley.
The find occurred in 1997 in Middle Awash Valley, 230 kilometres from Addis Ababa, where
innumerable fossil treasures have been found.
H sapiens evolved in eastern Africa about 200,000 years ago and left the continent about
100,000 years later, according to some estimates.
How H sapiens then proceeded to conquer the planet is a matter of debate.
Some opinions suggest he used his smarter brain to outwit and destroy lesser hominids.
But others say there was inter-breeding that, through natural selection, enabled H
sapiens' genes to dominate and be propagated globally.
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