In terms of the origins of humanity, eastern Africa is the scientific consensus. Paleo-anthropologists believe that Homo Sapiens developed in the Horn of Africa, which now includes the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago. This theory proposes that all modern, non-African populations descended from populations of Homo Sapiens that left Africa (Recent African Origin of Modern Humans 2019).
Three fossil skulls from Ethiopia reveal the oldest human remains (Randerson 2003). What’s interesting about this find is that these skulls fill a gap in the fossil record. Before this find, the scientific community felt that the interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo erectus filled this evolutionary gap.
The recovery of the fossils began in 1997, near the Ethiopian village of Herto (Sanders 2003). The recovery team eventually unearthed skull fragments from 10 humans, along with many stone tools and animal fossils.
Comments