| Author |
Message |
    
Ted
hunter
Username: Ted
Post Number: 397
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 11:57 am: |     |
From:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12000319/from/RSS/
The "intermediate" hominid skull is held by Gona project member Asahmed Humet, who discovered the fossil on Feb. 16 near the Ethiopian city of Gawis.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - A hominid skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race, a scientist said Friday.
The cranium, found near the city of Gawis, 300 miles (500 kilometers) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, is estimated to be 200,000 to 500,000 years old.
The skull appeared "to be intermediate between the earlier Homo erectus and the later Homo sapiens," Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian research scientist at the Stone Age Institute at Indiana University, told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
It was discovered two months ago in a small gully at the Gawis River drainage basin in Ethiopia's Afar region, southeast of the capital.
Sileshi said significant archaeological collections of stone tools and numerous fossil animals were also found at Gawis.
"(It) opens a window into an intriguing and important period in the development of modern humans," Sileshi said.
Do not go gentle into that good night...Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Benjamin Disraeli: "The Jews are a nervous people. Nineteen centuries of Christian love have taken a toll." |
Trholme
gatherer
Username: Trholme
Post Number: 98
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 3:12 pm: | |
There is a good article here with photographs of various types of skulls which might help some get an idea of the stages of evolution:
http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_longfor /phychar/culture-humans-2two.html
TR |
Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2546
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 8:20 pm: | |
Ted - Fascinating discovery, if the initial evaluation turns out to be correct! That both stone tools and animals fossils were found at the site should yield even more information...
Am I recalling correctly that there aren't many human fossils from Africa from that time period?
Machiavelli was pretty devious. For a guy... |
Sidescraper_gal
hunter
Username: Sidescraper_gal
Post Number: 351
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 10:43 pm: | |
Cavebear, Ted, and all:
Yeah, this story has been pretty widely publicized. You can't tell a whole lot from the picture, though. And the skull appears to be in two halves, more or less. I, personally, am going to keep my eye out for a journal report. When that happens, I'll get back to you. In the meanwhile, it sounds extremely exciting.
Anne G |
Angakuk
hunter
Username: Angakuk
Post Number: 509
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 6:42 am: | |
A little more info in this press release from the Stone Age Institute. Presumably the source for the Reuters article. John Hawks also discusses the discovery on his weblog here.
"It takes all kinds to make a world and I'm just one of them." My Grandmother
I don't blame you for not believing in the kind of god you think I believe in. I don't believe in that god either. George MacDonald (paraphrase)
|
Sidescraper_gal
hunter
Username: Sidescraper_gal
Post Number: 352
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 1:53 am: | |
Angakuk and all:
I'm glad you mentioned the John Hawks blog. It is a very good source of info on various biological-anthropology-related subjects. I have bookmarked it, and take a look at it each day. He also has a great sense of humor, and doesn't take himself too seriously! This is a rare quality for an academic. Oh, he also is a member of my e-mail list :-)
Anne G |
Silverbackman
bear cub
Username: Silverbackman
Post Number: 44
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 9:44 am: | |
This cannot be. We are not direct descendents of homo erectus. Rather, homo heidelbergensis evolved from homo erectus and heidelbergensis is the ancestor of both sapiens and neanderthals.
Why is this not mentioned in the article? I always read that heidelbergensis being the decedent of erectus and ancestor of sapiens as the accepted fact. |
Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2559
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 7:21 pm: | |
Silverbackman - If I understand the article correctly, they are only initially suggesting a very general placement among Homo lineages subject to further evaluation.
Homo lineage ideas change with the discovery of new fossils. Maybe this one will change things slightly; maybe it won't. But don't become too worried until some peer-reviewed science journal articles are presented...
Machiavelli was pretty devious. For a guy... |
Scott
flint knapper
Username: Scott
Post Number: 1310
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 4:29 am: | |
I'm with you Anne - let's wait. I find with all 'sensational finds', the mainstream media goes gaga, makes grand pronouncements and then forgets about it a week later. Hawks blog is great!
Yeah Silverbackman, the textbooks 10 years ago say you are right. It is rather more complext than that and seems to get murkier as time goes on!
Scott
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Ces gens, Jondalar, ils sourient. Ils me sourient. - Ayla |
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