Archeology: More precise age for earliest known human fossils from Ethiopia estimated

 
The fossil of Kibish Omo 1 from Ethiopia, known as the oldest fossil of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa, may be more than 3 years older than previously thought. A paper reporting what happened will be published in Nature.The fossil humans are estimated to be at least about 6000 years old, but this timescale is highly consistent with several models of modern human evolution.

The fossil of Omo 1 was estimated to be about 19 years old.This dating was made by studying the ash layer corresponding to the time of the eruption, but questions have been raised.Now, Céline Vidal and colleagues are re-examining the ash layer that covered the sedimentary layer excavated by Omo 7000, and the volcanic deposit is a large-scale explosion of Shara volcano in the Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia. It was clarified that it was related to the eruption. Based on these analyses, Vidal et al. Estimated the age of the fossil Omo 1 beneath this ash layer to be approximately 1 (± 23) years ago.This age is consistent with most of the evolutionary models of modern humans.According to these models, it is estimated that humans originated and diverged from our closest ancestors about 3000 to 2 years ago.

Vidal et al. Conclude that new research is needed to derive a strong upper bound on the age of Omo 1.It is also expected that further analysis will confirm the age of the Herto fossils.The Helt fossil is an early fossil of Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia and is generally reported to be 16 to 0000 years old. This is because it was revealed that it exists under a volcanic ash layer different from fossils.

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Japan Featured Highlights".
Reprinted from: "Archeology: Increased accuracy in dating the oldest human fossils excavated in Ethiopia'