Scientists Discover 55000 Year Old Skull in Israel

Researchers have unearthed the remains of a 55,000 year old skull that may shed new light on the theory which says that ancient humans have left Africa and traveled through the Middle East before reaching Europe. The ancient skull was discovered in a cave in Israel.

Scientists named the skull Manot, and said it dates from approximately 55,000 years ago. The researchers believe the skull may belong to an era when ancient migrants started inhabiting the Israel region.

According to analysis, the skull has a similar anatomy to that of the ancient skulls found in Europe.
One of the leaders of the study is Israel Hershkovitz form the Tel Aviv University. He wrote in an email explaining the new findings, that the skull was discovered in the Manot Cave, in the Galilee region, in the northern part of Israel. The skull is missing its base and doesn’t have any facial features, according to researchers.

Scientists name the one who migrated from Africa to Europe modern humans because they share similar anatomy to the modern humans from Europe.

According to data, the earliest remains of modern humans from Europe date back approximately 45,000 years ago.
Researchers who were not involved in the recent discovery find it very impressing. Eric Delson from the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said that the new finding is the first evidence of the ancient humans who made the journey from Africa to Europe.

Delson added that until now, the scientists didn’t have any evidence of that ancient migration. He explained that the researchers could only predict in theory what could be discovered, but now that someone found it, they have real evidence that the journey actually happened.

Katerina Harvati, a researcher at the University of Tuebingin in Germany, talked about the new findings saying that the 55,000 year old skull reveals anatomical information about the ancient migrant. She adds that the skull could be an evidence to the fact that the Neanderthals may have co-existed with other modern humans, as the scientists suspected.

The new study was presented and published in the journal Nature.
Image Source: cbc