The parts of a skull and a lower jaw with teeth were about 130,000 years old and could be the remains of an ancestor of our cousins the Neanderthals, said the researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
They said the Nesher Ramla resembled pre-Neanderthal groups in Europe - and their discovery may challenge the prevailing theory that Neanderthals originated from Europe.
“This is what makes us suggest that this Nesher Ramla group is actually a large group that started very early in time and are the source of the European Neanderthal,” said Hila May, a physical anthropologist at the Dan David Center and the Shmunis Institute of Tel Aviv University
Experts have never been able to fully explain how Homo sapiens genes were present in the earlier Neanderthal population in Europe, May said, and the Nesher Ramla may be the mystery group responsible.
No comments:
Post a Comment