Space Travel News  
ABOUT US
Ancient Teeth Raise New Questions About The Origins Of Modern Man

Lower premolars and canine teeth found at the Qesem cave site in Israel are raising new questions about the origins of modern man. If linked directly to Homo sapiens, it could mean that modern man either originated in what is now Israel or may have migrated from Africa far earlier that is presently accepted, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam.
by Staff Writers
Binghamton, NH (SPX) Feb 16, 2011
Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam.

Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Excavated at Qesem cave, a pre-historic site that was uncovered in 2000, the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man, Homo sapiens, which have been found at other sites is Israel, such as Oafzeh and Skhul - but they're a lot older than any previously discovered remains.

"The Qesem teeth come from a time period between 200,000 - 400,000 years ago when human remains from the Middle East are very scarce," Quam said. "We have numerous remains of Neandertals and Homo sapiens from more recent times, that is around 60,00 - 150,000 years ago, but fossils from earlier time periods are rare.

So these teeth are providing us with some new information about who the earlier occupants of this region were as well as their potential evolutionary relationships with the later fossils from this same region."

The teeth also present new evidence as to where modern man might have originated. Currently, anthropologists believe that modern humans and Neandertals shared a common ancestor who lived in Africa over 700,000 years ago. Some of the descendants of this common ancestor migrated to Europe and developed into Neandertals.

Another group stayed in Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens, who later migrated out of the continent. If the remains from Qesem can be linked directly to the Homo sapiens species, it could mean that modern man either originated in what is now Israel or may have migrated from Africa far earlier that is presently accepted.

But according to Quam, the verdict is still out as to what species is represented by these eight teeth, which poses somewhat of a challenge for any kind of positive identification.

"While a few of the teeth come from the same individual, most of them are isolated specimens," Quam said. "We know for sure that we're dealing with six individuals of differing ages.

Two of the teeth are actually deciduous or 'milk' teeth, which means that these individuals were young children. But the problem is that all the teeth are separate so it's been really hard to determine which species we're dealing with."

According to Quam, rather than rely on individual features, anthropologists use a combination of characteristics to get an accurate reading on species type. For instance, Neandertal teeth have relatively large incisors and very distinctive molars and premolars whereas Homo sapiens teeth are smaller with incisors that are straighter along the 'lip' side of the face.

Sometimes the differences are subtle but it's these small changes that make having a number of teeth from the same individual that much more important.

But even though Quam and the team of researchers don't know for sure exactly who the teeth belong to, these dental 'records' are still telling them a lot about the past.

But according to Quam, the verdict is still out as to what species is represented by these eight teeth, which poses somewhat of a challenge for any kind of positive identification.

"While a few of the teeth come from the same individual, most of them are isolated specimens," Quam said. "We know for sure that we're dealing with six individuals of differing ages. Two of the teeth are actually deciduous or 'milk' teeth, which means that these individuals were young children. But the problem is that all the teeth are separate so it's been really hard to determine which species we're dealing with."

"Teeth are evolutionarily very conservative structures," Quam said. "And so any differences in their features can provide us with all sorts of interesting information about an individual. It can tell us what they ate, what their growth and development patterns looked like as well as what their general health was like during their lifetime. They can also tell us about the evolutionary relationships between species, all of which adds to our knowledge of who we are and where we came from."

Excavation continues at the Qesem site under the direction of Professor Avi Gopher and Dr. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University. The archaeological material already recovered includes abundant stone tools and animal remains, all of which are providing researchers with a very informative 'picture' of daily life and hunting practices of the site's former inhabitants.

"This is a very exciting time for archeological discovery," Quam said. "Our hope is that the continuing excavation at the site will result in the discover of more complex remains which would help us pinpoint exactly which species we are dealing with."

Quam continues to be in touch with the on-site archeologists and hopes to collaborate in the project when and if more complete human remains are recovered.

For more information on the site and related research projects click here.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Binghamton University
All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


ABOUT US
Mathematical Model Explains How Complex Societies Emerge And Collapse
Bethesda MD (SPX) Jan 21, 2011
The instability of large, complex societies is a predictable phenomenon, according to a new mathematical model that explores the emergence of early human societies via warfare. Capturing hundreds of years of human history, the model reveals the dynamical nature of societies, which can be difficult to uncover in archaeological data. The research, led Sergey Gavrilets, associate director for ... read more







ABOUT US
Ariane 5's Mission With The Automated Transfer Vehicle Is Postponed

Ariane 5 Ready For Launch Of Automated Transfer Vehicle Johannes Kepler

Ariane 5 Ready To Receive Yahsat 1A And Intelsat New Dawn

Vandenberg Launches Minotaur One

ABOUT US
Walking On Mars

Opportunity Catching The Rays During Solar Conjunction

Mars, Brought To You By Corporate Sponsors

Volunteers begin virtual Mars 'space walk'

ABOUT US
Astrobotic Technology Annouces Lunar Mission On SpaceX Falcon 9

LRO Could Have Given Apollo 14 Crew Another Majestic View

NASA's New Lander Prototype Skates Through Integration And Testing

Draper Commits One Million Dollars To Next Giant Leap's Moon Lander

ABOUT US
Launch Plus Five Years: A Ways Traveled, A Ways To Go

Mission To Pluto And Beyond Marks 10 Years Since Project Inception

ABOUT US
NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates In Habitable Zone

Las Cumbres Scientists Play Key Role In New Planetry System Discovery

A Six-Planet System

Earth-Size Planet Candidates Found In Habitable Zone

ABOUT US
University of Ulster Launches Rocket Project with Japan Space Agency

ATK And Astrium Unveil Liberty Rocket For NASA CCDev-2 Competition

Renewed Call For Competitive US Spaceflight Marketplace

Rocket Team Hot Fire AJ26 Flight Engine For Taurus II

ABOUT US
U.S. wary of China space weapons

Slow progress in U.S.-China space efforts

China Builds Theme Park In Spaceport

Tiangong Space Station Plans Progessing

ABOUT US
The Two Faces Of Tempel 1

Stardust Set To Meet Its NExT Comet

Two-Timing Spacecraft Has Date With Another Comet

Stardust Heading Into The Bonus Round


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement