“Omo I, the only fossil with all the morphological features of modern humans”
It turned out that one of the oldest fossils of modern humans (Homo sapiens) is about 35,000 years older than thought.
Bone and skull fragments, known as Omo I, were discovered in Ethiopia in 1967.
Experts could not determine exactly when the remains remained.
In 2005, geologists examining the rock layer just below the remnant determined that Omo I was at least 195,000 years old.
“Still, there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Celine Vidal, lead author of the new study, published Jan. 12 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature.
A volcano expert at Cambridge University said that a more precise date could be determined by analyzing the ash layer accumulated on the fossils:
However, this was impossible at that time, as the ash was so fine, almost like flour.
Vidal and his team studied the ash layer with newer methods.
The findings showed that Omo I was 233,000 years old. It was determined that the ash remained from the eruption that occurred 233,000 years ago at Shala Volcano, which is about 400 kilometers away.
This means that the fossils are at least 233,000 years old. Scientists stated that there is a 22 thousand-year margin of error.
“The new minimum age set for Omo I is more consistent with the latest theories of human evolution,” said paleoanthropologist Aurelien Mounier, one of the study’s authors.
The oldest discovered remains of modern humans were unearthed in Morocco in 2017. These remains date back 300,000 years. However, Mounier said the physical features of Omo I were more similar to modern humans than the remains in Morocco:
Omo I is the only fossil with all the morphological features of modern humans.
By reanalyzing the ash samples, the researchers want to determine how old the fossils may be.
