Study: The appearance of man on Earth is earlier than thought

Researchers said they used fingerprints geochemistry In studying a thick layer of ash that was found on top of sediments with fossils, to confirm that it was caused by a volcanic eruption that caused lava and ash to be released over a large area of ​​Ethiopia about 233,000 years ago.

The researchers pointed out that the presence of fossils under this ash means that the presence of fossils preceded the eruption of the volcano, but it was not clear how long it lasted in years. It was previously believed that the age of the fossils is approximately 200,000 years.

The fossils, called “Omo 1”, were discovered in southwestern Ethiopia in an area called the Omo-Kepish Geological Formation during an expedition led by Richard Leakey, a geological scientist. The study of ancient man (anthropologist). The fossils include a nearly complete skull and mandible, some phalanges of the spine, and parts of the arms and legs.

Scientists are seeking to reveal more about the timing of the existence of The origin of the human race in Africa.

Céline Vidal, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, says the new findings are consistent with the latest scientific models that lay The emergence of Homo sapiens Sometime between 350 thousand and 200 thousand years ago.

Research published in 2017 showed that the bones and teeth discovered at the . site Mount Irhud In Morocco, it is more than 300,000 years old, and it represents the oldest fossils attributed to Homo sapiens.

But some scientists raise doubts about whether the fossils Mount Irhud Really belong to our species.