Feb. 7, 2013 — A fossilized bone fragment found buried deep in the soil of a Serbian cave is causing scientists to reconsider what happened during a critical period in human development, when the strands of modern humanity were still coming together.
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The partial lower jaw, originally unearthed in 2006, could at first only be established to be older than 130,000 years. Evidence suggested it could be much older, but no one could prove it until now. The new findings appear in the online, open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The fragment is now securely dated to be at least 397,000 years old and could even be older than 525,000 years. The conclusion follows new testing and analysis by an international team including three researchers from Canadian universities, who were funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: dating specialist and earth scientist Jack Rink of McMaster's School of Geography & Earth Sciences, physicist Jeroen W. Thompson of McMaster's Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, and paleoanthropologist Mirjana Roksandic from the University of Winnipeg.
They worked with partners from France, England and Serbia, including Dušan Mihailovi
Share This:
See Also:
The partial lower jaw, originally unearthed in 2006, could at first only be established to be older than 130,000 years. Evidence suggested it could be much older, but no one could prove it until now. The new findings appear in the online, open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The fragment is now securely dated to be at least 397,000 years old and could even be older than 525,000 years. The conclusion follows new testing and analysis by an international team including three researchers from Canadian universities, who were funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: dating specialist and earth scientist Jack Rink of McMaster's School of Geography & Earth Sciences, physicist Jeroen W. Thompson of McMaster's Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, and paleoanthropologist Mirjana Roksandic from the University of Winnipeg.
They worked with partners from France, England and Serbia, including Dušan Mihailovi