400,000 Year Old Fossil Helps Shed New Light on Human Evolution

February 11, 2013 by StaffScience
The human lower jaw found in a cave near Balanica, Serbia. (Mirjana Roksandic)A nearly 400,000 year old human fossil discovered in a Serbian cave is helping scientists shed new light on human evolution.Winnipeg, MB – A fossil fragment of a human lower jaw recovered from a Serbian cave is the oldest human ancestor found in this part of Europe. The newly obtained radiometric date of the fossil was published today in PLOS ONE by William Jack Rink, McMaster University, Canada, and the international team under the direction of Dušan Mihailović, University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Mirjana Roksandic, University of Winnipeg, Canada.“The fossil was found to be at least 397,000 years old and possibly older than 525,000 years old,” explained Rink. “We used three independent techniques (electron spin resonance, uranium series isotopic analysis and infrared luminescence dating) which had remarkably consistent results reinforcing our conclusion. This established the mandible as the oldest easternmost European fossil of its kind.”“During this time, humans in Western Europe started to develop Neanderthal traits, which is lacking in this specimen,” explained Roksandic. ”Scientists now think the evolution of Neanderthal traits was strongly influenced by periodic isolation caused by episodic formation of glaciers. On the other hand, humans in southeastern Europe were never geographically isolated from Asia and Africa by glaciers and accordingly, this resulted in different evolutionary forces acting on early human populations in this region. The Balkan Peninsula could have belonged to the postulated core area from which human populations repopulated Europe after the glaciers receded. The status of this specimen as Homo erectus s.l. fits well with this explanation.”“Southeastern Europe is very important in understanding human evolution,” expressed Mihailović. “Well dated human fossils from this time period are rare, and one from this part of the world is exceptional. The date opens a new and exciting frontier in research. This study confirms the importance of southeast Europe as a ‘gate to the continent’ and one of the three main areas where humans, plants and animals sought refuge during glaciations in prehistoric times. This inspires us to continue to dig.”This find is a result of an international – interdisciplinary collaboration of anthropologists, archeologists, physicists and earth scientists – from Serbia, Canada, England and France. The site has been excavated by the University of Belgrade since 2004 funded by the Serbian Ministry of Culture, and since 2010 hosts an International field-school in Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic Archaeology jointly with The University of Winnipeg. Read the entire article...