Abstract
To date, the earliest modern human fossils found outside of Africa are dated to around 90,000 to 120,000 years ago at the Levantine sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. A maxilla and associated dentition recently discovered at Misliya Cave, Israel, was dated to 177,000 to 194,000 years ago, suggesting that members of the Homo sapiens clade left Africa earlier than previously thought.This finding changes our view on modern human dispersal and is consistent with recent genetic studies, which have posited the possibility of an earlier dispersal of Homo sapiens around 220,000 years ago.The Misliyamaxilla is associated with full-fledged Levallois technology in the Levant, suggesting that the emergence of this technology is linked to the appearance of Homo sapiens in the region, as has been documented in Africa.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 456-459 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 359 |
| Issue number | 6374 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 26 Jan 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Field work in Misliya Cave was supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Thyssen Foundation, and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Haifa. Laboratory work and dating were supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1104/12). The anthropological study was supported by the Dan David Foundation, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (CGL2015-65387-C3-2-3-P MINECO/FEDER), Fundación Atapuerca, and The Leakey Foundation. The ESR dating study received funding from the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF) 626474 and the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT150100215. N.M. is grateful to LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52 for support. Work on the virtual specimens was supported by the Life Science Faculty University of Vienna; Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Anniversary Fund, project no. 16121; the Swiss National Science Foundation grant nos. 31003A 156299/1 and 31003A 176319; A.E.R.S. Dental Medicine Organizations GmbH, Vienna, Austria, project no. FA547014; and the Siegfried Ludwig–Rudolf Slavicek Foundation, Vienna, Austria, project no. FA547016. Special thanks are due to the late Dan David and his son, Ariel David, for their inspiration and financial support throughout the years. Thanks also go to O. Bar-Yosef (Harvard University) and A. M. Tillier (University of Bordeaux), who read and commented on a previous version of this paper. All data generated in this study are in the supplementary materials. Permission to study the fossil (Misliya-1) can be obtained from the corresponding author. Micro-CT images are available from G.W.W. under a material transfer agreement with I.H. of Tel Aviv University (Misliya-1). Full acknowledgments are in the supplementary materials. I.H. and M.W.-E. direct the Misliya Cave research project; I.H., G.W.W., R.Q., J.L.A., M.M.-T., J.M.B.dC., L.M.-F., P.S., R.S., H.M., V.S., L.R., R.G., C.L., J.M.C., Y.C., X.W., and N.P. carried out various aspects of the anthropological study of the Misliya human remains; G.W.W., C.F., V.A.K., and R.S carried out the virtual image manipulation and geometric morphometric investigations; Y.Z. and M.W.-E. conducted the archaeological studies at the cave; A.A and M.B.-M. conducted the U/Th analysis; H.V. and N.M. conducted the TL dating of the archaeological layers; M.D., R.G., and L.K. conducted the U-series and ESR dating of the fossil remains; A.F., R.S.-G., and A.T. conducted the geoarchaeological and geomorphological studies of the cave; L.W. and R.Y. conducted the study of the faunal remains; D.B.-Y.M. studied the mollusc shells; and I.G.-Y. carried out the use-wear analysis. All authors participated in compiling the manuscript. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Funding Information:
Field work inMisliya Cave was supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Thyssen Foundation, and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Haifa. Laboratory work and dating were supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1104/12). The anthropological study was supported by the Dan David Foundation, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (CGL2015-65387-C3-2-3-P MINECO/FEDER), Fundación Atapuerca, and The Leakey Foundation. The ESR dating study received funding from the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF) 626474 and the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT150100215. N.M. is grateful to LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52 for support. Work on the virtual specimens was supported by the Life Science Faculty University of Vienna; Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Anniversary Fund, project no. 16121; the Swiss National Science Foundation grant nos. 31003A 156299/1 and 31003A 176319; A.E.R.S. Dental Medicine Organizations GmbH, Vienna, Austria, project no. FA547014; and the Siegfried Ludwig-Rudolf Slavicek Foundation, Vienna, Austria, project no. FA547016. Special thanks are due to the late Dan David and his son, Ariel David, for their inspiration and financial support throughout the years. Thanks also go to O. Bar-Yosef (Harvard University) and A. M. Tillier (University of Bordeaux), who read and commented on a previous version of this paper. All data generated in this study are in the supplementary materials. Permission to study the fossil (Misliya-1) can be obtained from the corresponding author. Micro-CT images are available from G.W.W. under a material transfer agreement with I.H. of Tel Aviv University (Misliya-1). Full acknowledgments are in the supplementarymaterials. I.H. and M.W.-E. direct the Misliya Cave research project; I.H., G.W.W., R.Q., J.L.A., M.M.-T., J.M.B.dC., L.M.-F., P.S., R.S., H.M., V.S., L.R., R.G., C.L., J.M.C., Y.C., X.W., and N.P. carried out various aspects of the anthropological study of the Misliya human remains; G.W.W., C.F., V.A.K., and R.S carried out the virtual image manipulation and geometric morphometric investigations; Y.Z. and M.W.-E. conducted the archaeological studies at the cave; A.A and M.B.-M. conducted the U/Th analysis; H.V. and N.M. conducted the TL dating of the archaeological layers; M.D., R.G., and L.K. conducted the U-series and ESR dating of the fossil remains; A.F., R.S.-G., and A.T. conducted the geoarchaeological and geomorphological studies of the cave; L.W. and R.Y. conducted the study of the faunal remains; D.B.-Y.M. studied the mollusc shells; and I.G.-Y. carried out the use-wear analysis. All authors participated in compiling the manuscript. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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© 2017 The Authors.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
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