The oldest person found on earth. First people, geologists, fossils, Ramapithecus, Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, ancestor gallery, taming the fire

Despite the impressive number important discoveries made on the territory of Russia, scientists continue to find more and more remains of ancient people, attracting the attention of researchers. A little over a week ago, on July 18, on site Chelyabinsk region archaeologists have found the skeleton of an ancient woman with a skull of an unusual elongated shape. The burial ground where the excavations were carried out dates back to the II-III centuries AD, and on its territory there are 15 mounds of an unusual horseshoe shape.

Scientists believe that the woman belonged to the late Sarmatians, an ancient tribe that roamed the territories of modern Ukraine, Kazakhstan and southern Russia.

The unusual shape of the woman's skull is explained by ancient traditions, when the heads of children were tied tightly with ropes and planks, after which the bones took on an elongated shape.

Historians have not yet given an unambiguous answer to the question of why exactly the nomads thus changed the shape of the head of the members of their tribe. It is known that the ancient Egyptians, as well as the Indians, had the custom of pulling the skulls out.

As practice shows, the excavation of burials, in addition to unusual remains, can present scientists with many other surprises: for example, when studying the burial grounds of people belonging to the Manych catacomb culture (they are located in the Rostov region, and date back to the XXIII century BC), scientists have found perfectly preserved wooden carts.

There is an active debate about exactly why people put carts in burial grounds: some scientists believe that these were vehicles used in people's daily life and placed in burials to provide a person with the opportunity to move comfortably even after death. Other researchers divide the carts into ritual ones, made specifically for burial, and into everyday ones:

the first carriages were supposed to serve to give the highest military honors to the deceased, and the second were placed in the graves of the clan aristocracy or the heads of large clans.

Speaking about the most famous ancient inhabitants of Russia, first of all it is worth remembering the Denisovan man. His fragmentary remains - the little finger of a small child's hand - were discovered in 2008 in Denisova Cave in Eastern Siberia, on the border of the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory, by Russian archaeologists Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov.

Radiocarbon analysis of the bones showed that the Denisovan man lived about 40 thousand years ago. Genome ancient inhabitant Altai was completely sequenced by an international team of scientists led by Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo. As a result of the work, it turned out that the Denisovan man is very different from modern people: even the Neanderthals turned out to be closer relatives of the modern man than the Denisovans. It means that

the man from Denisova cave separated from our common ancestor earlier than Neanderthals and modern humans - more than a million years ago.

In addition, it turned out that the Denisovans coexisted simultaneously with the Neanderthals, and sometimes even interbred with them. By the way, Svante Paabo studied the genome of the Altai Neanderthals who lived in the Okladnikov Cave (Southern Siberia). As a result of the work, it turned out that the "Okladnikovsky" Neanderthal was the only representative of his species who managed to conquer Siberia.

A little over a year ago, Gazeta.Ru talked about another unique find that was made on the banks of the Irtysh River near the village of Ust-Ishim in the Omsk Region. In 2008, local historian Nikolai Peristov exhibited in his workshop a large collection of bones and teeth of mammals that lived in the Irtysh valley about 20-50 thousand years ago and even earlier. In 2010, a paleontologist and forensic expert took up the study of this collection, who paid particular attention to a bone that resembled a human femur.

A little later, other Russian and foreign researchers were involved in the work, it was found that the bone really belongs to a person. modern type, and its age is about 45 thousand years - so far there has been no direct evidence of such an early penetration of man into the north of Eurasia. The find turned out to be extremely valuable for scientists and for one more reason: the DNA was very well preserved in the bone, which allowed geneticists to establish that the admixture of Neanderthal genes in the DNA of the Ust-Ishim man was greater than that of the modern population of Eurasia. It means that

The Ust-Ishim man lived shortly after the accidental crossing of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. This fact in itself is of great importance for studying the history of evolution of modern humans and their possible genetic relationship with other hominid species.

2014 brought another discovery concerning the DNA of the ancient "Russians". Thus, a research group led by Danish professor Eske Villerslev managed to study the DNA of a person whose remains were found in Voronezh region, namely, on the territory of the Kostenkovsko-Borshchevsky complex of Stone Age sites. Last year, Eske Villerslev “Gazeta.Ru” said that the age of the ancient inhabitant of the Voronezh region is about 37 thousand years, in addition, he was a relative of his contemporaries, Europeans.

Thanks to the analysis of the DNA of the remains, the researchers were able to find out new facts about the migrations of ancient people, as well as to confirm the existence of a metapopulation that occupied territories from Europe to Central Asia, within which a complex genetic exchange took place.

Be that as it may, the study of ancient burials always presents scientists with new surprises and discoveries, the flow of which, most likely, will not dry up for a long time. For example, in the near future, specialists will have to analyze the genetic material of the remains. a man from the Chagyr cave, which is also located in Altai.

We are talking about a find that changed the fate of world paleoanthropology. In 1856, bones were discovered in the little-known German town of Neandertal, which first served to describe a fossil human species. The difficult history of the recognition of Neanderthals by the scientific community is in our material.

Johann Karl Fulroth
https://de.wikipedia.org/

Johann Karl Fulroth was one of those discoverers who, not understood by his contemporaries, never lived to see the day of their triumph. Fate was particularly unfair to this German scientist: the dramatic story of his discovery, which brought huge contribution in the development of anthropology, has not received sufficient publicity. But it was Johann Karl Fulroth who discovered the Neanderthals for science.

Ironically, the man whose find eloquently rejected the theory of the immutability of species started out as a theologian. Fulroth was born on December 31, 1803, and after the death of his parents, at the age of 10, he was brought up by his uncle, a Catholic priest, which probably made the future discoverer receive a church education. But, obviously, the young Fulroth did not have any passion for theology, because already at the age of 25 he demonstrated to the public his interest in the natural sciences by publishing a work on the taxonomy of plants. As a rule, articles on Neanderthals say that Fulroth was a teacher, which is true, but not entirely complete. It should also be noted that he took an active part in research, having published more than 60 papers in various fields. natural sciences: zoology, botany, meteorology, but, above all, geology and paleontology. In addition, Fulroth created various scientific communities, and all this together made him a well-known figure in that part of Germany, where in August 1856 workers discovered the bones of a Neanderthal man. Therefore, the fact that they decided to give the bones at the disposal of Fulroth was quite natural. The most interesting thing is the wording with which the naturalist was invited to Neandertal: the workers said that they had found the bones of a cave bear. At first, of course, they assumed that they were human remains, but the unwillingness to take upon themselves the sin of desecrating the grave and the visible oddities of the skull turned the human skeleton into a bear. As you can see, even people far from science have noticed that the found remains do not belong to an ordinary person.

But scientists were in no hurry to admit this. To understand why, you need to remember the historical context of the discovery.

Skeleton Neanderthal 1

The year is 1856. There are three years left before the publication of Darwin's famous work on the origin of species, and even more before its recognition. In scientific circles, the theological theory of the immutability of species reigns, which clearly does not imply the presence of any other species of man. All this was perfectly understood by Fulroth, who, having examined the bones, came to the conclusion that in front of him was not just another kind of man, but another kind of man who lived around the time of the mammoths. The absolute majority of scientists were clearly not ready for such a turn, but Fulroth was in no hurry to shock them. He collected all the available bones, interviewed the workers in detail and began to test his theory: yes, the remains are clearly human (this was confirmed by a familiar doctor), but they differ from the skeleton of modern people: curved thigh bones, a powerful brow, a flat, sloping forehead ... In the meantime , newspapers had time to trumpet the news all over Europe, and Fulroth had to provide a report. He was lucky: the theory of immutability of species began to lose ground even before Darwin, so he was able to find a companion in the person of a professional anthropologist, Hermann Schaffhausen. Later they were joined by the British Charles Lyell, Thomas Huxley and William King (who came up with the scientific name for the Neanderthal man) and the German Karl Fogg. They began to publish articles in which they spoke directly about the status of the discovery and its age, citing strong evidence. Their opponents, who so far took in numbers, responded with very strange versions. Thus, the anatomist Mayer believed that the bones found belonged to "a Mongoloid Russian Cossack who was wounded in 1814 during the war with Napoleon, crawled into a cave and died."

The curved femur allegedly points to an equestrian warrior, the skull cap - to a Mongol.

Fulroth and his comrades were so impressed by this version that they asked Mayer if he was joking. But the Bonn anatomist was too ardent a fan of the theory of immutability of species, so he was not joking. Another adherent of the same views, Professor Rudolf Wagner, believed that the bones belonged to an old Dutchman. The Englishman Blake said that the remains belonged to a mentally retarded person who suffered from dropsy. And this is only part of the theories proposed by scientists instead of Fulroth's explanation. But none of them, of course, had serious evidence. Even the famous Berlin surgeon and anthropologist Rudolf Virchow put forward an unviable hypothesis that the bones belong to an old disabled man who once had rickets, then arthritis, and, in between, received a head injury. Later, however, he softened a little and took a more neutral position.

Skull Neanderthal 1

An interesting fact is that Darwin in his work did not use the message about the find in Neanderthal in any way, although his supporters were the same people as Fulroth's supporters. Before recognition, the German paleontologist did not live quite a bit: in 1866, similar finds began to appear in other places (moreover, bones of fossil animals were also found next to the remains, which made it possible to talk about their age for sure). But the decisive argument was the remains discovered in Belgium in 1886. These were whole skeletons, the analysis of which quite unequivocally spoke of the independence of the Neanderthals as biological species... The stone tools and bones of ancient mammals found nearby also definitely indicated a significant age of the finds. In 1891, the German anatomist Gustav Schwalbe put an end to a longstanding dispute with the publication of the book The Skull of Neanderthal, which contained his (later, classic) descriptions of Neanderthals. Their authenticity and solid age were proven worldwide almost half a century after their discovery. Johann Karl Fulroth could have turned 88 in 1891, but he did not live to see his triumph for 14 years.

Yulia Popova

The time of existence is 130 thousand years ago. - 28 thousand years ago

Neanderthal man (Latin Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis; in Soviet literature he was also called paleoanthrope).

A variant of the human specialized for predation. They had many completely human features of structure and behavior, but nevertheless they were noticeably different from us - including the significant massiveness of the skeleton and skull. Probably, many of the features of the Neanderthals of Europe were formed under the influence of the harshest conditions of the Ice Age about 70-60 thousand years ago. It is interesting that in some representatives of Homo neanderthalensis the volume of the brain exceeded the values typical for modern humans.

Homo neanderthalensis. Reconstruction was carried out by Oleg Osipov specially for ANTHROPOGENEZ.RU

The bones of the Neanderthals were historically the first fossil hominid remains discovered (the first remains of the Neanderthals were found in 1829, although the significance of this find was appreciated much later ...). To date, Neanderthals are the most thoroughly studied species of fossil humans. The history of the study of Neanderthals can be found here.

The term "Neanderthal" has not well-defined boundaries. Due to the vastness and heterogeneity of this group of hominids, a number of terms are also used: "atypical Neanderthals" for the early Neanderthals (period 130-70 ka BP), "classical Neanderthals" (for European forms of the period 70-40 ka BP) .), "vestigial Neanderthals" (existing after 45 ka), etc.

Homo neanderthalensis.

Neanderthal

Girl. Reconstruction was carried out by Oleg Osipov specially for ANTHROPOGENEZ.RU

There are also many hypotheses about the causes of the extinction of the Neanderthals (here, for example, one of the latest versions).

According to the latest data, Neanderthals could interbreed with modern humans, and modern non-African populations of Homo sapiens have approximately 2.5% of Neanderthal genes.

3D model of a Neanderthal skull. Made by a 3D project by Sergey Krivoplyasov
specially for ANTHROPOGENES.RU

See also:

Neanderthal(lat. Homo neanderthalensis) - an extinct species of the genus People (lat. Homo). The first people with the features of Neanderthals (Protoneanderthals) appeared in Europe about 600 thousand years ago. Classical Neanderthals formed about 100-130 thousand years ago. The latest remains date from 28-33 thousand years ago.

Opening

The remains of H. neanderthalensis were first discovered in 1829 by Philippe-Charles Schmerling in the Angie caves (modern Belgium), it was a child's skull. In 1848, the skull of an adult Neanderthal was found in Gibraltar (Gibraltar 1). Naturally, neither the one nor the other finds at that time was considered as evidence of the existence of an extinct species of people, and they were classified as the remains of Neanderthals much later.

The type specimen (holotype) of the species (Neanderthal 1) was found only in August 1856 in a limestone quarry in the Neanderthal valley near Dusseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). It consists of the cranial vault, two thigh bones, three bones from right hand and two from the left, part of the pelvis, fragments of the scapula and ribs. A local gymnasium teacher, Johann Karl Fulroth, was interested in geology and paleontology. Having received the remains from the workers who found them, he drew attention to their complete fossilization and geological position and came to the conclusion about their significant age and important scientific significance. Then Fulroth passed them on to Hermann Schaafhausen, professor of anatomy at the University of Bonn. In June 1857 the discovery was announced, it happened 2 years before the publication of Charles Darwin's work "The Origin of Species". In 1864, at the suggestion of the Anglo-Irish geologist William King, the new species was named after the place of its discovery. In 1867, Ernst Haeckel proposed the name Homo stupidus (that is, the stupid man), but in accordance with the rules of the nomenclature, the name Kinga remained the priority.

In 1880, the jaw of a child H. neanderthalensis was found in the Czech Republic, along with tools from the Mousterian period and bones of extinct animals. In 1886, perfectly preserved skeletons of a man and a woman were found in Belgium at a depth of about 5 m, also together with numerous Mousterian instruments. Subsequently, the remains of the Neanderthals were found in other places in the territory modern Russia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Iran, Uzbekistan, Israel and other countries. To date, the remains of more than 400 Neanderthals have been found.

The status of the Neanderthal as a previously unknown species of ancient man was not established immediately. Many prominent scholars of time did not recognize him as such. Thus, the outstanding German scientist Rudolf Virchow rejected the thesis of a "primitive man" and considered the Neanderthal skull to be just a pathologically altered skull of a modern man. And the doctor and anatomist Franz Mayer, having studied the structure of the pelvis and lower extremities, put forward a hypothesis that the remains belonged to a man who spent a significant part of his life on horseback. He suggested that it could be a Russian Cossack from the era of the Napoleonic wars.

Classification

Almost from the moment of their discovery, scientists have been debating the status of the Neanderthals. Some of them are of the opinion that the Neanderthal is not an independent species, but only a subspecies of modern man (Latin Homo sapiens neanderthalensis). This is largely due to the lack of a clear definition of the species. Reproductive isolation can be called one of the signs of the species, and genetic studies indicate that Neanderthals and modern people interbred. On the one hand, this supports the point of view about the status of Neanderthals as a subspecies of modern man. But on the other hand, there are documented examples of interspecific crossing, as a result of which fertile offspring appeared, so this trait cannot be considered decisive. At the same time, DNA studies and morphological studies show that Neanderthals are still an independent species.

Origin

Comparison of the DNA of modern humans and H. neanderthalensis shows that they descended from a common ancestor, having separated, according to various estimates, from 350-400 to 500 and even 800 thousand years ago.

Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis)

The likely ancestor of both of these species is the Heidelberg man. Moreover, the Neanderthals descended from the European population of H. heidelbergensis, and modern humans - from the African and much later.

Anatomy and morphology

Men of this type had an average height of 164-168 cm, weight about 78 kg, women - 152-156 cm and 66 kg, respectively. The brain volume is 1500-1900 cm3, which exceeds the average brain volume of a modern person.

The vault of the skull is low, but long, the face is flat with massive superciliary arches, the forehead is low and strongly tilted back. The jaws are long and wide with large teeth, protruding forward, but without a chin protrusion. Judging by the wear and tear of their teeth, Neanderthals were right-handed.

Their physique was more massive than that of a modern person. The ribcage is barrel-shaped, the torso is long, and the legs are relatively short. Presumably, the dense physique of Neanderthals is an adaptation to cold climates, because due to a decrease in the ratio of the surface of the body to its volume, the loss of heat by the body through the skin decreases. The bones are very strong, this is due to the highly developed muscles. The average Neanderthal was significantly stronger than modern humans.

Genome

Early studies of the H. neanderthalensis genome focused on mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) studies. Because Under normal conditions, mDNA is inherited strictly through the maternal line and contains much less information (16569 nucleotides versus ~ 3 billion in nuclear DNA), the importance of such studies was not too great.

In 2006, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and 454 Life Sciences announced that they would be sequencing the genome of Neanderthals over the next few years. In May 2010, preliminary results of this work were published. Studies have found that Neanderthals and modern humans could interbreed, and every living person (except Africans) carries between 1 and 4 percent of the genes of H. neanderthalensis. Sequencing of the complete genome of the Neanderthal was completed in 2013, and the results were published in Nature on December 18, 2013.

Habitat

Fossil remains of Neanderthals have been found in a large area of Eurasia, which includes such modern countries like Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Czech Republic, Israel, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan. The easternmost find is the remains found in the Altai Mountains (South Siberia).

However, it should be borne in mind that a significant part of the period of existence of this species fell on the last glaciation, which could destroy evidence of Neanderthals living in more northern latitudes.

No traces of H. neanderthalensis have yet been found in Africa. This is probably due to the adaptation to the cold climate of both themselves and the animals that formed the basis of their diet.

Behavior

Archaeological evidence suggests that Neanderthals spent most of their lives in small groups of 5-50. There were almost no old people among them, because most of them did not live to be 35 years old, but some individuals survived to 50. There is a lot of evidence of Neanderthals caring for each other. Among those studied, there are skeletons with traces of cured injuries and diseases, therefore, during the recovery, the tribesmen fed and protected the wounded and sick. There is evidence that the dead were buried, and funeral offerings are sometimes found in the graves.

It is believed that Neanderthals rarely met strangers in their small territory or left it themselves. Although occasionally there are finds of high-quality stone products, the sources of which are located more than 100 km away, they are not enough to conclude that there is trade or at least regular contacts with other groups.

H. neanderthalensis used various stone tools extensively. However, over hundreds of thousands of years, the technology of their manufacture has changed very little. In addition to the obvious assumption that the Neanderthals, despite their large brains, were not very smart, there is an alternative hypothesis. It lies in the fact that due to the small number of Neanderthals (and their number never exceeded 100 thousand individuals), the likelihood of innovation was low. Most of Neanderthal stone tools belong to the Mousterian culture. Some of them are very sharp. There is evidence of the use of wooden tools, but they themselves have hardly survived to this day.

The Neanderthals used a variety of weapons, including spears. But most likely they were used only in close combat, and not for throwing. This is indirectly confirmed by the large number of skeletons with traces of trauma inflicted by large animals that the Neanderthals hunted and which constituted the bulk of their diet.

Previously, it was believed that H. neanderthalensis ate exclusively meat from large land mammals such as mammoths, bison, deer, etc. However, later finds showed that small animals and some plants also served as food. And in the south of Spain, traces of the Neanderthals feeding on marine mammals, fish and shellfish were also found. However, despite the variety of food sources, getting enough food was often a challenge. Skeletons with signs of malnutrition-related diseases are evidence of this.

It is assumed that the Neanderthals were already proficient in speech. This is indirectly evidenced by the production of sophisticated tools and the hunting of large animals, requiring communication for learning and interaction. In addition, there is anatomical and genetic evidence: the structure of the hyoid and occipital bones, the hypoglossal nerve, the presence of a gene responsible for speech in modern humans.

Extinction hypotheses

There are several hypotheses explaining the disappearance of this species, which can be divided into 2 groups: associated with the appearance and spread of modern humans and with other reasons.

According to modern concepts, modern man, having appeared in Africa, gradually began to spread to the north, where by this time the Neanderthal was widespread. Both of these species have coexisted for millennia, but ultimately the Neanderthal was completely supplanted by modern humans.

There is also a hypothesis linking the disappearance of the Neanderthals with climate change caused by the eruption of a large volcano about 40 thousand years ago. This change led to a decrease in the amount of vegetation and the number of large herbivorous animals that fed on vegetation and, in turn, were the food of the Neanderthals. Accordingly, the lack of food led to the extinction of H. neanderthalensis themselves.

PALEOANTHROPES

PALEOANTHROPES(from paleo ... and Greek anthropos - man), the generalized name for fossil people, who are considered as the second stage of human evolution, following the archantropus and preceding neoanthropus. Often paleanthropes are not quite correctly called Neanderthals.

NEANDERTHALIAN WE ARE NOT ANOTHER

Bone remains of paleoanthropines are known from the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The geological age of paleoanthropes is from the end of the Mindelrisian interglacial to almost the middle of the Wyrm glaciation. The absolute age is from 250 to 40 thousand years. Morphologically, paleoanthropes are a heterogeneous group. Along with primitive forms similar to archanthropus, among paleoanthropes there are representatives close to neoanthropes. Paleoanthropic culture - Middle and Late Acheulian and Mousterian (Early Paleolithic). They were mainly engaged in hunting for large animals (cave bear, woolly rhino and others). The social organization is the “primitive human herd”.

Although in general paleoanthropes were the forerunners of modern man, not all paleoanthropes are his immediate ancestors. Many of them, due to specialization and other reasons, did not turn into a modern human species and became extinct (for example, the "classical Neanderthals" Western Europe). Others (for example, the Near Asian paleoanthropes) followed the path of progressive evolution and gave rise to fossil humans of the modern species.

Where are the oldest human remains found? The remains of an ancient Neanderthal man were first found in

Where are the oldest human remains found?

I would never have thought that there is so much controversy surrounding the discovery of the most ancient man. Basically, they are of a purely technical nature, that is, the question is posed: is it possible to attribute to the most ancient man a humanoid creature that did not fully possess the necessary qualities? For example, the creature walked upright, made tools, but it did not speak yet.

The first discovery of the earliest man

First of all, you need to figure out who is considered a person? Homo sapiens must meet at least three characteristics:

Walking upright.
The presence of speech.
The ability to think.

The third characteristic includes the ability to handle fire, and the ability to make tools, and the use of hunting skills, etc. Based on these characteristics, scientists distinguish the extreme highest stage in human evolution and call him Homo sapiens sapiens ).

Earlier it was believed that the oldest remains of this species were discovered in 1947 in Sterkfontein Caves. South Africa and this place has been called the "Cradle of Humanity".

The latest data on the oldest man

In 2011, a group of archaeologists from Germany and Morocco analyzed the remains of humanoid creatures found back in the 60s. The bones were discovered in northern Africa (Morocco) at the Jebel Irhud paleontological site in one of the caves. The found remains belonged to five individuals, including a child and a teenager. The technology of that time did not allow scientists to thoroughly study the bones, so they thought they had found the skeletons of Neanderthals. With the help of computed tomography, modern archaeologists have reconstructed and created three-dimensional models of the skulls of the discovered people. When comparing them with previously found samples of the skulls of Neanderthals, Australopithecus and Erectus, it turned out that the facial part is more similar to modern humans.

Thus, their belonging to the genus Homo sapiens sapiens was proved. These relics date back to 300,000 years. BC e. Finds in southern Africa date back 195,000 years. BC e.

Ancestor bone. The oldest human remains found in Siberia | Science | Society

Authoritative Science Magazine Nature published the work of an international group of scientists, which included six Russians. It was thanks to their enthusiasm that the scientific community received a unique find at its disposal, and with it - the most ancient genome of Homo sapiens.

Nobody believed!

This story is full of wonderful coincidences, and just luck. It began with the fact that in 2008 the Omsk artist Nikolai Peristov, specializing in bone carving, wandered along the banks of the Irtysh in search of working material - the remains of a bison, mammoth and other prehistoric animals. He arranged such sorties regularly: the banks of the river are collapsing, the land reveals what has been hidden in it for centuries and millennia. On that day, Peristov noticed a bone sticking out of the washed layer, threw it into a bag and brought it home. So, just in case.

For two years, the bone lay in the artist's storerooms, until his acquaintance Alexei Bondarev, a forensic expert from the regional police department, paid attention to it. He is a biologist by education, and paleontology is his hobby. Bondarev carefully examined the bone. By outward appearance it was clear that this was not an animal or even a Neanderthal. 35 cm long, the bone most resembled a human femur. But how old is this person?

Alexey turned for help to Yaroslav Kuzmin from the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk. He took the find unusually seriously. “To put it simply, he believed that the bone could be very ancient, tens of thousands of years old,” recalls Bondarev. - The fact is that in our area the remains of a person from the Paleolithic era (over 10 thousand years ago) have never been found. And no one expected that they could be found at all. This did not even occur to scientists! Archaeologists knew only the ancient sites of Homo sapiens with stone tools and animal bones found on them. In general, it was believed that the first people came to the territory of the Omsk region no earlier than 14 thousand years ago. "

Yaroslav Kuzmin is a well-known specialist in radiocarbon dating (this is one of the methods for determining the age of biological remains). He sent the bone for examination to Oxford University, with which he has been cooperating for a long time. The British were delighted: the analysis showed that the bone material is 45 thousand years old! To date, these are the most ancient human remains, dated directly, and not by indirect signs(i.e.

NEANDERTHALIAN WE ARE NOT ANOTHER

not by the environment in which they were found: tools of labor, household items, etc.). A man from Ust-Ishim (he received his nickname from the name of the nearest village) is the oldest representative of the genus Homo sapiens found outside Africa and the Middle East. And even in the north, at the 58th latitude! Scientists believe that it is cold climate helped this bone survive.

Omsk artist Nikolai Peristov found a sensation on the river bank. Photo: From personal archive / Alexey Bondarev

Cradle in Siberia

The discoveries did not end there. Yaroslav Kuzmin connected geneticists to the case: the precious bone, accompanied by Russian scientists, went to Germany, to the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology of the Max Planck Society. They know about sensations from Siberia firsthand: it was at this institute that the DNA of the now famous "Denisovian" man from a cave in Altai was studied.

German anthropologists confirmed the conclusions of colleagues about the age of the bone, and in addition, they found perfectly preserved DNA in it - the oldest on this moment... It took more than a year to assemble and read the genome. It turned out that the Ust-Ishim man has 2.5% of the genes of the Neanderthal - as, in fact, the modern inhabitants of Eurasia. But his fragments of these genes are longer, foreign DNA is not as widely spaced across the genome as ours. Hence the conclusion: the Ust-Ishim lived shortly after the crossing of a human with a Neanderthal, and it happened about 50-60 thousand years ago, along the homo sapiens road from Africa to Siberia.

“It is now clear that the history of the settlement of Asia was somewhat more complicated than previously thought,” emphasizes Yaroslav Kuzmin. - Coming out of Africa, some of our ancestors soon turned north - in contrast to those who settled in the south of Asia. We also managed to find out the diet of the ancient Siberian. He was a hunter. His food was mainly hoofed animals - primitive bison, elk, wild horse, reindeer. But he also ate river fish. "

“I think this person looked almost the same as you and me,” adds Alexey Bondarev. - Dress him, comb his hair, put him on the bus - no one would think that this is an ancestor who lived 45 thousand years ago. Well, except that the skin will be darker. "

And most importantly, the man from Ust-Ishim turned out to be equally a relative of both Europeans and Asians, and even the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands - aborigines who are hiding from outside world and do not want to make contact with civilization. They, according to the theory of anthropologists, belonged to the early wave of migration from Africa. This means that even if Ust-Ishim did not leave direct descendants (scientists do not exclude this), Siberia can be safely called one of the cradles of mankind.

15. The remains of the most ancient man were found in

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Stone Age

1. Scientists-archaeologists divide stone Age for three main periods, the period belongs to the Paleolithic

2.5 million - 12 thousand years BC e.

2. Scientists divide the Stone Age into main periods and 2.5 million - 12 thousand years BC. e. refers to

Paleolithic.

3. The period of the Lower (early) Paleolithic period covers the time

2.5 million - 140 thousand years BC

4. Scientists divide the Stone Age into main periods and 2.5 million - 140 thousand years BC. covers time

Lower Paleolithic.

5. The Upper (Late) Paleolithic period covers the time

40-12 thousand years BC

6. Scientists divide the Stone Age into main periods and 40-12 thousand years BC. covers time

Upper Paleolithic.

7. The Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) period covers time

140-40 thousand years BC

8. Scientists-archaeologists divide the Stone Age into three main periods, the period belongs to the Mesolithic

12 - 5 thousand years BC e.

9. Scientists divide the Stone Age into main periods and 12 - 5 thousand years BC. e. covers time

Mesolithic.

10. Scientists-archaeologists divide the Stone Age into three main periods, the period belongs to the Neolithic

5-3 thousand years BC e.

11. Scientists divide the Stone Age into main periods and 5-3 thousand years BC. e. covers time

12. A sharp cooling on the Earth came about

100 thousand years ago

13. A sharp cooling on the Earth came about 100 thousand years ago, the melting of the glacier began about

13 thousand years ago.

14. Scientists-archaeologists date the Copper-Stone Age (Eneolithic) to the period

3000-2800 BC

16. The remains of the most ancient man were found in 1974 in Kenya, scientists named him

"Skillful man"

Lower Paleolithic.

18. The most ancient people Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus in science received the name

"Homo erectus"

19. One of the most ancient people was Pithecanthropus, his remains were first found

on the island of Java.

20. The remains of an ancient man - Neanderthal man were first found in

Germany

21. After the Neanderthals, about 35-40 thousand years ago, the

"Reasonable man"

22. The first dwellings of ancient people were

23. A pebble stone, processed and sharpened on both sides, received the name

24. Most high level man reached stone processing in the era

25. The ancient man from the animal world was distinguished, first of all, by the ability

make tools.

26. The most ancient sites of the Stone Age found in the Karatau mountains belong to

lower paleolithic

27. Scientists call the ancient man who lived in the Middle Paleolithic

Neanderthal.

28. The ancient man, whom scientists call Neanderthal, lived in the period

Middle Paleolithic.

29. The most ancient sites of the Stone Age, which belong to the Lower Paleolithic, were found

in the Karatau mountains

30. The formation of "Homo sapiens" occurs in the era

Upper Paleolithic.

31. "Homo sapiens", scientists call the location

Cro-Magnon.

32. The origin of religious beliefs, the emergence of rock and cave paintings, scientists refer to in the era

Upper Paleolithic.

33. A permanent group of relatives - the clan community appears during the formation

"Homo sapiens."

34. During the formation of "Homo sapiens", a permanent team appears -

tribal community.

35. The beginning of the formation of plants and animals of the modern type, scientists attribute to the era

mesolithic.

36. One of the main features of the Mesolithic era is the invention

microliths.

37. One of the main features of the Mesolithic era is the invention

bow and arrow.

38. The bow and arrow were invented during the period

mesolithic.

39. The beginning of the domestication of wild animals, and the domestication of some plants, scientists attribute to the end of the era:

mesolithic.

40. In the Mesolithic era, a person learned to make thin stone plates, 1-2 cm long, which are called

microliths.

41. In the Mesolithic era, people were forced to often change their habitats due to

migration of animals.

42. The initial collective of people for joint production of food and protection from animals

Primitive herd.

43. For the first time, the remains of "Homo sapiens" were discovered

in France.

44. Man made the first tools of labor from

45. One of the first occupations of ancient man

Gathering.

46. On the territory of Kazakhstan, the largest number of Paleolithic sites was found in:

South Kazakhstan.

47. The first stone tool of ancient man

48. The first people on the territory of Kazakhstan appeared in the period

Early Paleolithic.

49. Ancient man's tool of labor, which was used to catch fish

50. Rock carvings first appear in the period

Upper Paleolithic.

51. On the island of Java, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient man-

Pithecanthropus.

52. In China, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient man-

Sinanthropus.

53. In France, archaeologists first discovered the remains of "Homo sapiens" -

Cro-Magnon.

54. People for the first time created new tools of labor: axes with a handle, hoes, millstones in the era

55. One of the features of the Neolithic era is the manufacture

earthenware.

56. Ancient people learned how to make pottery during the period

neolithic.

57. The first metal that ancient people learned to use:

copper.

58. Man first began to use metal tools during the period:

Chalcolithic.

59. The era of the appearance of the first metal products from copper

Eneolithic.

60. The first social division of labor, the replacement of matriarchy with patriarchy, dates back to the period

Chalcolithic.

61. The settlement Botay is a striking monument of the Eneolithic time.

in the north of Kazakhstan.

62. The word Eneolithic means

copperstone age.

63. The primitive loom was invented in the era

64. We learn about the peculiar worldview of the people of the Neolithic era, about their belief in the afterlife

burial grounds.

65. The Neolithic era is sometimes called

"The era of clay pots."

66. Producing labor appeared in the era

67. Scientists-archaeologists date the Copper-Stone Age (Eneolithic) to the period

3000-2800 BC

68. Ancient people transmitted their knowledge through a drawing called

pictography.

69. The form of religion, belief in kinship with any animal, which was considered the patron saint of the genus

totemism.

70. Evidence of the existence among the ancient people of the cult of mother earth and the maternal family, are found

figurines of women.

71. Evidence of the existence among the ancient people of the cult of mother earth and the maternal family, are found

figurines of women.

72. In the Chalcolithic era, there is a decay

Matriarchal kind

This question has always worried both scientists and ordinary people. Many scientists still devote their entire lives to studying this issue, without finding an exact answer. And although no one knows for sure yet, in the scientific world they took as a basis the theory of Darwin, who believed that man evolved from a monkey in a natural way. At the same time, until now, no one has found such evidence of the origin of man from animals, which is completely irrefutable.

Darwin's theory

In the modern world, Darwin's theory is no longer as powerful as it used to be, but it is still the basis for understanding where man came from.

The question of the origin of animal species is considered by such a science as biology. Human origins are also a matter of concern to this science.

The British biologist and geologist Charles Darwin published his book The Origin of Species in 1859, which is one of the most famous works in the history of biological science.

In his book, Darwin outlined the theory on the basis of which he made the assumption about the evolution of living things. He believed that living things over billions of years evolved by natural selection, that is, the strongest survived and adapted to new conditions.

Then, in the book "The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection," he tried to substantiate the theory of Georges-Louis de Buffon, who suggested that the first people on Earth appeared due to evolutionary processes. After Darwin published this work, it was recognized by the entire scientific world.

The descendants of Darwin, the followers of his school - Darwinists, then declared that man descended from a monkey. Today this opinion is considered to be the only correct one. scientific explanation of what the origin of man was. There is still no scientific refutation of this theory.

Scientists believe that the first people on Earth appeared about 7 million years ago from the ancient apes. Of course, there are also antagonists of this statement. Further evolution of man took place in a very complex way, leaving the right to life only for more perfect species.

Australopithecus

Australopithecus is considered the first link in the human evolutionary chain. In the Republic of Chad, remains of this species were found, which are more than 6 million years old. The "youngest" Australopithecus was found in South Africa. No more than 900 thousand years have passed since his death. Of all the links found in human evolution given view lasted the longest period of time.

Australopithecus have pronounced features of both humans and ape-like creatures. Their growth was up to one and a half meters, and their weight ranged from 30 to 50 kg. The absence of large fangs suggests that they could not use them as a weapon, therefore, in to a greater extent ate plant foods rather than meat. They would not have been able to kill large animals, so they hunted small animals or picked up already dead creatures.

These primates were able to use primitive tools that did not need to be made: stones, branches, etc. On the basis of this, Australopithecus is called "a man of skill."

Pithecanthropus

The life of the first people on Earth was clearly not easy, given the poor adaptation to mere survival.

The first remains of this species of great apes were found on the island of Java, which is located in South Asia. This species existed on planet Earth about 1 million years ago. During the same period, Australopithecines completely disappeared. Pithecanthropus also died out about 400 thousand years ago.

Thanks to the remains found, which were used to determine the structure of the skeleton, scientists suggest that this species almost always walked on two legs, for which it was nicknamed "Homo erectus". This was found out due to the fact that the femur of such a primate is very similar to a human.

Also, during the excavations, their tools were found. You cannot describe them as masters of this craft, but the Pithecanthropus already at that time understood that sharp sticks and stones were more suitable for hunting and cutting food than untreated wood and cobblestones.

In addition, scientists believe that they have managed to learn how to peacefully coexist with fire. That is, they were not so much afraid of him as other animals, but they still did not know how to get it on their own.

Pithecanthropus did not yet know how to talk and communicated with their similar primates at the level of ordinary ancient monkeys.

Often they are associated with another branch of evolution - synanthropus, which existed at the same time. Scientists believe that they were similar to each other and led a similar lifestyle.

Neanderthal

Neanderthals have existed in Europe and Western Asia for hundreds of thousands of years, isolated from other branches of the great apes.

For the most part, Neanderthals were carnivores and ate meat. To do this, they had huge jaws, which did not protrude forward, like in more ancient primates. They even hunted very large animals: mammoths, ancient rhinos, etc.

The brain volume was the same as that of modern humans, although scientists suggest that in some groups of individuals it was even larger.

Due to the fact that they lived in ice Age, these great apes were well adapted to survive in cold environments. In addition, they had very broad shoulders, a pelvis, and well-developed muscles.

About 40 thousand years ago, the Neanderthals as a species of great apes began to die out abruptly. And 28 thousand years ago not a single living representative of this species remained. Their extinction is associated with another link in human evolution - the Cro-Magnons, who could hunt and kill them.

Cro-Magnon

Representatives of this species are referred to as "modern man". Modern man, especially representatives of the Caucasian races, is considered completely identical to the late Cro-Magnons.

The remains of the Cro-Magnons found tell us that representatives of the early species were as tall as a tall modern man (about 187 centimeters) and had a large skull.

Cro-Magnons already knew how to express their thoughts with characteristic sounds, which is associated with the appearance of speech. They were all divided into hunters and gatherers, each using stone tools.

Later representatives of the Cro-Magnons already skillfully used fire, built primitive kilns in which they burned pottery. Scientists also suggest that they could have used coal for this purpose.

They have advanced quite far in creating clothes that both sheltered them from the bites of wild animals and helped to keep them warm during the cold seasons.

The trait that distinguishes this species among all the early great apes is the emergence of such a thing as art. Cro-Magnons lived in caves and left in them various drawings of animals or some kind of life events.

Due to the fact that the number of different types of activity began to grow rapidly, more and more differences appeared between the arms and legs. For example, more and more developed the thumb on the hand, which Cro-Magnons managed to hold heavy tools as easily as small objects.

Homo sapiens

This species is the prototype of modern humans. It appeared about 28 thousand years ago, as evidenced by the finds of the most ancient people.

Even then, our ancestors learned to express their emotions in coherent speech and more and more improved the social relationship with each other.

Different climates and weather conditions led to the formation of different traits of a particular race that lived on different continents. It was about 20 thousand years ago that three different races began to appear: Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid.

Thus, in a very succinct form, one can express the evolutionary chain of Darwinists, which can be used to describe the origin of man.

Thanks to scientific research the similarity of human genes with chimpanzees was determined by 91%.

Refutation of Darwin's theory and the teachings of his followers

Despite the fact that this theory is the foundation for all modern science about a person, there are also findings of various researchers who refute the understanding accepted by the entire scientific world of where the first people on Earth came from.

Found footprints, which are more than 3.5 million years old, prove that humanoid individuals began to move on straight legs much earlier than primitive labor appeared.

Human evolution, associated with descent from ape, is unclear, if you ask a question about human limbs. Why are human hands much weaker than legs, while monkeys have the opposite? It is not clear what contributed to the weakening of the limbs, since strong hands are clearly more useful in hunting and other work.

To date, not all links have been found that could completely unite the ancient monkey with modern man.

In addition, there is a whole series of incomprehensible questions and facts that cannot be answered using the well-known scientific theory human origin.

Religious theory of human origins

Every religion that has survived to this day says that a person appeared thanks to a higher being. The adherents of this theory do not believe in all the evidence for the origin of man from animals that exists today. For example, Christians say that man descended from Adam and Eve, the first people that God created. Also, everyone knows the phrase: "God created man in his own likeness."

Regardless of the type of religion, they all claim that man was not born naturally, but is the creation of the Supreme. No one has yet found evidence of the origin of man from the Creator.

Creationism

There is such a science as creationism. Scientists who study it are looking for evidence of theories of the origin of man from God and confirmation of information from religious books.

To do this, they use almost sound scientific calculations. For example, they calculated that the ark that Noah built could really accommodate all animals (about 20 thousand different species), excluding waterfowl.

The first discovery of the earliest man

First of all, you need to figure out who is considered a person? Homo sapiens must meet at least three characteristics:

Walking upright.
The presence of speech.
The ability to think.

Earlier it was believed that the oldest remains of this species were discovered in 1947 in the Sterkfontein caves of South Africa and this place was named "The Cradle of Humanity".

The latest data on the oldest man

Thus, their belonging to the genus Homo sapiens sapiens was proved. These relics date back to 300,000 years. BC e. Finds in southern Africa date back 195,000 years. BC e.

4. The appearance of the most ancient man in Kazakhstan

According to scientists, the first ancient people entered the territory of Kazakhstan from Europe, Asia and Siberia.

The life of the first people on the territory of Kazakhstan.

The earliest people appeared here about a million years ago - during the Early Paleolithic. This is evidenced by the tools found in the valley of the Arystandy river in the Zhambyl region and in the spurs of the Karatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan. Traces of the sites of the most ancient people were found on the Mangystau-Shakpakata peninsula, in South Kazakhstan - Shabakty, Kazangap, Tanirkazgan, etc. The first people who entered the territory of Kazakhstan were contemporaries of Pithecanthropus. Favorable natural conditions, the abundance of animals and plants gave the first people the opportunity to find food for themselves.

Although it was very difficult and dangerous to live in the neighborhood with large predatory animals. Protection from predatory animals, joint procurement of food led to the improvement of tools and weapons. The most ancient people were looking for suitable stones for making tools. The stone was "beaten", chipping off pieces from it, and thus a sharp jagged edge was obtained. They sharpened sticks, removed the skins and cut the carcasses of killed animals. The inhabitants of the Karatau caves also knew how to make a tool. It turned out to be a winding sharp blade.

Not too thick tree trunks were processed with such a tool of labor.

On the territory of Kazakhstan, at the sites of ancient sites, such stone tools were found labor "yes, such as chops, chisels, bifaces, knives, scrapers, as well as" many different tips. The biface is a primitive stone tool, worked on both sides. The tips were made from flakes, sometimes they were processed by retouching (sharpening of a stone blank by processing its edges with small teeth (like a saw). The scrapers were oblong, pointed and looked like a long rectangle. They were also processed with retouching. Archaeologists find large stones processed on both sides - cores From them, people made scrapers, chops and other tools.At the sites of Borikazgan, Shabakty in the Zhambyl region, more than 5,000 stone tools were found.

1. Tell us about the origin of man on Earth.
2. What tools did the earliest people use? How were they used?
3. What is the name of the most ancient people in science?
4. What was nature like in ancient Kazakhstan? Compare the nature of ancient and modern Kazakhstan.
5. What was the name of the original collective of the most ancient people? What do you think are the reasons for the creation of such groups?

1. The first tools of labor ancient man began to make from
A) bones
B) stone
C) bronze
D) iron
E) wood
2. The first person who appeared on the territory of Kazakhstan was a contemporary
A) Neanderthal
C) sinanthropus
C) pithecanthropus
D) australopithecus
E) Cro-Magnon
3. The remains of the most ancient man were found in Kenya, scientists named him
A) "skillful person"
B) "man straightened"
C) "caveman"
D) "reasonable man"
4. The first people on the territory of Kazakhstan appeared during the period
A) Chalcolithic
B) Mesolithic
C) early Paleolithic
D) Upper Paleolithic
E) Neolithic
5. The most ancient people Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus in science received the name
A) "Homo erectus"
B) "skillful person"
C) "caveman"
D) "reasonable man"
E) modern man
6. One of the most ancient people was Pithecanthropus, his remains were first found in
A) England
B) Kenya
C) on the island of Java
D) America
E) Germany

The longest era in the history of mankind, the Paleolithic is divided into the Early (lower) Paleolithic - 2.5 million -40 thousand years BC... ; Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) - 140-40 thousand. years BC.; late (upper) paleolithic - 40-12 thousand years BC

LOWER PALEOLITH- 2.5 million - 40 thousand years BC

The person was formed as a result of a long evolutionary development... Man made the first tools of labor from stone, so scientists call this period the “Stone Age”.

The remains of the most ancient man were found in Africa, in Kenya; scientists called him "a man of skill", he lived 1 million 750 thousand years ago.

The first people on the territory of Kazakhstan appeared during the Early (Lower) Paleolithic. In Kazakhstan, the most ancient finds of stone tools were found in South Kazakhstan, in the Karatau mountains, in this region of the republic there are especially many sites of ancient people dating back to the Paleolithic period. The most ancient sites of the Stone Age - Shakpakaty in the Mangystau region and Arystandy in the Zhambyl region - belong to the Lower Paleolithic.

More than 5 thousand tools of labor of the Paleolithic era. The first stone tool of ancient man is called a chopper. A pebble stone, processed and sharpened on both sides, is called chopping. The first occupations of the ancient man were gathering and hunting.

The primitive herd was a primitive association of people for joint defense and attack, as well as for hunting and gathering.

One of the most ancient people was Pithecanthropus, his remains were first found on the island of Java. The first ancient people who entered the territory of Kazakhstan were contemporaries of Pithecanthropus.

MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC (MUSTIER) - 140-40 thousand years BC

In China, the remains of an ancient man - Sinanthropus were found.

The most ancient people Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus in science were called "people of upright walking". A sharp cold snap on Earth came about 100 thousand years ago... During the Middle Paleolithic period, man learned to make fire, during the same period caves became the first dwellings of ancient people.

Scientists call the ancient man who lived in the Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) - Neanderthal, he lived 100-40 thousand years ago... The remains of a man of the Mousterian era - Neanderthal man, were first found in Germany. Neanderthal remains were also found in 1938 year Academician A.P. Okladnikov in Teshiktash cave.

LATE (UPPER) PALEOLITH- 40-12 thousand years BC

After the Neanderthals, approximately 35-40 thousand years ago, "Homo sapiens" is being formed. For the first time, the remains of "Homo sapiens" were discovered in France in the Cro-Magnon cave, and at the location scientists call him Cro-Magnon. The formation of "Homo sapiens" takes place in the Upper Paleolithic.

The ancient man from the animal world was distinguished, first of all, by the ability to make tools of labor. The origin of religious ideas, the appearance of rock and cave paintings, scientists attribute to the era of the Upper Paleolithic.

A permanent group of relatives - the tribal community - appears during the formation of "Homo sapiens". All members of the tribal community had equal rights, and the elders were elected at the general meeting. At the head of the tribal associations were elected leaders

In northern Africa, anthropologists have found human remains that date back to 300,000 years - much older than one might think.

The bones that belonged to the oldest Homo sapiens, as well as stone tools were found at the famous Paleolithic site of Jebel Irhud, in the territory of modern Morocco. Excavations here began in the 1960s, and at first the finds were considered Neanderthal.

In the new work of anthropologists from Morocco and Germany, the age of the Jebel Irhud finds is estimated at about 300 thousand years, and they are already identified as belonging to Homo sapiens... This makes them the oldest known remains of our species: until now, bones found in East Africa, 195 thousand years old, held the record. It seems that human development and resettlement did not go exactly as we imagined.

“Long before resettlement Homo sapiens outside Africa [ 60-70 thousand years ago, - NS] it began to spread across Africa itself, ”says Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

"The development of mankind involved populations living in vast regions of Africa, and began 100 thousand years earlier than it was thought."

Hubli and his co-authors describe 16 new finds in Jebel Irhud in an article published by the journal Nature... They were made in 2004–2011. and belonged to at least five people: three adults, a teenager and a child. The remains include parts of the skull, the lower jaw, part of the upper jaw, six teeth, and several limb bones. Still North Africa dropped out of the attention of scientists busy with the problem of the origin of our species - and, it seems, completely in vain.

Using the data of computed tomography of fragments of the skull and lower jaw, scientists reconstructed it in the form of a 3D model, comparing it with skulls of various types Homo living since 1.8 million years ago - including H. erectus, Neanderthals and H. sapiens... The face of the skull, jaw and teeth were remarkably similar to ours, although slightly larger. This allowed anthropologists to conclude that the Jebel Irhud remains belonged to H. sapiens.

On the other hand, the cranium itself, which encloses the brain, is not quite "sapient". Both the recently found skull and a pair of lesser-preserved skulls found earlier at Jebel Irhud are slightly underestimated and elongated, resembling the cranium of earlier people. H. erectu s. This allowed Jean-Jacques Hubley and his co-authors to decide that the key characteristics of the facial part by 300 thousand years ago in our ancestors had already become quite modern, but the development of the brain was still continuing.

In addition to bones, many flint stone tools were also found in Jebel Irhud. 14 of these samples were examined by Hubley's colleagues, led by Shannon McPherron, whose article was published in the same issue of the journal. Nature... Dating carried out using various methods gave similar results: 315 (± 34) thousand years and 286 (± 32) thousand years. This makes the Jebel Irhud finds the oldest known site of representatives Homo sapiens.

Many weapons bear traces of fire and are in combination with a mass of animal bones, usually gazelles. Technically, they resemble the Levallois industry of the Neanderthals of the Mousterian culture: these methods of stone processing are characterized by the preparation of blank cores and the pointed shape of the finished tool. All this creates a picture of a fully developed, "classical" Middle Paleolithic in Jebel Irhud.

Found a new species of ancient man

Scientists examined the found remains of an ancient man and found that this is a completely new, previously unknown species of man.

Researchers from Australia examined the remains of people of the Stone Age. They were found back in the 70s and 80s of the last century in China, but until recently they were still unexplored. But it turns out that in vain, because these fossils have discovered a novelty in anthropology.

Thus, research began in the late 2000s. And the remains were found in 1979 near the village of Lonling in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and three more - in 1989 in Maloudon ("Red Deer Cave") in the neighboring province of Yunnan.

Fragments of bones combine ancient and modern signs, it was a previously unknown type of people. The skull is round, the brow ridges are low, the lower jaw protrudes strongly forward, and the face is small and flat with a wide nose. By these signs, one can already judge how closely such a face shape is similar to a modern one.

So, these people lived between 14,500 and 11,500 years.

And after research, this species of man became the "youngest" among the finds of Asia, because before that it was believed that it was Homo sapiens who colonized the continent.

Researcher Darren Kernow from the University of New South Wales Australia has suggested that this person may be a descendant of a previously unknown species of people who were able to survive the ice age. Or another hypothesis of the same scientist is that this kind of people may be a descendant of the "first wave of migration" from Africa, and much more ancient, as it was considered until now studies. The scientist also said that in this situation, researchers are trying to be especially careful to accurately identify these people. After all, the problem is that until now, oddly enough, scientists do not have an exact definition of homo sapiens.

Therefore, from new research, we can conclude that the "red deer man", as he was nicknamed because of the object of his hunt, lived next to the ancient Chinese at the very time when agriculture was emerging in China.

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