Thrill at human fossil find
June 12, 2003
SCIENTISTS have unearthed the oldest known fossil remains of modern humans at the site of an ancient lake in Ethiopia.
The three skulls, dating back between 154,000 and 160,000 years, belong to a race of people who may be the ancestors of everyone living today.
Prof Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum, said the finds were “some of the most significant discoveries of early Homo sapiens so far”.
The fossils provide strong support for the “Out of Africa” hypothesis which holds that modern humans first arose in Africa and then spread throughout Europe and Asia.