以色列发现最古老人类遗骸 或为人类起源

以色列特拉维夫大学考古学系教授阿维·戈弗说他们团队在特拉维夫市东部一个洞穴里发现了八颗牙齿，其中最古老的一颗可追溯到40万年前，比之前发现的最早的智人骨骸还早了20万年。该发现可能会推翻“现代人起源于非洲”的传统观点。戈弗说他们2006年就发现了第一颗牙齿，之后几年他们一直在进行采样并使用各种纪年法进行测试。特拉维夫大学声明说“我们会继续考察，以发现更多支持该研究成果的证据，加深对人类进化历程的了解。”

Israeli archaeologists have discovered human remains dating from 400,000 years ago, challenging conventional wisdom that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, the leader of excavations in Israel said on Tuesday.

Avi Gopher, of Tel Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology, said testing of stalagmites, stalactites and other material found in a cave east of Tel Aviv indicates that eight teeth uncovered there could be the earliest traces so far of our species.

"Our cave was used for a period of about 250,000 years -- from about 400,000 years ago to about 200,000 years ago," he told the reporters.

"The teeth are scattered through the layers of the cave, some in the deeper part, that is to say from 400,000 years and through all kinds of other layers that can be up to 200,000 years. The oldest are 400,000 years old", he added."

That calls into question the widely held view that Africa was the birthplace of modern man, said Gopher, who headed the dig at Qesem Cave.

"It is accepted at the moment that the earliest Homo sapiens that we know is in east Africa and is 200,000 years old, or a little less. We don't know of anywhere else where anyone claims to have an earlier Homo sapiens," he said.

Gopher said the first teeth were discovered in 2006 but he and his team waited until they had several samples, then conducted years of testing, using a variety of dating methods, before publishing their findings.

Digging continues at the cave, the university said, with researchers hoping to "uncover additional finds that will enable them to confirm the findings published up to now and to enhance our understanding of the evolution of mankind, and especially the appearance of modern man."