Just a week after scientists reported evidence that our species left Africa earlier than we thought, another discovery is suggesting the date might be pushed back further.
This image provided by the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India in January 2018 shows a sample of artifacts from the Middle Palaeolithic era found at the Attirampakkam archaeological site in southern India. (Kumar Akhilesh, Shanti Pappu/Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India via AP)
Homo sapiens arose in Africa at least 300,000 years ago and left to colonize the globe. Scientists think there were several dispersals from Africa, not all equally successful. Last week's report of a human jaw showed some members of our species had reached Israel by 177,000 to 194,000 years ago.
Now comes a discovery in India of stone tools, showing a style that has been associated elsewhere with our species. They were fashioned from 385,000 years ago to 172,000 years ago, showing evidence of continuity and development over that time. That starting point is a lot earlier than scientists generally think Homo sapiens left Africa.
This tool style has also been attributed to Neanderthals and possibly other species. So it's impossible to say whether the tools were made by Homo sapiens or some evolutionary cousin, say researchers who reported the finding Wednesday in the journal Nature .
"We are very cautious on this point" because no human fossils were found with the tools, several authors added in a statement.
It's not clear how much the tool development reflects arrival of populations or ideas from outside India, versus being more of a local development, said one author, Shanti Pappu of the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education in Chennai, India.
The tool-making style was a change from older stone tools found at the site, featuring a shift to smaller flakes, for example.
Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist who specializes in human evolution in Asia but didn't participate in the work, said he did not think the tools show that our species had left Africa so long ago.
"I simply don't buy it," said Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany.
Instead, he said, he believes one of our evolutionary cousins in India developed the tool style independently of outside influence. The tools at the site northwest of Chennai in southeastern India are closely related to the older tool-making style there and seem to represent a transition, he said.
The idea that they reflect knowledge brought in from elsewhere would be tough to prove in India, he said. The country has few well-studied archaeological sites and only one fossil find from this period, from a forerunner of Homo sapiens that was associated with the earlier style of tool-making, Petraglia said.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — India captain Rohit Sharma says India is consistently on the “wrong side” of contentious video reviews, including Monday’s match-turning dismissal of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Jaiswal was on 84 in India’s second innings in the fourth test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as the visiting side reached 140-6 in the 71st over of a scheduled 92-over innings.
With a draw seemingly within India’s grasp, Australia appealed for a caught-behind off the bowling of skipper Pat Cummins, which was turned down by on-field umpire Joel Wilson.
Australia called for a video referral. While the Ultra-edge technology did not show contact with bat or glove as the ball went past, replays appeared to indicate the ball came off the bat, or glove, or both. The third umpire decided there was enough evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s original decision of not out.
“Really, I don’t know what to make of that because the technology didn’t show anything,” Sharma said. “I feel we’ve been a little bit unfortunate. I don’t know how the umpires want to use the technology.
“It’s about the technology which we all know is not 100 per cent. We don’t really want to look too much into that.
“It’s just that more often than not, we are the ones falling on the wrong side of it.
But Sharma conceded Jaiswal had made contact with the ball.
“In all fairness I think he did touch the ball. With the naked eye, it seemed that he did touch something,” he said.
Jaiswal’s dismissal was a key moment in India’s collapse as the visiting side lost 7-34 during the final session as Australia completed its 184-run victory in the 80th over, with only 12 more overs scheduled to be bowled in the final hour.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Australian players celebrates the wicket of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal during play on the last day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal walks off the field after losing his wicket during play on the last day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Australian players celebrates the wicket of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal during play on the last day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal, center, speaks to umpires after being dismissed during play on the last day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
