Submitted by Michael Kan on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 12:34
Dating back to 110,000 years ago, a human fossil found in China could provide evidence disputing the theory that all modern day humans originally came from Africa.
Jin Changzhu, a researcher with the institute, said the find was especially important since very few human fossils from this evolutionary period have been found in China. He added that the jawbone is that of an early modern human, but it also bears the traits of our more primitive ancestors.
“The chin protrudes out like a Homo sapiens would, but the jaw also slopes in way like that of a Homo erectus,” he said.
Chris Stringer is a British professor who currently works at the National History Museum in London as a research leader on human origins. He is well-known for supporting the "Out of Africa" theory on how modern humans emerged. The commonly held theory argues that all modern Homo sapiens originated from Africa, and then spread themselves across the Earth.
He has studied at the University College London and at Bristol University, where he has received degrees in anthropology and in the anatomical sciences. Stringer is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, which acts as the national academy of sciences for the United Kingdom. During his career he has published many papers and articles on the origins of modern man. His most recent book is Homo britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain, which talks about how ancient humans arrived in Britain, as well as the archaeological evidence that has helped piece the story together. The book became the winner for the Archaeological Book Award in 2008.
Stringer is also the director for the the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project (AHOB). Its goal is to investigate how ancient humans from Palaeolithic and Mesolithic northern Europe lived.
