MODERN humans appeared 35,000 years earlier than we thought. According to new dates for two Ethiopian fossils, we have been around for 195,000 years.
Discovered along the Omo river in 1967 by anthropologist Richard Leakey, the remains were originally thought to be 130,000 years old. However, most researchers doubted they were older than 100,000 years. Now modern radiometric and geological techniques show their age was actually underestimated (Nature, vol 433, p 733).
Two years ago other remains from Ethiopia were dated to about 160,000 years (Â鶹´«Ã½, 14 June 2003, p 4), confirming…
