When is he human?

1992/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Giza zientziak
• Arkeologia

After reviewing a bone discovered in 965, a group of American researchers said the bone was 2.4 million years old.

After a review of a bone located on Lake Barin in southern Kenya in 1965 and located in a museum, a group of American researchers said it was 2.4 million years old. Andrew Hill, of Yale University, states that the bone belongs to the genus “Homo”, but does not specify whether it belongs to Homo habilis or other similar species. The analysis has been based on the maxillary joint and cranial foot angle, along with other anatomical characteristics.

Until now, paleoanthropologists considered that the remains found in the Fora Koobi, next to Lake Turkana, in Kenya, were of the species Homo habilis and the oldest on Earth, with an age of 1.9 million years.

Therefore, the age difference between both residues is evident and there is intense debate. A. Hill presents two reasons for its discovery. On the one hand, the oldest stone devices, between 2.4 and 2.6 million years old, generally fit the genus “Homo”. On the other hand, at that time there was a general cooling that caused the disappearance of many species and the appearance of others able to adapt to the new situation, among which was the “Homo”.