考古發現:人類可能起源於中東
Isreali scientists claimed that modern man did not originate in Africa as previously believed, but in the Middle East. The new discovery may force archeologists re-write the history of the evolution of modern man。
According to the study published last week in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, scientists from the Institute of Archeology at Tel Aviv University found eight human-like teeth in the Qesem cave near Rosh Ha'Ayin and they are 400,000 years old, making them the earliest remains of homo sapiens discovered in the world。
In addition, the researchers found evidence of a sophisticated early human society that used sharpened flakes of stone. The Israeli scientists said the remains found in the cave suggested the systematic production of flint blades, the habitual use of fire, evidence of hunting, cutting and sharing of animal meat, and mining raw materials to produce flint tools from rocks below ground。
Before that, scientists have argued that human beings originated in Africa 150,000 to 200,000 years ago - remains of homo sapiens were discovered in Ethiopia, from 160,000 years ago - and homo sapiens gradually migrated north, through the Middle East, to Europe and Asia。
The explorers said they were continuing to investigate the cave and its contents, expecting to make more discoveries that would shed further light on human evolution in prehistoric times。
據英國《每日郵報》27日報道，以色列科學家宣稱現代人並不像人們之前認爲的那樣起源於非洲，而是來自中東。這一新發現將可能迫使考古學家改寫現代人的進化史。
上週發表在美國生物醫學雜誌《體質人類學》的一篇研究報告表明，以色列特拉維夫大學考古研究所的科學家們在以色列城市Rosh Ha'Ayin附近的Qesem洞穴內發現了8顆40萬年前的類似人類牙齒的化石，這使得它們成爲世界上已出土的最早的智人遺留物。
此外，研究人員還發現證據表明這是一個成熟的早期人類社會：他們使用磨礪過的石斧。以色列科學家稱這些洞穴遺留物向人們展示了打火石刀口的製作、火的習慣性使用、打獵、割肉、共享食物的證據、從地下岩層開採資源製作取火工具等。
而在此之前，科學家曾聲稱人類起源於15萬到20萬年前的非洲——人們曾在埃塞俄比亞發現了16萬年前的智人遺留物化石——隨後智人逐漸向北遷移，經過中東，最終到達歐洲和亞洲。
(以色列)科學家稱他們仍在繼續研究Qesem洞穴及其內部情況，希望能夠得到更多關於史前人類進化狀況的線索。
