Latest news with #H.erectus
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Underwater Fossils Surface to Reveal a Lost World of Archaic Humans
An artificial island of sand dredged from Indonesia's seafloor has accidentally revealed evidence of a long-lost sunken world, inhabited by early humans. Scattered across the newly created island, scientists have uncovered more than 6,700 fossils of fish, reptiles, and mammals dredged from the deep, including the remains of two hominin skulls. This is the first discovery of ancient human fossils between the islands of Indonesia. The bones belong to Homo erectus – the longest surviving of all our human relatives. Until now, the only evidence of H. erectus in the region was confined to the island of Java. But as it turns out, this population was not so isolated after all. More than 130,000 years ago, when sea levels were 100 meters (328 feet) lower than today, it seems that H. erectus left the island of Java and lived among the valleys and plains of sunken 'Sundaland'. Sunda is the name for the largest drowned shelf in the world, and while it is now a shallow sea, in the past, it was occasionally a land bridge between the Asian mainland and the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. This means that H. erectus may have even come into contact with other human species living in Asia at the time, like Neanderthals or Denisovans. "Homo erectus could disperse from the Asian mainland to Java," says lead author and archaeologist Harry Berghuis from Leiden University in the Netherlands. "This makes our discoveries truly unique. The fossils come from a drowned river valley, which filled up over time with river sand. We have been able to date the material to approximately 140,000 years ago." At that time, experts suspect Sundaland resembled the African savannah. The fossils found on the artificial island included hippos, crocodiles, elephants, Komodo dragons, rhinos, big cats, and hoofed, ruminant animals, similar to bison or buffalo. Most are now extinct. Given the dry habitat of this prehistoric ecosystem, it is likely that H. erectus stuck to the rivers in Sundaland, which would have provided a perennial source of drinking water and fish. Experts suspect the hominin may have also taken advantage of large game that visited the waters. "Among our new finds are cut marks on the bones of water turtles and large numbers of broken bovid bones, which point to hunting and consumption of bone marrow," says Berghuis. "We didn't find this in the earlier Homo erectus population on Java, but do know it from more modern human species of the Asian mainland. Homo erectus may have copied this practice from these populations. This suggests there may have been contact between these hominin groups, or even genetic exchange." That's an interesting hypothesis, but further evidence is necessary. Past fossil finds on Java have led scientists to believe this island was the last stronghold for H. erectus – a hominin that journeyed out of Africa and across Asia in a decidedly impressive two-million-year run. By 400,000 years ago, however, H. erectus had gone extinct in Asia and Africa. Yet the species persisted on Java until around 108,000 years ago. It's a big win pulling the remains of H. erectus from the seabed off the coast of Java, but the fossils were found between a small and narrow strait separating two islands. How much further afield H. erectus travelled from Java is a mystery. "The answers may very well be at the bottom of the sea," write the authors. The research was published in four installments in Quaternary Environments and Humans here, here, here, and here. Scientists Discovered a Hidden Clue Why Men Are Taller Than Women Being Bored Could Actually Be Good For Your Brain, Scientists Reveal Couples Who Cuddle at Bedtime Have Lower Stress And Feel More Secure
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
These human ancestors weren't as lonely as experts thought
For years, archeologists assumed the ancient Homo erectus population that lived on present-day Java existed in general isolation from nearby island relatives. However, a pair of fossilized skull fragments recently found off the Javanese coast are helping experts recontextualize the lives of the region's H. erectus populations as they existed around 140,000 years ago. According to a study published May 15 in the journal Quaternary Environments and Humans, life for the Javanese H. erectus wasn't always as lonely as we thought. Today, Indonesia consists of multiple islands between Asia and Australia, but that hasn't always been the case. Beginning roughly 2.6 million years ago, the larger area has occasionally existed during periods of lower ocean levels as a larger, unified lowland landmass known as Sundaland. While H. erectus fossils have previously been found on Java itself, none were known to exist further outward in areas like the Madura Strait, which separates the islands of Madura from Central Java. That all changed thanks to over 176.5 million cubic feet of sand. The massive amount of sediment was dredged over 2014 to 2015 as part of an Indonesia land reclamation project, but it soon became clear that the sand also contained valuable historical remains. Scouring the material ultimately yielded around 6,000 fossil specimens from ancient fish, reptiles, and mammals–including the unexpected pair of H. erectus skull fragments. According to Harold Berghuis, study co-author and an archeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, their team's discoveries are 'truly unique.' 'The fossils come from a drowned river valley, which filled up over time with river sand [dating to] approximately 140,000 years ago,' he said in an accompanying statement. Berghuis described that era as the 'penultimate glacial period.' Earth's Northern Hemisphere was so populated with glaciers, that the global sea level averaged nearly 1,100 feet lower than it does today. Because of this, Sundaland in the time of H. erectus greatly resembled the African savannah of today—largely dry grassland broken up by major rivers surrounded by narrow strips of forests. 'Here they had water, shellfish, fish, edible plants, seeds and fruit all year round,' said Berghuis. Sundaland also featured a variety of animals, including multiple species of elephants, rhinos, and crocodiles. Strikingly, the bones the team found even have evidence of butchery by H. erectus. 'Among our new finds are cut marks on the bones of water turtles and large numbers of broken bovid bones, which point to hunting and consumption of bone marrow,' Berghuis added. While this contrasts with earlier Javanese H. erectus populations, it had previously been documented in more modern human species who lived on the Asian mainland. According to the study's authors, this indicates that Sundaland's H. erectus may have learned those techniques from them. 'This suggests there may have been contact between these hominin groups, or even genetic exchange,' theorized Berghuis.
