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Archaeology in Israel: Oldest Human Bones
Ever Discovered Outside of Africa

(January 2018)

An ancient jawbone was found next to hominid-made tools in the collapsed Misliya cave on Israel's Mt Carmel in 2002.  After years of research, scientists confidently stated in a study released via the journal Science on January 25, 2018, that the jawbone represents the oldest known human bone specimen ever found outside of Africa.  The discovery pushes back our understanding of when modern humans began developing and trecking out of Africa by an estimated 100,000 years.  The jawbone, still with eight teeth embedded inside of it, was dated to 177,000-194,000 years ago.  The tools found beside the bones were found to be 120,000-170,000 years old.  


Sources: Ephrat Livni.  An ancient jawbone found in Israel rewrites the history of Homo sapiens, Quartz, (January 26, 2018); 
Sarah Kaplan.  Scientists discover the oldest human fossils outside Africa, Washington Post, (January 26, 2018);
Amanda Borschel-Dan.  Jawbone fossil found in Israeli cave resets clock for modern human evolution, Times of Israel, (January 25, 2018).