Out of Africa Theory Changed
An analysis of a 1.5 million-year-old vertebra from a human relative living in what is now Israel suggests that ancient humans dispersed out of Africa is multiple waves.
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00:00 is a continuous debate about the nature of out-of-Africa migration. Was this a
00:05 one-time event or did it take place on multiple occasions?
00:08 The site of Ubedia is found close to the southern edge of the Sea of Galilee, near
00:22 Kibbutz Beidzera, and is one of the earliest prehistoric sites to be found
00:26 outside of Africa, and dates to around 1.5 million years ago. The only other
00:31 site that predates Ubedia is the Manisi in the Republic of Georgia, which dates
00:37 to around 1.8 million years ago. Ubedia was discovered and excavated in the
00:44 early 60s by many of the famous Israeli prehistorians who uncovered rich stone
00:49 tools assemblages that were used by early humans, together with numerous
00:54 animal bones, some of which went extinct long time ago, like saber-toothed cats
00:58 and mammoths, while others are not usually associated with Israel, such as
01:03 hippos, rhinos, and big crocodiles. In 2018, Miriam Bellemaker won a National
01:09 Science Foundation grant to study the ancient climate and to accurately date
01:14 the site. While studying animal bones from the site, she came across a
01:18 vertebra with human-like feature that was actually excavated in 1966. Together
01:25 with Professor Elabin, we studied the vertebra and came up with some new and
01:30 important conclusions. First, it is a fossilized early human bone that belonged
01:36 to a child. We know so because of the shape of the vertebra and the fact that
01:41 it is incomplete, meaning that it did not finish its growing process. We estimate
01:47 that had it reached adulthood, this individual would be around 1.8 meters
01:52 tall and weigh about 19 kilograms. These numbers are similar to some of the
01:57 large-bodied hominins that are found in Africa in the similar time period, but
02:05 are very different from the small-bodied hominins that we found in Georgia.
02:10 Second, he will witness two distinct human species at the same time period,
02:15 which is known as the lower Pleistocene outside of Africa. We know that the
02:21 earliest stages of human evolution took place outside of, took place in Africa
02:25 based on the fossil record and by comparing DNA data from apes and humans.
02:31 However, over the years there is a continuous debate about the nature of
02:36 out-of-Africa migration. Was this a one-time event or did it take place on
02:41 multiple, multiple occasions? And who were the people who migrated out of Africa?
02:46 Our current study indicates that early hominins migrated at least twice and in
02:52 two distinct ways. This is because the people of Dmanisi are different in
02:57 size and shape from those of Inubadia. Moreover, Dr. Omri Barzilai studied the
03:03 stone artifacts from both sides, conclude that the stone manufacturing techniques
03:08 as well as the stone tools themselves are different. Professor
03:13 Miriam Bellmaker concludes that the climate as well as the animals are also
03:18 different in both sides. Thus, with each migration ways came new and
03:24 different type of hominins with their own stone making traditions, which may
03:29 indicate maybe about their cognitive abilities and the
03:34 different preferences of their ecological niche inhabitants. Thank you
03:39 for listening and have a great day.
03:44 you
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