The 120,000-Year-Old Footprints of Homo Sapiens in China

A newly discovered treasure of 47 fossils of early human teeth in a cave in southern China indicates that the history of early human migration (Homo sapiens) from Africa to Asia dates back much earlier than previously thought. According to Reuters, scientists announced that these teeth are dated between 80,000 to 120,000 years ago and are the oldest human fossils ever discovered outside Africa. The age of these fossils, found in the Foyan cave in Hunan province, is 30,000 to 70,000 years older than human fossils found in Europe. Wu Liu, a paleoanthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Anthropology, states, "Until now, the majority of the scientific community believed that early humans (Homo sapiens) did not exist in Asia until 50,000 years ago." Liu noted that the age of these fossils, which belong to at least 13 early humans, is twice that of the fossils found in Europe. He hopes that "this discovery will lead human archaeologists to place greater importance on excavating the roots of modern humans in Asia." The current human species, or Homo sapiens, first appeared in East Africa 200,000 years ago and then migrated to other parts of the world, although the timing and location of many of these migrations remain unknown. Maria Martinon-Torres, a paleoanthropologist at University College London, believes that migration to China (East Asia) occurred centuries before early humans migrated to Europe. "Given the severe cold in European winters, it makes sense to think that migration to Asia was easier." According to Martinon-Torres, 90,000 years ago, migrants from Africa moved towards Israel, as human fossils from that era have been discovered in caves in that country, but they never reached Europe itself. She suggests that the migration of Homo sapiens to the land of Neanderthals, who dominated Europe for thousands of years, may have been very difficult. The results of this new discovery have been published in the prestigious scientific journal "Nature."