Found more than 40,000 years old skull in Laos

The skull fragments discovered by archaeologists in 2009 in a cave in Laos show that the early migration of modern humans took place 20,000 years earlier than previous research results.

The skull bones were discovered right in the area of ​​the Annamite mountains in northern Laos. According to the researchers, the bone fragments are the oldest modern human bone fossil ever discovered in Southeast Asia, dating from 46,000 to 63,000 years.

The new discovery of scientists has demonstrated in the journey from Africa to Australia, the first modern people did not migrate along the Asian coastal roads as some researchers have received. they decided to go deeper into the completely alien land.

Skull bones were excavated in Laos in 2009

Anthropologist Laura Shackelford, who works at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (USA), said: "Fossil research shows that the process of migration from Africa to East and Southeast Asia takes place at a rate of "It's quite fast. The first modern people didn't hesitate to cope with unfamiliar environments they never experienced."

In the past, researchers have discovered some human fossils of the same age as the bones discovered in China and some parts of Southeast Asia, but there is no modern human skeleton. Ancient chronology as skeleton is found in Laos.

The research team is currently using genetic analysis to determine exactly whether the first modern humans lived in Laos at least 60,000 years ago.

According to Shackelford, identifying and comparing the lifespan of skull fossils in Laos and bone fossils in the surrounding areas could help scientists identify the ancestors of the first immigrants in Australia. . In particular, mainland Southeast Asia is like the center of the turns leading to many different migration paths.

However, archaeologists could not detect any objects in the cave in Laos, so it is possible to confirm that this place is not a home or burial place.

The results of analysis of rock components in the cave show that they date from 46,000 to 51,000 years. Researchers believe that the owner of the skull died in an area near the cave and was then brought into the cave.

The skull in Laos was discovered at a depth of 2m from the surface of the cave in 2009. Over the years, the team has used a variety of measures to date the skull.

Reference: Daily Mail