68-606: Cheddar Man is a human male skeleton found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge , Somerset , England. The skeletal remains date to around the mid-to-late 9th millennium BC , corresponding to the Mesolithic period, and it appears that he died a violent death. A large crater-like lesion just above the skull's right orbit suggests that the man may have also been suffering from a bone infection. Excavated in 1903, Cheddar Man
136-1045: A 2017 study to be between 350 and 260,000 years ago, compatible with the estimated age of early H. sapiens . The study states that the deep split-time estimation of 350 to 260 thousand years ago is consistent with the archaeological estimate for the onset of the Middle Stone Age across sub-Saharan Africa and coincides with archaic H. sapiens in southern Africa represented by, for example, the Florisbad skull dating to 259 (± 35) thousand years ago. H. s. idaltu , found at Middle Awash in Ethiopia, lived about 160,000 years ago, and H. sapiens lived at Omo Kibish in Ethiopia about 233,000-195,000 years ago. Two fossils from Guomde, Kenya, dated to at least (and likely more than) 180,000 years ago and (more precisely) to 300–270,000 years ago, have been tentatively assigned to H. sapiens and similarities have been noted between them and
204-463: A comparatively homogeneous single species of H. sapiens from more diverse varieties of archaic humans (all of which were descended from the early dispersal of H. erectus some 1.8 million years ago) was debated in terms of two competing models during the 1980s: " recent African origin " postulated the emergence of H. sapiens from a single source population in Africa, which expanded and led to
272-468: A convention popular in the 1990s, Neanderthals were classified as a subspecies of H. sapiens , as H. s. neanderthalensis , while AMH (or European early modern humans , EEMH) was taken to refer to " Cro-Magnon " or H. s. sapiens . Under this nomenclature (Neanderthals considered H. sapiens ), the term "anatomically modern Homo sapiens " (AMHS) has also been used to refer to EEMH ("Cro-Magnons"). It has since become more common to designate Neanderthals as
340-403: A direct connection between Cheddar Man and this individual, and many people with the same mtDNA haplogroup could probably be found even within the local area. The programme generated coverage in national and international media, which focused mainly on the supposed relationship between Cheddar Man and the local history teacher, and failed to emphasise that mitochondrial DNA is only passed on through
408-406: A higher forehead, and reduced brow ridge . Early modern people and some living people do however have quite pronounced brow ridges, but they differ from those of archaic forms by having both a supraorbital foramen or notch, forming a groove through the ridge above each eye. This splits the ridge into a central part and two distal parts. In current humans, often only the central section of the ridge
476-767: A lineage-based ( cladistic ) definition of H. sapiens has been suggested, in which H. sapiens would by definition refer to the modern human lineage following the split from the Neanderthal lineage. Such a cladistic definition would extend the age of H. sapiens to over 500,000 years. Estimates for the split between the Homo sapiens line and combined Neanderthal / Denisovan line range from between 503,000 and 565,000 years ago; between 550,000 and 765,000 years ago; and (based on rates of dental evolution) possibly more than 800,000 years ago. Extant human populations have historically been divided into subspecies , but since around
544-503: A number of physiological details which can be taken as reliably differentiating the physiology of Neanderthals vs. anatomically modern humans. The term "anatomically modern humans" (AMH) is used with varying scope depending on context, to distinguish "anatomically modern" Homo sapiens from archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Middle and Lower Paleolithic hominins with transitional features intermediate between H. erectus , Neanderthals and early AMH called archaic Homo sapiens . In
612-486: A separate species, H. neanderthalensis , so that AMH in the European context refers to H. sapiens , but the question is by no means resolved. In this more narrow definition of H. sapiens , the subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu , discovered in 2003, also falls under the umbrella of "anatomically modern". The recognition of H. sapiens idaltu as a valid subspecies of the anatomically modern human lineage would justify
680-508: A smaller, more receded dentary, making the rest of the jaw-line stand out, giving an often quite prominent chin. The central part of the mandible forming the chin carries a triangularly shaped area forming the apex of the chin called the mental trigon , not found in archaic humans. Particularly in living populations, the use of fire and tools requires fewer jaw muscles, giving slender, more gracile jaws. Compared to archaic people, modern humans have smaller, lower faces. The body skeletons of even
748-576: A study published in 2020, there are indications that 2% to 19% (or about ≃6.6 and ≃7.0%) of the DNA of four West African populations may have come from an unknown archaic hominin which split from the ancestor of humans and Neanderthals between 360 kya to 1.02 mya. Generally, modern humans are more lightly built (or more "gracile") than the more "robust" archaic humans . Nevertheless, contemporary humans exhibit high variability in many physiological traits , and may exhibit remarkable "robustness". There are still
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#1732772184451816-498: A virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans/ H. sapiens , representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa while North-African fossils may represent a population which introgressed into Neandertals during the LMP. According to
884-671: Is Britain's oldest near-complete human skeleton. The remains are kept by London's Natural History Museum , in the Human Evolution gallery. Analysis of his nuclear DNA indicates that he was a typical member of the Western European hunter-gatherer population at the time, with a most likely phenotype of blue-green eyes, dark brown or black hair, and dark or dark-to-black skin, with no genetic adaption for lactase persistence into adulthood. The near-complete skeleton, an adult male who probably died in his early twenties,
952-694: Is associated with the African megadroughts during MIS 5 , beginning 130,000 years ago. A 2011 study located the origin of basal population of contemporary human populations at 130,000 years ago, with the Khoi-San representing an "ancestral population cluster" located in southwestern Africa (near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola ). While early modern human expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa before 130 kya persisted, early expansion to North Africa and Asia appears to have mostly disappeared by
1020-484: Is estimated as having taken place over 500,000 years ago (marking the split of the H. sapiens lineage from ancestors shared with other known archaic hominins). But the oldest split among modern human populations (such as the Khoisan split from other groups) has been recently dated to between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago, and the earliest known examples of H. sapiens fossils also date to about that period, including
1088-634: Is estimated to have occurred in Africa roughly 500,000 years ago. The earliest fossil evidence of early modern humans appears in Africa around 300,000 years ago, with the earliest genetic splits among modern people, according to some evidence, dating to around the same time. Sustained archaic human admixture with modern humans is known to have taken place both in Africa and (following the recent Out-Of-Africa expansion ) in Eurasia, between about 100,000 and 30,000 years ago. The binomial name Homo sapiens
1156-553: Is evidence that the characteristic human brain development, especially the prefrontal cortex, was due to "an exceptional acceleration of metabolome evolution ... paralleled by a drastic reduction in muscle strength. The observed rapid metabolic changes in brain and muscle, together with the unique human cognitive skills and low muscle performance, might reflect parallel mechanisms in human evolution." The Schöningen spears and their correlation of finds are evidence that complex technological skills already existed 300,000 years ago, and are
1224-475: Is of the order of about 1% to 4% in Europeans and East Asians, and highest among Melanesians (the last also having Denisova hominin admixture at 4% to 6% in addition to neanderthal admixture). Cumulatively, about 20% of the Neanderthal genome is estimated to remain present spread in contemporary populations. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans , of
1292-477: Is preserved (if it is preserved at all). This contrasts with archaic humans, where the brow ridge is pronounced and unbroken. Modern humans commonly have a steep, even vertical forehead whereas their predecessors had foreheads that sloped strongly backwards. According to Desmond Morris , the vertical forehead in humans plays an important role in human communication through eyebrow movements and forehead skin wrinkling. Brain size in both Neanderthals and AMH
1360-506: Is required to produce enough vitamin D. There are a handful of genetic variations linked to lighter skin; it was determined in the study that Cheddar Man had "ancestral" versions of all these genes, strongly suggesting he would have had "dark to black" skin tone, but combined with blue eyes. Gough%27s Cave Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
1428-521: Is significantly larger on average (but overlapping in range) than brain size in H. erectus . Neanderthal and AMH brain sizes are in the same range, but there are differences in the relative sizes of individual brain areas, with significantly larger visual systems in Neanderthals than in AMH. Compared to archaic people, anatomically modern humans have smaller, differently shaped teeth. This results in
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#17327721844511496-446: Is still extant in males of the modern British Isles and across other parts of Europe. The mitochondrial DNA of Cheddar Man was discovered to be haplogroup U5b1 by a Natural History Museum study in 2018 using next generation sequencing . Some 65% of western European Mesolithic hunter-gatherers had haplogroup U5 ; today it is widely distributed, at lower frequencies, across western Eurasia and northern Africa. In 1996, Bryan Sykes of
1564-445: Is taken to reflect a process towards a smaller and more fine-boned skeleton beginning around 50,000–30,000 years ago. The cranium lacks a pronounced occipital bun in the neck, a bulge that anchored considerable neck muscles in Neanderthals. Modern humans, even the earlier ones, generally have a larger fore-brain than the archaic people, so that the brain sits above rather than behind the eyes. This will usually (though not always) give
1632-749: The Florisbad site in South Africa, dating to about 259,000 years ago, and the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, dated about 315,000 years ago. Extinct species of the genus Homo include Homo erectus (extant from roughly 2 to 0.1 million years ago) and a number of other species (by some authors considered subspecies of either H. sapiens or H. erectus ). The divergence of the lineage leading to H. sapiens out of ancestral H. erectus (or an intermediate species such as Homo antecessor )
1700-609: The Jebel Irhoud remains from Morocco (ca. 300,000 or 350–280,000 years ago), the Florisbad Skull from South Africa (ca. 259,000 years ago), and the Omo remains from Ethiopia (ca. 195,000, or, as more recently dated, ca. 233,000 years ago). An mtDNA study in 2019 proposed an origin of modern humans in Botswana (and a Khoisan split) of around 200,000 years. However, this proposal has been widely criticized by scholars, with
1768-517: The Mesolithic and the Neolithic , due to increased selection pressures and due to founder effects associated with migration . Alleles predictive of light skin have been found in Neanderthals , but the alleles for light skin in Europeans and East Asians, associated with KITLG and ASIP , are (as of 2012 ) thought to have not been acquired by archaic admixture but recent mutations since
1836-547: The University of Oxford first sequenced the mitochondrial DNA from one of Cheddar Man's molars as U5a using PCR testing. The difference between the older result and the 2018 Natural History Museum result was attributed to the use of older PCR technology and possible contamination. Soon after the discovery of the skeleton, Cheddar Man became part of a discourse of British nationalism and cultural heritage, with an initially proposed age of 40,000–80,000 years. The specimen
1904-459: The brain case is quite rounded and distinct from that of the Neanderthals and is similar to the brain case of modern humans. It is uncertain whether the robust traits of some of the early modern humans like Skhul V reflects mixed ancestry or retention of older traits. The "gracile" or lightly built skeleton of anatomically modern humans has been connected to a change in behavior, including increased cooperation and "resource transport". There
1972-603: The lipid catabolic process . A 2017 study found correlation of Neanderthal admixture in phenotypic traits in modern European populations. Physiological or phenotypical changes have been traced to Upper Paleolithic mutations, such as the East Asian variant of the EDAR gene, dated to c. 35,000 years ago. Recent divergence of Eurasian lineages was sped up significantly during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM),
2040-556: The range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans, from extinct archaic human species. This distinction is useful especially for times and regions where anatomically modern and archaic humans co-existed, for example, in Paleolithic Europe . Among the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens are those found at the Omo-Kibish I archaeological site in south-western Ethiopia , dating to about 233,000 to 196,000 years ago,
2108-850: The recent "out of Africa" migration , likely between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Recent admixture analyses have added to the complexity, finding that Eastern Neanderthals derive up to 2% of their ancestry from anatomically modern humans who left Africa some 100 kya . The extent of Neanderthal admixture (and introgression of genes acquired by admixture) varies significantly between contemporary racial groups, being absent in Africans, intermediate in Europeans and highest in East Asians. Certain genes related to UV-light adaptation introgressed from Neanderthals have been found to have been selected for in East Asians specifically from 45,000 years ago until around 5,000 years ago. The extent of archaic admixture
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2176-474: The 1980s all extant groups have tended to be subsumed into a single species, H. sapiens , avoiding division into subspecies altogether. Some sources show Neanderthals ( H. neanderthalensis ) as a subspecies ( H. sapiens neanderthalensis ). Similarly, the discovered specimens of the H. rhodesiensis species have been classified by some as a subspecies ( H. sapiens rhodesiensis ), although it remains more common to treat these last two as separate species within
2244-634: The 2010s with the discovery of admixture events ( introgression ) of populations of H. sapiens with populations of archaic humans over the period of between roughly 100,000 and 30,000 years ago, both in Eurasia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Neanderthal admixture , in the range of 1–4%, is found in all modern populations outside of Africa, including in Europeans, Asians, Papua New Guineans, Australian Aboriginals, Native Americans, and other non-Africans. This suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans took place after
2312-498: The Americas by about 40,000–25,000 years ago. Evidence for the overwhelming contribution of this "recent" ( L3 -derived) expansion to all non-African populations was established based on mitochondrial DNA , combined with evidence based on physical anthropology of archaic specimens , during the 1990s and 2000s, and has also been supported by Y DNA and autosomal DNA . The assumption of complete replacement has been revised in
2380-448: The LGM. Phenotypes associated with the " white " or " Caucasian " populations of Western Eurasian stock emerge during the LGM, from about 19,000 years ago. Average cranial capacity in modern human populations varies in the range of 1,200 to 1,450 cm for adult males. Larger cranial volume is associated with climatic region, the largest averages being found in populations of Siberia and
2448-543: The Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian culture . He is not closely related to the earlier Magdalenian individuals found in the same cave, whose ancestry is entirely from the Goyet cluster. The genomes of all British Mesolithic individuals sequenced to date other than Cheddar Man can be modelled as only Villabruna-related (WHG) ancestry, without additional Goyet-related admixture. The results of
2516-614: The Natural History Museum study gave evidence that Cheddar Man's ancestry, and the wave of anatomically modern humans he was part of, originated in the Middle East . This suggests that his ancestors would have left Africa, moved into the Middle East and later headed west into Europe, before eventually traversing Doggerland , a land bridge which connected Britain to continental Europe. It is estimated that 10% of
2584-438: The Neanderthal lineage, as "pre-Neanderthal" or "early Neanderthal", while the divergence time between the Neanderthal and modern lineages has been pushed back to before the emergence of H. heidelbergensis , to close to 800,000 years ago, the approximate time of disappearance of H. antecessor . The term Middle Paleolithic is intended to cover the time between the first emergence of H. sapiens (roughly 300,000 years ago) and
2652-784: The Omo Kibbish remains. Fossil evidence for modern human presence in West Asia is ascertained for 177,000 years ago, and disputed fossil evidence suggests expansion as far as East Asia by 120,000 years ago. In July 2019, anthropologists reported the discovery of 210,000 year old remains of a H. sapiens and 170,000 year old remains of a H. neanderthalensis in Apidima Cave , Peloponnese , Greece , more than 150,000 years older than previous H. sapiens finds in Europe. A significant dispersal event, within Africa and to West Asia,
2720-575: The Western European population of the time, now known as Western Hunter-Gatherers , another example being Loschbour man discovered in Luxembourg. This population forms about 10%, on average, of the ancestry of Britons without a recent family history of immigration. Brown eyes, lactose tolerance, and light skin are common in the modern population of the area. These genes came from later immigration, most of it ultimately from two major waves,
2788-525: The age of Y-chromosomal Adam have been pushed back significantly with the discovery of an ancient Y-chromosomal lineage in 2013, to likely beyond 300,000 years ago. There have, however, been no reports of the survival of Y-chromosomal or mitochondrial DNA clearly deriving from archaic humans (which would push back the age of the most recent patrilinear or matrilinear ancestor beyond 500,000 years). Fossil teeth found at Qesem Cave (Israel) and dated to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago have been compared to
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2856-491: The contemporary height distribution measured among Malay people , for one. Following the peopling of Africa some 130,000 years ago, and the recent Out-of-Africa expansion some 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, some sub-populations of H. sapiens had been essentially isolated for tens of thousands of years prior to the early modern Age of Discovery . Combined with archaic admixture this has resulted in significant genetic variation , which in some instances has been shown to be
2924-658: The dental material from the younger (120,000–80,000 years ago) Skhul and Qafzeh hominins . Dispersal of early H. sapiens begins soon after its emergence, as evidenced by the North African Jebel Irhoud finds (dated to around 315,000 years ago). There is indirect evidence for H. sapiens presence in West Asia around 270,000 years ago. The Florisbad Skull from Florisbad, South Africa, dated to about 259,000 years ago, has also been classified as representing early H. sapiens . Scerri (2018) , pp. 582–594 In September 2019, scientists proposed that
2992-412: The description of contemporary humans with the subspecies name Homo sapiens sapiens . However, biological anthropologist Chris Stringer does not consider idaltu distinct enough within H. sapiens to warrant its own subspecies designation. A further division of AMH into "early" or "robust" vs. "post-glacial" or " gracile " subtypes has since been used for convenience. The emergence of "gracile AMH"
3060-412: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 202145826 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:36:24 GMT Early modern human Early modern human ( EMH ), or anatomically modern human ( AMH ), are terms used to distinguish Homo sapiens (the only extant Hominina species) that are anatomically consistent with
3128-623: The distal bones were shorter, usually thought to be an adaptation to cold climate. The same adaptation is found in some modern people living in the polar regions. Height ranges overlap between Neanderthals and AMH, with Neanderthal averages cited as 164 to 168 cm (65 to 66 in) and 152 to 156 cm (60 to 61 in) for males and females, respectively, which is largely identical to pre-industrial average heights for AMH. Contemporary national averages range between 158 to 184 cm (62 to 72 in) in males and 147 to 172 cm (58 to 68 in) in females. Neanderthal ranges approximate
3196-493: The earliest H. sapiens (and last common human ancestor to modern humans) arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa . Among extant populations, the Khoi-San (or " Capoid ") hunters-gatherers of Southern Africa may represent the human population with the earliest possible divergence within the group Homo sapiens sapiens . Their separation time has been estimated in
3264-437: The earliest and most robustly built modern humans were less robust than those of Neanderthals (and from what little we know from Denisovans), having essentially modern proportions. Particularly regarding the long bones of the limbs, the distal bones (the radius / ulna and tibia / fibula ) are nearly the same size or slightly shorter than the proximal bones (the humerus and femur ). In ancient people, particularly Neanderthals,
3332-575: The emergence of "anatomically modern humans". Since the 2000s, the discovery of older remains with comparable characteristics, and the discovery of ongoing hybridization between "modern" and "archaic" populations after the time of the Omo remains, have opened up a renewed debate on the age of H. sapiens in journalistic publications. H. s. idaltu , dated to 160,000 years ago, has been postulated as an extinct subspecies of H. sapiens in 2003. H. neanderthalensis , which became extinct about 40,000 years ago,
3400-433: The emergence of a much more detailed picture, intermediate between the two competing scenarios outlined above: The recent Out-of-Africa expansion accounts for the predominant part of modern human ancestry, while there were also significant admixture events with regional archaic humans. Since the 1970s, the Omo remains, originally dated to some 195,000 years ago, have often been taken as the conventional cut-off point for
3468-802: The end of MIS5 (75,000 years ago), and is known only from fossil evidence and from archaic admixture . Eurasia was re-populated by early modern humans in the so-called "recent out-of-Africa migration" post-dating MIS5, beginning around 70,000–50,000 years ago. In this expansion, bearers of mt-DNA haplogroup L3 left East Africa, likely reaching Arabia via the Bab-el-Mandeb , and in the Great Coastal Migration spread to South Asia, Maritime South Asia and Oceania between 65,000 and 50,000 years ago, while Europe , East and North Asia were reached by about 45,000 years ago. Some evidence suggests that an early wave of humans may have reached
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#17327721844513536-486: The extinction of all other human varieties, while the " multiregional evolution " model postulated the survival of regional forms of archaic humans, gradually converging into the modern human varieties by the mechanism of clinal variation , via genetic drift , gene flow and selection throughout the Pleistocene. Since the 2000s, the availability of data from archaeogenetics and population genetics has led to
3604-486: The first obvious proof of an active (big game) hunt . H. heidelbergensis already had intellectual and cognitive skills like anticipatory planning, thinking and acting that so far have only been attributed to modern man. The ongoing admixture events within anatomically modern human populations make it difficult to estimate the age of the matrilinear and patrilinear most recent common ancestors of modern populations ( Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam ). Estimates of
3672-536: The first of Neolithic farmers from Anatolia ( Early European farmers ), another of Bronze Age pastoralists ( Western Steppe Herders ), most likely speakers of Indo-European languages , from the Pontic steppe . About 85% of his ancestry can be modelled as coming from the c. 14,000–7,000-year-old Villabruna genetic cluster, and only c. 15% from the Goyet Q2 cave cluster whose genes are found in association with
3740-731: The genomes of modern white British people comes from this population of anatomically modern humans. British Mesolithic hunter gatherers like Cheddar Man contribute negligibly to the ancestry of modern British people, due to later migrations like those of Neolithic farmers and the Bell Beaker culture effectively completely replacing the previous inhabitants of Britain, with the WHG/Villabruna ancestry in modern British people instead deriving from continental hunter gatherers. Cheddar Man's Y-DNA belonged to an ancient sister branch of modern Haplogroup I2-L38 ( I2a2 ). The I2a2 subclade
3808-438: The genus Homo rather than as subspecies within H. sapiens . All humans are considered to be a part of the subspecies H. sapiens sapiens , a designation which has been a matter of debate since a species is usually not given a subspecies category unless there is evidence of multiple distinct subspecies. The divergence of the lineage that would lead to H. sapiens out of archaic human varieties derived from H. erectus ,
3876-500: The lineage of modern humans since the split from the lineage of Neanderthals , roughly 500,000 to 800,000 years ago. The time of divergence between archaic H. sapiens and ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans caused by a genetic bottleneck of the latter was dated at 744,000 years ago, combined with repeated early admixture events and Denisovans diverging from Neanderthals 300 generations after their split from H. sapiens , as calculated by Rogers et al. (2017). The derivation of
3944-810: The modern sub-Saharan African average, and a high tibia length-to-trunk height ratio similar to modern North Africans. Nuclear DNA was extracted from the petrous part of the temporal bone by a team from the Natural History Museum in 2018. While the relevant genetic markers on the Cheddar Man genome have low sequencing coverage , limiting the accuracy of the predictions, they suggest (based on their associations in modern populations whose phenotypes are known) that he most likely had intermediate (blue-green) eye colour , dark brown or black hair, and dark or dark-to-black skin, with no derived allele for lactase persistence. These features are typical of
4012-417: The mother, and makes up only a small proportion of an individual's genome. In 2018, the publication of the genetics study by Brace et al. and subsequent facial reconstruction of a dark-skinned and blue-eyed Cheddar Man resulted in widespread media coverage. This coverage again described Cheddar Man as the "first Brit" (despite older remains of modern humans being known from Britain). Public discourse surrounding
4080-486: The period held by some to mark the emergence of full behavioral modernity (roughly by 50,000 years ago, corresponding to the start of the Upper Paleolithic ). Many of the early modern human finds, like those of Jebel Irhoud , Omo , Herto , Florisbad , Skhul , and Peștera cu Oase exhibit a mix of archaic and modern traits. Skhul V, for example, has prominent brow ridges and a projecting face. However,
4148-508: The recent evidence overall (genetic, fossil, and archaeological) supporting an origin for H. sapiens approximately 100,000 years earlier and in a broader region of Africa than the study proposes. In September 2019, scientists proposed that the earliest H. sapiens (and last common human ancestor to modern humans) arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa . An alternative suggestion defines H. sapiens cladistically as including
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#17327721844514216-541: The reconstruction of Cheddar Man heavily revolved around the themes of immigration, national identity, race, and Brexit . Some saw Cheddar Man's predicted dark skin colour as a helpful riposte to anti-immigration arguments, while others condemned it as fake news and left-wing politically correct propaganda. A dark skin colour was "strongly suggested" through exhaustive DNA studies. The current scientific consensus holds that populations living in Europe became lighter-skinned over time because pale skin absorbs more sunlight, which
4284-774: The result of directional selection taking place over the past 15,000 years, i.e., significantly later than possible archaic admixture events. Some climatic adaptations, such as high-altitude adaptation in humans , are thought to have been acquired by archaic admixture. Introgression of genetic variants acquired by Neanderthal admixture have different distributions in European and East Asians , reflecting differences in recent selective pressures. A 2014 study reported that Neanderthal-derived variants found in East Asian populations showed clustering in functional groups related to immune and haematopoietic pathways , while European populations showed clustering in functional groups related to
4352-474: Was also at one point considered to be a subspecies, H. s. neanderthalensis . H. heidelbergensis , dated 600,000 to 300,000 years ago, has long been thought to be a likely candidate for the last common ancestor of the Neanderthal and modern human lineages. However, genetic evidence from the Sima de los Huesos fossils published in 2016 seems to suggest that H. heidelbergensis in its entirety should be included in
4420-458: Was coined by Linnaeus , 1758 . The Latin noun homō (genitive hominis ) means "human being", while the participle sapiēns means "discerning, wise, sensible". The species was initially thought to have emerged from a predecessor within the genus Homo around 300,000 to 200,000 years ago. A problem with the morphological classification of "anatomically modern" was that it would not have included certain extant populations. For this reason,
4488-460: Was discovered in 1903 by labourers digging a drainage ditch. No grave goods have been reliably associated with the skeleton. It is likely that Cheddar Man was moved to the cave after death as part of what may have been a Mesolithic funerary practice, although it is also possible that he simply died in situ . Cheddar Man has been directly radiocarbon dated on two separate occasions, giving calibrated dates of 8540–7990 BC and 8470–8230 BC. Cheddar Man
4556-521: Was heralded by some as the 'first Englishman'. The analysis of Cheddar Man's mitochondrial DNA by Bryan Sykes in 1996 was broadcast on a regional television programme in the UK, Once Upon a Time in the West . The programme emphasised the connection between Cheddar Man and Adrian Targett, a history teacher from a local school, both of whom belonged to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U5, although this cannot demonstrate
4624-422: Was relatively short compared to modern Europeans, with an estimated stature of around 166 centimetres (5 ft 5 in), and weighing around 66 kilograms (146 lb). Proportionally, he is in most respects similar to modern Europeans, and may be described as 'cold-adapted' , but with a high crural index (thigh length to leg length ratio) which is much higher than the modern European average and higher even than
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