Researchers say that the skull found in a cave in Portugal helps anthropologists understand how humans, especially Neanderthals, lived in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. The research team is not sure whether the skull belongs to the newly discovered human protein species, but it is noted that the skull seems to be the "extensive ancestor" of Neanderthals, said Rolf Quam, an associate professor of biological anthropology at Binghamton University.
Scientists found the hand axe in the cave, which is a stone tool technology that may have been developed in the Middle East 500,000 years ago. Kwame said that because of these excavations, researchers now have evidence that this technology spread to western Portugal within 654.38 million+years after the development of the Middle East. [Photo: A human skull with mixed features was found]
The researchers found this skull on the last day of the 20 14 field season. During the field trips from 65438 to 0998 to 2002, researchers found human teeth, animal remains and stone hand axes. But the latest discovery, the skull, is the award-winning discovery of this excavation, Kwame said.
Aselli's hand axe was found at the Portuguese site of Aroeira (Rolf Kwame). The archaeological team found the skull behind the cave and buried it in fossil sediments.
When archaeologists found it, they "certainly didn't know how to get it out," Quem told Field Science. They basically cut off a large piece with a circular saw, including the skull.
The researchers took the skull to a restoration laboratory in Madrid, and it took a fossil maker 2.5 years to take it out.
"The amount of work to get this thing out is unbelievable," said Quem.
Once they released the skull, the researchers put it into a computed tomography (CT) scanner, so that they could make a three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of the bone.
"The skull is only half a skull." Through CT scanning, we can mirror it and make the other half, so it is more complete now.
It is the Rolf Quam of human skull 400,000 years ago. The unique skull of Neanderthals, nicknamed "Aroeira skull", was found in a cave in Portugal. Kwame said that this is the oldest human fossil found in Portugal. Humans are a group including modern people and their ancestors, including Neanderthals, Homo erectus, Homo habilis and several Australopithecus. )
Aroeira's skull has a capacity of more than 67 cubic inches (65,438+065,438+000 cubic centimeters), which is similar to other human skulls found at that time. According to the Institute of Human Origin of Arizona State University, the skull capacity of modern people is larger, about 79 cubic inches (65,438+0,300 cubic centimeters). Kwam said, interestingly, Aroeira's skull has Neanderthal characteristics. Kwame said that these included Neanderthal-shaped eyebrows and bony protrusions behind the ears, called mastoids, which were as small as Neanderthals. KD SPE "KD SPS". However, Aroeira lived long before Neanderthals, which became extinct about 200,000 to 40,000 years ago. However, Quem said that the skull "can help us better understand the origin and evolution of Neanderthals." In fact, this is very important, because it will help us to think about the process of evolution-what was the initial change with the appearance of Neanderthals on the earth.
The study was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday (March 13).
Original articles on life sciences.