Fossils reveal early modern humans in southeast Asia 77,000 years ago

By James Ashworth
First published 15 June 2023

Our ancient relatives may have reached southeast Asia over 10,000 years earlier than thought.

While it’s not yet known what happened to these early humans, their presence adds to an increasingly complex picture of early migration.

New ancient human fossils are shedding light on the first modern humans in southeast Asia.

While it’s generally agreed that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, the timing of its migration across the world is open for debate. Fossils seem to show our species having left Africa over 100,000 years ago, while genetic evidence points to a migration around 40,000 years later.

Newly described fossils from Tam Pà Ling cave in Laos have now added more pieces to the puzzle. A fragment of a human leg bone was found in sediments believed to be as much as 86,000 years old. In combination with other fossils from the cave, it suggests Homo sapiens lived there for as long as 56,000 years.

Professor Fabrice Demeter, one of the co-authors of the study, says that research at the cave has only just scratched the surface so far. ‘Tam Pà Ling plays a key role in the story of modern human migration through Asia but its significance and value is only just being recognised,’ Fabrice adds.

More:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/june/fossils-reveal-early-modern-humans-southeast-asia-77000-years-ago.html