An international team of researchers has established that ancient humans settled the Jordan Valley roughly 1.9 million years ago — a discovery that changes our understanding of the timeline of early human migration out of Africa, infohub.kz reports.
The finding concerns the Ubeidiya archaeological site, located south of the Sea of Galilee in the Jordan Valley. It was this site that prompted scientists to reconsider previous scholarly views on how and when human ancestors left the African continent.
A joint study by specialists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa and the University of Tulsa showed that the site is at least 1.9 million years old. Previously, Ubeidiya's age had been estimated at only 1.2 to 1.6 million years, based on indirect geological correlations.
To establish a precise timeframe, the international research team led by Professors Ari Matmon, Omri Barzilai and Miriam Belmaker combined three independent analytical dating methods. The specialists used cosmogenic isotope analysis of minerals, uranium-lead dating of fossil shells of the freshwater mollusk Melanopsis, and paleomagnetic studies of ancient lake-bottom sediments.
The new dates place Ubeidiya on a par with the famous Dmanisi site in Georgia, making both locations the oldest evidence of human ancestors' presence outside the African continent. Ubeidiya, however, has yielded stone hand axes of the Acheulean culture, whereas the more primitive Oldowan tools were used at Dmanisi.
This proves that different populations of ancient hominids left Africa simultaneously in several waves, carrying with them entirely different traditions of stone working.