Human teeth dating back 400,000 years, found in a cave near Rosh HaAyin are the earliest evidence of modern man, and show he lived twice as long ago as was previously thought, said Tel Aviv University on Tuesday.
Until now, human remains from only 200,000 years ago had been discovered in Africa, leading researchers to speculate that this was the continent on which Homo sapiens originated.
The cave was uncovered in 2000 near Rosh HaAyin and a morphological analysis was performed on the teeth. The teeth are similar to those of modern man, CT scans and X- Rays showed. They are also “very similar” to evidence of modern man from those discovered at two separate locations in northern Israel and which date from 100,000 years ago. According to the researchers, their discoveries are likely to change the perception that modern man originated in Africa.
