Scientists find old bones - 6th August 2021

Scientists in Israel have discovered the bones of a "new type of early human".

The bones date back to around 130,000 years ago. The discovery is surprising for scientists, who knew Homo sapiens – the same species as modern humans – were in Israel at that time. But they didn't know about this other type of human.

Dr Hila May is a researcher. When she saw the bones, she knew they weren't from Homo sapiens.

Dr Hila May: "However, when we looked at these bones, we immediately saw that it's about a different type of human. It's not Homo sapien, Homo sapiens. The skull – the fragment of the skull – indicated a very low skull and flat, not like us that is rounded and tall, and the mandible had no chin. And we know the chin is something that only we have, the Homo sapiens. So, we immediately know, understood that we have something else. And the question was what it is."

The bones show similarities to another kind of early human: Neanderthals. Neanderthals lived in Europe hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Dr Hila May: "But what, what we have found is that the "Nesher Ramla Homo type" is actually the population source of the Neanderthals and – which migrated from here to Europe."

The discovery could change scientists' ideas about human development. Currently, it is believed that Neanderthals developed in Europe. But the Israeli researchers now say that Neanderthals moved to Europe from the Middle East.

Not all scientists agree with this idea. Many scientists say more research is needed to be sure.