Oldest European Human Jawbone Discovered

DrLudicrous writes "A research group working in Romania has dated an ancient human jawbone to 35+/-1 thousand years old. This is a few thousand years older than other jawbones found in Europe. What is unusual about this specimen is that it has rather large molars, something that the lead scientist thinks may be an indication of human-Neanderthal interbreeding. Modern DNA studies have indicated that there is little to no traces of this inbreeding, so this raises some interesting questions."

Comments

Multiregional vs. Out of Africa

[Henry V .009]

Oldest according to the Out of Africa theory. The Multiregional theory claims that Neanderthals are part of the human race. (Check out the second linked pdf for a good paper on the DNA evidence: "Population Bottlenecks and Pleistocene Human Evolution")

Re: Large molars

[Black Parrot]

> I think it's great how they find this jawbone that has large molars and all of a sudden that means that there was inter-species reproduction and all the current crackpot theories have to be thrown out the window for a new crackpot theory...

More charitably, these guys have offered some new evidence and an agument, and over the next few months or years we'll find out whether the relevant experts find the argument convincing.

> Sometimes scientists infer and speculate way too much based on the data they have. It's kind of getting stretched so far it's starting not to resemble science at all.

Cut the experts a little slack, OK? Think of something you're good at, and consider whether a cloobie's opinion about that something is worth a damn.

One suspects that the experts can see a lot more evidence in a tooth than the rest of us can. Undoubtedly my clean and carefully documented programs look like hocus-pocus to those uninitiated into the geek mysteries too, but it's not for the uninitiated to tell me I don't know what I'm doing.