A prehistoric skull has been found in the Wall Cave, which may belong to the mysterious old hominid

In 1960, a village found something frightening in Petralona in Greece caveA human crannator with a bump on his forehead, fascinating the cave wall. Since then, the researchers have been trying to determine the history of the strange sample and understand how I got there, but these efforts have not resulted in a frustrating age range between 170,000 and 700,000 years.

The position of the mysterious layer is also less than useful. So a team of researchers took a little different approach, as its history is due to the calcite -like bumpy in the skull. In turn, they narrowed the potential age of the sample and may shed light on the mysterious old hominid.

the Ticket It was published last month in the Journal of Human Development.

Mysterious

“I saw the skull in Chris Strenger, an anthropologist at College University in London and the author of the study, told Gizmodo in 1971 for the first time when I was going around Europe for the two doctoral trip.

“Then it was said that a Homo erection Or Neanderthal, and for me it was not any of these. That was the beginning of my idea that there is a different kind of human in Europe. ”

Stinger and his team performed U-Series Dating – a technique for the history of geological formations based on radioactive decomposition of certain forms of uranium atoms – on the growth of calcite in the skull. Calcite It is a common metal that is often formed in apartments and clothing in caves where calcium interacts in water and interacts with the cave walls with carbon dioxide. In fact, the calcite on the Petralona skull is missiles. Using this approach, the researchers concluded that the cante is at least 290,000 years old.

How close is this actual skull age, however, depends on the time he spent.Stinger said: “Calcite is heading before that on which the class formed from the Calcate.This is true, the date we have is a good date for fossils, ”said Strenger.

Better of that so far so far the skull directlyFor example, via the teeth sample. But this is Aristotle university From Thessaloniki, where the skull is stored in the Museum of Geology, the Red Science and the Old Science, you will need to agree first.

Neanderthal is ongoing

From the morphological point of view, the team agrees with the hypothesis that the Petralona skull belongs to a member of a separate and more primitive group than both Hoomo, the sane And Neandrthals. The minimum for the new age enhances the theory that this mysterious old group was at least a contemporary of the Anoderians during Europe later. Blastoceine MiddleAbout 430,000 to 385,000 years.

“My view is, since 1981, that there is this group of people in Africa, Europe, and perhaps in Asia as well. The first sample named in that group was the jaw bone from Germany, which was found in 1907, and it was called in 1908 k. Homo HeidelbergensisStrenger explained: “A new type, because it was found near Heidelberg, and I explained the name of this species for the sake of Brotalona, ​​and I said, perhaps this type Heidelbergensis. ”

Stringer hypothesis is in line with other research that highlights the similarities between Petralona Skull and Kabwe Cranium from Zambia, a fossil dating back about 300,000 years and may also be the remains H. Heidelbergensis.

Although Strenger had previously assumed that this type was likely to be a common predecessor for Hoomo, the sane And Neandrthals, he changed his opinion somewhat: “I would like to say that Heidelbergensis Now it is a separate branch that coexists with Sapiens and Neandrthals, which dates back a long way, and perhaps more than a million years. “