In 1967, bones were found near the Omo River in southern Ethiopia, over which various studies were carried out for forty years. All research results were combined in one special issue of the journal. The age of these bones is 195 thousand years. They are the most ancient skeletal remains of modern humans known in science.
Anatomically modern people lived in exactly those conditions
which differed little from modern ones: surrounded by wild animals that still live in this area. The most ancient human culture presented was characterized by the Middle Paleolithic stone tools. These tools were found in many areas in East Africa.
The magazine devoted its September issue only to the results of the study of these particular archaeological finds, which were made on the banks of the Omo River in South Ethiopia, near the village of Kibish. This site was found during expeditions organized by the Kenyan National Museums in 1967. These expeditions were led by Richard Leakey. It was at this time that two human skulls were found, which became the most important finds, they were named Omo I and Omo II.
At the beginning of the article, you can read a short introduction by Richard Leakey himself. It is here that he admits that the 1967 expedition became very important for everyone and was able to make a very unusual impression.
Richard, at the age of twenty-three, was sent by his father, renowned paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, to a rather inaccessible area. Thanks to this, Richard was able to get a great idea of the "African exotic". While crossing the Omo River, the expedition almost fell into the jaws of crocodiles.
The young scientist was able to plunge into complete delight the human bones that the expedition staff could dig up near the village of Kibish. But upon the arrival of his parents - Louis and Mary Leakey - he was greatly disappointed.
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He was scolded for wasting their money to dig up the remains of anatomically modern humans. They believed that their son should pay more attention to the excavation of more ancient hominids, for example, the habilis or australopithecines, or the like. Considering this fact, one can imagine the joy of Richard himself, when the September issue of the magazine was published, he really wanted all his relatives and mentors to be with him at such a moment.
This issue of the journal contains twelve scientific articles. The very first, introductory, tells you about the history of the study of the area of the village of Kibish, and also reveals to the reader many mysteries and problems that researchers have been trying to solve for forty years. As many as three articles were devoted to the distribution of finds by date. The next three articles go into great detail about the anthropological description of bones. Two more articles are devoted to the Middle Paleolithic stone tools. Three articles tell about the fossil remains of birds, mammals, fish that were found in the vicinity of Kibish.
The age of the skulls found, mentioned above, remained controversial for a very long time. Most likely, this was due to imperfect methods of radiometric dating. Based on the results of the first studies, the age was set - over forty thousand years. This made it clear that the bones are more ancient, with the help of radiocarbon analysis, their exact age cannot be determined. We compared the amount of isotopes in the shells of Nile oysters and in the skeletons found. The oysters are 130 thousand years old. The shells were found just above the excavation site where the skulls were found. This dating surprised even the authors themselves. Additional data were involved, for example, biostratigraphic data, which also did not provide sufficient materials for a long time. This is exactly what they thought until the end of the last century. American anthropologists decided to tackle this business in 1999. For four years, large-scale field work was carried out in the area of the Kibish settlement. It took several more years to analyze all the collected materials. Only after that they were able to publish all the research results.
The stratigraphy of the Kibish Formation was developed with extraordinary precision and detail. The entire studied stratum was divided into four parts, human bones were found in the first stratum, that is, the lowest. All these deposits were formed as a result of the flooding of the Omo River, the full flow of this river changed every 23 thousand years. Such periodicity is associated with climate change, as well as with a regular change in the inclination of the entire earth's axis. Similar cyclical fluctuations in flooding can be seen in the history of the Nile River. Scientists were able to correlate the thicker and thicker Nile estuary with all layers of the Kibish Formation. This is what served as the basis for specifying the age of Omo's skulls.
Another important achievement was the establishment of the exact date of several layers of volcanic ash. The age of the first layer is about 196 thousand years, and the second about 104 thousand years. All the results of the study were presented in three large articles. As a result, the age of the skulls was established - it is about 195 thousand years. Scientists could be mistaken for a maximum of five thousand years.
In addition to the skulls, some elements of the postcranial skeleton were found. In the period from 1999 to 2003, many more bones were found - phalanges of the fingers, part of the thigh. All studies showed that the representatives of the found type were something in between modern humans and Neanderthals. The same signs were found on skeletons found near the Skhul and Qafzeh caves in Israel. Previously, such differences were associated with interspecies hybridization between Neanderthals and Sapiens. As a result of the research, they came to the conclusion that the sapiens received all the traits from their more ancient African ancestors.
In addition to human bones, skeletal remains of birds, fish and mammals have been found in the Kibish area. The most interesting fact is that almost all animals still live in East Africa. The only difference was that the terrain was a little more swampy and the climate was more humid. The ancient hunters of Africa led to the extinction of some large animals.
Why didn't the ancient sapiens exterminate animals only on their continent? It is possible that African fauna continued to evolve along with various hominids over several million years, with many African ecosystems adjusting to adapt to the customs of bipedal predators.
Another very important result of the work carried out in 1999-2003 was a huge collection of stone tools found, located in the lower layer of the Kibish Formation. Previously, only a few pieces of the weapon were found there. This stone industry was not distinguished by the presence of finely cut blades, bone needles, works of art, and jewelry. This only suggests that the representatives of the found type of Sapiens living on the Omo River did not surpass in their technological structure the Neanderthals known to us, who made approximately the same Middle Paleolithic stone tools.
Researchers would not yet like to state anything about the general level of cultural and intellectual development among the most ancient sapiens. It was also noted by scientists that the question remains open, how much more progressive or more backward was the development of the ancient Sapiens with representatives whose remains were found in the Upper Paleolithic of Europe. It was he who was previously considered the standard in the cultural development of the most ancient representatives of our species.
Why was this particular standard chosen? This is due only to historical reasons: the Paleolithic in Europe developed more progressively and development began earlier. Scholars sarcastically note that Socrates would have been more backward compared to American schoolchildren. In order to correctly judge all the opinions of scientists, there is not enough available data, it is also impossible to talk about the life and life of the most ancient African sapiens based on the remains and tools found.
Some scientists, based on the results of establishing the age of the found skulls, with a grin, say that the representatives found were older than Adam and Eve themselves.