Skull Is First Fossil Proof of Human Migration Theory out of Africa (1/16/2007)

The skull was originally unearthed from a riverbed near Hofmeyr, South Africa, in 1952 but was never accurately dated. Frederick E. Grine, an anthropologist and anatomist at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York, saw the skull in an office in Cape Town, South Africa, and was struck by its similarities to the skulls of the first modern humans found in Europe.

Unable to date it via normal radiocarbon techniques, Grine sent sand grains pried from the skull's braincase to colleagues at Oxford University in Great Britain. There Richard Bailey and colleagues used advanced optical and uranium-dating techniques to determine when quartz crystals in the sand were last exposed to sunlight. He found that, 36,000 years ago was the last time the skull saw light.

Archaeologists have only been able to prove the African migration theory by use of genetic modeling. These models show a clear evolutionary path by using mitochondrial DNA, which is handed down from father to son. Because a son inherits his fathers mitochondrial DNA, which in turn was inherited from his father, family tree’s can be formed, even when several generations aren’t available for study.

Predicting when the migration occurred isn’t as accurate though, and is based on the average human life span, which could vary. Because of the sheer number of generations involved, accurate dating hasn’t been possible. This is the reason for the 20,000 year variance in the timeframe that scientists think humans migrated out of Africa.

This new skull, and one found in Russia are the first archaeological proof that modern man migrated from Africa. It also helps support the theory that modern humans left Africa 70,000 to 50,000 years ago to colonize Eurasia.

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