In another eon, the Omo Kibish Formation of southwestern Ethiopia was home to several species of ancient humans. Our distant ancestors had plenty of reason to settle in what was then a fertile volcanic rift valley. Rainfall collected in lakes provided easy access to food and fresh water. Meanwhile, excavations from Omo Kibish show that the volcanic rock found throughout the region was an excellent material for toolmaking.
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Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that Omo Kibish is known as a hotbed for hominin fossils and artifacts. Aside from numerous stone tools, the incomplete skeletons of at least two hominins were recovered from the sediment. Despite some small morphological differences, both were recognized as members of our own species, Homo sapiens, and relics of a crucial time in our evolutionary history.
Determining the age of these ancient humans, which were called Omo I and Omo II and recovered during the 1960s, has proven challenging due to their deteriorated state. And yet, even with the limited means available, three different research projects from 2005 to 2012 determined their age to be remarkably old, at around 197,000 years. (For context, it is believed that Homo sapiens first emerged around 300,000 years ago).
Now, it turns out these fossils — specifically, those belonging to Omo I — are older still. Recently, a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge concluded they were at least 230,000 years old. Their findings, published in Nature, crowned Omo I the oldest Homo sapiens fossil in eastern Africa and a strong contender for some of the oldest remains of Homo sapiens in the entire world.
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SOURCE: Nature
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