Neanderthals in Torquay?
Submitted by NicolaDidsbury on Thursday, 28 April 2005 Page Views: 1430
DiscoveriesCountry: England County: DevonInternal Links:
No - not a report of the usual rowdy goings-on around the harbourside at closing time, but news of how a piece of jawbone that has lain in Torquay Museum, Devon, for nearly 80 years could be the oldest example of a modern human yet found in Europe.
The Kent's Cavern specimen was thought to be about 31,000 years old, but re-dating shows it is actually between 37,000 and 40,000 years old.
However, the early dates lead the team behind the research to wonder if the jawbone is actually from a Neanderthal.
A new examination of the fragment along with DNA analysis could sort this out.
The fragment of maxilla (upper jaw) containing three teeth was unearthed in Kent's Cavern, Torquay, in 1927 during an excavation by the Torquay Natural History Society.
Sir Arthur Keith, who was then Britain's leading anatomist, identified the specimen - known as Kent's Cavern 4 - as that of a modern human (Homo sapiens). It has by and large been accepted as such ever since.
The real significance of Kent's Cavern 4 was not recognised until the 1980s, when radiocarbon dating revealed its age to be 31,000 years old.
More: BBC News
Submitted by Nicola Didsbury and Angie Lake
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