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A recent study has revealed that the discovery of stone tools at an archaeological site in Ukraine dates back to approximately 1.4 million years ago, making it the earliest indication of human presence in Europe.
The revolutionary discovery, which was printed in the journal Nature, provides insight into the initial migration of human beings into Europe and the path they took.
This validates the idea that the initial wave of migration by early human ancestors into Europe originated from the eastern or southeastern regions.
Modern humans and their ancestors, such as Neanderthals, are known as hominins. They are believed to have migrated to Eurasia approximately one to two million years ago. However, determining the exact timing of their arrival in Europe has been a challenge.
Although modern humans departed from Africa approximately 270,000 years ago, the specific time when any of the species of human ancestors first arrived in Europe is still uncertain.
According to researchers, this is primarily because there are few existing archaeological sites from that time.
Korolevo, located in western Ukraine, is a unique site where extensive excavations have taken place, dating back to the 1970s. These excavations have uncovered stone age tools.
During the 1970s, scientists discovered a collection of volcanic rocks that had been intentionally crafted into chipped stones at the site.
Newly developed techniques have been employed by researchers to determine the approximate age of sedimentary rock formations surrounding the tools, dating back approximately 1.4 million years.
This discovery marks the earliest known evidence of humans in Europe, according to Mads Faurschou Knudsen, a co-author of the study from Aarhus University in Denmark, as reported by the Associated Press.
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The creator of these tools among early human ancestors is still unknown.
Scientists hypothesize that it could potentially be Homo erectus, the initial species to possess bipedal movement and proficiently use fire.
According to the study’s lead author, Roman Garba, our most ancient family member, Homo erectus, departed from Africa roughly two million years ago and traveled to the Middle East, East Asia, and Europe.
Dr. Garba stated that, using a climate model and on-site pollen information, three potential warmer intervals in between ice ages have been determined. These periods coincide with the expected migration route along the Danube River, and could have been the first time hominins reached Korolevo.
After analyzing the habitat at the Korolevo site during a span of two million years, scientists have concluded that early human ancestors likely took advantage of Earth’s warmer interglacial periods to inhabit higher latitude sites.
As the Korolevo location is near NATO members Romania and Hungary, it has been spared a significant amount of the fear and devastation caused by Russian military actions in Ukraine.
According to Dr Garba, since the war started, there have been no bombs dropped on it. He stated this to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Source: independent.co.uk
