210,000 Year-Old Human Skull Found in Greece

[57e.1283]

https://greekreporter.com/2024/01/17/first-known-homo-sapiens-outside-africa-was-greek/

A partial skull found in a cave in southern Greece is the
earliest evidence of the presence of Homo sapiens outside
of Africa, scientists say.

In 1978, archaeologists excavating Apidima Cave on the Mani
Peninsula of Greece discovered two significant fossils: a
partial skull and a jawbone. These fossils were originally
thought to belong to Neanderthals, the archaic human species
that dominated Europe in the Middle Paleolithic era.

However, a reexamination of the fossils in 2019 revealed
that they were much older than previously thought and that
one of them belonged to a Homo sapiens, the first anatomically
modern human species.

The team of researchers dated the skull to about 210,000
years old, which makes the skull about 150,000 years older
than the oldest fossil of Homo sapiens found in Europe and
the third-oldest known example of modern humanity.

A second skull found in the same location was estimated
to be at least 170,000 years old belonging to Neanderthals

. . .

Interesting.

Remains of essentially 'modern' humans were found in
eastern Morocco about a decade ago. Those were dated
to around 300,000 years.

So, not ALL so long before the new humans went wandering.

HOW at least one managed to arrive in Greece is so far
unclear. Did he come from around Suez and over, or maybe
some kind of boat directly across ???

This article does not mention DNA ... so likely the recovered
skull had little or none to analyze. 210,000 years is not
impossible for DNA, but it would take an especially good
preservation environment.

Rumors are that we probably have enough Neanderthal DNA now
to splice-together a few new examples, just need willing
surrogate moms (50 years on we may not even need human 'moms').
Not THAT much genetic diff, so it ought to work. News today
was that the Chinese have managed to properly clone Macaque
monkeys so other primates are now possible (ELVIS !!!).

Ethics ... if we re-create Neanderthals we need to create
ENOUGH of them to constitute a sustainable genetically-
viable population AND find some place for them to live
relatively unbothered. However my guess is that there will
not be much diff ... indeed a Neanderthal probably could
pass unnoticed on the streets of a smallish Slavic town,
after dark anyway. (oddly, from descriptions in old
passed-down stories, I suspect Neanderthals were the
basis for "trolls" - the description kinda matches)

As for the Greek example ... we have to wonder if this
was a solo traveler, part of a group or even cohabited
with Neanderthal hosts.

Finally, note that 210,000 years ago was BEFORE the
last ice-age. Almost all of Europe would have been
quite "livable". When the ice age came, those north
of roughly Paris would have had to migrate south,
or perish.

The Past is COMPLEX. The old simple pictures they sold in
the schools 50+ years ago do not even begin to cover it.
It's more a genetic/geographical/cultural Gordian knot.