6 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Homo Sapiens are older than we previously thought

Researchers have discovered that Omo I skeletons, previously thought to be less than 200,000 years old, are 230,000 years old. This shows that Homo Sapiens was at least 30,000 years older than scientists previously thought.

The Omo I remains were discovered in 1967 at the Omo Kibish site near Ethiopia’s Omo River. The human remains were previously estimated to be roughly 195,000 years old. Now, according to a new study published in Nature on Jan. 12, the bones are older than a massive volcanic explosion that shook the region around 233,000 years ago.

Volcanologist Céline Vidal of Cambridge University, paleoanthropologist Aurélien Mounier from the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, and their colleagues wanted to date the Omo I samples again because they apparently coincided with a prehistoric volcanic eruption. An age of 200,000 years didn’t align. After studying the samples, they realized they were looking at the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens ever unearthed.

Dr. Céline Vidal, the lead author of the study, and her colleagues have been trying to date all major volcanic eruptions in the Ethiopian Rift around the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens – a period known as the late Middle Pleistocene – during a four-year project.

The team collected pumice rock samples from the volcanic deposits and ground them down to sub-millimeter size.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The researchers who conducted the study at an archaeological site (Image: Al Deino/SWNS)
The researchers who conducted the study at an archaeological site (Image: Al Deino/SWNS)

By dating the chemical “fingerprints” of the volcanic ash layers that sat below and above the fossil, the experts were able to calculate that the fossil could be in the region 30,000 years earlier than previous estimations of early human life forms.

“Each eruption has its own fingerprint – its own evolutionary story below the surface, which is determined by the pathway the magma followed,” Dr. Vidal said.

“Once you’ve crushed the rock, you free the minerals within and then you can date them, and identify the chemical signature of the volcanic glass that holds the minerals together.”

Another co-author Dr. Aurélien Mounier, of France’s Musée de l’Homme, added: “Unlike other Middle Pleistocene fossils which are thought to belong to the early stages of the Homo sapiens lineage, Omo I possesses unequivocal modern human characteristics, such as a tall and globular cranial vault and a chin.”

“In my opinion, Omo I represents the oldest occurrence of our species in the fossil record.”

Despite having discovered the minimum age of the Omo I samples, the researchers now need to determine the maximum age of these fossils as well as the wider emergence of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa. They want to do this by connecting more buried ash to more volcanic eruptions in the region, providing a stronger geological history for the sedimentary strata in which the region’s fossils are formed.

Related Articles

Computational Analysis Points to a Non-Traditional Garden of Eden Location – Beneath the Pyramids?

30 April 2025

30 April 2025

A radical new theory proposed by a computer engineer suggests that the biblical Garden of Eden may not be in...

A Royal Legacy? The Discovery of a Monumental Longhouse from the 3rd Century in Norway

2 February 2025

2 February 2025

Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery at Øvre Eiker near Oslo, Norway unearthing a longhouse that surpasses any known structures...

Europe’s earliest cities had a predominantly vegetarian diet

27 December 2023

27 December 2023

The population of the Copper Age mega-sites in what is now Ukraine and Moldova had a predominantly vegetarian diet. In...

3,000-Year-Old Huge Settlement Discovered in Northern France

24 March 2025

24 March 2025

Archaeologists have unearthed a remarkable settlement in the Hauts-de-France region, dating back to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron...

Frozen but Not Forgotten: 2,500-Year-Old Tattoos of Siberian Ice Mummy Digitally Reconstructed

31 July 2025

31 July 2025

Siberian Ice Mummy: Unveiling Ancient Tattoo Traditions of Iron Age Siberia In a groundbreaking fusion of archaeology and modern imaging,...

Fingerprints Found on Orkney Pottery Belong to Young Men

14 June 2021

14 June 2021

Details of the two young guys whose fingerprints were discovered on a fragment of a clay pot dating back over...

The Sedgeford Anglo-Saxon malting complex may be the largest ever discovered in the UK

23 July 2023

23 July 2023

As archaeological excavations resume on a hill in Sedgeford, near Hunstanton, a seaside town in Norfolk, England, now more evidence...

In western Turkey, inscriptions and 2,500-year-old sculptures were found

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Two 2,500-year-old marble statues and an inscription have been found during excavations at the ancient city of Euromos, in Turkey’s...

Significant Early Christian Discovery: 1,500-Year-Old Cathedral and Baptistery Unearthed Beneath Marketplace

27 August 2025

27 August 2025

In Vence, a historic town just west of Nice in southeastern France, archaeologists have uncovered one of the most significant...

Archaeologists discover bones of a woman who lived 14,000 years ago at a site in The Iberian Peninsula

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

Archaeologists have discovered the bones of a lady who lived 14,000 years ago, the earliest traces of a modern burial...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

Remarkable Roman mosaic discovered near London Bridge in Southwark

22 February 2022

22 February 2022

A team of archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology have announced the discovery well-preserved Roman mosaic that may have...

Farmer Found Sarcophagus of Hellenistic Period in his Field

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

The citizen named E. G. in Akçakoca, Taşkuyucak District of Gölmarmara district of Manisa (Turkey), while plowing his field, thought...

The First Native Americans were Among the First Metal Miners in the World

20 March 2021

20 March 2021

An arrowhead made of pure copper 8,500 years ago dates the history of the copper age to an earlier period,...

Roman influence period artifacts discovered by history enthusiasts in northern Poland

16 March 2024

16 March 2024

Local history enthusiasts from the Wendrusz Historical and Exploration Society have discovered four fibulae, a ring, and fragments of decorations...