Hominin fossils in the “cradle of humanity” are a million years older than we thought!
Scientists have concluded that the ancient fossils found at the Cradle of Humankind site in South Africa are more than a million years old than previously thought.
As it was known in the past and for decades that human fossils in that region date back one or two million years, but the result of the new method developed by a geologist recently to study these discoveries turned out to be much longer than expected, especially the fossils that were discovered in Sterkfontein cave belonging to the group of hominins (Australopithecus).
In more detail, the geologist (Darryl Granger) from Purdue University, is the one who reached this result, because he invented a new method for finding the history of fossils discovered within the caves. He and his team concluded that the skeleton (Little Foot) is more than 3.7 million years old.
Granger, with a team of scientists from the University of (Witwatersrand) and another from the University of Toulouse, France, indicated that all the fossils discovered date back to a longer period of time, ranging between (3.4 and 3.7) million years, according to what was published by (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).
Granger stated that the old method of dating, in which scientists use the layers and fossils found around the discovered fossils to determine their age, is no longer of accurate results, while the more correct and accurate method is to estimate the age of the rocks in which the fossils were found, by analyzing the material composed of them. It was named after Brescia.
He continued, "The Strykfontein Cave contains more fossils of Australopithecus hominins than anywhere in the world, but it is difficult to find an exact age for them."
It is worth noting that the Cradle of Humankind is one of the UNESCO heritage sites located in South Africa. (Little Foot) and a stinger Mrs. Blaze.
https://www.arageek.com/news/fossils-cradle-humankind-million-years?fbclid=IwAR1bkcCCxbIolhgs9TQi6VPvmcDxXb021WqAU8YonjP53D-Nzv7p28Rpe4g