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Results shift the oldest Homo sapiens age to before ~200 thousand years ago, aligning with independent evidence for an older modern human lineage.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/age-of-the-oldest-known-homo-sapiens-from-eastern-africa/308793/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/age-of-the-oldest-known-homo-sapiens-from-eastern-africa/308793.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Himbo","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What geochemical relationship does the study establish?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The study links the Kamoya’s Hominid Site (KHS) Tuff to a major explosive eruption of Shala volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What new minimum age is obtained for the Omo fossils?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Dating proximal deposits of the linked eruption provides a new minimum age for the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why can’t the KHS Tuff be used to anchor a minimum age for the Herto fossils?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The study shows the KHS Tuff does not correlate with the Waidedo Vitric Tuff, so it cannot anchor a minimum age for the Herto fossils.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},308793,1790867144,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":124,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687197100911,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1785132997149421697","Article  \n\n| Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8)\u003Cbr>Received: 29 March 2021 Accepted: 23 November 2021 Published online: 12 January 2022 Open access\u003Cbr> Check for updates | Céline M. Vidal1,2 ✉, Christine S. Lane1, Asfawossen Asrat3,4, Dan N. Barfod5, Darren F. Mark5, Emma L. Tomlinson6, Amdemichael ZafuTadesse7, GezahegnYirgu3, Alan Deino8, William Hutchison9, Aurélien Mounier10,11 & Clive Oppenheimer1,12\u003Cbr>Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from\u003Cbr>Omo-Kibish1–3 and Herto4,5 in Ethiopia, have drawn on a variety of chronometric evidence, including 40Ar/39Ar ages of stratigraphically associated tuffs. The ages that are generally reported for these fossils are around 197 thousand years (kyr) for the Kibish Omo I3,6,7, and around 160–155 kyrforthe Herto hominins5,8. However, the stratigraphic relationships and tephra correlations that underpin these estimates have been challenged6,8. Here we report geochemical analyses that link the Kamoya’s Hominid Site (KHS) Tuff9, which conclusively overlies the member of theOmo-Kibish Formation that contains Omo I, with a major explosive eruption of Shala volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift. By dating the proximal deposits of this eruption, we obtain a new minimum age for theOmo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr. Contrary to previous arguments6,8, we alsoshowthatthe KHSTuff does not correlate with another widespread tephra layer, the Waidedo Vitric Tuff, and therefore cannot anchor a minimum age for the Herto fossils. Shifting the age of the oldest known Homo sapiens fossils in eastern Africa to before around\u003Cbr>200 thousand years ago is consistent with independent evidence for greater antiquity of the modern human lineage10. |  |\n| Only eight sites in Africa have yielded possible early anatomically |  | deposit correlated with the Nakaa’kire Tuff3, which is reported to lie |\n| modern Homo sapiens fossils from the late Middle Pleistocene |  | “near, but probably slightly below” the fossils3 (Fig. 1b). Recalculated |\n| (approximately 350–130 thousand years ago (ka))11. Most of these have |  | using a more widely adopted age of 28.201 million years (Myr) for the |\n| considerable age uncertainty or debatable H. sapiens apomorphy11. |  | irradiation monitor (sanidine from the Fish Canyon Tuff of Colorado)18, |\n| A principal method for constraining the fossil ages is the use of |  | the Nakaa’kire Tuff age shifts marginally to 197 ± 4 kyr. Owing to the |\n| single-crystal 40Ar/39Ar isotope dating applied to stratigraphically |  | uncertain stratigraphic relationship between this tuff and the hominin |\n| associated volcanic ash (tephra) beds12–14. However, many distal tephra |  | fossils19, much attention has been focused on dating the KHSTuff—a |\n| deposits consist largely of glass and lack suitable crystals for dating. |  | widespread, more-than-2-m-thick deposit of fine ash fallout atthe |\n| In this case, geochemical fingerprinting can be used to matcha tephra |  | base of Member II of theOmo-Kibish Formation (Fig. 1b). The KHSTuff |\n| layer to more readily dated proximal deposits with larger, more abundant |  | overlies Member I, where OmoI was retrieved around 1.4 mlower down |\n| phenocrysts. The most widely accepted fossils that are interpreted as |  | section, and is demonstrably younger than the fossils3,9. Although the |\n| possessing unequivocal modern cranial apomorphies (that is, a tall cranial vault and a chin) and classified asH. sapiens are two Ethiopian |  | Nakaa’kire Tuff was identified in several sections below the KHSTuff, the latter was not found in the same section from which the dated pumice |\n| finds11,15,16, namely theOmo I1 and Herto specimens4. Accordingly, the evidence that constrains their ages assumes particular importance but |  | clasts correlated with the Nakaa’kire Tuff (on the basis of major element compos","cbCaiafcuO3SEG4K","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiafcuO3SEG4K","pdf",6829579,"English","# Abstract\n## Geochemical linkage and eruption dating\n## Implications for Omo and Herto fossil ages\n## Consistency with independent evidence","[{\"question\":\"What geochemical relationship does the study establish?\",\"answer\":\"The study links the Kamoya’s Hominid Site (KHS) Tuff to a major explosive eruption of Shala volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift.\"},{\"question\":\"What new minimum age is obtained for the Omo fossils?\",\"answer\":\"Dating proximal deposits of the linked eruption provides a new minimum age for the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr.\"},{\"question\":\"Why can’t the KHS Tuff be used to anchor a minimum age for the Herto fossils?\",\"answer\":\"The study shows the KHS Tuff does not correlate with the Waidedo Vitric Tuff, so it cannot anchor a minimum age for the Herto fossils.\"}]","Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa | PDF",1789872368,25]