John Kappelman is a in the Departments of Anthropology and Geological Science. Photo by Marsha Miller.
John Kappelman explains how a new discovery in China may help bridge the gap between where humans began and where they are today. Researchers of human evolution awoke to exciting and provocative news from the journal Nature on Wednesday: Scattered remains of stone tools - dating back 2.1 million years - were unearthed in China's Loess Plateau, bringing scientists one step closer to mapping the vast migration of humans from their origins in Africa more than 6 million years ago. The newly uncovered tools in China push back the date of the earliest signs of human existence outside Africa about 250,000 years from a previous discovery of 1.85 million-year-old fossils and tools in Dmanisi, Georgia - about 3,800 miles west of the newest excavation site. In an article appearing in Nature 's "News & Views," University of Texas at Austin anthropology and geological sciences professor John Kappelman, who was not involved with the latest study, describes the importance of the latest findings in bridging the gap between where humans began and where they are today. We asked him to share some of his thoughts and projections about the research. Q.How does the discovery change our understanding of human migration from Africa? . John Kappelman: Two things.
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