Stranger Fruit

Out of Africa

Posted by John Lynch on January 11, 2007
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A fossil skull discovered in 1952 offers support for the hypothesis that Upper Paleolithic Eurasians descended from a population that emigrated from sub-Saharan Africa in the Late Pleistocene. In tomorrow’s Science, Fred Grine and co-workers describe a South African skull dated to 36.2 ± 3.3 thousand years, and note that while the skull is morphologically modern overall, its strongest morphometric affinities are with Upper Paleolithic Eurasians rather than
recent, geographically proximate people.

The paper is available here (subscription required).

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Comments

  1. #1 John Scanlon
    January 12, 2007

    Could this be the earliest evidence of a white missionary ending up in the cooking pot?

  2. #2 J-Dog
    January 12, 2007

    Mr. Scamnlon – Yes, I think I saw Rachel Ray do a 30 minute meal deal about this… She cooked them up in less time than the missionaries last sermon. Definitlely the best use for the Missionary Position.

    But seriously, folks… This looks very interesting, and I hope you can post more about it soon John.