Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa

Céline M. Vidal; Christine S. Lane; Asfawossen Asrat; Dan N. Barfod; Darren F. Mark; Emma L. Tomlinson; Amdemichael Zafu Tadesse; Gezahegn Yirgu; Alan Deino; William Hutchison; Aurélien Mounier; Clive Oppenheimer

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8

Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa

Céline M. Vidal^*, Christine S. Lane, Asfawossen Asrat, Dan N. Barfod, Darren F. Mark, Emma L. Tomlinson, Amdemichael Zafu Tadesse, Gezahegn Yirgu, Alan Deino, William Hutchison, Aurélien Mounier, Clive Oppenheimer

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

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Abstract

Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from Omo-Kibish^1,2,3 and Herto^4,5 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 I^3,6,7, and around 160–155 kyr for the Herto hominins^5,8. However, the stratigraphic relationships and tephra correlations that underpin these estimates have been challenged^6,8. Here we report geochemical analyses that link the Kamoya’s Hominid Site (KHS) Tuff⁹, which conclusively overlies the member of the Omo-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 the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr. Contrary to previous arguments^6,8, we also show that the KHS Tuff 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 200 thousand years ago is consistent with independent evidence for greater antiquity of the modern human lineage¹⁰.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	579-585
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature
Volume	601
Early online date	12 Jan 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8
Publication status	Published - 27 Jan 2022

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@article{a80577df20d64dfc94b172db5472eb35,

title = "Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa",

abstract = "Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from Omo-Kibish1,2,3 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 kyr for the 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{\textquoteright}s Hominid Site (KHS) Tuff9, which conclusively overlies the member of the Omo-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 the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr. Contrary to previous arguments6,8, we also show that the KHS Tuff 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 200 thousand years ago is consistent with independent evidence for greater antiquity of the modern human lineage10.",

author = "Vidal, {C{\'e}line M.} and Lane, {Christine S.} and Asfawossen Asrat and Barfod, {Dan N.} and Mark, {Darren F.} and Tomlinson, {Emma L.} and Tadesse, {Amdemichael Zafu} and Gezahegn Yirgu and Alan Deino and William Hutchison and Aur{\'e}lien Mounier and Clive Oppenheimer",

note = "This study was supported by the Leverhulme Trust ({\textquoteleft}Nature and impacts of Middle Pleistocene volcanism in the Ethiopian Rift{\textquoteright}, 2016–21) and the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund ({\textquoteleft}Volcanic tie-lines between records of past climates and early modern humans in Ethiopia, 2019–21{\textquoteright}). Ar-Ar dating was supported by grant NIGFSC IP-1683-1116 through the UK Natural Environment Research Council. The iCRAG LA-ICP-MS facility at Trinity College Dublin is supported by SFI award 13/RC/2092. ",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8",

language = "English",

volume = "601",

pages = "579--585",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "1476-4687",

publisher = "Nature publishing group",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa

AU - Vidal, Céline M.

AU - Lane, Christine S.

AU - Asrat, Asfawossen

AU - Barfod, Dan N.

AU - Mark, Darren F.

AU - Tomlinson, Emma L.

AU - Tadesse, Amdemichael Zafu

AU - Yirgu, Gezahegn

AU - Deino, Alan

AU - Hutchison, William

AU - Mounier, Aurélien

AU - Oppenheimer, Clive

N1 - This study was supported by the Leverhulme Trust (‘Nature and impacts of Middle Pleistocene volcanism in the Ethiopian Rift’, 2016–21) and the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund (‘Volcanic tie-lines between records of past climates and early modern humans in Ethiopia, 2019–21’). Ar-Ar dating was supported by grant NIGFSC IP-1683-1116 through the UK Natural Environment Research Council. The iCRAG LA-ICP-MS facility at Trinity College Dublin is supported by SFI award 13/RC/2092.

PY - 2022/1/27

Y1 - 2022/1/27

N2 - Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from Omo-Kibish1,2,3 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 kyr for the 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 the Omo-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 the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr. Contrary to previous arguments6,8, we also show that the KHS Tuff 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 200 thousand years ago is consistent with independent evidence for greater antiquity of the modern human lineage10.

AB - Efforts to date the oldest modern human fossils in eastern Africa, from Omo-Kibish1,2,3 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 kyr for the 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 the Omo-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 the Omo fossils of 233 ± 22 kyr. Contrary to previous arguments6,8, we also show that the KHS Tuff 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 200 thousand years ago is consistent with independent evidence for greater antiquity of the modern human lineage10.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8

DO - 10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8

M3 - Article

SN - 1476-4687

VL - 601

SP - 579

EP - 585

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa

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