Employing radiometric dating techniques, the team helped test the remains of 17 ancient skulls recovered in 2009 from a deep cave in northern Spain. The skulls had some Neanderthal features but were more primitive in other aspects.
The finding was reported in the June edition of U.S.-based journal Science. A total of 31 scientists from Australia, France, Spain, Taiwan and the U.S. took part in the international project.
“This is an unprecedented discovery in the history of science,” said team leader Shen Chuan-chou, also a professor at NTU’s Department of Geosciences. “The results of our work indicate that human race evolved from Homo erectus about 2 million years ago.”
According to Shen, radiometric dating techniques have a 0.0005 margin of error. “This accuracy plays a key role in research to identify the origins of the human race,” he added. (DF-JSM)
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