Ancient Stone artifacts suggest human habitation in tropical rainforests occurred far earlier than previously believed, approximately 150,000 years ago.
In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Nature, a team led by Eslem Ben Arous from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany has discovered stone tools dating back 150,000 years in West Africa's Ivory Coast. The site, named Bété I, provides significant evidence of early human habitation in Africa's tropical rainforests.
The oldest known Homo sapiens fossils were previously discovered in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, dating back to around 315,000 years ago. However, the definitive occupation and adaptation to tropical rainforest environments by Homo sapiens is now demonstrated at least from 150,000 years ago, according to Ben Arous's team.
The stone tools discovered at Bété I, which include picks, suggest that ancient humans were adept at exploiting the rainforest environment. These tools, dated using optically stimulated luminescence, were found alongside traces of ancient rainforest-specific plants such as Hunteria and Oil Palms, indicating a wet tropical forest environment 150,000 years ago.
The findings at Bété I not only push back the timeline for human presence in West Africa but also support the theory that Homo sapiens may have arisen in multiple places around Africa, not just a single location. The site is the oldest known in West Africa, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene.
Prior to the work at Bété I, the West African record was thought to be much younger, with the earliest evidence of humans living in rainforest environments dating to 70,000 years ago in Asia and Oceania, and 18,000 years ago in Africa. Ben Arous's study indicates that humans have been living in West Africa since at least the Middle Pleistocene.
The discoveries at Bété I provide new insights into the humid environments in which ancient humans lived. These findings challenge the assumption that humans only began living in rainforests around 70,000 years ago. Instead, they suggest that ancient humans were living in rainforest-like areas in Africa as far back as 150,000 years ago.
Moreover, the discoveries at Bété I indicate that a number of different environments, including rainforests, were involved in Homo sapiens' evolution. This suggests that ancient humans who were adapted to living in rainforests did not often encounter people who were adapted to living in open grasslands.
The study led by Ben Arous underscores the importance of continued archaeological research in understanding the evolution and early history of our species. The findings at Bété I provide a valuable addition to the evidence of early human habitation in Africa, shedding light on our ancestors' adaptation to diverse environments.
The groundbreaking study on Bété I's findings emphasizes the integration of environmental-science, as the discovery of stone tools dated back 150,000 years showcases the early hominins' skill in data-and-cloud-computing technology, managing to adapt to the tropical rainforest environment even at such an early stage. The study further supports climate-change theories, suggesting Homo sapiens may have inhabited various environmental conditions during their evolution.
