India could have been cradle of civilisation
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 09, 2005
KOLKATA: Could India’s oldest skull be the missing link between early man (Homo erectus) and modern humans (Home sapiens)?
The CT-scan report of the 600,000-year-old skull, found by the Geological Survey of India in 1982 from Narmada Valley, may shed a new light on the evolution of man, hope experts.
The scan on the skull was carried out at a city hospital on Wednesday.
Former GSI (Nagpur) director Arun Sonakia told TOI on Thursday that the scan report might reveal something extremely exciting. “We need some time to interpret the results. However, what we can say now is that it can reveal something very exciting... It can prove that India was also a cradle of civilisation,” Sonakia said.
According to the modern theory of evolution, the evolutionary lines of apes and early humans diverged around seven million years ago.
Some two million years ago, Homo erectus expanded out of Africa into Europe and Asia. Over the next 1.5 million years the populations of these three continents followed different evolutionary courses and became distinct species.
Europe’s became the Neanderthals, Asia’s remained Homo erectus, but Africa’s evolved into Homo sapiens, from where it spread again to the rest of the world.
Sonakia said the skull was not of a Homo sapiens. Although a morphological study of the skull had been done soon after its discovery, there was no internal study.
“Any internal study needed a CTscan. There are some sedimentations inside the skull. Once we remove the skull, it will crumble,” Sonakia said.
The geologist added that a study of the skull’s lobe structure, as revealed by the scan, can show which faculty of man was more developed at the time.
All interpretation will be done in association with experts from the Institute of Human Paleontology, France. Three experts from the institute — Henry de Lumley, Madamme Lumely and Emily Vialet — were present at the time of the scanning.
KOLKATA: Could India’s oldest skull be the missing link between early man (Homo erectus) and modern humans (Home sapiens)?
The CT-scan report of the 600,000-year-old skull, found by the Geological Survey of India in 1982 from Narmada Valley, may shed a new light on the evolution of man, hope experts.
The scan on the skull was carried out at a city hospital on Wednesday.
Former GSI (Nagpur) director Arun Sonakia told TOI on Thursday that the scan report might reveal something extremely exciting. “We need some time to interpret the results. However, what we can say now is that it can reveal something very exciting... It can prove that India was also a cradle of civilisation,” Sonakia said.
According to the modern theory of evolution, the evolutionary lines of apes and early humans diverged around seven million years ago.
Some two million years ago, Homo erectus expanded out of Africa into Europe and Asia. Over the next 1.5 million years the populations of these three continents followed different evolutionary courses and became distinct species.
Europe’s became the Neanderthals, Asia’s remained Homo erectus, but Africa’s evolved into Homo sapiens, from where it spread again to the rest of the world.
Sonakia said the skull was not of a Homo sapiens. Although a morphological study of the skull had been done soon after its discovery, there was no internal study.
“Any internal study needed a CTscan. There are some sedimentations inside the skull. Once we remove the skull, it will crumble,” Sonakia said.
The geologist added that a study of the skull’s lobe structure, as revealed by the scan, can show which faculty of man was more developed at the time.
All interpretation will be done in association with experts from the Institute of Human Paleontology, France. Three experts from the institute — Henry de Lumley, Madamme Lumely and Emily Vialet — were present at the time of the scanning.
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