Archaeology

Just a few weeks from now, scientists from across the globe will gather in the town of Les Eyzies in the Dordogne to commemorate one of the most important – and fortuitous – events in the study of human origins. They will congregate to mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Madeleine mammoth, a small piece of ancient art that provided unequivocal proof of the deep antiquity of Homo sapiens.
New carbon dating that determined the age of the oldest known camel bones has challenged Biblical accuracy. Camels are described in the Old Testament stories of Abraham, Joseph and Jacob as pack animals. The latest findings, published in the journal Tel Aviv, reveal that camels were most likely domesticated around 900 BC – centuries after the biblical stories are believed to have taken place.

Until recently, archaeologists believed that there were only two species of humans in existence over 400,000 years ago. But, new findings, as well as the recent discovery of the “hobbit” bones in Indonesia, make it clear that it’s far more likely the world of ancient Earth was nowhere near as simple as scientists thought.