* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Emerging Memory and Storage Technology Market Analysis Report 2025-2034 | AI and HPC Boom Fuels Surging Demand for Fast, Low-Power Memory Devices – Yahoo Finance

    How AI and HPC Are Driving Explosive Growth in Fast, Low-Power Memory Technologies Through 2034

    Ostin Technology (OST): Volatility’s Warning or Contrarian Opportunity? – AInvest

    Ostin Technology (OST): Navigating Market Volatility – Red Flag or Hidden Opportunity?

    St. Francis Medical Center brings advanced robotic surgery technology to Northeast Louisiana – KNOE

    St. Francis Medical Center brings advanced robotic surgery technology to Northeast Louisiana – KNOE

    Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

    Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

    Frontdoor Announces Tech Expert Dr. Bala Ganesh as Chief Technology Officer – Business Wire

    Frontdoor Appoints Tech Visionary Dr. Bala Ganesh as New Chief Technology Officer

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Emerging Memory and Storage Technology Market Analysis Report 2025-2034 | AI and HPC Boom Fuels Surging Demand for Fast, Low-Power Memory Devices – Yahoo Finance

    How AI and HPC Are Driving Explosive Growth in Fast, Low-Power Memory Technologies Through 2034

    Ostin Technology (OST): Volatility’s Warning or Contrarian Opportunity? – AInvest

    Ostin Technology (OST): Navigating Market Volatility – Red Flag or Hidden Opportunity?

    St. Francis Medical Center brings advanced robotic surgery technology to Northeast Louisiana – KNOE

    St. Francis Medical Center brings advanced robotic surgery technology to Northeast Louisiana – KNOE

    Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

    Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

    Frontdoor Announces Tech Expert Dr. Bala Ganesh as Chief Technology Officer – Business Wire

    Frontdoor Appoints Tech Visionary Dr. Bala Ganesh as New Chief Technology Officer

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Ancient Cave Reveals New Secrets of Our First Ancestors

June 18, 2023
in Science
Ancient Cave Reveals New Secrets of Our First Ancestors
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Sunlight Enters Tam Pà Ling Cave

Looking back at the entrance of Tam Pà Ling cave from the cave floor. The excavation pit is the left of this location. Credit: Kira Westaway (Macquarie University)

Tam Pà Ling, a cave located in the northern region of Laos, unveils new insights into the earliest human migrations from Africa all the way to Australia.

What links a fossil discovered in a northern Laotian cave to ancient stone tools from northern Australia? It’s us, Homo sapiens. As our forebears journeyed from Africa to Australia, they marked their path with evidence of their presence in the form of human fossils that accumulated over thousands of years deep in a cave.

Recent findings from the Tam Pà Ling cave in northern Laos have cast new light on this narrative. The investigation conducted by a multi-national team of researchers from Laos, France, America, and Australia, and subsequently published in

Tam Pà Ling Cave Sediments

The thick 7 m sediments that form Tam Pà Ling cave floor. The extensive array of cave decorations can be seen in the cave roof and floor. Credit: Kira Westaway (Macquarie University)

“Tam Pà Ling plays a key role in the story of modern human migration through Asia but its significance and value is only just being recognized,” says University of Copenhagen palaeoanthropologist Assistant Professor Fabrice Demeter, one of the paper’s lead authors.

Three Australian Universities contributed to the project. Macquarie University and Southern Cross University dated samples using multiple techniques.

Tam Pà Ling Deep Excavation

The extensive excavation pit in Tam Pà Ling reaching from the cave floor down to ~7 m. Credit: Kira Westaway (Macquarie University)

This was before Tam Pà Ling, an upland cave site more than 300 kilometers from the sea in northern Laos, started divulging its secrets. The skull and jawbone were identified as belonging to Homo sapiens who had migrated through the region. But when?

As is usual in questions of human dispersal, the debate comes down to timing. But this evidence was hard to date.

The human fossils cannot be directly dated as the site is a World Heritage area and the fossils are protected by Laotian law. There are very few animal bones or suitable cave decorations to date, and it is too old for radiocarbon dating. This placed a heavy burden on the luminescence dating of sediments to form the backbone of the timeline.

Luminescence dating relies on a light-sensitive signal that is reset to zero when exposed to light but builds up over time when shielded from light during burial. It was originally used to constrain the burial sediments that encased the fossils.

Entrance Tam Pa Ling

Looking down into the wide steep entrance of Tam Pà Ling Cave. The excavation pit is visible on the right-hand side. Credit: Kira Westaway (Macquarie University)

“Without luminescence dating this vital evidence would still have no timeline and the site would be overlooked in the accepted path of dispersal through the region,” says Macquarie University geochronologist Associate Professor Kira Westaway. “Luckily the technique is versatile and can be adapted for different challenges.”

These techniques returned a minimum age of 46,000 years – a chronology in line with the expected timing of Homo sapiens’ arrival in Southeast Asia. But the discovery didn’t end there.

From 2010 to 2023, annual excavations (delayed by three years of lockdowns) revealed increasingly more evidence that Homo sapiens had passed through en route to Australia. Seven pieces of a human skeleton were found at intervals through 4.5 meters of sediment, pushing the potential timeline far back into the realms of the earliest Homo sapiens migrations to this region.

Tam Pà Ling Cave From Pit to Entrance

The excavation pit in Tam Pà Ling cave framed by the cave entrance. Credit: Kira Westaway (Macquarie University)

In this study, the team overcame these issues by creatively applying strategic dating techniques where possible, such as the uranium-series dating of a stalactite tip that had been buried in sediment, and the use of uranium-series dating coupled with electron-spin-resonance dating techniques to two rare but complete bovid teeth, unearthed at 6.5 meters.

“Having direct dating of the fossil remains confirmed the age sequence obtained by luminescence, allowing us to propose a comprehensive and secure chronology for a Homo sapiens presence at Tam Pà Ling,” says Southern Cross University geochronologist Associate Professor Renaud Joannes-Boyau.

The team supported the dating evidence with a detailed analysis of the sediments to assess the origin of the fossils using micromorphology, a technique that examines sediments under a microscope to establish the integrity of the layers. This key component of the new chronology helped establish that there was a consistent accumulation of sedimentary layers over a long period.

Extensive Excavation Pit in Tam Pà Ling

The extensive excavation pit in Tam Pà Ling reaching from the cave floor down to ~7 m. The deepest pit is found at the rear close to the cave wall. Credit: Vito Hernandez (Flinders University)

“Far from reflecting a rapid dump of sediments, the site represents a consistent and seasonally deposited stack of sediments,” explains Flinders University geoarchaeologist Associate Professor Mike Morley, who worked with Ph.D. students Vito Hernandez and Meghan McAllister-Hayward.

The new chronology revealed there had been a human presence in this area for more than 56,000 years. Furthermore, the age of the lowest fossil at seven meters – a fragment of a leg bone – provides a timeline for modern human arrival in this region between 86,000 to 68,000 years ago. This pushes back the arrival time in mainland Southeast Asia by approximately 40,000 years. Although, according to genetics, these early migrations did not contribute significantly to our modern-day populations.

“This really is the decisive paper for the Tam Pà Ling evidence,” says Associate Professor Westaway. “Finally we have enough dating evidence to confidently say when Homo sapiens first arrived in this area, how long they were there, and what route they may have taken.”

Tam Pà Ling cave is very close to the recently discovered Cobra Cave, which was frequented by Denisovans approximately 70,000 years earlier. Despite the previous lack of evidence for early arrival in mainland Southeast Asia, this area might be a previously used dispersal route among our ancestors, long before Homo sapiens.

“We have much to learn from the caves and forests of Southeast Asia,” adds Associate Professor Westaway.

Reference: “Early presence of Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia by 86–68 kyr at Tam Pà Ling, Northern Laos” by Sarah E. Freidline, Kira E. Westaway, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Philippe Duringer, Jean-Luc Ponche, Mike W. Morley, Vito C. Hernandez, Meghan S. McAllister-Hayward, Hugh McColl, Clément Zanolli, Philipp Gunz, Inga Bergmann, Phonephanh Sichanthongtip, Daovee Sihanam, Souliphane Boualaphane, Thonglith Luangkhoth, Viengkeo Souksavatdy, Anthony Dosseto, Quentin Boesch, Elise Patole-Edoumba, Françoise Aubaile, Françoise Crozier, Eric Suzzoni, Sébastien Frangeul, Nicolas Bourgon, Alexandra Zachwieja, Tyler E. Dunn, Anne-Marie Bacon, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Laura Shackelford and Fabrice Demeter, 13 June 2023, Nature Communications.

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38715-y

Read More

Tags: AncientRevealsscience
Previous Post

Trapping Light in 3D: Physicists Unlock the Longstanding Mystery of Trapped Waves

Next Post

This Week @NASA: Experimental X-Plane, ISS Power Upgrade, Mars Postcard, Laser Communications System

79-year old man competing in his 16th World Police and Fire Games – WVTM

79-year old man competing in his 16th World Police and Fire Games – WVTM

June 29, 2025
The Economy Is So Off the Rails That They’re Trying to Figure Out How to Make Ads Specifically Targeted at AI Bots – Futurism

The Economy Is So Off the Rails That They’re Trying to Figure Out How to Make Ads Specifically Targeted at AI Bots – Futurism

June 29, 2025

WATCH: Health Secretary RFK Jr. Faces Intense Questioning on Vaccine Policy and Transparency in House Hearing

June 29, 2025
Jimmy Patronis hails House passage of bill benefitting military, veterans – Florida Politics

Jimmy Patronis Cheers House Approval of Landmark Bill Backing Military and Veterans

June 29, 2025
Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

June 29, 2025
Fireworks sales support Folsom youth sports: ‘This is our biggest fundraiser’ – Sacramento Bee

Fireworks Sales Ignite Support for Folsom Youth Sports: “This Is Our Biggest Fundraiser

June 29, 2025
Murder, she measured: The impressive science behind Agatha Christie’s poisons – Big Think

Deadly Secrets Unveiled: The Fascinating Science Behind Agatha Christie’s Poisons

June 28, 2025
Science and social norms – Golf Course Management magazine

How Science is Revolutionizing Social Norms in Golf Course Management

June 28, 2025
Study Links Skipping Breakfast to Poor Diet and Lifestyle Habits in Teens – Olive Oil Times

Study Links Skipping Breakfast to Poor Diet and Lifestyle Habits in Teens – Olive Oil Times

June 28, 2025
What Worries the World – June 2025 – Ipsos

Top Global Concerns Shaping June 2025

June 28, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (699)
  • Economy (723)
  • Entertainment (21,613)
  • General (15,615)
  • Health (9,762)
  • Lifestyle (727)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (723)
  • Politics (729)
  • Science (15,939)
  • Sports (21,219)
  • Technology (15,707)
  • World (703)

Recent News

79-year old man competing in his 16th World Police and Fire Games – WVTM

79-year old man competing in his 16th World Police and Fire Games – WVTM

June 29, 2025
The Economy Is So Off the Rails That They’re Trying to Figure Out How to Make Ads Specifically Targeted at AI Bots – Futurism

The Economy Is So Off the Rails That They’re Trying to Figure Out How to Make Ads Specifically Targeted at AI Bots – Futurism

June 29, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version