Excavations at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco change our view of early human history

Theories of early human history for years have largely revolved around the evolution of hominins somewhere on the African continent. Until recently, the earliest known Homo sapien remains were recovered from what is now Ethiopia and researchers have long thought the modern humans evolved as one group in eastern Africa. More recent excavations in the northwestern African country of Morocco which borders both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. New discoveries there indicate that Homo sapiens most likely evolved in several groups across the African continent and did so much earlier than recently thought.

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Oldest Fossils of Homo Sapiens Found in Morocco, Altering History of Our Species

By Carl Zimmer

The New York Times

June 7, 2017