The remains of people found in fossil reservoirsin different parts of the world, need an analysis to know if it is a Homo Sapiens or beings that inhabited the Earth before us, such as Neanderthals.
The bone structure called the Banyoles jaw, found in 1887, had been analyzed to the point that scientists claimed it had belonged to Neanderthals. However, a new study, based on 3D scanning technology, revealed that this piece belonged to modern humans.
The Banyoles jawbone dates back 66,000 years. So, if it is confirmed that it is a part of a Homo Sapiens, we would be in the presence of the oldest remains of modern humans ever found.
The mandible is almost complete at its entire base. In the case of teeth, most are broken in more than half of their structure. However, this would not be a barrier to the conclusions drawn by the scientific team cited by the port of National Geographic.
3D analysis of the remains of the oldest human
“The jaw has been studied throughout the last century and was long considered to be a Neanderthal based on its age and location. And the fact that it lacks one of the diagnostic characteristics of Homo sapiens: a chin”, explains paleoanthropologist Brian Keeling, one of the leaders of the research.
But the 3D analysis compared data from Neanderthals and humans, so their results gave closer similarities to modern humans.
Because Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals shared the Earth in a transition, scientists do not rule out that this jaw could belong to a kind of hybrid between the two.