Africans settled in parts of Greece 200,000 years ago…per archaeological findings

Archaeological evidence suggests that scores of early men from Africa migrated to present-day Greece more than 200,000 years ago. The researchers said there is the possibility these prehistoric men from Africa were replaced by early men in Europe and Asia. According to Science News, there was an evolution of early men in Africa as well as Europe and Asia over tens of thousands of years later. The early men in Europe who replaced prehistoric men from Africa went extinct some 40,000 years ago. 

The revelation of the presence of Africans in Greece is linked to a skull dug out in a cliffside cave on Greece’s southern coast in 1978. It is the oldest human remains connecting the activities of early men outside Africa. The remains suggest they lived there somewhere 210,000 years in the region while the early men in Europe and Asia are believed to have settled there at least 170,000 years ago. Their skull case was found at the same site. 

Researchers said the two skulls were cast in layers in Greece’s Apidima Cave which was a result of it being washed from a higher cliff and cemented in the earth some 150,000 years ago. 

Researchers indicated that since there is variation in the ages of the skulls chances are they found themselves in two different layers of the earth. 

A paleoanthropologist at the University of Tubingen in Germany, Katerina Harvati, who published these findings in the Nature, said the skull dug from Greek is 160,000 years older than the remains of the prehistoric men of European origin. Comparing it to remains of early men found at Israel’s Misliya Cavethat, Harvati said the remains of early men from Africa are older than those jaws found. The presumption is that the presence of the prehistoric men of African origin moved deeper into Europe than had been previously thought. This exodus is believed to have begun some 300,000 years ago. 

Harvati explained that there is a high possibility the prehistoric men from Africa and Europe may have lived in Southeastern Europe at the same time within the 200,000-year period and reproduced. This is backed by 2017 evidence that suggests that humans probably were intimate with the prehistoric men of European origin. 

Previous study of the Apidima skulls showed that they maintained sections of their face and braincase. Evidence points to the presence of early men of European origin some 160,000 years ago. Harvati indicated that they relied on modern technology such as four 3-D to reconstruct the face including parts such as the heavy brow ridges, sloping face and other features characteristic of prehistoric European men. The dating analysis suggested that the skull was 170,000 years old. 

A paleoanthropologist at City University of New York’s Lehman College, Eric Delson, confirmed Harvati’s research suggesting that early men from Africa migrated to parts of Southeastern Europe several times, probably more than 200,000 years.