210,000-year-old remains of Homo sapiens discovered in Greece, the oldest footprint outside the African continent

A couple of years ago, the discovery in Morocco of some remains of the first humans (Homo sapiens) with more than 300,000 years old confirmed what we already knew. The cradle of humanity is in Africa, the evolutionary line and displacement of the species to other areas and continents is the subject of debates and theories, but without a doubt, we were born in Africa.

However, until a day ago it was believed that Homo sapiens had not left the African continent until about 60,000 years ago. Newly discovered 210,000-year-old fossils in Greece have transformed the known and scientifically proven history of mankind.

Journey to Eurasia

Although we tend to overlook it, in many movies and cartoons the times established by science are somehow reflected when we see some ancient human being moving from Africa to Europe and the species that accompany or appear on the journey. This discovery, therefore, influences even future scripts.

The Homo sapiens skull that has been dated to such an age was unearthed in the late 1970s, but a scientifically sound dating of the fossil has not been done until now. The back of the skull does not have prominent bumps but rather maintains a round shape.

The migrations of the first human beings are established as a series of successive migrations that began much earlier than previously believed. Scientists estimate that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals inhabited Europe coming from Africa, the evidence in caves until now showing the constant presence for more than 50,000 years.

Two species adapting and a world in evolution

According to Darwin, adaptation to the environment not only implies the gradual change in species to guarantee their survival in the environment, it also directly implies the disappearance of other species for not being able to adapt to the environment. This is what scientists believe happened with Homo sapiens discovered 210,000 years old, perhaps at the time it could not adapt and therefore more recent fossils have not been found, a gap for this species occupies more than 100,000 years in history.

According to scientific dating, about 40,000 years ago only we existed as a human species in the entire European area, as usually happens, in this case there is no specific explanation for the disappearance of another species and the conservation of the current one.

The first known ancestor of humanity to set foot in Europe from Africa is Homo erectus and his arrival is established at 2,000,000 years ago, then the arrival of the Neanderthals was verified approximately 800,000 years ago and now Homo sapiens Its arrival in Europe is established more than 200,000 years ago.