Scientists discover 140000-year-old lost city in..., its history will leave you in fear
Scientists around the world are constantly exploring the mysteries of the past, and a recent discovery near Indonesia's Java Island has revealed something fascinating. Over 6,000 fossils have been recovered from the ocean floor, including bones of the extinct human ancestor species, Homo erectus. This discovery suggests that there was an unknown population of Homo erectus living in Southeast Asia, possibly interacting with early modern humans.
What makes this find even more unique is that it's the first time fossils have been unearthed from the sunken parts of the Indonesian archipelago. Around 140,000 years ago, sea levels were much lower, and islands like Java were connected to the Asian mainland through a region known as Sundaland. This region was rich with grasslands, rivers, and wildlife.
Newly found fossils show that those rivers were home to fish, turtles, river sharks, and even hippos. On land, elephants, buffaloes, and a now-extinct elephant-like animal called stegodon roamed the area. Homo erectus likely lived and hunted in these fertile lands, particularly between Java and Madura islands, an area now submerged and known as the Madura Strait.
Some of the fossils bear cut marks, indicating that early human relatives in this region hunted turtles and large animals. These marks provide the oldest known evidence of turtle hunting in Southeast Asia. Fossil clues also suggest that these early hominins hunted animals similar to modern cows.
Interestingly, this type of hunting was more common among early modern humans living on the Asian mainland. This raises the possibility that Homo erectus may have learned these techniques from other human species they came into contact with. Who Were the Homo Erectus?
Homo erectus holds a very important place in the story of human evolution. This ancient species appeared around 2 million years ago and was the first of our ancestors to have a body structure similar to modern humans. They were also the first human species to leave Africa and travel all the way to Southeast Asia.
Along the way, other ancient human species like the Neanderthals and Denisovans also appeared in different parts of the world, including parts of Asia. However, scientists still don't know for sure how much interaction happened between these different species.
According to research, Homo erectus lived on the Indonesian island of Java until about 117,000 to 108,000 years ago, after which they went extinct. Much later, around 77,000 years ago, our own species Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia.
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