New fossil findings show that modern man has existed longer than once posited. The new findings by members of a Tel Aviv University research team could reverse theories of the origin of humans.
Excavated in a cave in central Israel, teeth were found from a man who lived some 400,000 years ago. They resemble the teeth of other modern men – Homo Sapiens.
“It’s very exciting to come to this conclusion,” said archaeologist Avi Gopher. The findings were scanned by X-ray and CAT scans, though further research will be required to concretize the hypotheses. If the hypothesis is concretized, he said, “Tthis changes the whole picture of evolution.”
The commonly known theory is that Homo Sapiens originated in Africa and migrated off the continent. If the remains found in Israel are definitively linked to modern human’s ancestors, said Gopher, it could mean that modern man actually originated in what is now Israel.
Sir Paul Mellars, a prehistory scholar at England’s Cambridge University, said the study is legitimate, and the find is “important”.
According to the accepted scientific theories today, modern humans and Neanderthals stemmed from a common ancestor who lived in Africa some 700,000 years ago. A single group of descendants migrated to Europe and developed into Neanderthals, before going extinct; while, another group stayed in Africa and evolved into Homo Sapiens — modern humans.
According to Mellars, however, teeth are often unreliable indicators of origin, and analysis of skull remains would more definitively identify the species found in the Israeli cave.
Gopher, though, says he is confident his team will find skulls and bones in the cave if they keep on looking.
The prehistoric Qesem cave was first found in 2000. Excavations began in 2004.
The 40 day project, led by Israel and bank-rolled by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, based in Germany, culminated in finding a wood fragment, roughly 400,000 years old and a layer of gravel from a mere 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. These findings evinced that what is now the middle of the Dead Sea was once a shore.
42 people were killed in what Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an “unprecedented disaster”. A fire which started in the Carmel Ridge and Alon Valley in northern Israel devoured about 7 million trees, creating damage which will take at least a decade to recover from. Hundreds of acres used by Israel’s largest banana plantations, owned by Kibbutz Hahotarim, Kibbutz Ein HaCarmel (which jointly own Coastal Bananas Ltd.) and Kibbutz Beit Oren were destroyed. 
For years, Israeli firefighters have complained of undersized crews, outdated equipment and insufficient supplies. The country only has 1,400 firefighters, which is far below the worldwide average. Despite a highly sophisticated air force, Israel doesn’t have a single firefighting plane. It actually ran out of flame retardants on the first day of the disaster.
The test took place on a 10 meter stretch of Highway 4. Passing cars provided enough power for street lights at that section. The technology that powers it – generators are implanted two inches below the asphalt layer and create energy from the weight of the cars passing over them. The watts are stored in batteries on the side of the road.