Name: This Discovery Rewrote Human History
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For the longest time, we thought we knew the origins of our species. We thought we began 200,000 years ago in East Africa. But new revelations from out here in Morocco, from a part of Africa that people weren’t really considering, are forcing us to rethink our very first steps on this planet.

In a remote cave, in North West Africa, a chance discovery uncovered some mysterious human remains.

This Discovery Rewrote Human History

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For the longest time, we thought we knew the origins of our species. We thought we began 200,000 years ago in East Africa. But new revelations from out here in Morocco, from a part of Africa that people weren’t really considering, are forcing us to rethink our very first steps on this planet.

In a remote cave, in North West Africa, a chance discovery uncovered some mysterious human remains.

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This Discovery Rewrote Human HistoryPublished: December 11, 2025ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: Several decades after the initial discoveries came a breakthrough. Archaeologists uncovered another 16 fossils, all with the same blend of features. And taken together with the old finds, a fuller picture started to emerge.ABDELOUAHED BEN-NCER: (Translated from Arabic) This is another fossil we excavated. It’s part of the lower jaw.ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: (Translated from Arabic) From this skull?ABDELOUAHED BEN-NCER: (Translated from Arabic) No, no, from a child.And this one from another adult.ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: (Translated from Arabic) And how old?ABDELOUAHED BEN-NCER: (Translated from Arabic) Around eight years old.ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: (Translated from Arabic) So, between the old and new discoveries?ABDELOUAHED BEN-NCER: (Translated from Arabic) Yes, collectively a group of young and old were found at the site.ELLA AL-SHAMAHI: With each new find the evidence grew. These were not some other species, but Homo sapiens, with hints of an earlier ancestor. But it wasn’t until archaeologists were able to more accurately date the remains that the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.The archaeologists, using new and improved dating techniques, were able to give us dates for these fossils. And they tell us that these individuals lived about 300,000 years ago. And that is mind-boggling, because we thought our species was only about 200,000 years old. What these fossils tells us is that our species, Homo sapiens, is 100,000 years older than we thought.We are much older than we realized. This fossil went from being enigmatic and a, basically a mystery, to being one of the most important fossils in our whole field.Thousands of miles from East Africa, where many anthropologists thought we began, and far older than expected, these are the earliest Homo sapiens ever found. And they have forced us to re-think other finds across Africa, which are painting an entirely new picture of our origins, suggesting Jebel Irhoud was just one of many emerging Homo sapiens populations.

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This Discovery Rewrote Human History

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