Homo sapiens at Al Wusta (Arabia)
Homo sapiens de Al Wusta (Arabia)
- Date
- c. 85 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Al Wusta, Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia
- Credited to
- Late Pleistocene Homo sapiens
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
A finger phalanx found beside an ancient lake in the Nefud, dated to c. 85 ka, is the oldest known Homo sapiens fossil in the Arabian Peninsula (Groucutt et al., 2018). It shows early dispersals out of Africa reaching beyond the Levant.
It is a single bone; the attribution to Homo sapiens rests on morphology and statistical analysis, and the coordinates are approximate.
What it led to
- Arabia recognised as a green corridor for dispersal during wet phases
- revision of the single out-of-Africa exit model c. 60 ka ago
- survey of sites around the Nefud palaeolakes
Built on
- Jebel Irhoud: the oldest known Homo sapiens