Florisbad skulls have fascinated scientists since they were discovered in South Africa about 90 years ago. Uncovered at the Florisbad site in Free State Province in 1932, the skull dates back to pre-historic Middle Stone Age Africa. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the skull.
The two leading theories suggest that the skull belongs to the human Homo hidelbergensis subspecies.
Homo heldelbergenesis made the brain as large as algae in modern humans and reached the same average height as pre-industrial humans.
And although the fossil record is incomplete, the subspecies is believed to have emerged 700,000 and 200,000 years ago.
Another theory suggests that the Florisbad skull is Homo sapiens – the earliest form of modern man.
Read more: Dinosaur Progress: Discovery of new Raptor species rewrites history
The skull has now been analyzed by researchers at Spain’s Centro Nacional de Investicine Sobre La Evolucian Hume (CNIEH) and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
Paleonorologist Emiliano Bruner and his colleague Marlies Lombard published the results of their study in the Journal of Anthropological Science.
The study described skull characteristics and compared them with other human species, such as Homo sapiens, Homo Neanderthalnsis, and Homo heidelbergensis.
At first glance, the skull looks very modern.
These researchers have convinced researchers that human evolution is not a linear process, but more of a mosaic.
According to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, one of the oldest human traits, the ability to walk on two legs, developed about four million years ago.
And the big and complex brains that allowed us to build tools and develop language are very few.
The museum said: “Many advanced features, including intricate symbolic expression, art and extensive cultural diversity, have emerged primarily over the last 100,000 years.”
