NANJING, CHINA—Science X Network reports that an international team of researchers, including scientists from Nanjing University, Fudan University, the Australian Museum Research Institute, and National Taiwan University, has analyzed human teeth recovered from five caves in southern China and found them to be approximately 16,000 years old. This date was obtained through carbon-14 dating of the teeth and charcoal found near them. Previous research, which focused on dating sediments and flowstone near the teeth, and not the teeth themselves, suggested they were 120,000 years old. Mitochondrial DNA obtained from the teeth confirmed they belonged to modern humans, and are related to people living today in Tibet and Burma. The researchers noted that the older date for the modern human teeth conflicted with other evidence that modern humans first migrated out of Africa approximately 65,000 to 45,000 years ago. To read about 80,000-year-old teeth of Homo sapiens found in China, go to "An Opportunity for Early Humans in China."
