# 300,000 years old? I don't feel a day over 195,000 years! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366 "2017-10-20T14:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/1 "2017-10-20T14:57:57Z")
For quite some time, the conventional wisdom has been that our species is about 200,000 years old, in large part based on a ~195,000 fossil found in Ethiopia back in the 1960s (although serious dating wasn’t really done until the 90s). But newer, genetic studies put us [closer to 300,000 years old, as a species](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142016.htm). The ability to extract and analyze DNA from older remains is really revolutionizing archeology (and has been for some years now). Jus thought I’d share this as it comes it quite often in GQ. We’re still hung up on the question of whether these so-called “anatomically modern humans” were intellectually our peers, or if that happened much latter (around 75,000 years ago or so). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/2 "2017-10-20T15:01:15Z")
Science totally fucking rocks! I love seeing more hard science applied to the field of archeology. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/3 "2017-10-20T15:21:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > For quite some time, the conventional wisdom has been that our species is about 200,000 years old, in large part based on a ~195,000 fossil found in Ethiopia back in the 1960s Damn that Señor Lipps! > [@](#): > > We’re still hung up on the question of whether these so-called “anatomically modern humans” were intellectually our peers, or if that happened much latter (around 75,000 years ago or so). Quibble: the Great Leap Forward is [usually placed around 50,000 years ago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modernity#Archaeological_Evidence). (But is possibly another Lippish artifact.) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/4 "2017-10-20T16:44:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We’re still hung up on the question of whether these so-called “anatomically modern humans” were intellectually our peers, or if that happened much latter (around 75,000 years ago or so). So…We’re saying Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden 75,000 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/5 "2017-10-20T20:42:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The ability to extract and analyze DNA from older remains is really revolutionizing archeology (and has been for some years now). I remember reading that scientists were going to use DNA analysis to more exactly determine how and when early humans migrated from Africa through the rest of the world. Did that happen? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/6 "2017-10-20T21:07:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember reading that scientists were going to use DNA analysis to more exactly determine how and when early humans migrated from Africa through the rest of the world. Did that happen? It’s been happening. Check out the [National Genographic Project](https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com), for example. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-000-years-old-i-dont-feel-a-day-over-195-000-years/799366/7 "2017-10-20T22:33:52Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > So…We’re saying Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden 75,000 years ago? To the day! 😉