Our ancestors were icier than we thought, say scientists


        Archaeologists believe our ancestors survived north of the
        Arctic circle at least 20,000 years earlier than was thought.

        A Norwegian team has found artefacts including stone tools
        and a mammoth tusk with hand-made markings at a site in
        Russia.

        Radiocarbon dating puts the finds between 35,000 and
        40,000 years old.

        Previously humans were thought to have colonised this area
        in the last stages of the ice age - around 13,000 years ago.

        John Svendsen, who lead the University of Bergen team,
        says the new date marks a turning point in the history of
        human evolution in Europe.

        It is the time Neanderthals are thought to have given way to
        modern humans who were migrating out of Africa.

        But the journal Nature reports researchers aren't sure which
        group left the remains.

        It means either Neanderthals travelled further north than
        ever thought, or modern humans moved and adjusted to
        northern extremes very quickly.

        It is thought populations may have followed migrating
        mammoths, horses or reindeer and survived there with
        clothing, housing and fire.

 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_391546.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery
 Story filed: 11:18 Thursday 6th September 2001

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