Humans Reached South Asia After Major Eruption

40,000 to 50,000 year old stone tools and abstract artistic decorations from South Asia (shown) closely resemble slightly older finds in South and East Africa. CREDIT: Dora Kemp, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University, Paul Mellars

Humans didn't enter the Indian subcontinent until after the massive eruption of Mount Toba in Sumatra nearly 75,000 years ago, new research suggests — overturning a previous idea that humans arrived much earlier.

The research, published today (June 10) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a combination of archaeological and genetic data to suggest a new earliest possible date for the exodus from Africa to Asia.

The new data suggest humans left Africa to arrive in South Asia around 55,000 to 60,000 years ago — long after the Mount Toba supereruption 74,000 years ago. That contradicts some archaeologists' claims that modern humans have been living in the region for twice that long.

 "The ash from the eruption, which was an absolutely huge eruption, blew across all of India and smothered the whole region in ash," said study co-author Martin Richards, an archaeogeneticist at the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom. "Modern humans weren't there when that happened. They arrived afterwards." [...] livescience.com/  

Actualización 13-06-13. Los humanos llegaron al sur de Asia después de la gran erupción del volcán Toba (no antes) (Traducción)