1.9-million-year-old Jordan Valley site rewrites early human migration

· Science · Jordan · Georgia

New dating evidence places early humans in the Jordan Valley at least 1.9 million years ago, hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously believed. Advanced dating methods show the 'Ubeidiya site is roughly as old as the famous Dmanisi site in Georgia, placing both among the earliest known sites of human presence outside Africa. The finding reshapes the timeline of how and when hominins spread out of Africa into the Levant, and by extension into Eurasia.

Why it matters：The dating of 'Ubeidiya tightens the chronology of hominin dispersal out of Africa, a question that shapes how paleoanthropologists model migration routes and the pace of early human adaptation.

Key points

  • The 'Ubeidiya site in the Jordan Valley is now dated to at least 1.9 million years ago.
  • Advanced dating methods place it at roughly the same age as Georgia's Dmanisi site.
  • Both sites rank among the earliest known evidence of humans outside Africa.

Sources (original reporting)

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