90,000-year-old human bone discovered in Saudi Arabia

Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia have claimed to have found the human bone of the oldest man of the Middle East during an excavation. The scientists have claimed that the human whose bone of the middle finger’s middle section has been discovered lived 90,000-years-ago.

Going by this estimate, the bone becomes the oldest trace of human life in the Arabian Peninsula. It also predate the time when humans were believed to have been migrated out of Africa and spread around the world.

Our species, Homo sapiens, left Africa around 60,000 years ago, according to the 'Out of Africa' theory. The latest discovery could serve as evidence about some smaller migrations that took place before the main event.

Previous evidence hints that humans made few failed migration attempts out of Africa before 60,000 years ago. Last year, fossils from Israel were discovered and they showed that modern humans were out of Africa around 120,000 years ago. However, they did not stick around for long.

A joint project between archaeologists from the University of Oxford and Saudi researchers was carried out, which resulted in the discovery of the middle finger bone. It was part of the Green Arabia Project.

The bone was discovered at the Taas al-Ghadha site near to the northwestern Saudi city of Tayma. Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the president and chairman of the Board of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, announced the finding while delivering a speech last week.