2 ms·
Fascinating find, but as the article implies, the climate/landscape of the Arabian Peninsula was very wet then, and what we call the Red Sea today was at time l
by danans 6y ago
Fascinating find, but as the article implies, the climate/landscape of the Arabian Peninsula was very wet then, and what we call the Red Sea today was at time likely an estuary, so hardly a barrier.
So what we call Arabia and Africa weren't distinct land masses, and if anything it would be surprising if they were not inhabited by hominids similar to those nearby in today's Africa.
- sradman 6y ago> what we call the Red Sea today was at time likely an estuary The Red Sea Rift is quite recent [1] in geological time but not 120 kya recent. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_Rift#Spreading_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_Rift#Spreading_model
- danans 6y agoThe phenomenon that would have made it an estuary on the hominid and homo sapiens timescale is lower sea levels due to ice ages. 40% of the Red Sea is only 100 m deep, and during the last major ice age 20kya sea levels were 120 m lower than they are today. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-90-481-2639-2_129#:~:text=The%20Red%20Sea%20proper%20is,is%20shallower%20than%20100%20m https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-9....
- sradman 6y agoMarine Isotope Stage 5 [1] was a high sea level interglacial: > Thus, the present interglacial, the Holocene, is compared with MIS 5 or the interglacials of Marine Isotope Stage 11. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Isotope_Stage_5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Isotope_Stage_5