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VANCOUVER — The discovery of part of an early human skull in Israel is shedding new light on the origins of man.

The 55,000-year-old skull is believed to have belonged to the oldest-known human species that is a direct ancestor of modern Homo sapiens.

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Francesco Berna, an archeology professor at Simon Fraser University, and Megan Thibodeau, a master’s student, were involved in the find.

“What’s surprising is the combination of the skull having very modern traits, which are very similar to modern African populations and European populations, and the age — about 55,000 years,” Prof. Berna said.

“To my knowledge, this is probably one of, if not the, oldest fossils that is so close to us.”

The international team of researchers was led by Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, Ofer Marder of Ben-Gurion University and Omry Barzilai of the Israel Antiquity Authority.

A paper published in Nature and co-authored by Prof. Berna documents the discovery of the skull at Manot Cave in western Galilee. The find supports the hypothesis that humans’ direct ancestors were originally from Africa, and not Europe.