The face of the first European

[JI7]

A reconstruction of the face of the first European has been revealed. The face was recreated from bone fragments discovered in a cave in the south west of the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.

The forensic artist who reconstructed the facial features for the BBC Two series The Incredible Human Journey told the programme's presenter Dr Alice Roberts that the face could have belonged to a male or female.



there is a video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8062109.stm

and more info at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1177123/The-European-Created-fragments-fossil-face-forbears-35-000-years-ago.html

The bones were carbon-dated to between 34,000 and 36,000 years ago when Europe was occupied by two species of human.

[imdjh]

1. We've gotten better looking, most of us anyway.

But seriously- this is art not science.

[babylonsister]

2. If you're better looking, do share. To the OP, thanks. ! nt

[imdjh]

10. here you go

I can dream, can't I?

[babylonsister]

16. Whoa!

How gorgeous is he?!! Do I even care who he is? Can he act?

Nah, don't care! :evilgrin:

[imdjh]

17. Some actor from 300. I have no idea what his name is. I google imaged for "attila"

I deliberately googled "attila" because he wasn't European. But when I saw that guy, I said, "That will do nicely."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

I think s/he looks pretty good...

for a person of 34,000.

[blogslut]

13. It's a little more than that

Forensic artists are highly trained in anatomy and specialize in recreating the way skin and muscle once laid on the skeletons of deceased persons.

I think the bust is beautiful. The cheekbones, the jaw, the nose, beautiful.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. Samuel L Jackson

[Ken Burch]

5. "I want these motherf____n snakes out of thie motherf____n Europe"

n/t.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. And they gave St Patrick the credit...

Typical. :toast:

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Hoot!

:thumbsup:

[XemaSab]

4. Homie needs some eyebrows and a good dermatologist

I refuse to believe I am descended from Seal. x(

[BlooInBloo]

6. Bullshit. Everybody knows that true Europeans look only like this...

[JI7]

7. some think true Americans only look like that

[vadawg]

12. not sure of your point, but a lot of europeans do look like this, at least the females do

especially the further north you go.

[Quantess]

11. How did he/she get to Romania from Africa?

What an interesting study!

[Maru Kitteh]

14. Alien tractor beams - DUH.

That's what the first European crop circle was for. They left behind the first European chemtrails on their way out. Freaky stuff.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. The hypothesis in the programme is via Yemen, the Persian Gulf

Iraq and Turkey. The Red Sea at its narrowest then was only a few miles, so floating on rafts (just a log, perhaps?) could have been possible; there are underground streams that come down from the Arabian highlands that now exit underwater, but then would have been above sea level, so the Yemen coast would have been a decent place to live, and the Persian Gulf would have been a fertile plain then. There are signs in Yemen (still above the sea) that it's been populated for about 80,000 years. From the Persian Gulf, some heading along the coast of India (eventually getting to New Guinea and Australia); some inland to the north east, through central Asia; and some, eventually, inland to the north west. The Black Sea was an inland sea then (about 40,000 years ago), unconnected to the Mediterranean, so there'd be no problem at all going from Asian Turkey to Europe.

Going by mitochondrial DNA, they think about 10% of the current European population is descended from this migration. Later ones have come in through the Russian steppe, the Mediterranean and so on.

It was a very interesting programme.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. they've got it all wrong, just as they got the morphology of Jesus:

[billyoc]

18. I would've gotten all the chicks back then, man.

:hide:

[zbdent]

20. the first European was a Jedi?

well, it was "a long time ago", but Europe isn't in "a galaxy far, far away" ...