Mungo Man
Mungo Man is the name given to a fossil of a human being found in the dry Lake Mungo in New South Wales, 90 kilometres north east of Mildura in Victoria. Mungo Man is described as being "fully modern".[1]
The fossil was found in 1974 by Professor Jim Bowler, a geologist with the University of Melbourne.[2] Five years earlier and 500 metres away, he had found the charred remains of another human, dubbed Mungo Woman. These remains comprised 175 fragments, and were dated with carbon dating to between 24,500 and 26,500 years old.[3]
When He was found, Mungo Man was date via carbon dating to be 28,000 to 32,000 years old. This was later revised to be 40,000 years old.[4]
In 1999, Professor Alan Thorne of the Australian National University concluded in research published in the Journal of Human Evolution that the remains were 62,000 years old, plus or minus 6,000 years.[2][4] This was based on three different dating methods: uranium series, electron spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence.[4]
In 2003, Nature published a study of the sediments in which Mungo Man was found. The study, led by Professor Bowler, concluded that the graves were 40,000 years old.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Mungo Man, quoting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 7:30 Report of 9 January 2001. (Retrieved 4 May 2007.)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dawn in our Garden of Eden, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 2003. (Retrieved 4 May 2007.)
- ↑ Mungo Man, quoting a News Ltd. newspaper report dated 13 January 2001 (Retrieved 4 May 2007.)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mungo Man, quoting a report in the Age newspaper of 21 May 1999. (Retrieved 4 May 2007.)