The oldest human remains in
Italy is a tooth that's reportedly 580,000 years old, according
to a study published in Plos One scientific journal Wednesday of
research led by Carlo Peretto of the University of Ferrara's
Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences department.
The tooth was found in the archeological site of Isernia La
Pineta in Molise.
Peretto's team collaborated with other institutes and
universities in Florence, Rome, Siena, and France.
The University of Ferrara said the tooth, which is that of
a child about 5-7 years old, was found in 2014 and represents an
exceptional discovery that sheds light on the variability of the
Homo species during the Middle Pleistocene Ionian Stage, a
period of geologic time between 781,000 to 126,000 years ago.
The tooth is most likely from the Homo heidelbergensis
species, which was present on the European continent during that
time, the University of Ferrara said, and for scientists the
discovery represents more proof that man was present in one of
the most important prehistoric sites in Europe.
For the past 40 years, the Isernia La Pineta site has been
subject to continuous and systematic research by scientists from
the University of Ferrara, who say that it still provides
results which are of interest for understanding the life of our
predecessors and for reconstructing the environment in which
they lived.
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