FRIDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Modern human behavior can now
be traced back almost 44,000 years, new research indicates.
Previous studies suggested the hunter-gatherer culture developed
only 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, with the African San people. A
new analysis of objects found at Border Cave in the foothills of
the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa, however, revealed modern
human culture emerged much earlier. "The dating and analysis of
archaeological material discovered at Border Cave in South
Africa has allowed us to demonstrate that many elements of
material culture that characterize the lifestyle of San hunter-
gatherers in southern Africa were part of the culture and
technology of the inhabitants of this site 44,000 years ago,"
study co-author Lucinda Backwell, senior researcher in
paleoanthropology at Wits University in Johannesburg, South
Africa, said in a news release. An international team of
researchers led by Francesco d'Errico, director of research at
the French National Research Center, date