Earliest Homo erectus fossil dated

[pinball1970]

TL;DR

This paper in science last week https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6486/eaaw7293.full

Suggests that three archaic hominins, Homo erectus Australopithecus and Paranthropus found at Drimolen cave in South Africa between 2015-18 were contemporaries.

The previously oldest H. Erectus fossil was dated 1.85 million years from Georgia.
These specimens from South Africa have been dated 200,000 years earlier, pre dating a magnetic 'flip' that occurred in the Earth's magnetic field 1.95 million years ago.
This magnetic reversal was one of part of one of the techniques used on the surrounding sediments.
This study has implications regarding migration and competion models of these hominins who were contemporaries according to the dates.

 

[jim mcnamara]

One of the take-away concepts is that there were three sympatric populations of hominins, including H. erectus. Prior to this study, H. erectus was thought to have left Africa. Due to lack of evidence. It is not possible to assert that something categorically does not exist without testing absolutely every possibility - I guess in this case digging up a continent for fossils.

So researchers use statements like 'no evidence for X' when they are being careful. Magazine writers not so careful.