The Mungo Man (also known as Lake Mungo 3) was an early human inhabitant of the continent of Australia, who is believed to have lived about 40,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. His remains were discovered at Lake Mungo, New South Wales in 1974. The remains are the oldest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia to date, although his exact age is a matter of ongoing dispute. Recent controversial analysis of Mungo Man's mitochondrial DNA has also led some researchers to challenge the single-origin hypothesis of human evolution.
The Mungo Man was discovered on February 26, 1974 when shifting sand dunes exposed his remains. He was found near Lake Mungo, one of several dry lakes in the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes Region. The body was sprinkled with red ochre, in what is the earliest incidence of such a sophisticated and artistic burial practice. This aspect of the discovery has been particularly significant to Indigenous Australians, since it indicates that certain cultural traditions have existed on the Australian continent for much longer than previously thought.
The skeleton had been somewhat poorly preserved, with substantial portions of the skull missing, and most of the bones in the limbs suffering surface damage. Some anthropologists have noted that it may not be possible to conclusively determine the gender of the remains, although they are most commonly referred to as being male. Mungo Man was buried lying on his back, with his hands interlocked over his groin. Based on evidence of osteoarthritis in the lumbar vertebrae, and severe wear on the teeth, it seems likely that Mungo Man was quite old when he died. New studies show that, using the length of his limb bones, it is possible to estimate Mungo Man's height at an abnormally tall 193 centimetres (76 inches or 6 ft 4 in).
The first estimate of Mungo Man's age was made in 1976, when the team of paleoanthropologists from the Australian National University (ANU) who excavated Mungo Man published their findings. They estimated that Mungo Man was between 28,000 and 32,000 years old. They did not test Mungo Man's remains directly, but rather established an estimate by stratigraphic comparison with Mungo Lady, an earlier set of partially cremated remains also found at Lake Mungo.
In 1987, an electron spin resonance test was conducted on bone fragments from Mungo Man's skeleton, which established an estimate of his age at 31,000 years, plus or minus 7,000 years. An age of about 40,000 years came to be widely accepted as accurate.
In 1999, another team from ANU arrived at a new estimate of 62,000 years, plus or minus 6,000 years. This estimate was determined by combining data from uranium-thorium dating, electron spin resonance dating and optically stimulated luminescence dating of the remains and the immediately surrounding soil. However, this estimate was very controversial. Some scientists pointed to evidence of the age of strata at the lowest level of the Lake Mungo archaeological site, which are as old as 43,000 years, to show that Mungo Man could not be older than this. However, the ANU team had dated the strata itself to be between 59,000 and 63,000 years old. Others criticised the problems with using uranium-thorium dating on tooth enamel.
In 2003, a group of scientists from several Australian universities, led by the University of Melbourne, reached a new consensus that Mungo Man is about 40,000 years old. This age largely corresponds with stratigraphic evidence, and used four different dating methods, and brought together scientists from several different universities. The age of 40,000 years is currently the most widely accepted age for the Mungo Man and makes it the second oldest anatomically modern human remains found outside of Africa to date. The study also found that Mungo Lady was a similar age to Mungo Man, and not 30,000 years old, as previously thought. This made Mungo Lady the oldest cremated human remains yet discovered.
In a study conducted by the young Australian National University graduate student, Greg Adcockl in 1995, mitochondrial DNA was collected from bone fragments from Mungo Man's skeleton and analysed. The DNA was compared with samples taken from several other Australian human skeletons, between eight and fifteen thousand years old, and samples from modern day living people were taken to the labs and tested, it found that they bore no similarity to the DNA taken from any of the other samples.
The study determined that the Mungo Man was genetically different from modern humans, and that his mitochondrial line is now extinct. The study has been controversial because it can be interpreted to challenge the single-origin hypothesis of human evolution (the so-called "Out of Africa" theory) which posits that all humans are descended from a common ancestor who originated in Africa. Mungo Man, although being essentially anatomically identical to modern Homo sapiens, was not descended from Mitochondrial Eve, the most recent common ancestor of all humans on the matrilineal line, who lived in Africa approximately 150 000 years ago.
Some have argued that the study supports the multiregional hypothesis, which suggests that traits of modern humans evolved in several places around the world, and that gene flow created the genetic uniformity seen today, not the migration of a single population from Africa. Another possibility is that the mtDNA lineage of the Mungo Man became extinct at some time between 40,000 years BP and today. (A common misinterpretation of the Mitochondrial Eve hypothesis is that she was the only human female at her time; rather, she is the most recent common matrilineal ancestor). Still another is that the emigration of early humans from Africa took place somewhat earlier than it is generally assumed.
HumanHuman[1]
Fossil range: Pleistocene - Recent
Humans depicted on the Pioneer plaque
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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Commonwealth of Australia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Advance Australia FairN1
Capital
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Quaternary Period
? Neogene
Pliocene Zanclean (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)Piacenzian (3.6 - 2.6 Ma)Gelasian (2.6 - 1.
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The geological time scale is used by geologists and other scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of Earth.
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Lake Mungo is a dry lake in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is located about 760 km due west of Sydney[1] and 90 km north-east of Mildura.
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Coordinates: 32°0'S, 147°0'E
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1972 1973 1974 - 1975 - 1976 1977 1978
Year 1974 (
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Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria. Most other DNA present in eukaryotic organisms is found in the cell nucleus.
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In paleoanthropology, the recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH, or Out-of-Africa model, or Replacement Hypothesis), also Recent African Origin (RAO
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Human evolution is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species from other hominans, great apes and placental mammals.
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February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 308 days remaining until the end of the year (309 in leap years).
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1972 1973 1974 - 1975 - 1976 1977 1978
Year 1974 (
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A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World
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Willandra Lakes Region*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party Australia
Type Mixed
Criteria iii, viii
Reference 167
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Ochre or Ocher (pronounced /'??.
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Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
, ,
Ernie Dingo, David Wirrpanda, Adam Goodes
Total population
517,000[1]
2.
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The skull is a bony structure found in the head of many animals. The skull supports the structures of the face and protects the head against injury.
The skull can be subdivided into two parts: the cranium and the mandible.
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Osteoarthritis
Classification and external resources
ICD-10 M15.-M19., M47.
ICD-9 715
OMIM 165720
DiseasesDB 9313
MedlinePlus 000423
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Bone: Lumbar vertebrae
A typical lumbar vertebra
Vertebral column.
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1 centimetre =
SI units
10×10-3 m 10 mm
US customary / Imperial units
32.81×10-3 ft 0.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1973 1974 1975 - 1976 - 1977 1978 1979
Year 1976 (
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Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.
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Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks.
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The Mungo Lady (also known as Mungo I) is one of the world's oldest cremations discovered at Lake Mungo, New South Wales, Australia in 1969. The finding implies complicated burial ritual in the early human societies.
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Cremation is the act of reducing a corpse by burning, generally in a crematorium furnace or crematory fire. Contrary to popular belief, the remains (often called cremains
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
1984 1985 1986 - 1987 - 1988 1989 1990
Year 1987 (
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Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a technique for studying chemical species that have one or more unpaired electrons, such as organic and inorganic free
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
1996 1997 1998 - 1999 - 2000 2001 2002
Year 1999 (
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Uranium-thorium dating, also called thorium-230 dating, uranium-series disequilibrium dating or uranium-series dating
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Optical dating is a method of determining how long ago minerals were last exposed to daylight. It is useful to geologists and archaeologists who want to know when such an event occurred.
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