Have scientists discovered a new species of humans?

Discovery of stone tools predates known human habitation by 50,000 years.

Scientists have discovered stone tools on the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, which have been dated to at least 118,000-years-old. The find suggests that primitive humans inhabited the island long before the arrival of modern humans.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Scientists have announced the find of 311 stone tools on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The tools are at least 118,000 years old, which predates the known arrival of modern humans on the island by at about 50,000 years.

Modern humans, arrived on the island between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago, and it has long been known to serve as a stepping stone for humanity to Australia. What is surprising is the discovery of stone tools that are twice as old as the first humans known to be on the island.

The 311 artifacts are made of stone, mostly limestone that was chipped and flaked to make sharp blades. These blades were used by primitive humans for cutting. Toolmaking in primitive human species dates back to at least 2.6 million years.

As the early humans left Africa and expanded across Asia, it is thought they moved in waves, with bands following one another over generations. Over the span of almost two million years, humans spread across the entire planet. The last major human settlement of virgin territory occurred a thousand years ago with the Polynesian colonization of Easter Island.

Is it possible that an early species of human populated Sulawesi tens of thousands of years before modern humans? According to scientists this is exactly what happened. However, while the tools have been found, there remains no trace of the toolmakers.

In order for humans remains to last for more than a few thousand years, conditions have to be just right. Since we don't know what species of primitive humans occupied Sulawesi, and we don't know how they disposed of their dead, it's impossible to say.

It is possible they were members of a species we have not yet discovered. Such discoveries happen occasionally as scientists delve into new corners of the Earth.

Recently, another species of prehistoric human was found, homo floresiensis to have lived on nearby Flores Island. That species was tiny, with the tallest members being just 3 feet tall. they've been dubbed the "Indonesian Hobbits" because of their diminutive size.

Human evolution is by no means a clean, linear progression from ape-like ancestor to modern man. Instead, we now know human evolution has taken many branches, like a tree, with all but one of those branches becoming extinct. The last non-modern human, homo neanderthalensis, (Neanderthal Man) probably walked the earth as late as 40,000 years ago in Gibraltar. Neanderthals share 99.5 percent the same DNA as modern humans and most humans, particularly those with European ancestry have some Neanderthal DNA in them, a product of interbreeding.

Modern humans, homo sapiens sapiens, (that is us) have been on Earth for somewhere close to 200,000 years ago. The Theory of Human Evolution is staunchly supported by scientific consensus.