Buya, Eritrea
 | This article, Buya, Eritrea, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
Buya is an archaeological site in Eritrea. The site was excavated between 1995 and 1997 by archaeologist Ernesto Abbate working for the University of Florence and an international team of paleontologists. They unearthed fragments of the skeleton of the Homo erectus fossil Madam Buya. This skeleton consisted of the fossil consisted of a nearly complete cranium, two fragments of a pelvis, and two incisors. They were found inside ancient river and lake sediments located within the Danakil Depression. The fossils found at the site were one million years old, and bared characteristics of both Homo erectus skeletons and Homo sapiens skeletons. It has a oval neurocranium, massive brow ridge, and wide cheekbones. These traits are all characteristics of a Homo erectus fossil. It also has a cranium which is widest high on the vault, which is a human trait. Prior to this discovery, the earliest known fossil with human traits was a 600,000 year old Homo heidelbergensis skeleton from Bodo, Ethiopia. According to a 1998 article by Archaeology.org, a publication of the Archaeological Institute of America, this discovery was likely to push "back the development of modern human morphology by some 300,000 years" and to "shed light on a time poorly understood in the paleontological record."