An
Homo sapiens skullcap with archaic features similar to those of
Neanderthals and
Homo erectus was found near Salkhit in 2006 during gold mining operations at depth 5–6 m. Original estimates dated the skullcap to about 22,100 years old, but later re-dating in 2010 indicated 23,630
BP. In 2019, the Salkhit skull was again radiocarbon dated, analyzing hydroxyproline in bone-extracted collagen, placing it in the range 34,950–33,900
cal BP. Despite its archaic features, genetic reconstruction of
ancient DNA from the skull indicates the specimen falls on a novel branch of
mtDNA haplogroup N, one of two basal haplogroups ancestral to all non-African populations. Application of a molecular clock to the mtDNA sequence yielded a date for the skull of 12,910 to 39,410 years BP. == References ==