Ancient Humans Survived A Supervolcano Eruption, According To A New Study

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A team of researchers studied remnants present at an interesting archeological site located in India and made an interesting discovery about ancient humans. It appears that early humans managed to survive the dire consequences that surfaced in the aftermath of a supervolcano eruption that took place more than 80,000 years ago.

On the island of Sumatra, there is an impressive crater lake known as Lake Toba. Lake Tobe is the largest crater lake in the world, and the caldera used to be a part of a massive volcano. Data collected by the researchers infer that after the eruption took place, a volcanic winter was encountered, and the temperatures were quite low for several years.

One of the most interesting details related to the study is represented by the fact that the eruption, which the was the biggest one in the last two million years, may have played a major role in the establishment of early human migration towards Africa and Asia.

Ancient Humans Survived A Supervolcano Eruption, According To The New Study

Researchers think that the eruption caused the death of people in the nearby areas, staggering the spread of the humans towards the East for a long time. A population bottleneck can be traced in east Africa and India, and some voices claimed that it brought humanity to near extinction.

By analyzing the tools found at the site the team observed that they shared traits similar to the ones found in Arabia almost 100,000 years ago and the one that has been uncovered in Australia, which was left by the first humans that reached the continent 65,000 years ago.

The eruption of the Toba supervolcano has been perceived as a landmark event by many researchers across all over the world, since it may have influenced humanity’s path towards progress in the long run. Further data can be found in the study, which was published recently in a scientific journal.

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