Mungo Man

Mungo Man
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.
Discovery
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).
Age
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.
Mitochondrial DNA study
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.

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