Tools point to cavemen leaving Africa 30,000 years earlier than previously thought

Cavemen began colonising the rest of the world 30,000 years earlier than previously thought, archaeologists claim.

They have found a treasure trove of stone tools which provide the ‘smoking gun’ showing humans made their way out of Africa more than 100,000 years ago. It was previously thought to be between 40,000 and 70,000.

An international team lead by Dr. Jeffrey Rose of Birmingham University found the distinctive sharp tools, used to kill prey, at more than 100 sites in what is now Oman, in the Arabian Peninsula.

They are from the Nubian, or Middle Stone Age period, evidence of which has previously only been found in central Africa and provides a ‘trail of stone breadcrumbs’ showing their expansion route....