Thai Cave Yields Oldest Human Skeleton, Redefines History

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

In a groundbreaking discovery, a prehistoric human skeleton, estimated to be over 29,000 years old, has been uncovered in a limestone cave at Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand. This find positions itself as potentially the oldest human remains ever found in the country.

 

Phanombootra Chantarachot, Director-General of the Fine Arts Department, and Chidchanok Sukmongkol, Deputy Director-General of the Department of National Parks, revealed exciting details about the discovery. Alongside the skeleton, ancient paintings adorn the cave walls, forming a rich tapestry of human history.

 

These cave paintings were initially discovered in 2017 by archaeologists from the Fine Arts Department. The limestone cave hosts five chambers, with three featuring vivid wall paintings, suggesting a once-bustling human settlement.

 

 

Excavations in one chamber unveiled a treasure trove of ancient artifacts, including shells, plant seeds, and animal bones. Among these relics lay human remains, believed to be of a young boy between 6 and 8 years old. Experts identified the remains as those of a male from a tooth found with the bones.

 

Five selected specimens were sent to Beta Analytic Inc. in the U.S. The accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) testing confirmed human habitation in the area approximately 29,000 years ago.

 

If verified, this discovery may reshape our understanding of human migration, indicating that during the Palaeolithic period, the Gulf of Thailand was possibly a vast land mass extending towards Indonesia, serving as an overland route for early humans, reported The Thaiger.

 

-- 2025-02-24

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

If verified, this discovery may reshape our understanding of human migration,

 

The oldest Homo sapiens remains in Asia are from Tam Pà Ling Cave in Laos, dating back 86,000–77,000 years...   (thats a 13 day walk from Sam Roi Yot  national park)...  

 

Then there is the Moh Khieo Cave in Krabi province, with a female skeleton estimated to be around 25,000 years old, which a mere dash in geological time scale, particularly when considering the Palaeolithic period lasted from 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago... (timing is commonly debated).

 

I don't like to be cynical about scientific (in this case archeological) discoveries, but Thai officials do love to over egg their pudding with such announcements.

 

The oldest Homo sapiens remains discovered in Morocco are dated to between 280,000 and 350,000 years old. 

 

 

 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/june/fossils-reveal-early-modern-humans-southeast-asia-77000-years-ago.html

[NoDisplayName]

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The oldest Homo sapiens remains in Asia are from Tam Pà Ling Cave in Laos, dating back 86,000–77,000 years...   (thats a 13 day walk from Sam Roi Yot  national park)...  

 

Sure, but that was a Lao skeleton.

Doesn't count.

[metisdead]

Troll posts and bickering posts and the replies derailing the topic have been removed.

[Tropicalevo]

Nice photo.

Shame that it has nothing to do with the story.

Or is it from that cave complex?

(Difficult when it is 'for reference' only.)

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

 

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

Nice photo.

Shame that it has nothing to do with the story.

Or is it from that cave complex?

(Difficult when it is 'for reference' only.)

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

 

Just google 'limestone cave at Khao Sam Roi Yot'. There are plenty of images that confirm that it is indeed the same site.

[MikeandDow]

3 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Nice photo.

Shame that it has nothing to do with the story.

Or is it from that cave complex?

(Difficult when it is 'for reference' only.)

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

 

Sam Roi Yot

https://picarta.ai/ this is a handy tool  for image search

[JAG]

I understand Immigration are investigating whether or not he was on overstay.

[billd766]

12 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Sure, but that was a Lao skeleton.

Doesn't count.

Of course it does. 

 

Thousands of years ago there was NO Thailand, Laos, Cambodia or Indonesia etc. Just a land mass with no name.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

Nice photo.

Shame that it has nothing to do with the story.

Or is it from that cave complex?

(Difficult when it is 'for reference' only.)

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

 

Don't get out much huh, that's a famous tourist attraction.

 

 

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, JAG said:

I understand Immigration are investigating whether or not he was on overstay.

The first tourist and he ends up dead in a cave.

[ignore it]

Update:

 

Skeleton later determined to be a backpacker on the run from immigration. 

[Tarteso]

Interesting.. Just for information,  the oldest one found is from Ethiopia. One study claims it is around 233,000 years old.🤔

[Guderian]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Nice photo.

Shame that it has nothing to do with the story.

Or is it from that cave complex?

(Difficult when it is 'for reference' only.)

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

 

 

Was the sea level a lot higher 29,000 years ago, because today it's quite a hike to get up to that cave?

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

Of course it does. 

 

Thousands of years ago there was NO Thailand, Laos, Cambodia or Indonesia etc. Just a land mass with no name.

 

Actually the landmass did have a name... It was called Sundaland and spread across south east Asia, existing before the last ice age...  

 

There is evidence of both Homo Sapien and Homo Erectus remains across the region that indicate migration patterns across this landmas.

 

Thus, the 29000 year 'human' (Homo Sapien) remains bring nothing new to the table from a archeoloigical, geomorphological or migrationary perspective. 

 

Nevertheless, its still an important and excellent discovery, just not quite as 'ground breaking' as implied,

 

Homo sapien remains were found in 2005 in Moh Khiew Cave in Thailand and radio carbon dated back to 25,800 +/- 600 BP matched remains from other area of 'Sundaland' during the Late Pleistocene - Migration patterns were area already well known through these older discoveries.

 

Homo erectus remains, known as 'Lampang Man' were fond dating back 1,000,000 – 500,000 further confirming the migration patterns across Sundaland much further back.

 

 

[sungod]

Last time I was in Hua Hin, I saw some bar girls and elderly customers who looked like they came from around the same era.

 

Its not so far from those caves.

[richard_smith237]

18 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Was the sea level a lot higher 29,000 years ago, because today it's quite a hike to get up to that cave?

 

The Pterodactyl's were tamed back then...  they'd fly em up there...