Surviving the Frozen Tundra

WASHINGTON, D.C.: New evidence shows that primitive humans were technologically advanced enough to live in the extremely inhospitable environment of Siberia some 300,000 years ago -- more than 230,000 years earlier than previously thought. The study, to be published Friday in the journal Science, is another of in a line of recent discoveries showing that early humans were more intelligent and resourceful than previously thought. Researchers had long thought that the sophisticated skills needed to survive winters where the temperature reaches minus 70 degrees and soil freezes to three feet below the surface came only after the appearance of anatomically modern humans 150,000 years ago. The discovery came after scientists found fist-sized stone tools at Diring Yuriakh, an ancient quarry located 300 miles south of the Artic Circle in Siberia. Tests of the surrounding soil determined the tools were somewhere between 260,000 and 370,000 years old. The news could greatly affect how scientists view human development. Or, just as important, it shows even early humans would live in completely inhospitable places. So who needs to move to Vegas?