Re:Fossils from Morocco complicate the story of modern humans
by twelvechairs on Monday September 11, 2017 @06:02PM
(#15222831)
> your evidence of the oldest oral tradition is not very strong as there are only four major points on the compass. The likelihood of chance and cherry-picking is high.
I think the point is that the palms are introduced (not native) more than their cardinal direction (i dont believe they were using a western compass at the time so as to have four directions)
Re:Fossils from Morocco complicate the story of modern humans
by danieltillett on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @07:35AM
(#15226438)
If you read the articles linked the evidence that this "knowledge" has been passed down for 30,000 years is not strong. Firstly, the palms are native to Australia, just other populations are found 1000 km to the north. Secondly, the palms have only being separated for 15,000 years at most. Thirdly, the northern evidence is actually "gods brought the palms from the north".
The other is that human population is filled with new genes that are under positive selection which have only partially spread through the population. Humans are probably the worst species to study genetically as all the normal assumptions you need to make don't hold.
One minor nitpick, your evidence of the oldest oral tradition is not very strong as there are only four major points on the compass. The likelihood of chance and cherry-picking is high.