Two 9.7 million year old teeth were discovered in Germany, that may belong to an ancient hominin-like species similar to Australopithecus.

The finding would wildly change the story of human history (or at least mainstream science’ portrayal of human history). It is strange that these teeth were not found in East Africa like Australopithecus, but in Europe.

Herbert Lutz, head of the team and director of the Natural History Museum in Mainz, in Germany revealed the discovery this week as the academic paper is in pre-print, saying:

I don’t want to over-dramatize it, but I would hypothesize that we shall have to start rewriting the history of mankind after today. This is a tremendous stroke of luck, but also a great mystery.

He continued:

They are clearly ape-teeth. Their characteristics resemble African finds that are four to five million years younger than the fossils excavated in Eppelsheim. This is a tremendous stroke of luck, but also a great mystery.

The famous hominin “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis) discovered in Ethiopia dates to about 3 million years ago: that would make this possible human ancestor about 6 million years older than Lucy. That is incomprehensible.

The teeth were discovered in the western German town of Eppelsheim near Mainz. A special team will be carrying out further tests on the teeth.

According to DW:

The teeth were found by scientists sifting through gravel and sand in the bed of the Ur-Rhine, the former course of the river Rhine. The area has been a hotbed of fossil remains since 1820, when the first ape fossils were found. Since 2001, 25 new species have been discovered.

The teeth were found next to the remains of an extinct genus of horse, which helped them date the teeth.

The first paper on the find will be uploaded to Researchgate in a week’s time. The teeth are still being examined in detail, but from the end of October they will be displayed at the Rhineland-Palatinate state exhibition “vorZEITEN” (link in German), after which they will go on display at the Museum of Natural History in Mainz, according to Die Welt (link in German).

Have you ever wondered how many times human civilization has risen and fallen? Perhaps human beings have actually been around for millions of years, and technology has risen and collapsed cyclically.