Archaeological finds in central Israel could challenge the accepted version of the evolution of modern humans and place the origin of mankind in the Holy Land.

A prehistoric set of teeth, found by members of the Archaeology Department of Tel Aviv University in Kessem Cave, near the city of Rosh Ha-Ayin, have been dated as old as 400,000 years. The teeth fit the development stages of Homo Sapiens but are twice as old as similar remains found in the past in Africa. Professor Avi Gopher and Doctor Ran Barkai write in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology that the findings suggest the development of modern man was much earlier than previously thought and took place in the Middle East rather than Africa.