3 'Oldest Human' Skeletons Unearthed by Harvard Men

Bones of three cavemen, whose discovery may upset traditional theories of evolution, were dug up in Tohran, Iran this month by a former University professor and a first year graduate student.

The two anthopologists, Professor Carlton S. Coon '25, now of the University of Pennsylvania, and Louis Dupree 1G, revealed the importance of their find yesterday.

The three skeletons, according to Coon, may be the remains of the oldest human beings known, Evidence points to their being contemporaries of sub human species.

This would explode the common theory that modern man evolved from a Neanderthal ancestor.

Associate professor of Anthropology Hallam L. Movius '02, Curator of Paleolithic Archaeology, last night described the discovery as the most important to come out of Asia since the war.

Never Before In Asia

Movins said evidence of equally ancient human existence has been unearthed in Europe but never before in Asia. Coon's assertion that the fossil dates back to the third interglacial period still has to be substantiated by geologists, Movius pointed out.

He emphasized, however, that even if this is not proved, the discovery is still an extremely important one prior to Coon's investigations in the past few years, there had been no archaeological knowledge of the Caspian sea region, Movius said.

Fossils 30 Feet Under

Coon and Dupree found the fossils in a cave buried under more than 30 feet of gravel and sand. One of the skills had been completely shattered by the collapsed roof. Coon said fragments of the other two, when pieced together, indicated the cavemen were Homo Sapiens.

The skills, according to Coon, tallied with human specification with the exduct of two separate lines of evolutionary development.