Casablanca fossils dated 773,000 years back reveal African origin of last common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals A set of ancient human bones from Casablanca reshapes how we think about early human history. New research places a key ancestral population of modern humans and Neanderthals in northwest Africa around 773,000 years ago. The study draws on fossils, stone tools, and precise geological dating from a cave known as the Grotte à Hominidés at Thomas Quarry I in Morocco...