Carbon-dating determined the mandible was between 34,000 and 36,000 years old, making it the oldest, directly dated modern human fossil.

This, he said, could potentially be linked to the evolution of the modern human brain.

When and where did modern human behaviour begin?

The team compared the taxonomic composition of the well-preserved microbes to those found in modern human mouths and found them very similar.

But it didn't seem to be a modern human.