55,000-year-old human skull

Anatomy professor Israel Hershkovitz, lead author of the study, said of the skull fragment, “This is the first specimen that connects the continents.”  (Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images)

Dr. Omri Barzilai of the Israeli Antiquities Authority holds the partial skull inside the Manot Cave in northern Israel.  (Jim Hollander / EPA)

An interior view shows stalagmites rising from the floor and stalactites hanging from the ceiling in a chamber of Manot Cave.  (Jim Hollander / EPA)

he 55,000-year-old partial skull found in Manot Cave, center, is placed between a Neanderthal skull, left, and a complete modern human skull outside the cave in northern Israel.  (Jim Hollander / EPA)