Hofmeyr Skull (IMAGE) Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Caption The Hofmeyr skull. Scientists have now dated the skull as being 36,000 years old. The great similarity of this skull to skulls of the same age from Eurasian finds confirms the "Out of Africa" hypothesis. Modern humans broke out of their place of origin around 40,000 years ago -- from Africa south of the Sahara -- and populated the world. Credit Frederick E. Grine Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.