Initially, the finds were interpreted as Neanderthal, as the stone tools found with them were believed to be associated exclusively with Neanderthals. They also had archaic phenotypical features believed to be representative of the Neanderthals, rather than "Homo sapiens". They were thought to be approximately 40,000 years old, but this was thrown into doubt by faunal evidence suggesting a Middle Pleistocene date, approximately 160,000 years ago. Because of that, the fossils were reappraised as representing an archaic form of "Homo sapiens" or perhaps a population of "Homo sapiens" that had interbred with Neanderthals. This was consistent with the concept that the then-oldest-known remains of a "Homo sapiens", dated to approximately 195,000 years ago and found in Omo Kibish, Ethiopia, indicated an eastern African origin for humans at approximately 200,000 years ago.